Gooooood morning from sunny Paris! It’s so nice to be back in Europe, feeling thoroughly unloved by the locals.
So, what have we today?
Well, we didn’t speak about the fabulous news about our new kit supplier. Adidas has only gone and won the right to sell us that bruised banana kit, haven’t they!
Arsenal rocked a mega-deal that isn’t quite as good as United or Barca, but pretty damn close to what Chelsea are making. You can’t argue with £60m a year up from £30m. Especially when you’ve been utter dross for 10 years. That money can be put towards new players, an Arsene Wenger bust, or maybe another crazy contract if Ramsey keeps scoring wild goals like the one he did at the weekend.
I really, really, really hope Adidas take some liberties with our shirt. Do something iconic. Bring the fans something quality. Don’t play it safe. Also, get Rhianna back in the mixer, Ozil plays better when she’s around.
There’s been a barrage of positivity after our 9th straight win. Rightly so, it feels good to be competing. It also feels good for many to feel absolutely vindicated in wanting a managerial change. As I’ve said countless times before, regardless of what happens this season, sacking Wenger was the right thing to do (10 years to late). However, I do think some might be going a touch overboard, I read someone complaining that it was unfair we’d not been considered title contenders. We’re not title contenders. We’re doing well points-wise, but let’s not pretend this 9 game streak has been pretty to watch, or without major flaws.
The real opportunity is going to be 4th. Arsenal are going to have some dark times ahead. Our defence is still very worrying, and we have a nightmare schedule coming up. However, I do think we’ve seen enough to say that the strategy of hiring in experience and a dash of youth might be enough to put us in front of a very flat Spurs and a United that will have to change manager at some point this season.
I’m really looking forward to having Koscielny back in the side, we’ve missed his composure and quiet leadership at the back. It’ll be great to see him pair up with Sokratis. You’d hope that’d bring a bit more sturdiness to the backline as we move forward through the season. It’s such a shame the Frenchman is 33. We’ll need to replace him with some top class this summer, hopefully, we can do that with Champions League cash money.
There was a little bit of noise around the Ramsey celebration in which it looked like he was making a point about his deal. I don’t really get it, he scored a worldie against a shite side, that doesn’t make him a £350k a week player. I’ve no doubt he’ll end up somewhere half decent, but the club already made a shocking mistake by propping up Ozil’s retirement fund when it was clear no one wanted him. We can’t make the same mistake twice. We can replace Ramsey with two younger options and still have change to spare out of the money he wants.
This is why Champions League football is so important. We’re now in a situation where we have to pay players a premium to join us. Ideally, a club like us should get away with paying less because we’re a huge stepping stone. I’d love us to become a more elite Dortmund (who by the way, are back to their most exciting). A few more signings like Torreira and Guendouzi and we’ll be well on our way!
Right, that’s me done, see you in the comments. x
yeah it’s unlikely we’ll be on the receiving end of one of those traumatic pasting that became a regular feature under AW.
Exactly. An actual DM, an improving Goalkeeper and a manager not afraid to make substitutions if it isn’t working out. I’m not sure we’ll be seeing too many 8-2’s or 6-0’s or 10-2’s under Emery
Marko
How many wide players can you name that are decent aerially? And as for having no left foot, Giggsy had no right foot either barely gets a mention. Very few players are actually good with both feet which I agree is pretty shameful for professional players on 6 figures a week.
Not saying he’s one of the best of all time but in the PL he certainly is in the conversation as a right winger.
Leno has looked good so far for me. Impressed with his reflexes.
Imagine picking Beckham over Ronaldinho though, changed the entire course of history for Barcelona and Real Madrid from 2004-2006.
Perez had a mare.
WE I’m not getting carried away or anything it’s not in me as an Arsenal fan but at the same time there’s no comparing the performance of the team or individuals in the first two games against what you see from the team or individuals now. You just can’t we were all over the place
Low is a very sly politician.
