Arsenal vs Bayern
… so yeah, when you’re a blogger you can just grab their…
*COUGH*
Good morning everyone! How are we doing today? I’m exceptional. Some casual beers last night after gym session #5 this week. It’s been good. I am in fine fettle.
I’m trying to long out the opening because there’s not really that much to talk about today. Mesut Ozil landed an assist against the Czech Republic making him the assist king of Germany. That led The Express to write an article about Bayern making a move for him in the summer. I mean honestly, has The Express had a decent lead on anything in the last 10 years? Complete waste of time as a newspaper. Last time I opened one of their papers, they had hailed some sports journo I’d never heard of as ‘THE VOICE OF SPORT’… imagine seeing that as a normal human being and not asking the paper to yank it?
Anyway, I’d imagine Ozil will stay with us. Apparently he loves London, he’s done the Madrid thing and do Bayern really need him? I’d be very interested to see what a Klopp or a Pep could do with him. I know he runs a lot, but sometimes his game lacks consistent intensity. It’s sacrosanct to call him out on it, but he really did go missing last season when we needed him. Maybe it’ll be different this year… I mean, who thought you could teach Theo strategic pressing and good defending?
Anything is possible…
Aaron Ramsey has taken up clay pigeon shooting… yep. For real.
There’s a really interesting article on the NYT from Rory Smith about Swansea’s appointment of Bob Bradley. It’s like football finally grew up. They ran a proper interview process that put reputation and glamour to the side. It’s that sort of approach that moves the old boys network out of the game. It’s that sort of approach that likely hasn’t existed over the year in the Premier League. Jobs for the boys, back handers under the table and dodgy dealings happening in backrooms. Good for Swansea. Would love to know how Arsenal run their interviews when the times comes.
Robbie Savage had something pretty embarrassing to say about Giggs not landing the job, so rather than read that, take a look at this beautiful takedown of his words. Clinical.
Marca asks the question we’ve all been pondering… why do Wales have weird team pictures?
Finally, big thanks to those in the comments yesterday. Much more fun!
SEE YOU THERE x
I wonder why the whole world is always concerned when it comes to the presidency of the United states ?? Anyway who ever gets elected, the US is focked !!
I don’t think the whole world gives a fok who becomes US president
its becoz people are bored, they have TVs n find it entertaining
There are only few people with TV who try hard to ignore it
Wow , I urge each of you to click on the link in the post and read the systematic and detailed beat down savage gets from those boys , don’t think I’ve ever witnessed an article get that battered by another blog before !
Draxler has been disappointing for a while, still a huge fan of his ability but it’s all too sporadic and consistency is what separates a good player and an incredible player.
He seems to only perform in the UCL, he’s been bang average in the Bundesliga for ages.
Meh his stats don’t bother me that much tbh. Alexis had only scored 20 goals once in his career prior to joining Arsenal so it’s not a biggy to me. More often than not you can tell within 10 minutes whether a player has ability or not. Draxler wouldn’t be starting for the world champions if the ability wasn’t top notch, irrespective of his club indifferent club form.
My other baby Fekir got injured again 🙁
What does Meh mean ?
“Meh his stats don’t bother me that much tbh”
Well they should as goals and assists win matches.
Top attacking players have the best stats for a reason (not talking iniesta or Xavi) talking about wingers and strikers.
The fact is he isn’t consistent enough and doesn’t have end product. Whilst Sanchez has.
“Alexis had only scored 20 goals once in his career prior to joining Arsenal so it’s not a biggy to me. ”
But no one is arguing that draxler should be scoring 20 you in your normal sly way have exaggerated my argument and in a manipulative way as to make my point/argument unreasonable… I simply meant he should be getting at least 10-15 goals per season which he has been nowhere near doing.
Draxler 2010 goals 1
2011 goals 2
2012 goals 10
2013 2
2014 2
2015 5
That’s extremely underwhelming
Sanchez
5
12
12
8
19
16
13
“Draxler wouldn’t be starting for the world champions if the ability wasn’t top notch”
Giroud starts for France is he now top notch?
