Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013

Soups123

Disappointed too many mistakes, fair play to Walcott and Giroud. Wilshire was very good.

Chez really is making too many mistakes.

Liverpool fans really are the most delusional of all, it's the same every match thread, just fear it's us in a couple of years time!

Mr.Micro

I would rather play 10 men and not include Santos who is a total liability. Next time we need a sub do not put this joker on.

dvemail

It won't happen tomorrow but over the summer i would be expecting an all new back line with just a cover for Gibbs. Sagna has become clueless on the ball especially on attack and Vermaelen and Mertesacker just aren't good enough if we want to start winning things. Way too many mistakes between the pair.

tayto lover

dvemail wrote: »

It won't happen tomorrow but over the summer i would be expecting an all new back line with just a cover for Gibbs. Sagna has become clueless on the ball especially on attack and Vermaelen and Mertesacker just aren't good enough if we want to start winning things. Way too many mistakes between the pair.

Disappointed to see Mert turning his back on the ball for the second game in a row.
The Liverpool defenders were throwing themselves towards it in fairness. I hate windy players.

dvemail

Ah crap, Gibbs out for next 3 weeks with thigh strain.

UnknownSpecies

Soups123 wrote: »

Disappointed too many mistakes, fair play to Walcott and Giroud. Wilshire was very good.

Chez really is making too many mistakes.

Liverpool fans really are the most delusional of all, it's the same every match thread, just fear it's us in a couple of years time!

I've never followed an Arsenal-Liverpool match thread before. There were some seriously delusional comments in there. Inflated expectations all over the place.

dvemail

dvemail wrote: »

It won't happen tomorrow but over the summer i would be expecting an all new back line with just a cover for Gibbs. Sagna has become clueless on the ball especially on attack and Vermaelen and Mertesacker just aren't good enough if we want to start winning things. Way too many mistakes between the pair.

AHAHAHAHAHA!

Are you new to this supporting The Gunners malarkey?

greendom

dvemail wrote: »

Hearing good news that Fernabache may put in a bid for Santos. Suppose it will depend on the fitness of Gibbs. Would rather Meade there or any u16 left back we have laying around over Santos.

hopefully Santos will be on a plane tomorrow but Gibbs is out for 2 - 3 weeks so we must buy tomorrow. There were whisperings about Rangel in the Summer - he'd be an adequate back up to Gibbs and could go straight into the team against Stoke.

Soups123

Santos is going nowhere now.

I think the best we can hope for tomorrow is Diame

tayto lover

greendom wrote: »

hopefully Santos will be on a plane tomorrow but Gibbs is out for 2 - 3 weeks so we must buy tomorrow. There were whisperings about Rangel in the Summer - he'd be an adequate back up to Gibbs and could go straight into the team against Stoke.

It is not a new problem and should have been sorted out long ago. Bad management in my opinion.

dvemail

Deleted User wrote: »

AHAHAHAHAHA!

Are you new to this supporting The Gunners malarkey?

I know, i know, i wrote "expecting" should have said "hoping".
Still though our defence is abysmal.

farna_boy

Probably going to get slaughtered for this but thought in general Santos did ok. Yes he gave away the ball twice stupidly, the last one almost ending in a goal but other than that did ok.

It's easy to point out the mistakes, but if you watch him he always comes in and cover the centre when either Vermalen or Mert go missing. I counted three or four times at least he did this tonight. One was for the goal admittedly but Mert should have cleared that first time. Vermalen seemed to spend more time going forward than anything else and Santos covered him Every F*cking Time. The problem with that though is people just see Santos is not on the left where he is supposed to be and if a cross comes in it's all his fault.

When we were trying to play the ball out of defense, Santos made himself available the whole time, whereas the rest of them just seem to stand around, not looking for the ball so they can't be blamed.

Do I want Gibbs back there as soon as possible? Of course, overall he is probably the better defender. But I don't see the point of blaming everything on one player (in general) when we lose if the whole team was crap or screaming that one player played crap just because of his reputation i.e. what some have been saying about Ramsey over the last few matches when he has had the most passes/best completion rate.

HazDanz

Having Santos as a defender is not good enough. Having to rescue games is not good enough.

keano_afc

Crap, the dreaded 3 weeks for Gibbs. Wont see him for a long time.

We have to buy.

Pepe LeFrits

God, that was embarrassing.

tayto lover

HazDanz wrote: »

Having Santos as a defender is not good enough. Having to rescue games is not good enough.

The crowd actually booed him when he came on.

gosplan

We could buy whoever and our defence would still be terrible.

It's a collective mentality thing and won't be solved by an addition here or there.

They're not being organised/trained/motivated/inspired enough.

You could stick a mid twenties Franco Baresi into that defence and we'd have him falling over himself and shanking clearances in a few days.

Pepe LeFrits

Our individual defending has been particularly chronic as of late but it's so obvious that the midfield is all wrong at the moment. Selling Song continues to baffle.

Pepe LeFrits

... not that selling Song is the sole cause, of course. The shape of our entire team is all over the place.

tayto lover

88 million spent so far in the EPL Transfer Window and despite having 70 million to spend and a team full of holes Arsenal spent = ZILCH.

BUT we have two players for every position :rolleyes:

UnknownSpecies

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

... not that selling Song is the sole cause, of course. The shape of our entire team is all over the place.

Must agree here. I don't think Song would change our massive amount of individual errors or our general lack of a solid shape when on the back foot.

Maire2009

AdamD wrote: »

How about Vermaelen? Never seen such an uncoordinated defender in my life. Unless the ball plants itself on his foot he can't clear it, and even then he struggles to get it further than the edge of the box, incredible stuff. Genuinely would rather see Miquel play than Vermaelen, hes been absolutely awful for 18 months now. Sagna's slip was unlucky, but another case of him ****ing up really badly. I know Kosc gave away a pen the other week but he really needs to start, and so does Jenkinson. Everyone has been saying we might need to change to Jenks but Wenger hasn't acted quick enough and it has cost us again.

On the positives I thought Ramsey, Wilshere and Giroud were very good.

Vermaelen WAS good - he can play the game but I've no idea what happened the guy. He's out of position so often and making silly mistakes. I think Sagna's heart is gone and I think he'll move on, Jenkinson looks a right find though and puts his heart into the club so I think we'll be okay there if he continues in his form.

I think this new thing of building British might work - Jenkinson, Walcott, Wilshere, Ramsey, Ox - Brit lads don't tend to transfer as much, and don't "have a call for Barcelona" so if we can build a strong team with this core we could be going places.

keano_afc

We're putting square pegs in round holes with our supposed DMFs. Arteta hasnt the pace, Ramsey the strength and Jack is too good to sit there. Song should have at least been replaced if he had to be sold.

EDIT: My blood has just run cold with the prospect of Arjen Robben v Andre Santos in the CL.

dvemail

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Our individual defending has been particularly chronic as of late but it's so obvious that the midfield is all wrong at the moment. Selling Song continues to baffle.

Out of all the front 5, (excluding Giroud), only Wilshere and to a Ramsey track back and put in some form of tackle. It's something Podolski and Cazorla do shag all of and Walcott also.

HazDanz

farna_boy wrote: »

Do I want Gibbs back there as soon as possible? Of course, overall he is probably the better defender. But I don't see the point of blaming everything on one player (in general) when we lose if the whole team was crap

Yes you are right that it is a collective thing but deep down do you feel confident Santos can come on and do a job? I never do these days. If you are playing for Arsenal you are expected to perform at a high level and he doesn't manage that. His basic positional and defending duties are abysmal at times.

It's a managerial blunder having him as a replacement LB and it's going to bite us in the ass if we don't do something about it tomorrow.

UnknownSpecies

Maire2009 wrote: »

Vermaelen WAS good - he can play the game but I've no idea what happened the guy. He's out of position so often and making silly mistakes. I think Sagna's heart is gone and I think he'll move on, Jenkinson looks a right find though and puts his heart into the club so I think we'll be okay there if he continues in his form.

I think this new thing of building British might work - Jenkinson, Walcott, Wilshere, Ramsey, Ox - Brit lads don't tend to transfer was much, and don't "have a call for Barcelona" so if we can build a strong team with this core we could be going places.

I made the same point on here about 2 years ago and I was told I was ridiculous. British players really do seem more loyal to their clubs. I don't have any facts handy to back it up but in general, it seems so.

UnknownSpecies

dvemail wrote: »

Out of all the front 5, (excluding Giroud), only Wilshere and to a Ramsey track back and put in some form of tackle. It's something Podolski and Cazorla do shag all of and Walcott also.

Podolski maybe guilty of it a lot the time but I definitely think Cazorla does a lot of good work tracking back or at least winning the ball back high up the pitch.

Maire2009

farna_boy wrote: »

Probably going to get slaughtered for this but thought in general Santos did ok. Yes he gave away the ball twice stupidly, the last one almost ending in a goal but other than that did ok.

It's easy to point out the mistakes, but if you watch him he always comes in and cover the centre when either Vermalen or Mert go missing. I counted three or four times at least he did this tonight. One was for the goal admittedly but Mert should have cleared that first time. Vermalen seemed to spend more time going forward than anything else and Santos covered him Every F*cking Time. The problem with that though is people just see Santos is not on the left where he is supposed to be and if a cross comes in it's all his fault.

