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cubeadvance

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NexivRed

NexivRed

Posted
Posted

Here's hoping Gibbs carries on his good form, because Amalfitano looks a handful and has got a hell of a lot of successful crosses in so far.

:facepalm:

Referee was rubbish but we deserved a point. West Brom are a good side, Totnum got spanked at home, and we got a point away when we didn't play very well.

I'd have brought Gnabry on for the last 15 though I think, he could've made a difference and is probably more switched on defensively than Wilshere too.

Two thoroughly winnable home games coming up with Cazorla back for the next one. :)

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The Fox

The Fox

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Interesting that we're actually 5 points worse off compared to the corresponding fixtures last season. That said, I think we've done well to get where we are with a very small pool of players available.

When we get some senior wide players back things should become easier (just one of Podolski, Cazorla, Ox and Walcott could have made a big difference yesterday - having them all out at the same time is horribly reminiscent of the The Great Full Back Crisis of 2011). Hopefully we can have the majority of the squad fit for that run of games in early November; I think we'll know a lot more about just how good we are when that's over and done with. If we're still sitting pretty going into December maybe we can start to get a bit excited.

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toythatkills

toythatkills

Posted
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Interesting that we're actually 5 points worse off compared to the corresponding fixtures last season. That said, I think we've done well to get where we are with a very small pool of players available.

The points we dropped were against teams that are a fair bit better than they were last season, as much as Villa still shouldn't have happened, of course.

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Larsen B

Larsen B

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Comparisons like that, like nearly everything in football, are fairly meaningless though because it doesn't consider any extraneous factors like squad strength, whether the match was towards the end of the season and the opposing team had nothing to play for, etc.

Basically us having more points and more goals than the other teams is the important part right now. Keep doing that and we'll win!

I still have huge doubts about our abilities when faced with other contenders. That has been the key factor in our lack of success the past few seasons and will be the only way we will win something.

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The Fox

The Fox

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Are West Brom quite a bit better than last season? Not totally convinced personally. We really rode our luck to get a win there last season, especially after Mertesacker was sent off. Villa have improved, I'll give you that. That game just looks like a total anomaly now compared to the matches either side of it, and we all look a bit silly for getting so cross in its immediate aftermath.

Anyway, not claiming it's particularly meaningful that we did better in these fixtures last season. Just an interesting quirk.

edit:

I still have huge doubts about our abilities when faced with other contenders. That has been the key factor in our lack of success the past few seasons and will be the only way we will win something.

Liverpool at home will be an interesting one, given that we have to play Dortmund away and Man Utd away in the following two games. I'm confident about our ability to get at least a point at OT, injuries permitting (both teams will have played away in Europe midweek). Ideally against Liverpool you'd want to rotate a few guys but whether we'll have enough players fit by then is another matter. Cazorla and Sagna should be back, and hopefully Walcott and Podolski too.

I'd also be confident about taking points off Man City in December, given the space that they seem to frequently leave between midfield and defence now Barry is gone (space that Ozil and Cazorla can exploit better than anyone else in the league). Like the United game, both teams will be coming off the back of tricky away ties in Europe. Then we mercifully get a week's rest before Chelsea at home, which after a gruelling few weeks I'd be much less confident about tbh.

Basically, November and December are pretty brutal and if we're still right up there at Christmas then we're in with a shout for sure.

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The Fox

The Fox

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That run of games is nasty! I think given what we know about everyone's state of fitness, I'd do something like this:

29th Oct - Chelsea (H): Fabianski - Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Monreal - Arteta, Wilshere - Gnabry, Rosicky, Podolski - Bendtner/Sanogo

2nd Nov - Liverpool (H): Szczesny - Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs - Ramsey, Flamini - Walcott, Ozil, Cazorla - Giroud

6th Nov - Dortmund (A): Szczesny - Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs - Ramsey, Flamini - Walcott, Ozil, Cazorla - Giroud

10th Nov - Man Utd (A): Szczesny - Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs - Arteta, Flamini - Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla - Giroud

That way the only one who plays every game is Mertesacker. Shore things up a bit for the Man Utd game by playing two more defensive players in the deep positions, and have Ramsey/Ozil/Cazorla interchanging ahead of them, as we saw against Napoli. For Dortmund away I'd be inclined to play Walcott though as Dortmund's main weakness is at full back, and maybe have Ramsey sit a bit more than normal.