“Meh his stats don’t bother me that much tbh”
Well they should as goals and assists win matches.
Top attacking players have the best stats for a reason (not talking iniesta or Xavi) talking about wingers and strikers.
The fact is he isn’t consistent enough and doesn’t have end product. Whilst Sanchez has.
“Alexis had only scored 20 goals once in his career prior to joining Arsenal so it’s not a biggy to me. ”
But no one is arguing that draxler should be scoring 20 you in your normal sly way have exaggerated my argument and in a manipulative way as to make my point/argument unreasonable… I simply meant he should be getting at least 10-15 goals per season which he has been nowhere near doing.
Draxler 2010 goals 1
2011 goals 2
2012 goals 10
2013 2
2014 2
2015 5
That’s extremely underwhelming
Sanchez
5
12
12
8
19
16
13
“More often than not you can tell within 10 minutes whether a player has ability or not”
If that’s the case why aren’t you making millions as a football agent? Why has arsenal signed so many duds if it’s that obvious. Yes a player can look good with a nice touch and skill doesn’t mean they can bring it at the top level that’s why metrics such as goals and assists are useful as they are evidence of consistency and end product.
“Draxler wouldn’t be starting for the world champions if the ability wasn’t top notch”
Giroud starts for France is he now top notch?
Let’s stop this hipster bollocks of overhyping young players who haven’t actually achieved much.
Massive difference between Clinton and Trump.
Stop Trump at all costs.
Maybe that’s why France ain’t current World Champions?
I mean sure his stats are underwhelming and it needs improving but that often comes with age with young players.
Lol L’Oreal, really?! He only started because of the Benzema saga and now he’s out the team again.
Also Draxler is a midfielder, Alexis is a forward, there’s a big difference. Draxler is inconsistent, sure. But look at some of the goals and assists he’s made on the biggest stage. There’s a reason his mooted price tag is so high.
“What does Meh mean ?”
Derived from a Simpson’s episode. It’s verbalising what a shoulder shrug means
Look i used to be a very big admirer of draxler, i still am, but i don`t think he has really lived up to the hype… But i do believe he his very talented and would come good if we should eventually sign him.
Some how i feel he would bloosom into a very good striker.
Hillwood
Germany didn’t win euros draxler was in that squad
So it’s a pretty pointless argument.
To suggest we should sign a player because they play for Germany isn’t much of an argument when said player scores and assists a pathetic amount.
Especially when we have people advocating a swap for Sanchez whose a proven goal scorer and has a decent assist return.
Let’s start actually using tangible metrics to rate players then this bizarre pick a youngster who has a decent performance every 10 matches
lol. Draxler wouldn’t get a place on the bench if Reus and Gotze manage to stay fit for a tournament
I think someone posted a link to a website were you could see all the channels in the world. Anyone remember?
I would never swap Sanchez for Draxler but would definitely add Draxler to Sanchez.
” There’s a reason his mooted price tag is so high.”
paper hype. Draxler is the kind of player that plays 7 good games in a 45 game season. we have them already on our team plenty
“I mean sure his stats are underwhelming and it needs improving but that often comes with age with young players.”
He is 23 going on 24 not 19-20
Or is going to be a works beater like your wellbeck Lol
The fact you were advocating selling Sanchez for draxler to play the utterly underwhelming welbeck whose the most unnatural striker and Lucas Perez a nobody whose only just arrived and played a couple of games. Is beyond absurd
And Marco Reus over Draxler all day.
I mean selling Sanchez to rely on welbeck and Perez is such an awful idea it comes from the special needs school of arsene Wenger logic.
