Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013

AdamD

dvemail wrote: »

So is that a 1 or 3 match ban for Mert?

1.

Mickeroo

At least he'll be back for Everton, think we'll get by with Verm and Kosc for Norwich. Hopefully Verm will see it as a chance to prove himself again.

Skylinehead

greendom wrote: »

The problem is that Vermaelen has been even worse this season with far too many costly mistakes. Let's hope his time out of the team has improved his concentration.

Mertesacker's been brilliant this season for me. Today aside of course.

Pepe LeFrits

Everton have to travel to Spurs, us, Liverpool and Chelsea. I can't see them being in the mix at the end.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Kinda glad i didn't ge to see this now. Important three points nonetheless. Back in the top 4 for now.

gnfnrhead

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Everton have to travel to Spurs, us, Liverpool and Chelsea. I can't see them being in the mix at the end.

I said a while ago that they would have to beat at least three of those to be in contention. Anything less and they'll fall short. Hopefully we're the one they dont beat

greendom

Skylinehead wrote: »

Mertesacker's been brilliant this season for me. Today aside of course.

He has played well for most of the season, but when he has a bad game (like he does every now again) you wonder how he makes a living playing football - he was all over the place today.

Irish Aris

greendom wrote: »

He has played well for most of the season, but when he has a bad game (like he does every now again) you wonder how he makes a living playing football - he was all over the place today.

I'd say that applies for many players. A bad game is a bad game, you just hope that they are not that many.
The only negative thing that I can say about Mertesacker is he is rather slow which given his height is normal. This may not have been a serious set back in Bundesliga, Premier League is quite different though.

Harry Deerpark

Irish Aris wrote: »

I'd say that applies for many players. A bad game is a bad game, you just hope that they are not that many.
The only negative thing that I can say about Mertesacker is he is rather slow which given his height is normal. This may not have been a serious set back in Bundesliga, Premier League is quite different though.

He's only two inches taller than Usain Bolt. Some humans just evolve to be slower than others. If you start training for a 100m sprint, your son might benefit from it as your genetics may pass down to him. West Africans have been sprinting the most out of all ethnicities because of how they hunted for food.

HazDanz

We were lucky to get away with a win today. Showed up our complacency at the back again for those ten minutes after the second goal. Should have calmed things down and kept it tight but it was headless stuff.

Great win nevertheless just wish we made life easier for ourselves, those last twenty minutes were hell to watch.

Mr Blobby

Harry Deerpark wrote: »

He's only two inches taller than Usain Bolt. Some humans just evolve to be slower than others. If you start training for a 100m sprint, your son might benefit from it as your genetics may pass down to him. West Africans have been sprinting the most out of all ethnicities because of how they hunted for food.

............

Mickeroo

Harry Deerpark wrote: »

He's only two inches taller than Usain Bolt. Some humans just evolve to be slower than others. If you start training for a 100m sprint, your son might benefit from it as your genetics may pass down to him. West Africans have been sprinting the most out of all ethnicities because of how they hunted for food.

I'm sure you didn't mean that to sound racist but anyway :pac: ....most good sprinters are not tall. Bolt is a poor example as he's a freak of nature pretty much. It's common for people that exceptional to have physical abnormalities, Michael Phelps is another one, his arms are longer than average (plus he's double jointed) which gives him an advantage.

All humans evolved to be able to run long distances to hunt for food not just west africans, there's not a single animal on the planet that can run flat out for as long as a human.

kevthegaff

i duno, im tall and fast in a straight line but i can get turned easily. Small players are generally quicker the first 5 yrds, hence m owen, defoe and alot of big slow defenders terry, mert, huth etc

gosplan

What the hell are we talking bout here?

Anyway, Mert's not fast but that whole 'that will get noticed in the English game' stuff is a load of nonsense. I mean look at lionheart Terry.

If Mert doesn't make mistakes no-one will notice his pace. If he does he'll take whatever he can. Man ball whatever.

I'm OK with that. Good defender.

Drexel

Today was a great win. West Brom away was one of out trickier games I thought. We got the win even with a few playing bad. Thought Santi was very below par. Mert wasnt great. Giroud didnt have the best of games either. Rosicky was brill as he usually is when he finally gets over his injuries. He is a big 'what if' for me. What if he wasnt always injured. He could have been amazing for us over the years

Mickeroo

jonny666 wrote: »

Today was a great win. West Brom away was one of out trickier games I thought. We got the win even with a few playing bad. Thought Santi was very below par. Mert wasnt great. Giroud didnt have the best of games either. Rosicky was brill as he usually is when he finally gets over his injuries. He is a big 'what if' for me. What if he wasnt always injured. He could have been amazing for us over the years

Yeah, really is a shame about Rosicky. Still though, at the moment he's a very effective squad player and is fit just when we need him with Jack sidelined. If they don't ask too much of him it would be nice if he manages to stay fit for most if not all of next season.

AdamD

gosplan wrote: »

What the hell are we talking bout here?

Anyway, Mert's not fast but that whole 'that will get noticed in the English game' stuff is a load of nonsense. I mean look at lionheart Terry.

