Okay lets all stop the squabbling, we have the ‘Arsene know bests’ on the left, we have the ‘Arsene’s lost it’ to the right and we have the ‘give him one more seasoners’ in the middle.
So I have a very ‘todays fashion’ idea as a solution, and we could do it all in house, tell me what you think.
Retire Pat Rice, Pat I love you mate but a change is needed, bring in Steve Bould as your new number two, he’s in your academy so it’s progression and he’s your choice, he will be more vocal and knows the younger players. We need freshening up, you and Pat are getting stale.
Bring in Keown as the defensive coach, him or Adams. Bring in Seaman as the goal keeping coach, and buy Joe Hart or Buffon, no one else will do, my choice is Hart.
If you don’t have Bould as your number two then swap that idea with Keown, he’ll be vocal and frankly that’s what you need Arsene, someone to challenge you and your autocratic way of running Arsenal football club.
As I have said many times before, a football club should be run prudently, it should work spend only what it can afford but it is not a business and should not be run as one.
A football club is more a public service, it has paying fans that give it the money, not shareholders, yes Arsenal does have shareholders but they don’t get paid a dividend, if Arsenal were a business, then it would pay a dividend, but it isn’t and it doesn’t.
Businesses don’t have 60,000 fans paying them entrance money every 2 weeks and businesses rarely sell merchandising, so I get fed up when I hear that we are a business, we are most definitely not.
So if we have a transfer budget, it is the duty of the management to spend it, that’s what it’s there for, to improve the team, to freshen up the dressing room and to give the fans something to smile about and of course to brag about.
So to sum up, a coalition could be just what Arsenal need to bring us some silverware, no one loses face, we are crap at the back and Wenger has admitted he is not a great knowledge on keepers, bring in someone that is, then and listen to what people are saying.
Tomorrow we talk about the game, Today spare a though for Pedro who is on a mountain hiking sponsored walk somewhere in the countryside, I’m meeting him and his brother tomorrow but I’m not sure what sort of shape he’ll be in after an 18 mile hike! I’m not sure what the charity is but Let’s wish him luck! Any kind of charity work is good work.
Have a great day today Grovers, tomorrow is the last game until July, let’s all enjoy it!
Nasri shite stu?!
seriously now….
Most of the season, yeah A.
He’s not shite but he’s not very convincing either.
Doesnt assist, rarely scores, very anonymous, a bit fat, and definately a ponce.
Izham – Sorry for this posts length
Speaking to most AKBs ( TIMs
)about the clubs finances is like trying to explain to a village idiot 2000 BC that the earth is flat and the moon isnt made of cheese. This isnt personal.
We have over £130m in the bank which has increased steadily since the move to the stadium. Go through the annual statements and look at the steady growth of cash.
We dont need to sell to cover stadium repayements.
We have more money than any club on the planet and have done for the last 30 months. We are beyond cash rich, if we were truely a business we would be looking to buy one of our rivals, we could buy Newcastle forget Ronaldo.
Arsene decided not to spend money.
Arsene has talked up the kids so much that he has now put himself in the position that should he actually spend he will look like a moron, this is nothing to do with self funding anymore. We can buy a world class player ever year and still make money – we could have done this for the last five years.
Arsene has put the club in a fantastic financial position, of this there is no doubt. When Cesc fucks off next summer (if it happens) and we get £60m, the board could turn round and say that they have made a deal with the bank to pay the loan off early and we are now debt free. The final sales of flats – The sale of Cesc – The revenue we produce over the next year would put us in that position.
Having said all that:
Arsene still wouldnt change his stance from “his faith in his kids”, his ego is bigger than your need as a fan for success.
The board views the current stratergy as success, not cause they give a fuck about being debt free but because the bigger the cash position of the club becomes the more the share price increases. By the way for all the shareholders on the board and major non board members that are shareholders, Fiszman, Carrs, Lady blowjob, Kroenke, etc etc the only one who has ever said he would put his hand in his pocket is Usmanov. The rest have never invested a penny into the club, including “the fans would have bite your hand off for fourth” fiszman who has done very nicely out of the stratergy of winning fuck all and increasing the bottom line.
Now – the bottom line:
There will always be billionaires that purchase football clubs, Eufa will not be able to change this no mater what bollocks they try and do. Roman robbed the whole of Russia, you think he cant pick Platinis pocket?
Even when we are debt free, all that hard work can go down the shitter in less than a week and we could be £1billion in debt.
Scenario – Stan Kroenke takes over the club. Stan Kroenke has a heart attack whilst on his Jet coming over to Watch his new aquisition the “gummers of south london” for the first time. Stans plane crashes. Mr Kroenke or Mrs Asda as shes known in the states inherites said Gummers of South London (just as Lady blowjob did) Mrs Asda wants to make a quick Billion and has no intrest in football so sells to Mr X who funds the purchase through debt.
In less than a week we are back to square one.
Meanwhile weve won fuck all.
Nasri has 5 goals this season. 3 in the CL and 2 in the prem. Obviously only up for the CL matches.
Gambon
Alright, he isn’t the full fletched fox in the hole kind of player, but his positioning and his way of heading the ball largely makes up for it. He is the sort of player just waiting for a opportunity to strike.
Besides he has the touch to play in an extremely compact defence, like Villas or Fulhams and short pass his way through.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE15wHkL0UI
shite is a massive exageration.
He hasn’t kicked on after a very good first season, but alot of that has to be put down to missing pre season and a good period at the start because of a broken leg.