It actually baffles me the terrible ideas people come out with
if Campbell would make better starts for arsenal than Draxler
lol. Draxler wouldn’t get a place on the bench if Reus and Gotze manage to stay fit for a tournament
This +1
Marko Reus is always injured…
scratch if. *stats
Gotze ain’t shit lol
You know nothing. Gingrich is brilliant. What he did as house speaker is basically unequalled in U.S. history.
If you dont admit that, you’re just biased because you disagree with positions.
And could Hillary and Obama POSSIBLY have done a worse job in iraq, syria, libya, egypt, and now relations with Putin.
Simply incompetent on foreign policy.
Yes Bush made the 1st mistake in iraq. Admitted.
But Current mess on Obama and crooked Hillary
Nigel, first mistake was Afghanistan, then Iraq.
Nice that you’ll give us one of the most cataclysmic political errors of all time… predicated on a massive lie.
… also, you didn’t mention that the previous administration had the US pulling out of Iraq and they set the timetable.
So kind of their vacuum.
Me personally Ian looking forward to welbeck coming back ,
Hoping he will come back fully focuses with a killer touch in front of goal…
Welbeck an iwobi were beginning to link up well, looking forward to that blossoming next year.
I wonder when we’ll see the WELBZ?
Who is this Matt o’reily of Fulham we are battling city an pool for ?
Anyone heard about him…
Another Dan Crowley ….
Hillary Clinton and Donald trump are both fucking awful options
One is a crooked to the core, corrupt pathological liar, bought and owned by her financial sector benefactors, with blood on her hands (Benghazi) and should be in prison for consistently lying about breaking the law over and over regarding the use of her private mail server.
The other is Donald fucking trump. One of the biggest bellends in America.
Choosing between those two is like choosing between eating dog and cat shit. Whoever is elected it will be a travesty, the only positive will be that the other one wasn’t.
Pedro,
Afghanistan was a lawless land under taliban where al qaeda built a home to plan and train attacks ..,Not a mistake to do something there. Directly attacked by al qaeda, needed to get the taliban out of control, who supported and housed al qaeda.
It’s fine to be anti war, anti interventionist, but if you’re charged with the safety of a populace, it’s unforgivable to not face the hard choices.
Yes, you’re right about Iraq. Crooked Hillary voted to invade Iraq as a political calculation the American citizens wanted more revenge. Bush screwed up the worst, as Trump says…, and we’re worse off today.
So i admit Bushs fk ups.. you can continue to protect the precious Obama, like the U.S. media. There are over 80 separate radical islamic terror organizations throughout africa, middle east, and asia.
Good luck to you and Merkel trying to reason with them.
And btw, Obama dozens of times said quote.. “Afghanistan was the right war” when running in 2008.
No more politics i promise COYG!
Pedro
Gee, I thought I would have been sin binned indefinitely for my Clash 1977 description of the USA, but it seems I’m not on my own about how I feel. Still reckon that MLS is awful. Anyone suffering from insomnia, take 2 MLS games, you’ll sleep like a baby.
Nigel Tufnel
“You know nothing. Gingrich is brilliant…”
Here’s some of Gingrich’s brilliance for all to see:
1. Obama is a secret Kenyan
2.. Child labor is ok
3.A Muslim masque two blocks from ground zero is ok only if Christians can build churches in Saudi Arabia
4.Colonies on the Moon by 2020
5.gay marriage should be illegal because it goes against the sanctity of the institution of marriage. Adultery and divorce are ok.
6.Waterboarding is not torture.
7. Death penalty for drug dealers.
8.And finally , he presided over Bill Clinton’s impeachment for lying about The Lewinsky affair, while having an extramarital affair himself.
Yea, Gingrich is truly brilliant.
I’m looking for more genius political insight from you in the near future.
Nigle and China have been watching too much Fox News.
Newt Gingrich is a joke.
Defunct and devoid of basic decency.
Politically irrelevant and spent.
Shows how far Reps have sunk that he dares stick his head above the parapit.
Lol is this the same Draxler that was benching Gotze at the Euros? Also Reus spends half a season broken, been like that for the last 3 years
No American President has the power to end a war. It is completely pointless discussing it. The most powerful military action taken by a US President was when JFK rejected Operation Northwoods.
USA was always going to invade Afghanistan – Bush was just the public face of it. Its been very lucrative for some. Killing over a million people in another part of the world costs a lot of money.
Reports that we’re looking at 20-year-old Portuguese striker Andre Silva.
Bamford10, I don’t want to jynx it but it looks like Portugal may be producing a top class forward for the first time in years! He’s still a work in progress but the potential is there. Can’t get too excited as it was only Faroe Islands we beat lol
“as a political calculation the American citizens wanted more revenge”
Ummm, no. The American people had no interest in invading Iraq. The Bush administration (in collaboration with the Blair gov’t) used lies about WMDs to dragoon the country into war.
Ronaldo padding his international stats with 5 goals in 2 matches vs the mighty Andorra and Faroe Islands.
GoonerDave
Interesting you mention JFK’s rejection of Operation Northwoods, as I was just watching a documentary about the JFK assassination the other day which argued that JFK was assassinated by powerful elements in the CIA and military because of his plans to withdraw from Vietnam and to neuter the CIA. Lyndon Johnson, you’ll recall, ends up greatly expanding the war effort in Vietnam and gives the CIA free reign.
I agree with you in part re US wars: the US fights wars in order to advance the interests of American capitalism, not because of the decisions of this or that president.
Tom
Thank you for your skewering of Newt Gingrich.
Hopefully England go with a decent line up tonight, it’s a shame that Lallana is not in the squad, as things stand I would say Lallana, Kane and Welbeck is my favourite front three for England, but we’re not likely to see that anytime soon.
For tonight though I’d go with:
Hart
Walker, Smalling, Stones, Rose
Henderson, Dier, Alli
Walcott, Sturridge, Lingard/Townsend
4-3-3 with a staggered looking centre, very powerful central midfield with the craft of Alli going forward. Each one of those three are physical players who enjoy getting stuck in, would cause problems for most teams even if not technically on the level of the best.
We should see more of a link up between the attacking midfielder and the ST with this system as well without Rooney distorting the set up.
Going forward though:
Henderson, Dier, Alli
Lallana, Kane, Welbeck
Would be my England line up, has a little bit of everything and I could see that being a very good team, no more picking names, pick a balanced team. That is a side of industry and physicality, directness as well in Kane, Welbeck and Alli, craft in Alli and Lallana, work rate all round and in Dier and Henderson a centre that could stifle a highly technical team.
Meanwhile, there was Arsenal involvment last night for France as Laurent Koscielny put in what was described as the ‘perfect’ centre-half performance in their 1-0 win over the Netherlands.
‘Koscielny: new dimension’, said L’Equipe, adding, “He probably signed his most accomplished performance in forty selections, prevailing in all areas of the game with a head of authority in the France team. We had to cover on the side of layvin kurzawa? Koscielny was there. We had to give the shoulder on Janssen, who had a tendency to mistreat Raphaël Varane? Koscielny was still there.
“We had to cut the balls of the head late in the game? Always present. He took arise to intercept another, in the first period, causing the opening goal Pogba (30th)? He, always him, him again. His ability to defend standing sense of anticipation and reading of the game were valuable assets to destroy the Dutch offensive.”
CA, I’m surprised you can always muster up so much energy for England games mate!
Kos was a man mountain last night, ate up everything the Dutch threw. Still going strong at 31, shame he isn’t a couple years younger though. Nice to see him getting appreciated properly in France.
Tom
Clinton may be preferable to Trump — who is a disgrace on every level — but she is a center-right warmonger and representative of Wall St, and she will give the US and the world more dumb wars, be they in Syria, the South China Sea, etc.
“Ronaldo padding his international stats with 5 goals in 2 matches vs the mighty Andorra and Faroe Islands.”
