Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15

gosplan

omega man wrote: »

Exactly, at CB and not RB. Debuchy is our first choice RB and so he should play there unless there are no CBs available.

I really think if we recalled Jenks and signed a backup for Kos, we don't need any other players.

Then we need a DMF - raid Dortmund in the summer!!!

Icing in the cake would be a world class striker. But as we've seen, improvements on Giroud aren't that easy to find.

Looper007

omega man wrote: »

Pool almost won the league last season without any world class players bar Suarez. I want us challenging right up to May at least. I don't think we need to spend anywhere near 200m to do that.

But he was a 35 a season striker, we don't have that. We could get 3rd to be honest. I can't see us not been beaten anytime we go away from home. I think we need some serious spending but some like yourself will disagree.

emergingstar

Think chambers needs a break now, he is after playing wAy too much football for his first season

I would stick bellerin in or even Monreal at CB just to give the young man a break

omega man

gosplan wrote: »

I really think if we recalled Jenks and signed a backup for Kos, we don't need any other players.

Then we need a DMF - raid Dortmund in the summer!!!

Icing in the cake would be a world class striker. But as we've seen, improvements on Giroud aren't that easy to find.

Can we recall Jenks in January?

gosplan

Looper007 wrote: »

But he was a 35 a season striker, we don't have that. We could get 3rd to be honest. I can't see us not been beaten anytime we go away from home. I think we need some serious spending but some like yourself will disagree.

It can be hard for a team losing a focal point like Suarez. It has an impact on how you approach the game and adjustment isn't so easy. So you see them knocked out of the CL group and struggling to compete for 4th.

Kind of makes the last decade of Wenger look good though.

emergingstar

I think we should sign cabaye on loan in January

Pudders

I spend £1600 a year on a season ticket.

I am in relative terms a football illiterate.

But I have seen Arsenal's weaknesses for the last number of years.

And We are terrible down the spine.

And We have no leader like we had years ago.

I am sick of excuses. That team in west London always seem to manage to sort out their problems whether it be January or summer.

Skirtel ...really no one looking to mark him... Zonal shot.

Spend the money Arsene. Or please let someone else. But no excuses or broken back signings.

gosplan

Pudders wrote: »

I spend £1600 a year on a season ticket.

I am in relative terms a football illiterate.

But I have seen Arsenal's weaknesses for the last number of years.

And We are terrible down the spine.

And We have no leader like we had years ago.

I am sick of excuses. That team in west London always seem to manage to sort out their problems whether it be January or summer.

Skirtel ...really no one looking to mark him... Zonal shot.

Spend the money Arsene. Or please let someone else. But no excuses or broken back signings.

This is a really good point.

I'd like to add that I do not spend money on a season ticket.

As such I think getting outraged isn't really justified.

I fully agree with Pudders point of view though. Those that pay thousands for tickets don't have to accept the notion of building slowly.

GavRedKing

In relative terms yere better then those yere fighting for 4th with.

Yere much better than Southampton, West Ham, and better than Liverpool and Spurs.

A fully fit arsenal squad is dangerous and should be 4th at the very least by the end of May.

Soups123

gosplan wrote: »

This is a really good point.

I'd like to add that I do not spend money on a season ticket.

As such I think getting outraged isn't really justified.

I fully agree with Pudders point of view though. Those that pay thousands for tickets don't have to accept the notion of building slowly.

I wouldn't count season ticket as justification, I get over twice maybe three times a season with my two lads and that costs a lot more than £1600!

We all accepted the rebuild but now there are very few justifications as to why we hold back and fans will start again to demand answers

Gringo180

We just havent got the players anymore. 3 genuine world class players in our whole squad whereas back in our glory years under Wenger we had world class players all over the pitch. I may get slated for this but, Chesney, Mert, Gibbs, Santi, Ox, Welbeck, Giroud, Flamini, Arteta, Wilshere just arent consistent enough imo. They throw in one or two great games in every ten but are just bang average players.

tayto lover

GavRedKing wrote: »

In relative terms yere better then those yere fighting for 4th with.

Yere much better than Southampton, West Ham, and better than Liverpool and Spurs.

A fully fit arsenal squad is dangerous and should be 4th at the very least by the end of May.

So you think that splashing the cash on Ozil and Sanchez and still finishing bloody 4th is ok then?

bad2dabone

GavRedKing wrote: »

In relative terms yere better then those yere fighting for 4th with.