He’s still very young, and with a proper pre season could be one of the top players in the league next season imo, not quite cesc/vp/rooney level, but the next level below certainly
Exactly, chamakh is only good at being on the end of crosses with his head. How often do crosses find their target at arsenal? He doesnt stand a chance here unless someone learns to cross.
Izham -
Henry? LOL
It reminds me of Wall Street when Gekko asks if the guy has relatives on the board of any other business.
Yes mate Henry, whom Arsene knew as a 16 year old. The football world has changed alot since then, every major football club will know about every good footballer around the planet now. Every club I mentioned will have looked at Chamakh and said bollocks to that.
This is an undeniable fact.
“I turned down spurs”
that’s what i meant THIG..did you meant this first touch from bendtner??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aIIXBmYT5o
Well he scored 2 in 4 after returning from his injury pre season. Both incidently were in the CL. You can blame the injury if you want, i wont ignore it but the proof is in the pudding. He does better in the CL than in the league.
Someone suggested its because his family or whoever watch th CL games. I thought that was bull but it does look to be the case.
He is as much of a passenger in this team as Denilson and Nasri is anonymous for the majority of games he plays.
Izham -
Tell me you at least SKIMMED the book I just wrote for you
Dutchman -
“I dont give a fuck what you think about blah blah”
I never made a statement I asked you a question.
Izham, I’ve watch every game with Bentner this season, and he does a touch like that once every five or six time. the rest he gets the ball to the other side of the pitch, Chamakh on the other hand I know for a fact does have a much better first touch. Closer to RVP’s then Bendtner’s.
In 14 seasons with Wenger, he has used 155 players.
Here is the FULL list of players that he’s used:
(Player, Games, Goals):
Patrick Vieira (405, 34)
Dennis Bergkamp (382, 104)
Thierry Henry (369, 226)
Fredrik Ljungberg (328, 72)
Ray Parlour (327, 27)
Kolo Touré (326, 14)
Robert Pirès (284, 84)
Martin Keown (274, 6)
Cesc Fàbregas (267, 48)
David Seaman (253, 0)
Gilberto Silva (243, 24)
Lauren (241, 10)
Lee Dixon (234, 6)
Ashley Cole (228, 9)
Gaël Clichy (219, 1)
Sol Campbell (210, 12)
Jens Lehmann (199, 0)
Nwankwo Kanu (198, 44)
Robin van Persie (196, 72)
Tony Adams (191, 12)
Emmanuel Eboué (186, 9)
Sylvain Wiltord (175, 49)
Nigel Winterburn (175, 3)
Gilles Grimandi (170, 6)
Manuel Almunia (161, 0)
Mathieu Flamini (153,
Emmanuel Adebayor (142, 62)
Marc Overmars (142, 41)
William Gallas (142, 17)
Abou Diaby (137, 17)
Theo Walcott (135, 18)
Bacary Sagna (132, 1)
Alexander Hleb (130, 10)
Edu (127, 15)
Nicklas Bendtner (124, 36)
Denìlson (121, 11)
Emmanuel Petit (118, 11)
Philippe Senderos (117, 4)
Alexandre Song (116, 4)
José Antonio Reyes (110, 23)
Oleg Luzhny (110, 0)
Steve Bould (101, 0)
Pascal Cygan (98, 3)
Tomás Rosický (94, 16)
Nicolas Anelka (90, 28)
Sylvinho (80, 5)
Samir Nasri (77, 12)
Johan Djourou (77, 0)
David Platt (75, 9)
Stephen Hughes (73, 7)
Ian Wright (69, 41)
Nelson Vivas (69, 1)
Justin Hoyte (68, 1)
Eduardo (67, 21)
Giovanni van Bronckhorst (64, 2)
Alex Manninger (64, 0)
Matthew Upson (57, 0)
Andrei Arshavin (53, 17)
Jérémie Aliadière (51, 9)
Aaron Ramsey (51, 5)
Carlos Vela (48, 7)
Christopher Wreh (46, 5)
Thomas Vermaelen (45,
Rémi Garde (43, 0)
Mikaël Silvestre (42, 3)
Paul Merson (40, 9)
Davor Suker (39, 11)
Francis Jeffers (39,
Luis Boa Morte (39, 4)
Júlio Baptista (35, 10)
Lukasz Fabianski (35, 0)
Igors Stepanovs (31, 1)
Stuart Taylor (30, 0)
Armand Traoré (30, 0)
Kieran Gibbs (30, 0)
John Hartson (26, 4)
Jermaine Pennant (26, 3)
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (23, 2)
Richard Wright (22, 0)
John Lukic (21, 0)
Steve Morrow (18, 0)
Fran Mérida (16, 2)
Jack Wilshere (15, 1)
Kaba Diawara (15, 0)
Stefan Malz (14, 2)
Andy Linighan (13, 1)
Mark Randall (13, 0)
Lassana Diarra (13, 0)
Scott Marshall (12, 0)
Sebastian Larsson (12, 0)
Kerrea Gilbert (12, 0)
Alberto Mendez (11, 1)
Paolo Vernazza (11, 1)
David Bentley (10, 1)
Arturo Lupoli (9, 3)
Paul Shaw (9, 2)
Vito Mannone (9, 0)
Stathis Tavlaridis (8, 0)
Craig Eastmond (7, 0)
Ryan Smith (6, 0)
Rami Shaaban (5, 0)
Graham Stack (5, 0)
Glenn Helder (4, 0)
David Grondin (4, 0)
Sebastian Svärd (4, 0)
Junichi Inamoto (4, 0)
Henri Lansbury (4, 0)
Gavin Hoyte (4, 0)
Amaury Bischoff (4, 0)
Francis Coquelin (4, 0)
Jay Simpson (3, 2)
Daniel Karbassiyoon (3, 1)
Sanchez Watt (3, 1)
Jason Crowe (3, 0)
Fabian Caballero (3, 0)
Graham Barrett (3, 0)
Tomas Danilevicius (3, 0)
John Halls (3, 0)
Jerome Thomas (3, 0)
Nacer Barazite (3, 0)
Gavin McGowan (2, 0)
David Hillier (2, 0)