If Mert doesn't make mistakes no-one will notice his pace. If he does he'll take whatever he can. Man ball whatever.

I'm OK with that. Good defender.

I'm not. Nearly lost us the game on his own. Gave Kosc a few nasty situations too. The worst of all is that he was under very little pressure all game, he created the situations himself.

Drexel

AdamD wrote: »

I'm not. Nearly lost us the game on his own. Gave Kosc a few nasty situations too. The worst of all is that he was under very little pressure all game, he created the situations himself.

He has been playing well tho. This is the first game where I could say he actually had a bad game

tayto lover

jonny666 wrote: »

He has been playing well tho. This is the first game where I could say he actually had a bad game

He actually seems to make more mistakes when he's not under pressure though.
When he is he correctly hoofs the ball. I worry when I see it at his feet and no pressure on him as it's then he seems to make the mistakes like today when he passed to Koscielney and he with his back to him. Kos should not have had his back to him either though.

I was really annoyed today as it looked like we could get the third at any time only for us to cock-up again needlessly and allow WB back into it. We were very lucky to survive but were due a bit of luck especially when Lukaku missed a sitter.

I thought Fabianski came of age today with some crucial and very brave saves.
Hope he keeps it up.

Pierce_1991

tayto lover wrote: »

He actually seems to make more mistakes when he's not under pressure though.
When he is he correctly hoofs the ball. I worry when I see it at his feet and no pressure on him as it's then he seems to make the mistakes like today when he passed to Koscielney and he with his back to him. Kos should not have had his back to him either though.

I was really annoyed today as it looked like we could get the third at any time only for us to cock-up again needlessly and allow WB back into it. We were very lucky to survive but were due a bit of luck especially when Lukaku missed a sitter.

I thought Fabianski came of age today with some crucial and very brave saves.
Hope he keeps it up.

Mert has been our second most reliable passer of the ball this season so I don't buy the argument that he's shaky in possession. He's capable of getting caught on a through ball here and there but there isn't a defender in the league that doesn't make mistakes. Maybe Kompany is one that seems consistently reliable. For me Mert has been our best defender this season and we should remember that we actually have the best away defensive record in the league. He gets unfairly criticised imo.

greendom

Pierce_1991 wrote: »

Mert has been our second most reliable passer of the ball this season so I don't buy the argument that he's shaky in possession. He's capable of getting caught on a through ball here and there but there isn't a defender in the league that doesn't make mistakes. Maybe Kompany is one that seems consistently reliable. For me Mert has been our best defender this season and we should remember that we actually have the best away defensive record in the league. He gets unfairly criticised imo.

Fair point and though he was undoubtedly to blame for the pen and his sending off as well as getting Kos booked, it wasn't his fault the way the rest of the team panicked after he went off. He didn't force them to go long ball and to keep giving the ball back to the opposition. He does off days like that every now and again. I hope that's his last poor game this season.

Oranage2

after reading the comments I thought we might have drawn, checked and was delighted with the win.

I didn't watch the match but it sounds like we didn't make it easy for ourselves. Wba is probably our 3rd hardest game left so, and as someone previously said a win there will t put massive pressure on spurs and chelsea. See what type of bottle both teams have. And with both those teams having extra games in other cups they'll be more tired and likely to drop points, so hopefully we don't start losing nerve and fall over the line like what happens far too often.

As for mert, he's not a bad defender, his pace is very rarely the blame for a goal, like our back 4 and keeper they're a victim of a way wenger wants them to play. I've no doubt they're told to keep possession and pass it out or build from the back, but we usually have ramsey and arteta very high up the pitch or being marked, so the defense pass it about themselves even if they're under pressure, and our CBs aren't that great on the ball so they make mistakes and look foolish.

gosplan

I love the way we unanimously play the blame game whenever anything goes wrong.

West Brom are a good team, especially good at home (2nd or 3rd best iirc). For the last 20 mins we were a man down and they were in the ascendency.

The reason we couldn't get the ball and do anything is because we had 8 outfield players in 2 banks of 4 focused purely on defending.

The team did exactly the correct thing. They rode their luck a bit but that has to happen when you're down to 10 in such a tricky away match.

jordainius

Rode our luck in the last 20 minutes, but a deserved win over 90 minutes.

Fabianski has received praise for his performance, I'm not so sure. His shot stopping was good but he was a bit shakey and non committal for corners and crosses.

Mert? His wayward pass to Kos annoyed me, the red card didn't. We must wrap Kos and Verm in cotton wool for the next week, we've been lucky so far to get away with ending the January transfer window with only 3 centre backs. Sagna is probably on standby to slot in to the middle again...

4th place, pressure well and truly on Chelsea and Tottenham. A good weekend so far, hopefully about to get even better today.

Marty McFly

For all the criticism being fired at Merts im nervous as fook knowing we have to rely on Verm for our next game.

gosplan

gosplan wrote: »

West Brom are a good team, especially good at home (2nd or 3rd best iirc).

You don't they're 8th in the league and have the 7th best home record, 8th best if Liverpool win today.