Yere much better than Southampton, West Ham, and better than Liverpool and Spurs.

A fully fit arsenal squad is dangerous and should be 4th at the very least by the end of May.

Stop making me not hate Chelsea!

Skylinehead

tayto lover wrote: »

So you think that splashing the cash on Ozil and Sanchez and still finishing bloody 4th is ok then?

Well when you consider what the 2/3 teams likely to finish above us spend, then it's about right. Not what we want, but don't use the money argument.

tayto lover

Skylinehead wrote: »

Well when you consider what the 2/3 teams likely to finish above us spend, then it's about right. Not what we want, but don't use the money argument.

I know. We're threading water for years.

Gringo180

tayto lover wrote: »

I know. We're threading water for years.

I think we have been very unlucky with injuries also. I mean our 3 most dangerous players havent even been on the pitch at the same time (Ozil, Sanchez and Walcott). Sure Theo and Ozil have only played a handful of games together in over a year. We have to try and get to the bottom of why our players constantly pick up injuries every few weeks, no team could cope with the amount we get.

tayto lover

Gringo180 wrote: »

I think we have been very unlucky with injuries also. I mean our 3 most dangerous players havent even been on the pitch at the same time (Ozil, Sanchez and Walcott). Sure Theo and Ozil have only played a handful of games together in over a year. We have to try and get to the bottom of why our players constantly pick up injuries every few weeks, no team could cope with the amount we get.

I know.
It's like deja vous in here again though.

GavRedKing

tayto lover wrote: »

So you think that splashing the cash on Ozil and Sanchez and still finishing bloody 4th is ok then?

No but City Utd and Chelsea can buy both an Ozil or Sanchez in one season as well as other top talent.

Unfortunately not everything is equal in football but yere league position isnt reflective of the talent in the squad but yeve been crippled with injuries. After xmas with everyone back ye can easily push on and if the others slip up, and we will, theres no way the 3 teams in the top 4 will keep up the pace and for the chasing pack yere well advanced of them in money and squad position.

tayto lover

GavRedKing wrote: »

No but City Utd and Chelsea can buy both an Ozil or Sanchez in one season as well as other top talent.

Unfortunately not everything is equal in football but yere league position isnt reflective of the talent in the squad but yeve been crippled with injuries. After xmas with everyone back ye can easily push on and if the others slip up, and we will, theres no way the 3 teams in the top 4 will keep up the pace and for the chasing pack yere well advanced of them in money and squad position.

But it's not just the players, it's the mentality. We're fragile at best. Just look at our results against any team that counts.

GavRedKing

tayto lover wrote: »

But it's not just the players, it's the mentality. We're fragile at best. Just look at our results against any team that counts.

True but as been poi ted out arsenal are missing 4 or 5 1st team players and at least 2 if not 3 of those are leaders in Kos, Arteta and Ramsey.

3 of those on the pitch, especailly Kos at the end and Skrtel probably doesnt get a free header or at least a free run at it and down to 10 men, Arsenal see the game out.

Only city and chelsea have been somewhat consistent this year. Look at Utd they put together 6 wins and are now looking clear cut for at least a top 4 finish, if Arsenal do the same in the next 4 - 6 weeks during a difficult and busy period theyll be right up there for 3rd and 4th and maybe more, other results depending.

jonneymendoza

tayto lover wrote: »

So you think that splashing the cash on Ozil and Sanchez and still finishing bloody 4th is ok then?

its not. its unacceptable and soon ozil and sanchez will leave

GavRedKing

jonneymendoza wrote: »

its not. its unacceptable and soon ozil and sanchez will leave

I cant see it really. Barring a huge collapse and Arsenal finish outside top 4 which IMO, theyll get once everyone is back. Weve not had an injury crisis in years but our main cog misses one game (matic) and we lost.

Big players missing will cripple any team no matter how good they are.

yipeeeee

I'm just not impressed with welbeck, it's just another average signing costing 16 million.

Will give one good game every four.

Too many average players in this team.

Mr Blobby

yipeeeee wrote: »

I'm just not impressed with welbeck, it's just another average signing costing 16 million.

Will give one good game every four.

Too many average players in this team.

Oh ffs give him a season at least!