Rhys Weston (2, 0)
Tommy Black (2, 0)
Moritz Volz (2, 0)
Juan (2, 0)
Ryan Garry (2, 0)
Fabrice Muamba (2, 0)
Mart Poom (2, 0)
Lee Harper (1, 0)
Matthew Rose (1, 0)
Ian Selley (1, 0)
Paul Dickov (1, 0)
Jehad Muntasser (1, 0)
Isaiah Rankin (1, 0)
Michael Black (1, 0)
Omer Riza (1, 0)
Brian McGovern (1, 0)
Julian Gray (1, 0)
Lee Canoville (1, 0)
Rohan Ricketts (1, 0)
Carlin Itonga (1, 0)
Frankie Simek (1, 0)
Olafur-Ingi Skulason (1, 0)
John Spicer (1, 0)
Michal Papadopulos (1, 0)
Patrick Cregg (1, 0)
Anthony Stokes (1, 0)
Paul Rodgers (1, 0)
Rui Fonte (1, 0)
Wojciech Szczesny (1, 0)
Kyle Bartley (1, 0)
Thomas Cruise (1, 0)
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (1, 0)
Gilles Sunu (1, 0)
And I’m not in anyway lessening Bendtner’s feat this season, he has been really good at scoring crucial goals. But fact is that in the buildup face when he comes down the pitch to meet up and gets the ball he is more often a liability then not.
Flamini, Vermaelen & Jeffers all scored 8 goals each…,
wtl,
that is a long post,however any link to the club’s annual statement?? and may i add you’ve a very creative imagination regarding the death of cowboy..
as for chamakh,i’ve not seen much of him to come to any conclusion..so hope at least he’s better than bendtner and plays with a lot of heart..
and Leeds United is back in the Championship again…
2-1 against Bristol Rovers in their last game…
Congrats to them!
or do you guys think we should forget chamakh and sign this left footed striker in yellow jersey..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CP6ykzsK0M&feature=related
Izham
Its on Arsenal.com and is given every 6 months.
Go back to the start, pre stadium move and read everything until this point.
This will take you a good couple of hours so do it during the cricket season!
In regards to chamakh, I like what I see with his build and his pace. He scores headers not a good thing going forward but excellent for us if he can do a drogba defensivly. I dont know how much skill he has but if he has a little skill and half a brain Cesc will make him look good.
Wenger liar, he has much skill!! You will see it.
Leeds had 1 man sent off late in the first half, and Rovers scored 0-1 just after the break…
Then Leeds with 10 men scored 2 within 3 minutes!!!
Dutchman -
Do you think that when fit RVP will play on one side and Cham will play central or the other way around?
2 f**king hours?? that will kill me mate..will look it up sometime later but not now..anyway not a fan of cricket but the sport i posted earlier..
Wenger the liar
I remember reading an article about him in France Football at some point where he said that he had spoken with Laurent Blanc about his game, and Blanc told him that he had to let down some of his defensive team work in order to improve, and the season after that he scored 13 goals for Bordeaux in their title winning season last year. Now, 13 goals might not sound as much, but considering how defensive la Ligue 1 is it’s closer to 20+ goal in the premiership.
Besides, interesting little fact, he is the best european goalscorer in Bordeaux’s history
i think we will play 4-4-2 with van Persie & Chamakh up front…
Hoping this for a starting 11:
——————-Hart———————-
Sagna—–New CB———-Vermaelen—-Clichy
New RW——-Song——–Cesc——–Arshavin
———–van Persie—-Chamakh————-
and this for back-up:
——————Szczesny——————-
Eboué—–Campbell———Djourou——Gibbs
Walcott——New DM——Nasri——–Rosický
—————Bendtner——Rémy————
Plus Ramsey, Wilshere, Bartley & Mannone
TH -
Thats good. Unfortunately I think that too much “belief” went to the players heads and the team work, denfensive front to back, dropped off.
It would be good to see someone chasing down the opposition, I dont know if players realize how that can fire up a crowd.
New GK = Hart
New CB = Hangeland or Subotic
New DM = Melo or Veloso
New RW = (i have no idea) don’t know if Hazard can play RW?, or maybe David Silva?
New FW = Chamakh & Rémy
No chance of us playing 4-4-2 Ray
We need to be more solid, which means 3 in central midfield, not two.
4-4-2 would be going backwards
RayGooner
Hangeland: Definitely a good addition, but I can’t see him leaving Fulham since he signed a new contract in 2009 that stretches until 2013.
Subotic: Will be too expensive for his worth, everyone seem to be clamouring about him becoming the new Vidic which will probably have gone both to the head of himself and his agent.
Melo: Won’t be sold by Juventus I think even though he has been shocking this season, they are much more likely to part with Sissokho, who wouldn’t be much of an addition as he is something of a Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
As for Hazard he may be as much of a future star as he want, i still think he is too much of a wildcard to be bought.