Depending on what sort of side Chelsea put out (it's a Capital One Cup match), I think we've got a good chance of getting a result in all those games personally.

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Cappuccino Kid

Cappuccino Kid

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What an odd story. The headline suggests a return to Arsenal, but the main text is all about a move to Man U. I've no interest in seeing him come back, personally. Arteta and Flamini are both better players, and far less prone to lapses of concentration, though I'll admit that Song did have a good eye for the odd ball over the top. But on the whole, his move to Barcelona has only served to emphasise that he's nowhere near as good as he thinks he is.

And I'll leave this here: http://youtu.be/8BqPjWB4bMU

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Larsen B

Larsen B

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Leaving this here: http://bit.ly/17cw84w

And I'll leave this here also: http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/alex-song-considering-making-a-shock-return-to-arsenal-how-a-tran

It's fascinating to see how all transfer rumours are absolute garbage. See also: http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/jackson-martinez-and-a-38m-move-to-arsenal-the-story-behind-the-r

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The Fox

The Fox

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Seems Flamini is one booking away from suspension, so expect him to ensure he gets that against Norwich to miss Palace, rather than potentially missing Liverpool, Man Utd or Southampton. A bit morally dubious, but let's face it, ultimately sensible.

I still prefer Arteta personally; he's less eye-catching but IMO is a better holding midfielder. Note that Flamini tends to have less tackles than either Arteta or Ramsey in that deep midfield spot, it's just people seem to notice his tackles more because they're dirtier!

edit: apparently Reus is out of the first game against us, and maybe the second too. Gundogan is a doubt as well. Bit of a shame.

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hmm

hmm

Posted
Posted

That run of games is nasty!

29th Oct - Chelsea (H)

2nd Nov - Liverpool (H)

6th Nov - Dortmund (A)

10th Nov - Man Utd (A)

Shame this isn't happening in May. Warm up against Chelsea, title decider against us, condemning Man U to relegation on the last day.

We win BTW, with a last minute goal giving us the goal difference we need.

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Lucky

Lucky

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Seen a few stats about how Flamini only made 1 tackle while Arteta made 6 against West Brom the other day. Just shows how stats, while sometimes interesting, can be misleading.

I'm an Arteta fan and think he is a very important member of our team / squad but there aren't stats for shouting, encouraging, demanding, leading & keeping your team mates awake and on their toes. All things Flamini does for 90 minutes.

I've said it before, apart from Ozil (and maybe at a stretch Lukaku, but he's a loan and doesn't count) show me a better signing than Flamini that anyone made in the window.

When we have all our players fit it's gonna be interesting to see what AW thinks is our best 11.

Especially choosing the 5 in midfield. Surely Ramsey, Ozil & Cazorla are certs but choosing two from Arteta, Flamini, Wilshere, Theo, Rosicky, Podolski & AOC won't be easy. Haven't even included Gnabry.

I know it's unlikely that everyone will be fit and available at the same time but we could have a strong bench at times.

We could of course alternate, rest and play players depending on the opposition but with every game being a 'big' game it's got to be tempting to play your best 11 and let the opposition worry about you.

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The Fox

The Fox

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I don't mean to denigrate Flamini's traits, but pointing and shouting is pretty trivial. I don't find it terribly interesting personally as I don't know what he's saying; how am I to know he's not shouting complete bollocks!? Also to be fair to him, Arteta does plenty of talking and pointing too. He's certainly not silent by any means, and as I said previously, I think he's a better tackler than Flamini (he tends to make more tackles but pick up less cards).

I like Flamini's spirit and I like the options he gives us, but personally I think some people have gone a bit OTT with him because he's so in-your-face. Just IMO, like.

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