Soups123

yipeeeee wrote: »

I'm just not impressed with welbeck, it's just another average signing costing 16 million.

Will give one good game every four.

Too many average players in this team.

€16m is nothing in today's world of football he has done okay for a player if that expense, give him time before calling him out.

Remember the firsts seasons of Giroud, Kos, Ramsey, Henry, Pires etc etc

Give him til end of next season and call him out then

Quazzie

He cost £16M. In the grand scheme of things he is currently playing at that level. If he progresses next year then it'll be a bargain. Personally I think he has reached his level and will stay at that. I'm not stating that as fact, I just think he is at his level now.

yipeeeee

Mr Blobby wrote: »

Oh ffs give him a season at least!

I've seen enough of him through the years.

yipeeeee

What was up with Alexis today, looked totally somewhere else.

Could be his lady trouble.

emergingstar

yipeeeee wrote: »

What was up with Alexis today, looked totally somewhere else.

Could be his lady trouble.

Or. Could be just a bad game he was due one

niallo27

GavRedKing wrote: »

I cant see it really. Barring a huge collapse and Arsenal finish outside top 4 which IMO, theyll get once everyone is back. Weve not had an injury crisis in years but our main cog misses one game (matic) and we lost.

Big players missing will cripple any team no matter how good they are.

What makes you think they will get everyone back. Have they ever not had injury problems.

tayto lover

yipeeeee wrote: »

What was up with Alexis today, looked totally somewhere else.

Could be his lady trouble.

He wasn't on his own today.
Very few shone, maybe Cazorla and Chez but I can't think of another who played well. It was dismal.

yipeeeee

emergingstar wrote: »

Or. Could be just a bad game he was due one

I'm not having a go.

His head didn't seem there, was just pointing it out.

Soups123

niallo27 wrote: »

What makes you think they will get everyone back. Have they ever not had injury problems.

Yep before Xmas last season we were flying

wonga77

These stats say alot about our performance today. For a change I dont totally blame Wenger for the moves he made but the players dont seem to give a toss anymore and I wonder is it a lack of faith in him?

https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/546726474888544256

https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/546727719703420928

GavRedKing

niallo27 wrote: »

What makes you think they will get everyone back. Have they ever not had injury problems.

I think theyre all due back in the next 2weeks some sooner than others but someone will have to confirm.

Of the chasing pack, theyre the best equipped to make top 4, IMO of course and thats if we say City and Chelsea are certs for it and Utd have ground ourlt results while playing poor and still occupy 3rd. 4th is between about 4 or 5 teams and S'oton, West ham wont last the course, again, IMO. So that leaves Arsenal spurs and Liverpool. If i was betting my money would be on north london, the red half.

Ed Winchester

Probably, actually definitely, but i'm still in the pro-Wenger camp. He gambled during the summer, and it has backfired badly. But i still think he's a brilliant coach and manager. Klopp has shown that he's not quite the messiah. And i'm not sure who else i'd fancy taking over. The injury problem this season has just been horrendous.

Wenger in!

gosplan

Am I crazy? Like I remember clearly being very concerned when Henry missed a match ... But it wasn't that often. Maybe a bit more in his last couple of years.

I am not excusing Wenger his mistakes but it's

Best defender, best DMF, best CMF, best AMF.

Yes we should be able to cope with a single CB injured.

But no team in the world can absorb a loss down their spine like that

Terry - Matic - Oscar - Fabregas
Kompany - Fernandinho - Yaya - Silva

How great would that Barca side been without Pique, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta

We constantly get the line 'oh well Jose would just go and buy Matic'.

What would Jose do with the above?

This doesn't account for Walcott and Wilshire either.

Quazzie

gosplan wrote: »

Am I crazy? Like I remember clearly being very concerned when Henry missed a match ... But it wasn't that often. Maybe a bit more in his last couple of years.

I am not excusing Wenger his mistakes but it's

Best defender, best DMF, best CMF, best AMF.

Yes we should be able to cope with a single CB injured.

But no team in the world can absorb a loss down their spine like that

Terry - Matic - Oscar - Fabregas
Kompany - Fernandinho - Yaya - Silva

How great would that Barca side been without Pique, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta

We constantly get the line 'oh well Jose would just go and buy Matic'.

What would Jose do with the above?

This doesn't account for Walcott and Wilshire either.