I know that previous games shouldn't influence future ones but we're on a strong run of form, can't help but feel we're "due" a dodgy result or two.

Marty McFly

Marty McFly wrote: »

For all the criticism being fired at Merts im nervous as fook knowing we have to rely on Verm for our next game.

I think dropping Verm might have been the best thing to happen to him to wake him up. He was suffering a dip which happens every player and the worst thing you can do is keep him in the team when that happens. Wenger should have acted sooner

Marty McFly

Deleted User wrote: »

I think dropping Verm might have been the best thing to happen to him to wake him up. He was suffering a dip which happens every player and the worst thing you can do is keep him in the team when that happens. Wenger should have acted sooner

The problem for me is it wasn't a sudden dip in form since he has returned from injury last season he has pretty much been terrible making countless mistakes.'

Marty McFly

Marty McFly wrote: »

The problem for me is it wasn't a sudden dip in form since he has returned from injury last season he has pretty much been terrible making countless mistakes.'

I didnt suggest it was a sudden dip by any means. He has been awful all season but the thing is the manager persisted with him. Is Verm in a bit of a sulk over VP leaving or is he just genuinely suffering a dip i honestly dunno.

AdamD

Everton team to play Spurs: Howard, Coleman, Baines, Heitinga, Distin, Jagielka, Gibson, Mirallas, Osman, Barkley, Anichebe #EFC #THFC

Spurs team to play Everton: Lloris, Walker, Caulker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Parker, Dembele, Dempsey, Sigurdsson, Holtby, Adebayor #THFC #EFC


Wierd Everton line up that. Spurs XI looks stronger though it will depend on how Dempsey/Sigurdsson/Holtby do. Serious lack of pace.

blingrhino

Spurs and Everton - is a draw the best result ???

TheBza

I'd take a Everton win to be honest.

.jacksparrow.

Piennar and fellaini,best to hope for is a draw.

.jacksparrow.

That's that,marvellous.

greendom

gosplan wrote: »

I love the way we unanimously play the blame game whenever anything goes wrong.

West Brom are a good team, especially good at home (2nd or 3rd best iirc). For the last 20 mins we were a man down and they were in the ascendency.

The reason we couldn't get the ball and do anything is because we had 8 outfield players in 2 banks of 4 focused purely on defending.

The team did exactly the correct thing. They rode their luck a bit but that has to happen when you're down to 10 in such a tricky away match.

I really don't think that asking West Brom to come at us for 20 minutes was the right thing to do. We should have continued to play our passing game without committing players to advanced positions. We've have the technical ability to do that so I really don't know why we didn't. It worked in the end but I thought we caused ourselves much more anxiety than we needed to.

.jacksparrow.

Is fellaini injured?tryin to see who Everton will have for our match in 2 weeks.

Fallaini will be back for it

Mickeroo

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

That's that,marvellous.

Not quite yet

.jacksparrow.

Mickeroo wrote: »

Not quite yet

Oh I know,I like to be as pessimistic as possible,so anything else is a bonus,come on Everton.

Marty McFly

Deleted User wrote: »

I didnt suggest it was a sudden dip by any means. He has been awful all season but the thing is the manager persisted with him. Is Verm in a bit of a sulk over VP leaving or is he just genuinely suffering a dip i honestly dunno.

Why do you think VP leaving has had a effect? First I've heard of this. He was poor last season aswell when VP was here if anything his form sad to say has got better this season.

Sunderland 1 up and Everton winning with 10 minutes to go. Yes!!!

Marty McFly

Marty McFly wrote: »

Why do you think VP leaving has had a effect? First I've heard of this. He was poor last season aswell when VP was here if anything his form sad to say has got better this season.

I dont agree he was as bad this season .

You see it with players at times if a top class player leaves that another might become disillusioned all of a sudden and their own performance level drops.

Mickeroo

Spurs pulled one back there.

HazDanz

Arsenal and Everton for top four spots? :P

jordainius

I want a draw at WHL, need them both to drop points, Everton are in this race just as much as we are.

HazDanz

HazDanz wrote: »

Arsenal and Everton for top four spots? :P

That would be brilliant. Two fingers to all the Johnny-come-lately, flash Harry's with their wads of cash and the fact that one of them is Tottenham not-so-hot-spuds.

.jacksparrow.

Draw is perfect result,come on.

jordainius

jordainius wrote: »

I want a draw at WHL, need them both to drop points, Everton are in this race just as much as we are.

Thats true also though id rather lose out to Everton if i could pick one of the three clubs. I like Everton but i absolutely despise the other two. The only thing that could make Spurs any more unbearable is Chelsea or City's level of cash

Fuzzy_Dunlop

jordainius wrote: »

I want a draw at WHL, need them both to drop points, Everton are in this race just as much as we are.

They're four points behind us and have a ridiculous run in.

Still a draw is not bad at all for us.

gnfnrhead

Deleted User wrote: »

Sunderland 1 up and Everton winning with 10 minutes to go. Yes!!!

I was intentionally not saying anything so I couldnt be blamed if spurs got back into it. It's your fault now :pac: