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cubeadvance

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Ravern

Ravern

Posted
Posted

Most probably an overreaction, yes. Sorry. Those last fifteen minutes were fucking infuriating though. From back in the race to out of it. Probably would feel better if we'd just conceded in the first ten minutes and gone on to lose.

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Steve007

Steve007

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Steve will now no doubt tell us how Wenger is a cunt who is ruining the club, all 11 players are the shittest he has ever seen in an Arsenal shirt and that the only light he can see at the end of the tunnel is the club being purchased as an idle plaything by one of the most disgusting individuals the Russian criminal fraternity has managed to spawn so we can spend league ruining sums of money on Villa, Silva and co. The next few pages of this thread promise to be a real treat.

No, I agree with you actually.

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Ravern

Ravern

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Regardless, I think there's a lot of apologist stuff coming out.

He set up one goal, and freed Walcott on a number of occasions. It's a fucking thankless role playing up front on your own especially when you are given as little as he was. He's may not be pleasing on the eye but he does enough to justify his selection for sure, 5 goals and 5 assists in the last 8 league games is just dandy by me.

Consolation goals or against poor opposition. The thing is I see Bendtner as a bit of a poacher, really. But he's ultimately incapable of fashioning chances for himself. Comparisons with other strikers may seem at first unfair, but if we have pretensions to be title challengers then we have to make them. He hasn't got the strength and power of Drogba, he hasn't got the pace, agility or touch of Torres, and he hasn't got the drive or positional sense of Rooney. He's not a disaster, but Chamakh can't come soon enough.

Retained the ball far better than most of the team, passed fairly well and tracked back to put in some good tackles. Was limited because there was no meaningful movement around him

Not a disaster, not enough.

I mean what the fuck? Seriously. A youth teamer comes in an has a solid game like that and this is genuinely what you think. Jesus Christ.

He has missing from the defence for a lot of Wigan's attacks when he should have been shoring things up. He didn't win the ball enough in midfield. He demanded the ball a lot, but didn't offer any forward looking passes. He looked a bit like Michael Carrick, really. "Solid", or, more accurately, completely unremarkable

Diaby's real quality is that he can receive and hold onto the ball under pressure and he beats players with strength which is unique in our team. He failed catastrophically to show those qualities today as he did against Spurs and in both legs against Barca which is a shame. Slotting Walcott in wide when he had a great chance to shoot also gave further credence to the questions about his decison making stemming from failing to put Walcott through at the Nou Camp at 1-0 up. The boy is in a bad patch but he's got bag loads of talent

i.e. he was rubbish today.

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toythatkills

toythatkills

Posted
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Consolation goals or against poor opposition. The thing is I see Bendtner as a bit of a poacher, really. But he's ultimately incapable of fashioning chances for himself. Comparisons with other strikers may seem at first unfair, but if we have pretensions to be title challengers then we have to make them. He hasn't got the strength and power of Drogba, he hasn't got the pace, agility or touch of Torres, and he hasn't got the drive or positional sense of Rooney. He's not a disaster, but Chamakh can't come soon enough.

Comparing him to Torres is absurd and he's got, what, ten years on Drogba? Give him a fucking chance.

Oh, and he's absolutely got the positional sense of Rooney.

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carlito

carlito

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Bendtner's direct comparisons are Macheda, Ngog and Sturridge not Rooney, Torres and Drogba.

Can be arsed to quote, but in response to someone saying Sol was our best player I felt he really came up short. He was commited as always (and, bizarrely, in what I can only assume was some kind of optical illusion appeared to win a straight race with Rodellega) but he was our most experienced player and what's more, as captain, he should have been leading by example.

In my opinion that does not involve punting the ball up field with such regularly, even when it did find Bendtner we unsurprisingly struggled to gain possession of the second ball and it just gifted Wigan the ball - that's the wrong play, it's a desperate play and it belied our early control of the game. The thing that really had me cursing though was him surging forward with the ball from defence and trying to take on players at TWO NIL UP - are you fucking mad (don't answer that) it's the wrong thing to do even if you do have the pace and ability to do it, which he doesn't but against Wigan - for fucks sake! One of the few positive things Wigan have going forward is pace in the wide forward areas with Insomnia, Rodellega and laterly Moses and by forcing either Clichy or Sagna to come in to cover for those little Hollywood jaunts up field it just begs them to exploit the one semi-effective method of attack they have.

