Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15

byrneg28

Raf32 wrote: »

The man who carried us there in the first place. Easily forgotten im sure.

Many apologies

Alfred Borden

byrneg28 wrote: »

Yeah you're right. I was just peeved off with that red

Me too. The club and Jens deserved so much more than that. Bobby too

Pierce_1991

byrneg28 wrote: »

Yeah you're right. I was just peeved off with that red

Would have won that night with 11 players on the pitch.

batistuta9

byrneg28 wrote: »

The man who cost us the Champions League final for his rash decision making ! What a great!

not fair on Henry that :pac:

byrneg28

batistuta9 wrote: »

not fair on Henry that :pac:

I already apologised Gabriel!

batistuta9

byrneg28 wrote: »

I already apologised Gabriel!

it was a joke, Gary

Oranage2

Synz is the last line of defense so when a goal is scored eyes are on him but but look at the rest of our defense - kos has a lot of brain farts too, Mest has the mobility of a rhino and is as brave as a mouse, gibbs positionally is shocking and debuchy isn't here long enough to judge.

We also Haven't got a midfielder who offers the defense any real protection. Replacing him won't sure up anything.

Kirby

Rhino's are quick.

Sloth. Sloth is the animal you are looking for.....

byrneg28

Kirby wrote: »

Rhino's are quick.

Sloth. Sloth is the animal you are looking for.....

Mobility he said. Have you ever seen a Rhino make a quick turn and sprint

Soups123

Raf32 wrote: »

The man who carried us there in the first place. Easily forgotten im sure.

Great keeper, loved Lehman but he made his fair share of mistakes too as many as Chez. Chez has given all the signs he can reach that level.

I think they are very similar just one was more experienced when we had him

Bobby Baccala

Can't agree that gibbs is poor as far as positioning is concerned, I think he's shaping up to be a great left back

Ardennes1944

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

Can't agree that gibbs is poor as far as positioning is concerned, I think he's shaping up to be a great left back

Same, you dont hear much about him after any game which for me is a good thing.

Alfred Borden

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

Can't agree that gibbs is poor as far as positioning is concerned, I think he's shaping up to be a great left back

Between himself and Monreal we really are sorted there. Prefer Monreal myself but both are very good.

Bobby Baccala

Raf32 wrote: »

Between himself and Monreal we really are sorted there. Prefer Monreal myself but both are very good.

How come you prefer Monreal? I agree they're both solid, always put in a good shift!

On another note I think as soon as gnabry is fit (if he isn't already) he should be sent out on loan, no real place in the squad for him atm with Walcott ox and Sanchez all playing the same position. Maybe if we sell Campbell gnabry can take his spot!

Alfred Borden

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

How come you prefer Monreal? I agree they're both solid, always put in a good shift!

I just find him more dependable and far better in the final third, better crosser of the ball. No knock on Gibbs though, he has the higher ceiling, really like both of them.

Soups123

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

Can't agree that gibbs is poor as far as positioning is concerned, I think he's shaping up to be a great left back

Football opinion is so diverse! I would see positioning as his biggest weakness.

Thats said not sure how much of this down to being told to play a highline and Wengers decision to use our FBs as wing backs

Bobby Baccala

Soups123 wrote: »

Football opinion is so diverse! I would see positioning as his biggest weakness.

Thats said not sure how much of this down to being told to play a highline and Wengers decision to use our FBs as wing backs

In fairness to the lad when he does get caught out of position he certainly has the pace to get back. I think playing with what is essentially wingbacks but with only one decent cb is where we fall apart in defense. And when chambers plays rb it's twice as bad.

Soups123

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

In fairness to the lad when he does get caught out of position he certainly has the pace to get back. I think playing with what is essentially wingbacks but with only one decent cb is where we fall apart in defense. And when chambers plays rb it's twice as bad.

Possibly it may be the reason, would like a better end product too but that just being greedy.

But would agree we very rarely refer to him as the cause of goal these days

WoollyRedHat

I hope those slating Chez and putting him to the dust heap will own up and admit they made a mistake when he proves the doubters wrong.

Soups123

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

I hope those slating Chez and putting him to the dust heap will own up and admit they made a mistake when he proves the doubters wrong.

I'm not sure people are putting him to the dust heap, some just feel we could do better. I don't but I wouldnt turn my nose up to a Cech, Courtois, Neuer etc.

Even someone like Cech to really challenge him, maybe Ospina might do that

tayto lover

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

Can't agree that gibbs is poor as far as positioning is concerned, I think he's shaping up to be a great left back

I think he's a poor tackler and slow to close opponents down thus allowing them get crosses in. He has not progressed imo in the last few years.

tayto lover

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

I hope those slating Chez and putting him to the dust heap will own up and admit they made a mistake when he proves the doubters wrong.