A
I’d like to see a 4-4-2 diamond formation if we go back to our old formation, that way we get a strong midfield with fullbacks still going forward and taking care of the wings.
[code]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------- Hart --------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----- Sagna ----------- CB ---------- Vermaelen ------- Clichy -------
-------------------------------- Song --------------------------------
------------- Ramsey ---------------------------- Diaby --------------
------------------------------ Fabregas ------------------------------
--------------- RVP ---------------------------- Chamakh -------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[/code]
*
———————————————————————-
——————————– Hart ——————————–
———————————————————————-
—– Sagna ———– CB ———- Vermaelen ——- Clichy ——-
——————————– Song ——————————–
————- Ramsey —————————- Diaby ————–
—————————— Fabregas ——————————
————— RVP —————————- Chamakh ————-
———————————————————————-
Remy can technically play on the right or left of a front 3 as he was doing that at Lyon and like to drift anyway. I’d love it if we bought him, his goal return is impressive when you consider he’s at a very poor team who’s only real attacking threat is himself.
Thierry H, no arshavin??? no nasri or rosicky??
But diaby??
Dutchman
You seemed shocked, well I’ll explain the way I see things.
That was just an example of what I’d like to see if we revert to the 4-4-2 system.
Nasri I’d use as a sub, until he has adapted to the english game, but I would definately not use him as a CM, he doesn’t have neither the physique nor the grit.
Arshavin, well.. To be honest I’m fucking tired of his talk off the pitch and his laziness on the pitch, so the only way he will return to good grace in my world is if he stops fucking around and flirting with Barca.
As for Rosicky I think we’ve seen an exception to the rule this spring, normally he’d be out with some sort of mysterious injury, so in my world that’s dead weight that need to be sold off.
Diaby on the other hand, does have the physique to play in that role, I’m not saying I wouldn’t rather see someone else but Wenger won’t buy any midfielder, he has said so himself so I’m just being realistic about it all.
But it’s a diamont what you have as your line-up, than is diaby a winger. That’s how i saw it, but if you are talking about a CM, than rather wilshere than diaby, wilshere is playing that role in bolton and he is always their best man!
No chance of us reverting to that system, or any other system!
We’ve currently got the ideal system, we just need a few different personnel for it.
You can’t play with no wide players, when the opposition have the ball we’d get absolutely raped.
The current system has three centre mids, and wide cover, yet we scored goals galore most of the season. There’s no way that we’ll change to a system that has either just two in the middle, or gives less protection to the full backs, it just wouldn’t make sense.
The failings this season have absolutely nothing to do with the formation, they’re down to individual and team failings, personnel, not systematic
I agree with A there’s nothing wrong with our current system. If we have another ball winner in midfield ala Melo or Toulalan sitting in front of the back 4 with Song and let Fabregas do his business and then if we had a natural Winger ala Turan or Hazard or even Remy, someone who could go past players to the by line and support a front three with Van Persie and Chamakh then we’d be sorted.
Don’t agree with that Marko – It isn’t another ball winner we need, we need a box to box midfielder who will also put his foot in, needs to be athletic and strong.
Diaby on form is ideal for it, but he tired towards the end of the season, and blows a bit hot and cold, as well as not always concentrating fully defensively.
What we basically need is a Diaby who is a level above, but that sort of player.
Don’t need a winger either, need the front three to all be able to interchange, better attacking full backs would make a difference though
its clear the team we had at highbury were alot more phsicaly dominant but thats because the average of the team was alot older and had alot more experience which hopefully he will be bringing in
A
You say that three midfielders creates a better cover in the 4-4-3 system we use, but it requires us to stretch play in order to create alternatives which exposes us and creates a huge space between our three man midfield and the backline. Therefore, to prevent this space the need arises to compress space which should be done when we loose the ball to the opposition. Which would have been simple enough if EVERY SINGLE PLAYER in our team did it. However the framwork of that structure is destroyed as soon as ONE of our players fail in their pressing which is the main reason why there are so few teams using this formation, it works well when attacking but demands extreme discipline in defence.
So when you say that our failings are due to individuals you are correct, but ultimately it fucks up the whole system and the extension of this is that whenever we play a gritty hardworking team, the formation that was supposed to aid us against lesser team with a tight defence becomes liability as it forces the whole team down because our players are afraid of keeping the pressure up on the rough pitch of teams like Bolton, Stoke etc.
But a box to box player who can at least win the ball. The only player in our midfield who’s an out and out ball winner is Song and sometimes when our full backs go forward and even sometimes Vermaelen and Gallas we get caught on the break, at least if we had another ball winner to help Song it’d make all the difference. Also sometime’s we have lacked a natural winger or at least someone who can skip past people espspecially against teams who park the bus so to speak. Nasri, and Rosicky while I like them are passer and don’t go past people much, Walcott just has pace really and is totally skill free.
It’s a 4-5-1 when defending thig though, so it doesn’t require us to stretch play. Obviously it does work better, and we win the ball higher up the pitch with everyone pressing, but it isn’t an absolute pre-requisite.
We played 4-4-2 when the league was different. I don’t understand what you mean about so few teams using that formation, out of the old top four, chelsea, utd, and liverpool all do the vast majority of the time, as do villa, everton, and many other teams.
Now that the vast majority of teams play with three centre mids most of the time, certainly against us, we have to have three centre mids to compete.