Roll on the signing of the never-before heard of eastern european CB from the Bundesliga who turns out to be awesome and the miraculous recovery and transformation of Johann Djourou from injured floaty jessie to no-nonsense third choice reliable centreback.

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The Fox

The Fox

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Akinfeev is going to Man Utd on a Bosman in January, I'd put money on it. Lloris will surely be way too expensive for us. Neuer and Ochoa are the other two names that keep cropping up and both would probably be cheaper than Lloris. Frey is the other one I've seen mentioned but he's no spring chicken so I dunno if he's Wenger's style.

I'd happily take David James if he was the only option though! He's way better than what we have.

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Macbar

Macbar

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I got a texed message yesterday regarding the dust cloud and our cleaner sweeping out our trophy cabinet. lol.

This shit i'm watching is tiresome, buy some fucking english players Arsene. Milner is job one.

(30 year gooner).

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Liamness

Liamness

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I wish we'd gone for Milner when Newcastle went down. Villa got a bargain. I've heard that dust cloud joke in every single form possible over the last few days.

Bendtner's direct comparisons are Macheda, Ngog and Sturridge not Rooney, Torres and Drogba.

I was totally going to say something along those lines.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Woah. Just seen the highlights. That second goal for Wigan...ouch.

When you've got Bramble and NZogbia scoring against you, things aren't good. Having said that, at least you aren't Liverpool :lol:

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Rev

Rev

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I fucking would.

This is the attitude needed.

Some people think it is rubbish losing. It probably is. But this guy, this one guy - he sees through that. He looks at Mr. Wenger and thinks..."I'd fuck his French ass all the way across the channel and back again, that beautiful bastard".

Yes, well done you.

:lol:

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Lucky

Lucky

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I know it's one result and a crazy 10 minutes, but really it isn't. I hope yesterday just underlines what we already knew and surely what AW must also know.

Without repeating myself too much, the fact is we have way too many dodgy players in our squad, don't have a top keeper at the club, have too many 'superstars' who just don't look like they have any fight, they've nothing to be scared of, not prepared to put that little bit extra in. Whatever happened to playing good enough, giving 100%, otherwise your Manager might drop you or sell you altogether. Everyone is way too comfortable at Arsenal, including AW.

Isn't Gazides meant to be this bigshot who's come to sort stuff out? Well I think he should give AW a bollocking and tell him to sort his players out 'cos at the moment too many of them are happy enough to just collect their ridiculous wages and are going through the motions.

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Dude Ranch

Dude Ranch

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Gunnerblog's managed to sum up how I feel about the whole situation a lot better then I could. Great read, I think.

Yes, quite true. It was obvious that the 4-3-3 was successful due to the workrate and the players Arsene wanting to operate in the system being fit. As soon as one, or cruelly both, gave way we were dead in the water. We had nothing to better United, Chelsea or Barca with and the worst part is that Arsene persevered regardless. It was obvious that we needed that ever elusive plan B. It wasn't actually that much of a brain teaser this season. 4-4-2 would have done.

Plus, the players were too often fucking lazy, complacent and brain dead. I don't include Theo in any of that, I haven't got a clue how to categorise him.

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The Fox

The Fox

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Sooo Wenger seems to have confirmed that he's going to spend some money this summer. I know we've heard it before, but it seems this year that he's saying it with a bit more conviction. I don't think for a second that he's going to splash out £70million or anything, but I do think we'll get in 2-4 players over the summer, and £30m for players + wages (plus money generated from departures) doesn't seem out of the question, given the status with the stadium/Highbury and all the transfer money we got last summer. Wenger must surely now realise that a new goalkeeper is essential, and we also need cover at centre back. Anything other than that is probably not strictly necessary, although there are still definitely other areas where we could improve the squad.