Great player!! He’s en route to a 4th Ballon d’ or no doubt.
London
I’m with you on Draxler v. Alexis. Alexis is obviously the more productive player, the better player — to the extent that you view them as both attacking wide players — and by some distance.
One reason for disagreement on the above — and on Welbeck and other players — is that there is an aesthetic component to the game and to assessing players which often goes undiscussed. A person might recognize that Alexis is the more productive player, but he might still prefer Draxler’s game, his style of play, his technical polish, his frame, etc. The same goes for a Welbeck, who retains support among many here despite disappointing many times. In some ways this aesthetic bias is unconscious — I am guilty of it at times — but it is often at play in our disagreements here.
That’s why it is good to bring stats into discussions and assessments, though stats alone or without context are not the end-all, be-all either.
All of this connects back to our infamous collective disagreements re Walcott vs. Hazard.
Honestly man this Clinton vs Trump debate is utterly boring. The cyberspace is filled with this. Lets keep it less on Le Grove.
So whats happening to the great Antony Martial, another hyped up youngster!!. London gubber, great debate re. Draxler!
*gunner 🙂
Don’t think I compared Draxler to Alexis to start with. People are missing the whole premise of what I was saying.
Romford not that Alexis is one of the best, but his loss can’t be compensated by Draxler imo.
By the way credit for the phrase “more dumb wars” goes to Julian Assange, who is still holed up (incredibly) in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. He was the first to say that a vote for Clinton (back when Sanders was in the race) was a vote for “more dumb wars”.
The British people should demand that Assange be freed — he is a hero, not a criminal — and the allegations against him are bogus and politically-motivated.
One million people gathered and marched in London to oppose the invasion of Iraq. The same should be done again in order to free Julian Assange.
Ok, that’s my politics for the day. 😉
ROP
Do you agree that there is an aesthetic component both to the game and to our assessments of players, teams (whether conscious or unconscious)?
Bamford, for sure, whether unconscious or conscious it definitely has a part to play. You can take Wilshere and Ramsey for example. I think the former is more naturally talented and more aesthetically pleasing on the eye but the latter has (to date) much better application of his talent.
Coming back to Draxler, he’s obviously a very elegant player to watch in full flight but that wasn’t my main premise for wanting him. Obviously Alexis is better than him but we’ve seen the impact Iwobi has had since his introduction to the first team. I was basically saying we need another type like that. Whether that be Draxler, Fekir or another is open to debate.
I’m never going to want to sign a player just on the basis that he’s aesthetically pleasing on the eye though. My original point was that could Draxler improve us. I think yes but others disagree. That’s the bit that’s open to debate and one which isn’t really clarified by stats. You follow?
Even six years ago look at the amount of technically proficient players we had:
Cesc
Nasri
RVP
Arshavin
Vela
Wilshere
Song
Rosicky
Denilson (despite the fact he wasn’t on the level of those above)
Diaby
Even Chamakh and Bendtner contributed without the style needing to be sacrificed. Part of the reason we’ve played better recently is because of the technical level being raised again.
RP
Haha.
It is just because I can see we’ve got the potential to have a decent side, enjoyable to watch and that could bloody some noises, not saying they are world beaters or that it is a talent pool on the level of France or Germany or anything, but just that it could be a lot better than it currently is.
Haha CA, I’d like to get excited but I think having a decent pool of talent is needed as we don’t have good enough managers to get the best out of what we have. England to me just always look like a team of strangers when playing. In midfield especially it’s really bad.
I do like Lallana a lot though. Two footed and goes either way. Think Klopp has been great for him. Looking forward to having Welbz back though I know I’m in the minority, got loads of time for him!
Yeah, Kos was immense last night !
Pogba’s first half was exceptional too.
tom
“Stop Trump at all cost”
The Trump presidential bid is effectively over.
What you are seeing now is Trump laying ground work for a right -wing media conglomerate.
Trump’s campaign hiring of Steve Bannon and Roger Ailes as its advisers , as well as Trump’s continuous pandering to his base in the general election, are a clear indication the the US presidency has never been his real end game.
His numbers with minority voters and white women were never there to begin with.
“Trump News “, shall we say.
trump and Hilary… who are there?
Kos should have conceded a penalty last night.
The thing with Draxler is that, you look at him from when he was 19 and you feel like he hasn’t kicked on on his promise back then. In fact he seems to have regressed.
He is not going to do what our bench players waiting for the opportunity to play can’t do. he’s just one that got media attention year too young and it hasn’t panned out for him.
at least Calhanoglu is almost always vital to everything Bayer Leverkusen do.
Lol no he shouldn’t. He was looking the other way when the ball hit his hand. Not even close to being deliberate.
Steve
But he didn’t. And even if he did, he had a stellar game yesterday
Regressed how? He’s inconsistent, sure and has suffered a couple injuries while at Schalke which is now over but the ability is still there. Look how he played for Germany at the weekend and some of the goals he scored for Wolfsburg last season. The second goal against Gent especially was that of an elite talent.
Calhanoglu I think is so basic. He’s a set piece specialist but other than that his game is lacking. Emre Mor, now there’s a talent.
sometimes you need basic players that give 7/10 in 40 games a season than flair players that turn up in quarter of the games.
we are filled with Draxlers
Am really not against Draxler. surely if he comes he can play a part and maybe elevate his game to a level that’s appreciable but for the money he might cost we could buy a much better player like Isco or J Rod or a slightly better one like Calhanoglu with less of the cash
“Kos should have conceded a penalty last night.”
You never ever give credit for the good that players do and always find something to moan about. You must be a fucking nightmare to live with.
“sometimes you need basic players that give 7/10 in 40 games a season than flair players that turn up in quarter of the games.”
Well said. Draxler is just another one of those who were massively overrated at a young age and have done little since to justify the hype. You are absolutely correct, Arsenal have a lot of such players.
Re consistency, that’s the main reason I’m a big fan of Cazorla. Not everyone’s cup of tea, what with the lack of physicality and the age thing. But he’s easily been our most consistent performer in the last 3-4 years. What’s even better is the standard of his play- you can always count on the guy to put in 8/10 performances.
Ok but you do know players don’t really build consistency until the later stages of their careers? We bought Cazorla at 28, Draxler is 5 years younger, you don’t see the difference? Anyway people are still missing the point
I’ve not even said that said player needs to be Draxler, just needs to be someone of that ilk.
We need to emulate Dortmund – what a brilliant scouting department. Emre Mor, Dembele, Weigl, Guerreiro, Burki, Pulisic..
RR
very well said. re Cazorla he’s the prototype of signings we need tbh.
could Isco be the Cazorla replacement?
could we push out the boat further and sign Jay Rod?
or do we go for substance over flair and get Hakan?
Questions the next manager (hopefully) will answer.
Nigel Tufnel
Afghanistan was a rural feudal area growing dry fruits with most beautiful landscapes and weather.
Americans , with a view to thwart the Russians started training Al Queda and gave them Patriot surface to air missiles in such huge quantities , that when both rogues fell out the Taliban had enough to fire up America’s ass .
Idiotic
Re Cazorla
“But he’s easily been our most consistent performer in the last 3-4 years. What’s even better is the standard of his play- you can always count on the guy to put in 8/10 performances.”
This.
His role is going to be very difficult to fulfil — and his consistency is even more amazing in that he started as our creative attacking mid and then as he grew older and his became slower he has adapted brilliantly to playing as a DM… and the performances have always stayed the same.
That’s why he was so so badly missed last year when he was out that injury for so long.
Thinking back on it, I would like to think had Rosicky stayed strong and fit he would have given our team Cazorla like performances.
True, Julian Wiegl has been a relevation!!. Dembele’s starting to rack up goals.