Chez is generally a good keeper.
Definitely a good shot stopper.
But he's always liable to mistakes. One mistake is bad enough but two in the same game is too much.
He will learn from it hopefully and improve though.

Alfred Borden

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

I hope those slating Chez and putting him to the dust heap will own up and admit they made a mistake when he proves the doubters wrong.

I hope he proves me wrong and turns into a top 5 gk in the world. Cant see it but lets hope. Just wish we took Lloris and didnt go for the cheap option a few years ago.

WoollyRedHat

I just think it's unfair to say he won't get any better when he still has a long career ahead of him.

I think it will benefit him to be rested for a few games for Ospina, invite some competition like the last time with Fab.

Chez's passion for the club cannot be questioned imo.

byrneg28

tayto lover wrote: »

Chez is generally a good keeper.
Definitely a good shot stopper.
But he's always liable to mistakes. One mistake is bad enough but two in the same game is too much.
He will learn from it hopefully and improve though.

This shot-stopper phrase is used far too much in my opinion for a goalkeeper who's good but not quite there e.g. Mignolet and De Gea were always called good shot stoppers and now one has gone backwards to a poor keeper and one is an all-round fantastic keeper.

Pros:
Szczesny is excellent at commanding his box with crosses, corners etc.
He is a decent shot-stopper - I've seen a lot of shots were I would be like should have saved that
He's quick and quite aerobic for a big guy.

Cons:
Szczesny has awful decision making skills
Rash in one-on-ones
Somewhat cocky


Like his cons are mostly mental skills rather than physical, it's up to him to change them or for someone to set him straight. Maybe Wenger's management style isn't the best for this.

Alfred Borden

His distribution is also terrible, below average for a top team.

byrneg28

Raf32 wrote: »

His distribution is also terrible, below average for a top team.

Are you basing that on Stats or watching?

byrneg28

Morning all, thankfully we’ll have a press conference this morning and we can start looking forward to this weekend’s game against Stoke – as much as you can look forward to a game against Stoke – simply so something other than Wojciech Szczesny’s dad is the main story of the day.

You know things are slow when he’s shooting his mouth off, and his comments, made without apparently even speaking to his son, won’t really have done him much good. They probably won’t do much harm either but it’s bound to make things a little bit awkward in the dressing room when your father is slagging off your teammates.

It’s not the first time he’s put Wojciech in a difficult position either. Back in March 2013 when he’d been dropped for Lukasz Fabianski because of his poor form (a measure which subsequently improved him as a player), his father went off on one about Arsene Wenger in the Polish press leading to Szczesny Jr to release a statement via the official website distancing himself from those comments. While this most recent diatribe probably doesn’t merit that kind of response, it’s still not particularly helpful.

Nevertheless, when you take the personal out of it, the points made about the defence and the defending are not entirely without reason. Here’s a piece I wrote for ESPN about why I think Szczesny should retain his place for Stoke on Sunday. Yes, he’s a bit cocky and self-confident, but I don’t quite understand why so many people think he’s such a bad goalkeeper.

The fact is our defensive shortcomings have been exposed countless times this campaign. We’ve played most of the season without a senior right back, one of our central defenders has suffered a loss of form but been forced to play through it simply because we have nobody else because our other central defender’s Achilles tendons are like ragged elastic bands, and the first one has been playing alongside a young guy still learning his trade or a left-back being played out of position or the right-back who was injured for most of the season and has never played in the centre of defence.

On top of that add the complete lack of a reliable deep-lying midfielder for most of the season and it’s no wonder we’ve been rickety back there. Szczesny was poor at Southampton, no doubt about it, and there have been a couple of moments of small drama since August, but it’s not as if he’s making howler after howler week after week.

To my mind he’s still the best keeper we have. I don’t think anyone’s seen enough from the almost always injured Ospina to suggest he’s better than him right now. In time, perhaps that might be the case, but as it stands one substitute appearance, a Capital One Cup game (which we lost) and an easy day out against Hull isn’t sufficient to make that call, in my opinion.

What I would like to see from Szczesny, now that we’ve hopefully solved some of the defensive issues, is a big second half to the season. Dominating his area like he did against West Ham, making big saves (and he has done that plenty this season, it’s just not as easy to remember when it’s a save that stops you going 3-0 down as one that keeps the scores level), and fulfilling the obvious potential that’s there.

Too often Arsenal have been a training ground for good young players who have gone on elsewhere to be their best. I think if we were to let Szczesny go, there’d be no shortage of suitors from around Europe and it’s one we’d regret. Some of that is obviously down to the player and how much he wants to make it with us, but anyone can see he’s got a real affinity for the club having been here for so long and grown up with so many of the current first team.