Problem positions

Goalkeeper - An obvious one really, as the position has not been adequately filled since Lehmann retired (and some would say not since Seaman retired...) If a new guy comes in, you would expect Fabianski or Almunia to leave for a small fee. I suspect Wenger (and most fans) would rather retain Almunia, but as the #1 incumbent he may be less likely to accept a demotion and so could press for a move back to Spain.

Centre back - Another obvious problem area. In all likelihood Gallas will sadly be leaving for France or Italy on a free, as I think if he wanted to sign a new deal he would have done so a while back. Silvestre is also leaving on a free, probably back to France. Djourou will be back from his long-term injury and will hopefully be fully fit, but his inexperience and recent inactivity mean he is not yet ready to be first choice. Wenger has hinted that Campbell will be staying on for another year as fourth choice CB, which would be a good move as he has impressed recently. It is also likely that a youth player will be promoted as an emergency/Carling Cup CB, which will probably be Havard Nordtveit.

Defensive midfielder - Alex Song has been nothing short of a revelation this season, but we have suffered on occasions that he has been absent as we do not have any proper cover in this role. If you look at our rivals at home and abroad, they generally have plenty of options in this area. Chelsea have Mikel, Essien and Belletti (and their other midfielders are bigger and stronger than any of ours, which also helps); Barcelona have Busquets, Toure and Keita; Man City have De Jong, Kompany and Vieira (and Barry, sort of, and Johnson if he ever stops being fat and injured). We have Song and...no one.

Diaby might have the physique for it but he's clearly no DM as he is totally lacking in positional discipline. Denilson is good in the tackle but lacks the physical presence and positional sense to act as a proper defensive screen. Coquelin and Eastmond are obviously nowhere near ready. This player doesn't have to be purely an understudy for Song either; having more than one defensive-minded midfielder available would offer us greater tactical flexibility and increased solidity in certain fixtures by making the in-vogue 4-2-3-1 formation a possibility.

Wide midfielders - This is not really a position we're desperate for if we are sticking primarily with 4-3-3, but if we want to go back to 4-4-2 at least on occasion then we could arguably do with at least one dedicated wide midfielder. Ideally this player would also be able to fill in as one of a front three, and a left-sided player would probably be preferable.

Centre forward - Clearly we cannot count on Van Persie to play 30 games in a season, let alone score 30 goals, and we can't rely on Bendtner for such long periods. Luckily it seems we are definitely getting someone in here.

Probable Outs

  • Fabianksi - £2m, fuck knows
  • Gallas - Free agent, Roma
  • Silvestre - Free agent, France
  • Senderos - Free agent, Everton
  • Merida - Free agent, Atletico Madrid

Possible Outs

  • Traore - Part exchange, PSG
  • Eboue - £8m, Roma (probably won't go if Sagna does)
  • Sagna - £18m, Internazionale
  • Clichy - £16m, Real Madrid
  • Simpson - £2m, Championship club
  • Vela - loan, Spain
  • Wilshere - loan, Bolton
  • Eduardo - loan, Lyon
    Probable Ins
  • Centre forward - Chamakh - Free agent, Bordeaux
    Possible Ins
    Goalkeeper
  • Akinfeev - £6m, CSKA (Is out of contract in the winter. Much more likely to join Man Utd on a free in January)
  • Neuer - £11m, Schalke
  • Ochoa - £10m, Club America
  • Frey - £8m, Fiorentina (Long shot)
  • Hart - £9m, Man City (Relations are good between the two clubs after our recent dealings, so perhaps something could be done here. Wenger may be wary of an English keeper though)