When we were trying to play the ball out of defense, Santos made himself available the whole time, whereas the rest of them just seem to stand around, not looking for the ball so they can't be blamed.

Do I want Gibbs back there as soon as possible? Of course, overall he is probably the better defender. But I don't see the point of blaming everything on one player (in general) when we lose if the whole team was crap or screaming that one player played crap just because of his reputation i.e. what some have been saying about Ramsey over the last few matches when he has had the most passes/best completion rate.

I still think he's a liability but I agree 100% that the result tonight or any others are not his fault or he should be made a scapegoat.

2ndcoming

Have to feel it's the lack of a true defensive midfielder that shows up the defence a lot of the time.

At one stage late in the game Liverpool were breaking with Suarez on the ball and 3 others with him. We just about had our back four shape and Ramsey (who did well tonight, I'm not knocking him) was jogging back to help, but behind the play. This was at a late stage and not coming off a particularly fluent or quick paced counter by Liverpool. The ease with which they found themselves in a 4 on 4 situation around the edge of our box was staggering to me, and if it was United, Barca or dare I say it Bayern we'd have been picking the ball out of the back of the net.

The forwards are gelling much better and Giroud is reaping the rewards, Santi is magic and Jack is the man, but as long as we are so willing to leave gaping holes behind our midfield and piling pressure on our defenders, goals are gonna be conceded.

Think it's a bit harsh to hold Szcz at fault tonight as well. He made a few good saves and wasn't really at fault for either of the goals.

gosplan

The only positive is Chelsea's and Spurs' results.

I've said it before. I could support racists and probably rapists when they pulled on my team's shirt. Hell, I'd even get behind John Terry if he played for us.

... But I just can't get behind this gutlessness we have. This mental fragility is such a pathetic thing when it's displayed by grown men. They just didn't want to be involved in the first half at all. From the minute the whistle went at kick off, they wanted to get back in at half time so Wenger could tell them how to fix what hadn't even gone wrong yet.

Utterly pathetic and as Pepe said, embarrassing.

It reflects badly on Wenger as well. A proper team would look to put it right themselves before halftime.

dvemail

2ndcoming wrote: »

Think it's a bit harsh to hold Szcz at fault tonight as well. He made a few good saves and wasn't really at fault for either of the goals.

Few good saves but had some serious brain farts also. That little flick he tried to do on Sturridge in front of our goals took the biscuit. He has too much confidence in himslef sometimes and it nearly cost us dearly there.

tayto lover

dvemail wrote: »

Few good saves but had some serious brain farts also. That little flick he tried to do on Sturridge in front of our goals took the biscuit. He has too much confidence in himslef sometimes and it nearly cost us dearly there.

He almost made a hash of a simple save at the end too.
He made at least 3 mistakes tonight which could have been very costly.

extra gravy

According to the Guardian, Bergkamp is a contender to take over from Brady. Would be great to see him back.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jan/30/dennis-bergkamp-arsenal-liam-brady?CMP=twt_gu

danlen

dvemail wrote: »

Out of all the front 5, (excluding Giroud), only Wilshere and to a Ramsey track back and put in some form of tackle. It's something Podolski and Cazorla do shag all of and Walcott also.

I'm sorry but that's just bollocks.

tony1kenobi

That was worse than losing to Swansea.

farna_boy

HazDanz wrote: »

Yes you are right that it is a collective thing but deep down do you feel confident Santos can come on and do a job? I never do these days. If you are playing for Arsenal you are expected to perform at a high level and he doesn't manage that. His basic positional and defending duties are abysmal at times.

It's a managerial blunder having him as a replacement LB and it's going to bite us in the ass if we don't do something about it tomorrow.

Being honest, I think I actually shuddered when he came on but he did ok tonight. He wouldn't be my first choice LB but then again neither would Gibbs.

Gibbs has a lot of potential but can have poor positioning at times and when it comes down to it, I'm not sure if he is that much better than Santos, and is as guilty as Santos is at times in what you have mentioned.

My only point about Santos tonight was that he was not responsible for us not winning.

Over the last few games we have shown how powerful our counter attack can be and yet, everytime we won the ball back tonight it took us an age to cross even the half way line, at which stage Liverpool were settled again. This is something that has been plaguing us all season though, not just tonight.

The other biggest problem we had was that we didn't turn up until the second half and again this is not something new.

If we could fix those two problems, I don't think there would be any problem finishing in the top four, despite our defensive frailties, but if they will be fixed or not or how to fix them is another matter.

tayto lover

tayto lover wrote: »

The crowd actually booed him when he came on.