Marko
There is no real space for two ballwinners in a 4-3-3 system, besides we were doing fine with Song, the problem is that during spring he has been injured quite often, and as soon as he is gone we don’t have anyone to replace him with.
Marko I’d say both Nasri and Rosicky go past people regularly, though they aren’t out and out dribblers. Theo is all about movement off the ball. I wouldn’t be against a real dribbler coming in, but only if he had the intelligence, and ability to spot a pass and drift inside interlink etc. Not someone who hugs the touchline and just puts crosses in
I agree about a box to box player who can actually win the ball, and Diaby can and does. With two holding mids it would make it way too easy to mark cesc, and we’d lack the running there
Funniest saying this season “judge me in may” fuck I’m wetting myself Le Senile also “”we will win somthing this season” yea most disgusting performance from an inept bunch of wankers…Wigan away
I’m not saying get rid of Diaby but I’d totally advocate the signing of Mamadou Diarra a guy who’d win the ball and give it to Cesc. And seriously who often have we seen someone like Nasri, Rocky and Walcott passing sideways when you love them to take on a player. The Chelsea away game for example had us dominating possession but we couldn’t break them down because we just kept passing in and around their box. Of course we also missed Van the Man and others.
A. The failings this season are down to the manager pure and simple just look at the keepers all dimwits who’s to blame WENGER
A
I’m sorry but you’re completely wrong. Our system can’t simply revert to being a 4-5-1, whatever they present on TV, more often than not we try to convert to a 4-1-4-1 system more than anything and the problem remains with the huge space between our defence and our midfield. Most of the goals conceded this season(except for set pieces) have been in counter attack when the space between defence and midfield has been exploited. Now I don’t really want to spend thousands of words to explain it but check this link and you’ll see exactly what I mean;
http://arsenalcolumn.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/analysing-arsenals-defensive-game/
None of the other top four teams are playing the 4-3-3 system.
Chelsea play a 4-4-1-1 system with a diamond, and Anelka behind Drogba.
United play with a sort of 4-2-3-1/4-2-4 system with Nani/Valencia on the wings.
Liverpool play a 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1 system, with Gerrard between the lines of the midfield and the lone attacker.
Everton have played with 2 CF most of the season.
As for Villa they play with real wingers and a lone forward, so they are the only 4-5-1 in the lot.
Fuck off Taxi for Wenger. You cannot be serious.
Are you really an arsenal fan ?
I’m going to fuck myself
Who’s that John McEnroe…..
Sorry THIG but imo YOU’RE very much wrong.
Chelsea certainly don’t play that, Anelka and their fans whined all season about him playing right or occasionally left wing/forward when he played with Drogba in the team this season.
Liverpool play with Torres central, Kuyt wide right forward, and whoever else left forward/wing, with Gerrard central, supporting the Torres but just as the most attacking of the midfield three.
We conceded goals on breaks, and being overrun, when individuals weren’t tracking back, but they wouldn’t track back whether in 4-4-2, or 4-5-1/4-3-3, it wouldn’t make any difference.
And Utd play very much a 4-5-1/4-3-3 alot of the time, with Rooney central, Nani and Valencia wide, and whichever three central midfielders
Wenker should be kicked out akb
akb
Thats the sort of fantastic reaction I’d expect of someone either blind or brainless.
First of all because it’s rude and second of all because it’s proof of the sort of blind devotion some people have for Arsene Wenger…
Arsene Wenger is a half decent coach and a fantastic manager, there’s no denying it, he has a fantastic vision of football but he is too predictable.
Putting on one or two 67′ subs each and every game is predictable, playing the same way against the big four and being raped twice by both ManU and Chelsea doesn’t cut it.
And there is no denying that Wenger is stubborn as a mule when it comes to his policies while NOONE in the club contradicts him.. I like Wenger, but what I don’t like is the signs of Megalomania sprouting out of his ears.
Hang on a minute Thierry Henry is god.
Taxi for Wenger called our team “an inept bunch of wankers”.
What’s that got to with Wenger ?
It dont make one difference what system you use if you have got a mug midfield with Diaby/Denilson in it? does it!!
Oh no, the alcoholics on here.
Must have been on the whiskey again.
Gambon the wise is back. You’re a top man.
reggie
I think the system can make a difference.
Our 4-3-3 is designed purely to get the best out of Cesc in a more advanced position. Unfortunately right now we dont have the players to pull it off.
We are too weak defensively down the left, we dont have a good wide right option, and there is a lack of defensive organisation in general.
With a fit team, and a better CM (instead of Diaby), GK & RW we could have a very effective first XI.
Obviously we need someone who can sort our defence/defending out from a coaching POV
A
You can say whatever you want about Utd, Liverpool or Chelsea but fact is that what you’re saying is not true.
The real and pure 4-3-3 system is played:
——————————–
—–O—–O——O——O——
——————————–
—————O—————-
————O——————-
—————–O————–
——————————–
——————————–
—–O——–O——–O——–
——————————–
While Utd play more like:
——————————–
—–O—–O——O——O——
——————————–
—————-O—————
———–O——–O———–
——————————–
—O———————–O—-
——————————–
—————O—————-
——————————–
And there is a massive difference in what seems like nothing on these charts. Liverpool on the otherhand are far more of a 4-2-3-1/4-2-1-3
——————————–
—–O—–O——O——O——
——————————–
————O——————-
—————–O————–
——————————–
——————————–
–O————O———-O—–
————–O—————–
——————————–
While the Chelsea you’re speaking about was during the 08/09 season. The 09/10 season Ancelotti change to a:
——————————–
—–O—–O——O——O——
——————————–
—————O—————-
———-O———O———–
——————————–
—————O—————-
——————————–
————O——————-
—————–O————–
——————————–
And the point here is that both Liverpool and United have two players in midfield doing the defensive shores and thereby not needing to apply the same pressure as Arsenal, while Chelsea crowd the midfield with their players allowing their CMs to drop down, get the ball and start play, with the fullbacks doing more offensive duties, and when they defend they crowd the midfield and forcing the opposing teams down on the sides.