Centre back

  • Boateng - £11m, Hamburg (Probably going to Man City)
  • Mexes - £5m, Roma (Near the end of his contract so wouldn't cost the earth. Unlikely though)
  • Sakho - £7m + Traore, PSG (Looks like the most likely CB signing at the moment)
  • Cahill - £12m, Bolton (English so therefore automatically overpriced. Wenger may not be willing to stretch to the asking price)
  • Hangeland - £10m, Fulham (Wenger would likely deem him too expensive for his age. Unlikely)
  • Richards - £9m, Man City (Could cover at right back and centre back. Wouldn't be too expensive as his career has hit the skids at City)
    Right back
  • Van der Wiel - £9m, Ajax (Unlikely to happen unless Sagna and/or Eboue leaves)
    Defensive midfielder
  • Marcos Senna - £3m, Villareal (Would be a good short-term signing but even after a rough season for the club, he may be reluctant to leave Villareal)
  • Felipe Melo - £15m, Juventus (We were in for him last year but wouldn't go near the £20m Juve paid. He's had a shocking season so might be available for a slightly lower price)
  • Moussa Sissoko - £13m, Toulouse
  • Jack Rodwell - £17m, Everton (Likely to be fucking expensive, although Wenger is apparently an admirer)
    Winger
  • Hazard - £13m, Lille (Real Madrid have allegedly looked closely at him so that could price us out completely)

Obviously a lot of this is silly idle speculation, but hey, it's fun. If I had to narrow things down to more realistic acquisitions though, I'd say that we'll definitely sign a GK (Neuer or Hart most likely) and 2 CB's (probably Sakho + someone else). Ideally Sakho + keep Gallas but I can't see him staying now. Senna would be perfect but I can't see it happening sadly, so I fear we won't acquire any backup for Song. I think we're genuinely in for Eden Hazard too but he'll probably go to Madrid, where his career will inevitably turn to shite. So yeah, GK + CB + CB + Chamakh I reckon. Anything else would be a bonus.

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The Fox

The Fox

Posted
Posted
I think that's a tad on the optimistic side. Is there a decimal point missing?

Well, he's been better this year than he was last season. There aren't too many left backs around better than him, and Madrid were allegedly sniffing around last summer. Plus they overpay for players in general.

He's unlikely to leave anyway, of course, but if we got a good offer I'd be inclined to take it as I think Gibbs is good enough to step up. It's a real shame he got injured and missed out on a bedding-in period.

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The Fox

The Fox

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Its all about sorting out the defense and the keeper.

Yeah, they're the key positions obviously. It'd be nice if we could keep Gallas on as it would perhaps free up some money for a defensive midfielder if we only had to buy one CB. Alternatively Micah Richards could be a great option if we could find a buyer for Sagna or Eboue, since he can be RB and CB cover. I think City would sell but we would probably face competition.

My mate just texted me to say that someone, somewhere has linked us with Axel Witsel. The down side to that is that if he was to join then we can no longer take the moral high ground when it comes to snapped shins...

Anyway this squad would be sweet and is actually not too ridiculous:

1. Manuel Almunia

24. Vito Mannone

25. Joe Hart

3. Bacary Sagna

5. Thomas Vermaelen

6. Mamadou Sakho

20. Johan Djourou

22. Gael Clichy

23. Micah Richards

28. Kieran Gibbs

31. Sol Campbell

32. Havard Nordtveit

2. Abou Diaby

4. Cesc Fabregas

7. Tomas Rosicky

8. Samir Nasri

15. Denilson

16. Aaron Ramsey

17. Alex Song

21. Marcos Senna

27. Eden Hazard

10. Andrei Arshavin

11. Robin van Persie

14. Theo Walcott

18. Marouane Chamakh

52. Nicklas Bendtner

edit:

Really, why? Not wanting to go back to those dark days when you had Seaman being really good?

Well Seaman was an established international calibre player when Wenger joined, and Joe Hart doesn't really fit that category. Wenger's last attempt at buying an English goalie with potential was Richard Wright. That turned out well!

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hobo

hobo

Posted
Posted
Akinfeev is going to Man Utd on a Bosman in January, I'd put money on it.
Akinfeev would be my personal choice but it just won't happen I fear. I can see man utd getting him long before I can see us.
[*]Akinfeev - £6m, CSKA (Is out of contract in the winter. Much more likely to join Man Utd on a free in January)

Has he been been talking up ManU then? (like Chamakh with us)

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