Im no fan of Santos but ffs these 'supporters' should cop the fcuk on and actually encourage the player to do better when he is on the field rather than resorting to this petty moronic sh*t. Booing will achieve nothing. It is counter productive and if anything It will strengthen Wengers resolve to keep him.

He is on the pitch and while he may not do well he certainly wont do well if the crowd are on his back heckling the sh*t out of him

Skylinehead

Cazorla worked his socks off today, don't know where that came from. Podolski the same, one of his chances came from him clearing off our own line.

Ed Winchester

We really made a balls of it tonight. Without a doubt that's 2 points dropped. And with spurs and Chelsea both drawing, we're killing ourselves again.
Very disappointing. Lets be honest, Liverpool are a very very average team with one world class player.

greendom

Skylinehead wrote: »

Cazorla worked his socks off today, don't know where that came from. Podolski the same, one of his chances came from him clearing off our own line.

The speed and skill with which we attacked from Liverpool corners in the 2nd half was breath-taking

Ed Winchester

greendom wrote: »

The speed and skill with which we attacked from Liverpool corners in the 2nd half was breath-taking

It was, Jack and Santi were excellent. Theo missed two sitters and Olly missed an incredibly easy one too. On another night, we'd have hockeyed them.

To the tune of Que Sera Sera

He's Giroud, Giroud!!!
He's bigger than me or you
Your Guar-an-teed One or two!!!
With Giroud, Giroud!!

greendom

Ed Winchester wrote: »

It was, Jack and Santi were excellent. Theo missed two sitters and Olly missed an incredibly easy one too. On another night, we'd have hockeyed them.

Giroud's chance looked easy, but i think it took a slight deflection of the defender's legs. The understanding between the front 5 is getting better every game

iainconlon12

Ed Winchester wrote: »

It was, Jack and Santi were excellent. Theo missed two sitters and Olly missed an incredibly easy one too. On another night, we'd have hockeyed them.

Which were Theos sitters? Also, look at Girouds chance again. The ball touched the defender before it reached Giroud and there was no chance he could sort his feet out at that stage.


Santos has to be one of the worst players I've ever seen! Going to try not to give out about him too much though as it was Wenger who bought him and Wenger who should be held accountable for having him in the team.
WE NEED SIGNINGS!

Id say Fuk En No Wan about to sign for Arsenal. He'll join his 5 brothers who signed on the last 5 winter deadline days. At this stage we have the whole dynasty

bad2dabone

greendom wrote: »

Giroud's chance looked easy, but i think it took a slight deflection of the defender's legs. The understanding between the front 5 is getting better every game

yep it did just enough to take it off his toe - I was gutted when he missed it but again great understanding from the lads. The play in the build up to the chance was fantastic

Ed Winchester

iainconlon12 wrote: »

Which were Theos sitters? Also, look at Girouds chance again. The ball touched the defender before it reached Giroud and there was no chance he could sort his feet out at that stage.

Straight after their first goal, Theo should have buried that. And I know he's not known for his heading ability, but he had a peach of a ball put on his head at the back stick that he should have scored too.

I was watching it on a dodgy stream and missed the deflection for Girouds chance, so I stand corrected on that one.

Galvasean

Walcott 18 (11)
Giroud 14 (9)
Podolski 11 (7)
Cazorla 8 (8)
Gervinho 5 (3)
Arteta 4 (4)
Mr. Owen Goal 3 (3)
Chamakh 2 (0)
Koscielny 2 (1)
Oxlade-Chamberlain 2 (1)
Wilshere 2 (0)
Arshavin 1 (0)
Gibbs 1 (0)
Mertesacker 1 (1)
Miquel 1 (0)
Ramsey 1 (0)
Rosicky 1 (0)
Vermaelen 1 (0)

(League goals in brackets)

Good to see two of our front men on the mark again. Forget David Villa though. We need defenders! It was like watching the adventures of the three blind mice at the back today.
__________________

iainconlon12

Ed Winchester wrote: »

Straight after their first goal, Theo should have buried that. And I know he's not known for his heading ability, but he had a peach of a ball put on his head at the back stick that he should have scored too.

I was watching it on a dodgy stream and missed the deflection for Girouds chance, so I stand corrected on that one.

Ah yeah forgot about them bits. He probably should have scored them but I'm not gonna complain with the deadly form he is in. Glad we don't seem to see the 'dodgy' and 'inconsistent' Walcott at all this season!

AdamD

Remember the claims that Walcott was playing for a contract?


Hes scored in all 4 games since hes signed