He just ducked beneath the radar and survived the calamitous world cup.
He let Ozil [and his silly ego] take all the heat from him.
Clever man.
Leno has looked good so far for me. Impressed with his reflexes.
For a lot of people there was genuine worries and he could have gone either way especially considering his form the last couple years but I always thought it was more a case of stagnation having not left the club earlier. I mean he’s made over 300 appearences for Leverkusen 200+ in the bundesliga probably shouldn’t have been that worried
Dissenter sly and clever nothing they just bottled sacking him for some reason.
“Imagine picking Beckham over Ronaldinho though, changed the entire course of history for Barcelona and Real Madrid from 2004-2006. Perez had a mare.”
Perez chose the money from Beckham, over the on-field genius of Ronaldinho
His contract runs out after Euro 2020 I think, they’ll probably give him one last crack at bringing that comp home as he brought them the WC already.
Yeah Carts was short-sighted though because the Barcelona brand grew hugely under the success of the Ronaldinho inspired team while RM went through a barren spell.
Think he actually stated he believed Ronaldinho was too ugly to lead the Real Madrid brand lol, what a tosser. Glad Barcelona and Ronny stuck it to him all of those years.
Should have sacked the freak the second he sniffed his filthy gooch hands that time
Imagine picking Beckham over Ronaldinho though,
Was there a choice there? I thought Man utd had Ronnie all sewn up and Barca nipped in at the last minutes, Ronnie abandoned his contract and went there. Didn’t know Madrid were close.
Or is this the illusional case of Arsene choosing Gervinho over Hazard again?
mystic
RM had first dibs on Ronnie apparently, chose Beckham over him as he was the more marketable star.
Edgar Davids..think it was him that remedied Barca. He was a wonderful signing for them
Or is this the illusional case of Arsene choosing Gervinho over Hazard again?
Bit of a stretch there mystic. But why do you think we signed Gervinho over Hazard
Didn’t know that at all Weagle. Well, guess it all player out well for both clubs. Both achieved what they wanted.
WE
Perez definitely hitting the spice cos Ronaldinho at Barcelona galvanised them.
I do miss prime Ronaldinho. Absolute joy to watch with those purely white tombstones
Throwing back the question at you Marko, who signs Gervinho when he can sign Hazard?
I asked first mystic. You said illusional you must have an opinion why we signed Gervinho over Hazard
Carts
Most naturally gifted player to ever set foot on the pitch for me. Some of the things he used to do with the ball were freakishly good, difference was the was in the middle of the Bernabeu and not in some back-alley street game.
But man if he didn’t love him some women weed and weather eh. Suppose he won it all and lived the life so the guy won on both fronts.
I will never forget Ronaldhino’s goal against Chelsea.
It’s a shame partying robbed him of some of his talent.
I loved seeing him lay with that massive smile on his face.
How do you toe poke with so much power with zero back lift past Cech (when he was the best keeper in the world
https://youtu.be/NRBjU-JdwuQ
Well, we didn’t have the money nor the ambition to sign him. Its pretty simple. Though emphasis is more on the money
Watch the gyrating hips, like doing the samba before he toe poked it.
Ronaldinho was a massive talent.
As good as Messi.
Well, we didn’t have the money nor the ambition to sign him. Its pretty simple. Though emphasis is more on the money
Ambition absolutely agree with you there with Arsene it was signing players like Gervinho to get you 4th instead of players like Hazard who get you challenging for titles. We absolutely could have afforded him though
Ronny was in a league of his own when it came to invention, flair and creativity.
But Messi is so much better it’s not even funny, in the final third there’s never been anyone better. Messi hasn’t scored less than 40 goals since 2009 and eh scored 38 that season winning the treble.
To put that into perspective, Thierry Henry who was one of the best ever CF’s never hit the 40 goal mark in a season in his whole career.