AKB
Honestly, most players in our squad are actually overpaid primadonas who don’t know how to sweat and bleed for the shirt… Any ‘real Arsenal fan’ as you put it would see that.
Sorry about him everyone, I have no idea how he slipped the net, he’s had his 15 minutes and he won’t be back again. Happy blogging!
I prefer it when hes on here Geoff, the mug doesnt have a clue.
Gambon
I couldn’t agree more!
In my opinion it would do us some good to get some of our old defensive heroes to come back to the club and give our players a good telling off from time to time, that way Wenger can use the good understanding father approach that he seem to favor while someone does the yelling. I can’t imagine that Rice does much yelling, in fact I wonder if he has a tongue at all.
Geoff
It’s alright, I find it refreshing to refine my argument against an AKB from time to time
My Team
Jens
Rice O’Leary Mc Lintock Winterburn
Rocky Vieira Brady Armstrong
DB10
TH14
Subs:
Bobby P,Seaman,Wrighty,Marwood,Richardson,Cesc.TA 6,C. George.
Unbeatable.
It irks me that people are that lame, they have no minds of their own, they humiliate themselves.
El Tel
I’d put Petit in the equation aswell.
Manager: G Graham
I’ll let him back if you want him back?
I’m talking about the chelsea this season thig, their shape has changed alot, but before drogba went to the african nations anelka played right wing, and towards the end of the season they’ve played with anelka on one flank, and malouda or kalou on the other, with three forwards.
They have played that very narrow system at other times though.
All systems are tailored to individual teams, it’s far too simplistic to say that there is a “real and pure” system!
We basically play what you have the Utd shape as there
Thierry
Yes mate I agree, shame only 11 can play as the 71 side would get many more in my team.
There were many great individuals over the years for us and some great Teams.
My Team
———–Seaman——
Dixon—-Keown—-Adams—-Winterburn
——-Vieira——-Petit
————–Cesc
Pires——–Henry——–Overmars
As I said, I find it amusing but I think you have a point there. I like this blog because of the lack of piss ants who spew out their righteous crap about not contradicting our megalomaniac of a manager.
Would love to see GG take his beloved Arsenal into battle with Maureen,
Some might call it boring but it would be a tactical masterpiece.
Gambon
How the fuck did I miss Overmars he was fucking awesome.
I liked Marwood and Richardson as they were unsung heroes and little Geordie Armstrong proved that you don’t have to be a Giant to be a tough little fucker.
Gambon
You don’t have DB10 in your line up mate. Did you not rate him?
Thierry, consider him gone, night all!
A
We play far more like Barca then I want tbh, and it’s far less adapted to the counter attacking approach of most EPL teams compared to Utd.
But I guess we will have to agree about disagreeing!
Anyway, I still think you should have a look at:
http://arsenalcolumn.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/analysing-arsenals-pressing-system-4/
It’s an interesting piece of reading.
For me Wenger has been a lucky Manager to inherit DB10.
This guy was the best player we have ever had adn its no surprise that we have been poor since he retired.
El tel and Gambon
You guys are making me depressed here!
All those fantastic players and here we are between a stone and a hard place waiting for tomorrows game with our current crop of players.
Good night Geoff
El Tel
Of course I rate him, hes my favourite ever player.
However its impossible to get him in a 4-3-3 effectively, and i wanted to see how our best players ever could fit into our current formation.
I also think cesc will be considered a better player.
Gambon
Honestly, I don’t think the 4-3-3 system is a good idea, we still have the same problems we had and I’ve always rated having two CF’s
I’d like to see a variation of the 4-4-2 system next season with Chamakh and RVP on the top as a possibility if Cesc gets injured, because we’ve been completely clueless since he became injured during the first barca game.
THIG
The problem is we’ll never get the best out of Cesc in a 4-4-2 without being too open in the midfield.
Also Arshavin isnt disciplined enough to play wide left in a 4-4-2.
If we sell Cesc to barca, and i think there a good chance we will, i would like us to go back to Wengers traditional 4-4-2, but with Arshavin as the deep striker.
Something like;
—————–NEW————-
Sagna——-NEW——-Vermaelen——Clichy
NEW———Song———-NEW————NEW
——————–Arshavin
—————————–VanPersie
RvP if he can stay injury free, will go a long long way in our quest for silverware. We need him, Cesc, Arshavin Song and Vermaelne fit for atleast 85 percent of the season.
Gambon
Oh, actually I’m being a little bit more optimistic I suppose. I believe that Cesc will stay this summer, but what I mean is that we will need a way to keep our dynamic play even if Cesc gets injured, or an alternative if Cesc is being completely looked down. Now during the spring and even in the beginning of this fall Rambo will be injured, so we don’t have any good substitute to the creative and attacking midfielder role. And in that situation I would’ve liked to see a formation with 2 forwards, Arshavin going deep with RV/Chamakh on top. We could actually play a 4-3-1-2 with Nasri as the attacking midfielder.