But some of it is also down to the club to coach him as well as he can be coached, and to provide him and the team the right competition. Maybe Ospina can do that, time will tell, but on the basis of the Southampton game Szczesny merits criticism, not jettisoning.


Good Piece from Arseblog

Alfred Borden

byrneg28 wrote: »

Are you basing that on Stats or watching?

Watching. He holds on to the ball too long and his kicking is poor. its a fault in De Gea's game too.

Quazzie

Raf32 wrote: »

I hope he proves me wrong and turns into a top 5 gk in the world. Cant see it but lets hope. Just wish we took Lloris and didnt go for the cheap option a few years ago.

So our Golden glove winner isn't good enough but Lloris is?

You 'avin a larf mate.

Alfred Borden

Quazzie wrote: »

So our Golden glove winner isn't good enough but Lloris is?

You 'avin a larf mate.

No neutral would take him over Lloris come on. Joe Hart got the most clean sheets in 2014 and he has a brutal rep in here. How about our goalkeeper who has three clean sheets in 17 league games this year?

Quazzie

Raf32 wrote: »

Watching. He holds on to the ball too long and his kicking is poor. its a fault in De Gea's game too.

We don't counter attack, we retain possession. Him taking an extra second on the ball is all about how we play, rather than rushing to hoof the ball up field and potentially lose it.

bangkok

Raf32 wrote: »

Watching. He holds on to the ball too long and his kicking is poor. its a fault in De Gea's game too.

just stuck my head in for a look, but distribution is def one of de geas strong points

Quazzie

Raf32 wrote: »

No neutral would take him over Lloris come on. Joe Hart got the most clean sheets in 2014 and he has a brutal rep in here. How about our goalkeeper who has three clean sheets in 17 league games this year?

How many games has he cost us. We can argue about lean sheets but that's as much about defence as the keeper. He is rash, but I would certainly have him over Lloris, no matter what the 'neutrals' think.

Mr Blobby

I'd have Lloris over Chesney.
Lloris just seems to have a much better command of things.

byrneg28

I don't like using stats but he had the best distribution rate statistically (long kick as well so don't start giving me the fact he passes to gibbs or mert) last season.

I also think his distribution looks worse on account of the fact that our average height must be 5ft 9 - his only target up-field is generally Giroud


01:22 - 02:22 nothing wrong at all with his distribution

I think he had very poor distribution when he first joined the club and that's still something that's held against him. He's no Neuer (king of distribution) although I think he has vastly improved.

jonneymendoza

byrneg28 wrote: »

The man who cost us the Champions League final for his rash decision making ! What a great!

he got us to the final mate.

forgot about that? lol

Alfred Borden

Ah youtube highlights videos made santos look unreal. Id like to see a video with more balance of his work.

byrneg28

jonneymendoza wrote: »

he got us to the final mate.

forgot about that? lol

Raf32 wrote: »

The man who carried us there in the first place. Easily forgotten im sure.

byrneg28 wrote: »

Yeah you're right. I was just peeved off with that red

Raf32 wrote: »

Me too. The club and Jens deserved so much more than that. Bobby too

byrneg28 wrote: »

Many apologies

We've been through this

byrneg28

Raf32 wrote: »

Ah youtube highlights videos made santos look unreal. Id like to see a video with more balance of his work.

I can't find a better video specifically focusing on his distribution skills. It's the best I could do

But if you ever find them, send them this way and make sure to tell the saddo who made them he's a fool

jonneymendoza

byrneg28 wrote: »

We've been through this

good to know

greendom

His distribution looks a whole lot better with Giroud on the field

salmocab

Can Ched Evans play in defense?

Pepe LeFrits

Lehmann won European Goalkeeper of the Year (for the 2nd time in his career) while he was with us; he was absolutely imperious for a period of 18 months, displacing Kahn as Germany's #1, and none of this was even while he won the league with us unbeaten.

Szczesny has never gotten to anything like that level with us.

bad2dabone

Jens was a world class keeper, mad though, but what a player.
Szczesny has potential, but he's in danger of letting a poor mentality ruin his promise.

wonga77

So its Chesney again today? Who'll be on the scrapheap after the stoke game I wonder???

efb

salmocab wrote: »

Can Ched Evans play in defense?

His lawyers weren't any good at it

Ol' Donie

wonga77 wrote: »

So its Chesney again today? Who'll be on the scrapheap after the stoke game I wonder???

Mark Hughes.

Booom.

Etc.

wonga77

Sanchez is trying to give Giroud a run for his money


https://twitter.com/Alexis_Sanchez/status/553634796786958336

Gringo180

wonga77 wrote: »

So its Chesney again today? Who'll be on the scrapheap after the stoke game I wonder???

To be fair to Chesney he has plenty of potential. But if I am being honest hes not even in the top 5 goalkeepers in the league imo. Far too many lapses of concentration for my liking.