Ambition, not from Arsene corner but Stan’s and what he qualified as success. We could have definitely bought him if we werent overseeing a new stadium or if maybe our owner did a bit of what Abramovich did. Hazard is not on Wenger at all.
Marko
There was nothing wrong with taking a gamble on Gevinho
Hazard still says that he’s one of the best players he ever played with.
It didn’t work out…we moved hm out…end of
Weagle Ronaldinho is my favorite player but IMO I think Ronaldo is the most naturally gifted footballer I ever saw. Ronnie 2nd and I.ceman 3rd
I.ceman is a banned word on le grove. Is it so we can call him god?
Ambition, not from Arsene corner but Stan’s and what he qualified as success We’re blaming Stan on signing Gervinho over Hazard now? Doubt he knew who either was. So 2012 Chelsea bought Hazard for 35 million euros that summer we spent 50 million we also sold players for 59 million. The season before when we bought Gervinho we spent 50 million again and sold players like Cesc and Nasri for 70 million. The season after Hazard joined Chelsea we were selling Gervinho for 7 million and we bought Ozil for 42 million. Ambition yes lack of ambition was a key… Read more »
Gervinho was the same level as Eboue. Both could carry the ball forward with unpredictable dribbling, but their final ball was nothing short of atrocious 98% of the time. So many moves broke down through Gervinho.
Plus, his goal celebration..
Iniesta is/was fantastic, but Zidane is the greater footballer on account of his greater power, his force of will and his capacity for the spectacular. No offense to Mystic, but it’s not really even close. Zidane is not at the level of Maradona or Messi, but he is closer to that level (in terms of all-time greats) than Iniesta is. Iniesta is/was a fantastically talented and technical footballer, but he wasn’t capable of as many things as Zidane was. Zidane gives you dribbling, passing (short and long,) thirty yard bombs, World-Cup-winning headers, etc. Iniesta gives you great short passing and… Read more »
Jesus Christ, Stan Kroenke had nothing to do with signing Gervinho rather than Hazard. That is all on Wenger. The club had the money to sign Hazard; Wenger balked, went for the cheaper option and tried to prove to everyone how smart he was. He got it wrong. As usual.
Hazard is on wenger.
As is not buying Alonso. Higuain.
The list goes on
The buck stopped with wenger If wenger asked for another 10m to sign hazard amd higuain he could have got it
Same with Alonso. Another 1-2 million was all that was needed
Wenger had the control and the funds. He chose not to use them. Idiotic.
But he cared more about keeping his job than the ambition to win.
Mystic
You are on a run of phenomenally bad comments, mate. What are you fucking on about?
Wenger spent £23m on Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain alone in 2011-12, the year Chelsea signed Hazard for £30m.
We finished the year with roughly £120m in cash reserves.
He spent £20m on Cazorla the following year.
Wenger could easily have afforded Hazard. He chose not to, because he didn’t like the market’s valuations. This is the story of Wenger, the Don Quixote of world football.
To me Ronaldo De Lima is second only to Messi. The guy had it all, power, pace and the skills which I think people don’t give him enough credit for.
el phenomenon had the deadliest step overs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVuyoocwEzE
Great video, Azed. What a genius. Great step-over, you’re right, but he also had absurd inside and outside of the foot cuts, incredible pace, and I love that the nutmeg was a go-to move of his. Incredible player.
He was incredible until his knees went out.
He lost that burst of acceleration and guile but it’s amazing how much he still achieved operating at 60% of his initial form.
Whoever put wilshere as a better all time Cm than pirlo needs to be hanged. straight to the gallows with thee!!!
I like how every time Ronaldo beat someone they’d end up being it of the game on their backside
You can’t teach that
Looks like Emery won’t have much to spend compared to other rivals. The usual Arsenal mouthpieces coming out with the line that the manager will promote youth.
Ornstein, Mokbel, Wilson, Hytner make sure to sneak one or two sentences to any piece on the club.