I agree, there is room for playing 4-4-2. Gambon the above is 4-4-1-1.
From who we have available we should deffo play 4-4-2 tomorrow.
Chesney’s just completed his loan, since the goalkeepers don’t have much running to do during a game he should be able to play tomorrow. That would be a nice surprise.
—————Mannone/Szczęsny(I know it’ll prob be Fab 2)———
Eboue/Sagna—-Campbell——-Silvestre—–Traore
—————–Diaby
Walcott—————————Nasri
—————Arshavin
———–Vela/Eduardo——————
———————————RVP
Get Nasri out of the middle, there are many better playmakers in the Prem.
Rohan
I don’t think it’s very likely we’ll see Cesc, RVP and Arshavin fit together very much, and thats why we absolutely must have a good plan B.
We would have landed the title if it wasn’t for our lack of plan B so thats basically what I’m pondering.
Thierry, Fabregas will stay, he’s the captain and the club have made it clear that they have no intention of selling him.
He wants to play for Barca, he is best off waiting for Iniesta to retire to whom he’d play second fiddle to just like in the Spanish national team, and he knows that at his age he needs to play otherwise he’ll never fully develop, he can’t be warming the bench for Barca, he knows Arsenal is the best place for him, hopefully as time goes on he’ll feel that Arsenal is his club and that he wants to retire he ala Giggs or Scholes…..that’s a very long shot but you never know.
finestcuts
I do believe in Nasri, and I know he did really well as the creative midfielder in Marseille, I think his problem is mainly that his adaptation to the prem league has been hampered by injury. I know he has had a fair amount of chances but I think he will be better equipped next season when being able to make a full buildup during the pre season instead of being out injured, it’ll prepare him better and build up his endurance better for the whole season.
Even if Fabregas stays for 4 more years and leaves when he’s 26/27..he;ll be one of our most capped players and will be an arsenal and premier league legend as big as Henry if not bigger.
Once an autocrat always an autocrat. 10-11, same old same old. Anyone who thinks diffrent is delusional
finestcuts
I totally agree with you, I was just answering Gambon about Cesc, and the only reason I’m thinking about a formation without Cesc is that if he is the perfect plan A, we still need to deal with the fact that he will probably get injured during the season at some point or another.
Nasri requires a solid DM next to him if he is to play centrally. He was looking really good and was hitting form until Song got injured and everything went pear-shaped.
If youre talking about a 4-4-2 with 2 strikers then no way, no big team can play that anymore.
Fair enough Thierry, are you French? Do you watch Ligue 1 regularly?
Your belief may be well placed because he was compared to Zidane there but for us, he looks like a square peg in a round hole in the offensive midfield role, those beefcake EPL hard nut defenders are too much for him to hand.
Thierry, that is why I think Stephen Ireland would be a great buy for us, he’s a quality central midfielder.
Gambon, that’s how we used to play, classic 4-4-2 diamond. RVP and Adey.
finest
Walcott in midfield is a disaster (anywhere on the pitch is a disaster TBH)
And Arshavin central midfield?? Absolutely no way.
That team would be 3 down by half time.
finest
Yep, and we werent good enough.
And RVP played as a split striker anyway.
Gambon, Arshavin played the offensive midfield role for Zenit.
finest with two dms behind him. There’s no way we could play with essentially two centre mids, and arshavin being one of them.
It would be playing with the equivalent of one central midfielder when defending! Even against Fulham’s reserve team tomorrow that would worry me
finestcuts
Yes, I’m french. I don’t agree with those calling him the next Zidane but he has a lot of potential when played in a central position with a strong DM as shown we he played and we had Song.
I’m sure Ireland would be a good addition, and on top of everything he is available.
As for when RVP and the Whore played, well RVP was more between the midfield line and the forward line.
Gambon
I’m not necesarily talking about a pure 4-4-2 with two center forwards, more with one player dropping a bit lower, maybe AA23 and with more of a pure CF on top. I know that in todays game you need players that play in between the lines, and thats exactly what AA23 is best at, dropping a bit lower then the pure forward and attacking just as he did so successfully at the Euro 2008 with Russia.
Anyway, I’m off.. Catch you later folks!
Pretty sure Arshavin played in the hole behind Pavel Pogrebnyak for Zenit. They had great midfield runners too so he always had an option. How often do you see our midfielders running through the defence to score?
A,teams usually oppose us with 4-3-3-1 or 4-5-1, that’s what we faced in the past. It doesn’t worry me because Diaby can bomb forward and join in the attack as well, he’s a great end to end midfielder. So for this game I’d play Eboue as Full back to drop into the middle when Diaby is helping in attack.
4-2-3-1*
With EBoue playing right back we would definately need a defensive midfield to cover his inevitable runs forward, not the other way around.
Not sure who is fit for tomorrow but i would start with Eastmond, Diaby and maybe Rosicky in midfield.
i’d go with that too stu, apart from nasri in at centre mid.
fabianski
eboue sol silvestre traore
nasri eastmond diaby
rosicky vp arshavin
How about JD, wonder if he is fit enough to start tomorrow. He cant do any worse than Silvestre.
barca are just a different class
good shout stu, or maybe gibbs at left back too?
i really wish we’d got the point at blackburn so we could’ve started lansbury or JET
bartley too
“Plays like he’s got Woody Woodpecker down his shorts all the time, Lionel Messi.” – Ray Hudson – the best and worst announcer in the world.