Wenger failed to prepare properly for the season ahead, as he has done every year for the last numerous years. Players always get injured. To have no plan B is the problem

Ed Winchester

Quazzie wrote: »

Wenger failed to prepare properly for the season ahead, as he has done every year for the last numerous years. Players always get injured. To have no plan B is the problem

There's more to it that that though. Our luck (or other mysterious reason) with injuries has been just laughable.

No team can absorb those injuries and not suffer. No team.

Alfred Borden

Injuries can only be used for so long for me. City arent blessed with luck in the injury department with Aguero, Silva and Kompany always missing a lot of time and they cope very well as they have adequate replacements, sadly we do not and that falls at the managers door.

Ed Winchester

Raf32 wrote: »

Injuries can only be used for so long for me. City arent blessed with luck in the injury department with Aguero, Silva and Kompany always missing a lot of time and they cope very well as they have adequate replacements, sadly we do not and that falls at the managers door.

City can afford to spend 30million on bench warmers. Thats a big difference.

Alfred Borden

Ed Winchester wrote: »

City can afford to spend 30million on bench warmers. Thats a big difference.

We can afford adequte replacements, we dont need to match city but we can do better than Mert/Arteta/Flamini with similar money spent on them 3.

bad2dabone

I like mertesacker as a guy. He's intelligent, funny and decent. I'd like to think that me and per could be mates, enjoy a spot of fishing on a bank holiday Monday, or meet up on a Friday after work for a few nice beers with the lads.
But he's been absolutely dog**** since the world cup, and for any club with our resources he'd be dropped.
Per, sort yourself out.
It really is negligence that we can't drop him because we literally only have two cb's. We need two more in January. Why we didn't pick up a cb in the summer vexes me.
Not that I blame per for our continued ****ness this season. He's merely a cog in the machine of crap.

efb

omega man wrote: »

Pool almost won the league last season without any world class players bar Suarez. I want us challenging right up to May at least. I don't think we need to spend anywhere near 200m to do that.

almost, but didn't.

gosplan

Raf32 wrote: »

We can afford adequte replacements, we dont need to match city but we can do better than Mert/Arteta/Flamini with similar money spent on them 3.

People need to chill out on the Mert hate.

Don't remember too many saying that

A: Verm should have played instead of him last season
B: we should have upgraded him in the summer

We needed a 4th CB in the summer. We started the year with our best Czb pairing for a decade.

Well that was absolutely pathetic.

gosplan

Deleted User wrote: »

Well that was absolutely pathetic.

Debuchy in the middle
Mert without Kos
Chambers wide
Flamini
Welbeck on the wing

That's not better than Liverpool's team.

Also half injured Ox playing in a new position. High hopes for him, his physicality might be great there but yesterday not his best day.

Going into the game you could say you we're happy about Caz, Giroud, Gibbs and Santi.

jonneymendoza

wonga77 wrote: »

These stats say alot about our performance today. For a change I dont totally blame Wenger for the moves he made but the players dont seem to give a toss anymore and I wonder is it a lack of faith in him?

https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/546726474888544256

https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/546727719703420928

how about when barca played us a few times?

am sure they had like 70% possesion when we played them at the nuo camp with 10 men

gosplan

jonneymendoza wrote: »

how about when barca played us a few times?

am sure they had like 70% possesion when we played them at the nuo camp with 10 men

I'm not saying we played very well but those stats are the result of two major changes in Wenger's outlook.

1: having two players like Welbeck and Sanchez who lose the ball a lot

2: focussing on defending rather than attacking for a tricky away match, especially in the first half where we played with 2 DMFs

People have been going mental at Wenger for years to get a bit of physicality in and stop passing it side to side. People have been going mental because we don't focus on the defensive aide of things in tough away games.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

The worst thing about yesterday was missing all those corners. Criminal with Liverpool's defence.

Looper007

yipeeeee wrote: »

What was up with Alexis today, looked totally somewhere else.

Could be his lady trouble.

He can't be top class in every game. It was his worse game for us though. Although he did notch up another assist.

I think even if we sign the players we need, the problems won't go away. It's really deep rooted and it's at the feet of Wenger. He's not a Defensive minded coach, you can tell that with the players he signs. I think we need to strap in for two more years of struggle and Wenger crappy excuses. It's not going to change, its been happening for the last 5 years.