Not expecting more than CL qualification and good football over the next two years
Dream 10 There is nothing wrong with promoting youth into First Team Squad so long as they are good enough. At the moment the only candidate who merits moving up is Smith-Rowe. Our Academy remains a long term project with perhaps two or three more players coming through system likely to be good enough for first team. So the club will always need to recruit players from outside the club to cover squad weaknesses. The commercial sponsorship which now exceeds £100 million pa should cover these gaps. Over next two transfer windows we need in my opinion to bring in… Read more »
Stroller.
You’re missing a winger
Emiratesstroller
Agree with you that we need four or five first XI players over the next couple of seasons. Namely, two CBs, LB, CM and a wide forward (we’ve never really played with a touchline hugging wide man). But, I believe that the progress of Iwobi, Nelson, Maitland-Niles, Nketiah, Smith-Rowe, Guendouzi will be prioritised over eye catching names. It’s probably why Gazidis and company opted for Emery over Conte/Luis Enrique/Arteta who have expensive taste. Our current academy crop are highly rated and should be given time to play. Growing pains should be expected
Title contenders is a bridge too far IMO but we should certainly be top 4 contenders.
Marko Lampard and Keane has more limitations than Beckham but it was their passion and determination to be the best which saw them drive into the upper echelons of the game. When Beckham played cmf for real he was fantastic. Cappella dropped him when he was manager and Beckham forced his way back into the team and was key to their title that year playing cmf. He was as key a contributor as Roy Keane for Manchester United and that list was just central midfield but midfield as a general category. It’s my list and Beckham is included. I know… Read more »
Azed Barca Ronaldo was unplayable. Had he not suffered injuries he would be in that pele, maradonna, Messi bracket but for me he’s the top tier below. Bamford’s bracket. Michael Owen was another who could have reached those heights. Had he not tore his hamstring agaisnt Leeds as a 19 year old in 98/99 he would now without doubt be England’s leading scorer and who knows? Maybe a World Cup winner. He was miles better than Rooney. Had we built the side around him and Scholes with Gerrard and Lampard as support act I feel we would have dominated more… Read more »
Bamford
Iniesta was more consistent. His ability to keep the ball, shoot from range, multi faceted passing range and to dictate game tempo at the highest of stages nearly every time he played is massively underrated. He too scored in big finals and semi finals when the time called and he dominated those games with his sheer brilliance. Even more credit that he did it with less physicality. Don’t get me wrong, I adore zidane as a footballer but for me iniesta is just ahead of him in my all time greatest.
I did not leave out a winger, because I think that Iwobi will be shoed into that role
and most probably Nelson will also be promoted to first team squad as well.
Personally I would like to focus on our immediate needs. That is primarily upgrading our defence and finding a world class central midfielder to replace Ramsey who it seems will be leaving the club either in January or at end of season.
Beckham is one of those players that was extremely overrated during his playing days but is now extremely underrated after he’s hung up his boots and called it a day.”
Most overrated player in recent history.
Couldn’t do sweet fork all but send in a nice cross. Average at everything else.
I think beckham is an icon. Easy to market because he’s good looking and talented. Had one hell of a free kick but fergie knew when to sell him. He was always an asset in a team. Would easily fetch you 80-100m in today’s market.
Today’s wingers Is all about pace and dribbling but back, having a technical winger with a wicked right foot was always a good thing.
Beckham also set up both goals in champions league final
He’s won everything at club level and contributed heavily to the success of United and Real Madrid in his time at both clubs
He also was England’s ONLY player for a while in 2001-2002 when most of our golden genratuon went missing.
Arsenal are not short of defenders on the books, but the reality is that none are genuine top class either at international or club level.
Most would struggle to get on the bench of our major competitors let alone play in their starting lineup.
Good defending is an art, which requires drills, discipline, concentration, anticipation as well as technical ability.
Looking at our current resources I don’t see the raw material to improve in that department both individually and collectively. They are always prone to making mistakes.
Stroller you think Chelsea or United or Liverpool have great defenders? Spurs do. City do. But the rest don’t.
TH14 will take the Monaco job after Jardim being fired soon.
I am absolutely disgusted. (Jardim and Henry were figuring on my shortlist to replace the old vampire)
But I still hope that Arsenal will be the next step for Thierry.
And btw, shame on Monaco. That’s their president who should be fired, not their coach.
A money machine they are, not a club.
Stroller “Good defending is an art, which requires drills, discipline, concentration, anticipation as well as technical ability.” From what you have seen so far ,do you believe that Emery will work on these points to provide a good defensive structure. Assuming that we can’t go out and buy the best ,the need to coach the players to work as a defensive unit is even more important ,similar to George Graham’s methods .. So far,through luck or judgement , we have got away with it at the back but I do see a slight improvement as to how we are defending… Read more »
Un
liverpool look decent to me at the back….Van Dyke and Gomez look a pretty good partnership to me with 2 pacey ,aggressive full backs ….
Their problem will be if van dyke gets injured …the back up is poor.
For me, Neymar wont ever be in the same league as Ronaldo and Messi until he learns to stand up.
The amount of times you see him go down for a FK or Pen when he could carry on and assist or score.
His professionalism isn’t anywhere near their level.
Ronaldo is a dirty fuck too but he will take a pop at goal over a FK any day.
As for Beckham, he was very niche.
In fergies system he was a machine, he was the artillery in a team that was built to his strengths.
He wasn’t nearly as effective at Real, as he was a bit of a one trick pony.
Pierre
Koscielny, Sokratis, Lichteiner and Monreal are all 30+ so I don’t see much potential improvement there.
Bellerin and Kolasinac are not natural defenders and make too many mistakes.
Personally I don’t think that Mustafi,Chambers or Holding are good enough but the latter may be okay as a squad player. He plays at least like a defender.
Mavropanos is an unknown quantity. I have not seen enough of him to make a
judgment.
Stroller
I think holding is good enough. As is Bellerin. We need a centre half and a new left back though more urgently than any other additions m
Verrati is on £133k a week at super money psg and Ramsey wants £300k?? Do me a favour
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/11522478/who-is-behind-man-utd-transfers
It’s amazing this doesn’t get as much coverage as Arsenal, who’s only player of relative note in this predicament is Aaron Ramsey. I think Arsenal have maintained the right stance this time round.
un na naai
Bellerin is a wing back so one can make some allowances for his defensive deficiencies so long as the rest of defence is solid.
Holding is at moment not good enough as a starting centre back against top class opposition. He is however a natural defender so he may improve. As I have said he is at moment no better than a squad player.
Stroller Our weakness defensively this season has been down the flanks ..is it the way the team is set up by the manager or is it individual players fault… Though it looks great when we are attacking with both full backs so advanced I feel we will have to play 4-3-3 if we are to continue this way and then one of the midfielders can fill the gaps… at the moment Torriera and xhaka are not able to cover the full backs . Kolasinac is a liability as a full back ,bellerin switches off defensively and monreal is probably on… Read more »
Maybe Emery has looked at the situation and thought “sod it” ,we will just have to go out and outscore the opposition …it looks that way sometimes.
Joe
“He cared more about keeping his job than the ambition to win”.
Oh so true.
I would go as far as to say that he cared more about trying to prove others how wrong they were, when infact all he was doing was stagnating the club.
His so called “honourable” philosophies and ideals prevented us from taking that extra step.
Oh yeh, that’s right, his VALUES!
Pierre
At the moment I don’t see at Arsenal one single outstanding Centre Back. They are all mediocre.
From my perspective they are good enough to sit on bench, but not to play against top class offensive teams.
We should not forget that we conceded already two goals or more against
four teams this season.
Pierre Morning. Another wonderful day for golf. I’m in agreement with you regarding our defensive frailties. Remember though that when you are learning to adapt to new systems and ways of playing, it will take time for players to adjust. Wenger had little or no defensive structure, so players like Bellerin, Kolasinac and, to a lesser extent, Monreal, will get caught out until things settle down a bit more. Imo, there are massive differences in our build up play and having Leno in goal seems to have added a more positive dimension to our play. All in all, things are… Read more »
If iniesta was as good as everyone is parroting, why wasn’t he a starter for those successful Spanish sides,
Was he that much better than Xabj Alonso or Xavi Hernandez Creuz who were the starters for Spain . He was in the same class as those two, not better.
No way that I jump on the Legrove boat
Was Iniesta better than Zico, George Hagi, Enzo Fransescoli, Zidane or even Riquelme?
It’s all conjecture really but no way he was a class apart.
No way. No how.
Stroller
John terry was until Chelsea started playing him. Same as ledly king. Look at joe Gomez over at Liverpool. Johnstones at Everton. Harry McGuire. Holding is performing well enough to start for a top 4 side and has shown leadership qualities lacking within the rest of our squad. He’s got bottle too. I think he could surprise you
Dissenter
Riquelme?? You’ve embarrassed yourself. He was a top player but not in the league if zidane and iniesta. No comparison.
And Hagi?? Again good player but nowhere near iniesta or zidane. Not even close
Una na
How are you doing ?
Like I said, it’s all conjectures
Riquelme was a genius, he just didn’t know how to get along with people.
Absolute genius
We should not forget that we conceded already two goals or more against
four teams this season.
Stroller
Before we started playing holding and Torreira. Different ball game since
“A NEW FORMATION Having played three at the back in midweek at Qarabag, we reverted to a back four at Carven Cottage – but it was up front where the intrigue lay. For the first time this season, we appeared to be playing two up front with Alex Lacazette and Danny Welbeck, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi stationed out on the flanks. It speaks of the tactical flexibility that Unai Emery has introduced this season, and it worked well here with both strikers combining nicely.” That’s from arsenal.com We looked so good going forward. Second half we were almost… Read more »
Dissenter. Yeah and he didn’t translate that genius into match winning performances at the very highest level. He reached a champions league semi final with Villarreal at the peak of his powers and that was it. Argentina- even less there. I get what you’re saying and I can appreciate your view on his skills as I feel similarly about other players who many don’t agree with. Wilshere being a prime example. But if we are talking not just world class players but players who defined their position for their generation then xavi, iniesta and zidane are way way above riquelme.… Read more »
Good morning Michael Torriera looks like a gem ..you can see his confidence growing in every game..bit of a play actor when he gets fouled but he’s Uruguayan so that’s normal I suppose. Leno is more agile and looks like he could be more a sweeper keeper and is more comfortable with the ball at his feet than Cech ,have to see if he commands his box. Lacazette is now the player we hoped he would be plus I have to mention Mhkitaryan who seems to get a rough deal on le grove …I would like to see him be… Read more »
Do you think Enzo Fransescoli was as good as Iniesta?
You don’t come across as a generation Facebook. You’ve been around a while, right.
I didn’t want to be the party pooper on you all’s Iniesta love fest. It just boiled over.
Why wasn’t he the starter for Spain when Xavi Hernandez and Xabi Alonso were fit?
Also
I’ve been saying all seasonthat we need to play welbz Mkhitaryan and iwobi with Lacazette and I was laughed at
The oracle speaks again. Said xakha was a good player and needed a def midfielder beside him. Oracle speaks again.
Said we need to get holding in the side
Oracle speaks again
It never gets boring being right all the time.
That’s interesting Raptora.
I just hope Emery knows how to keep their feet on the ground. We all know how it went in the recent past. Have a good run, think we are unbeatable then get made to
Look bang average by a top 6 side.
I feel playing how we currently play, the klopps and peps of the league will have a plan in place to cut us open so we need to have a plan b for playing them. Something we have mostly always lacked.
Dissenter
He was a starter.
Let’s see how Arsenal’s defence performs against Leicester and Liverpool.
We can judge better the progression after those two games.
Un
I’ve always rated holding ..he had a bit of a confidence crisis on the ball a year or so ago but he has always been a good defender..
My concerns about Torriera are that he may not be able to reach his best until he acclamitizes to the physical brawn that’s part of the English game.
Fulham took turns at kicking lumps all over the lad’s legs on Sunday and they are not a physical side. I know he’s a tough lad.
If Madrid and Kante can do it despite there small physique, then Torriera will adapt.
He was mangled on Sunday and he will get punished more.
Can’t stop thinking how we needed Torreira class type of player for almost 10 years ever since Flamini had that top season before he ditched us. And how if we had another striker like Auba and Laca in the times of Giroud or even before that partnering RvP and covering for him while he was injured instead of effin Chamakh. We were indeed couple of players short in the Cesc, Hleb, RvP time – GK namely (fk Almunia). And then there’s the Leicester year… #shambles
Iniesta won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award in 2012, and was also chosen as the Best Player of the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League. He was runner-up to Messi for the 2010 FIFA Balon d’Or and achieved third place in 2012.He was named by IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statics) as the World’s Best Play maker in 2012 and 2013, and won La Liga Spanish Player of the year award in 2009. Iniesta has been chosen in the UEFA team of the year four times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), and has been voted into the FIFA World… Read more »
Dissenter – Where are you getting this iniesta “he wasn’t a starter” stuff from?
He was an ever present from 2008.
Spain played one up front, sometimes a false nine in Fabregas, and had Alonso, Xavi and Iniesta in midfield.
Pierre
He’s young. He will get wobbles
He needs game time now to build experience and confidence but you can see already that he’s performing much much better in this new defensive framework
Like I say, he had the best striker in the country in his pocket in Diego Costa
Dissenter
You’re making a fool of yourself with iniesta
Unai
No he wasn’t a,ways the starter when Xabi and Xavi were in their prime.
My point is not to start a Xabi vs Xavi vs Iniesta shooting match.
All,I’m saying is that NO WAY, NO HOW was Iniesta better than these two. He was in the same class as them so when people start trying to rewrite history…………
“I’ve always rated holding ..he had a bit of a confidence crisis on the ball a year or so ago but he has always been a good defender.”
Contracted a particularly virulent strain of Wengeritis.
He and xavi were spain’s Go to guys. If they were fit they started
Paulinho
Two questions
1. Where did iniesta start from, in the BIGGEST game that Spain has played in their entire history, the World Cup final of 2010?
I merely stating that he wasn’t always the starter when Xabi and Xavi were available.
2. Do you think it’s heresy to mention Riquelme in the same breath as Iniesta?
Dissenter
Ok. That’s your view on his ability but yes, he started every game he was fit for Spain
He even had to play in the euros group stage feeling unwell or getting over an injury If I remember correctly
Unai
So how was Iniseta better than Xavi?
How was he better than Xabi Alonso ?
You do get the point I’m making?
People were lining up to pretend tha Iniesta was a class apart from all these players and I guess I snapped.
This is like the giants of Brazil conversation, i.e Brazil’s 1970’s World Cup winning team that was stacked with world class EVERYWHERE. you looked. It would have been impossible to say one was better then the other.
Paulinho
Looks like you have a bit of competition on le grove from Un …what was your percentage of getting things right …95% was it.
“Where did iniesta start from, in the BIGGEST game that Spain has played in their entire history, the World Cup final of 2010?”
He started where he always did. You claiming he was benched or something?
Riquelme was quality but it was only as a big fish in small pond with Villarreal did he really consistently shine. Couldn’t really cut it at Barca. Iniesta a level above.