Great questions for Ivan. Hope we get good answers and not just “have faith etc”
http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/index.php?id=1688
I dont suppose this Barca match is on SS1?
not sure about “great” questions Stu, some of them make sense, some of them are just plain stupid
We’ll Score 7 or more 2morrow
MARK MY WORDS!!!!!
SS4 Stu, messi just missed a sitter, but great finish for first goal, and awesome ball from xavi and good bojan finish for 2nd.
bilbao just equalised against madrid, though they’re already down to ten men
Why stupid A? Do you not think these questions need answering truthfully?
Its a bit intimidating when you have someone called Thierry on here? now I know how Reyes must have felt…..
The wording of alot of them just makes them sound like an angry person mouthing off, and leading questions, insults that are unnecessary, just to try and get Gazidis to slag off wenger.
Gazidis has nothing to do with the playing side, so question about the keepers is absolutely nothing to do with him, and from a professional perspective he should have no opinion about it.
They’re some issues, that it would be nice to have answers to, but the wording of alot of the questions is just petty and juvenile
I like them questions, unfortunately it will be a typical love-in.
lol reggie
And again, things like “How come a defensive coach has yet to be employed to improve this aspect of our play? There are former Arsenal greats that would love to become involved such as Tony Adams and Martin Keown”
are just plain stupid.
Who on earth says that they would love to be involved?!
As we were saying earlier, Adams told everyone that Keown rejected us when Wenger wanted him in as a defensive coach, and he rejected Adams’ offer as well.
With Adams, even if he would take a role like that, why on earth would we want him?! As a manager he’s shown himself to be defensively retarded! It was handed to him on a plate at Pompey with Distin and Sol in front of James, and he somehow managed to fuck it up – I wouldn’t want him anywhere near the club in a defensive coaching role!
Questions being asked, with made up facts, and silly little digs and insults, masked by the fact that the author is relatively articulate, or has a thesaurus
Evening guys…I really hope we finish 3rd tomorrow!!!
I don’t think I would be able to stomach those Spuds finishing ahead of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyone else watching the footy and think madrid have bribed the ref?!
How on earth could that be a pen and red card?!
Well lets all persevere with Arsene then and see where it leads us………
A
They may not be worded fantastically but they certainly need to be asked.
Although i agree i dont necessarily want Adams at the club i think its harsh to blame Adams for everything that went wrong when he was in charge of pompey.
They had a pretty good defensive record when he was no.2 to Redknapp and it was only when he was given the top spot that the pressure got too much for him. It was also down to a lot of individual errors that got him the sack.
2-0 up against liverpool (i think) and they lost 3-2 because of mistakes from Distin and James, their 2 most senior players (aside from Sol obviously).
Evening, lads, A, Reggie. How’s things?
Anyone going for a beer tomorrow then?
Those questions would be better out to use if asked to Wenger then. But we probably wouldnt get honest answers because the club is all about keeping things quiet and not letting the fns know too much.
All good Zorr0 mate! still playing are yer or is the season finished now!!…
Yeah not too bad zorro, your good self?
I’d say it’s about not letting other clubs/players knowing too much stu.
If there was a way to be open with the fans about everything without letting the press/clubs/players know then I’m sure they would be WAY more open, but that isn’t possible, so no clubs are!
The finance questions need to be asked.
We need clarity on that. If Wenger has been refusing to spend then he hasnt been doing his job right.
If the board have denied him money, then they are right in the firing line, as they have mislead the fans repeatedly.
Whatever answer Gazidis gives drops him in it, therefore that question wont be asked.
When are those questions??
But it can’t that we have no money!! IT CAN’T!!
Yeah A there’s being secret and there’s being secret the masons have got fuck-all on us
reggie
Havent you seen Wenger & Gazidis’ secret handshake?!!
Gambon if wenger has been refusing to spend loads of money when the board have been giving it to him, and he’s missed targets as a result, then the board should speak to him about it.
The fans and what theyve been told is an irrelevance, and that should be dealt in house.
If we’ve got loads of money for wenger to spend, then the fans shouldn’t be told that, because that means clubs we’re buying from will be being told that, so clubs will increase prices this summer.
What like that stellar signing of big Sol! how much did he cost?
A
Obviously you would never say “we have £xm” but i dont agree with the idea that you can save money by being obscure about your financial position.
Any serious club out there will have an idea what kind of money we have, just like anyone who can read a financial report does.
So pissed off with football at the moment cant even be bothered to watch Barca! watching the 20/20 cricket I turn out the light and lock up now…..
LOL@ Real Madrid right now…200million and no trophy ha…ha…
No club buys our we dont have that kind of money line esp. with the likes of man city and other clubs willing to spend more.
we’ve lost out on so many good players because of that like essien etc. It just pisses the clubs and players off they dont even want to talk to us.
Time to abandon that approach!
Real Madrid are seriously ckoking
perfect timing…
oh dear barca…did Arsene do the half time talk?
Played 2 1 hour friendlies today Reggie, but season over, played last league game on Weds, we lost, but we still won our div by 4 pts, so will have to keep going and see if I can get 1 more season out of these old bones. My 15 year old played alongside me today, which was nice!!!
Been an awful end to the season for the Gunners though, after Barca I think the likes of A and I thought that we could have pushed on and at least took the league chase through to tomorrow. But the players have virtually ALL (bar maybe Sol and RvP) been a complete diappointment!
Major work is required and AW has until 31 Aug to get it done!
Its been another let down! seems like the same old story though pleading poverty and money to burn as well somethink is just not right……