Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2016

jonneymendoza

Would people want Mourinho onboard now? or stick with wenger and this same old crap?

Quazzie

jonneymendoza wrote: »

The team is hopeless, nobody seems to actually play anywhere near the level they're capable of. It saddens me.

Is it the board or the managers fault? or both?

This is why i feel the likes of sanchez and ozil dont deserve to play for a club like us with such lack of ambitions.

Sanchez really hasn't shown anything lately to suggest he's much better than anyone else stepping out onto the field to be honest.

keano_afc

jonneymendoza wrote: »

The team is hopeless, nobody seems to actually play anywhere near the level they're capable of. It saddens me.

Is it the board or the managers fault? or both?

This is why i feel the likes of sanchez and ozil dont deserve to play for a club like us with such lack of ambitions.

Its both. We have a board that are not interested in success on the pitch. AFC is a cash cow and making a profit is all that matters to them. Wenger feeds that by just doing enough to qualify for the CL.

Its Wengers fault also for many reasons. Glaring inefficiencies in the squad not rectified, blind loyalty to sub-standard players, inability to motivate his team.

The sooner both are replaced the better.

Ol' Donie

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Would people want Mourinho onboard now? or stick with wenger and this same old crap?

Not a f*cking chance. No way. Would rather Moyes than that guy.

KaiserGunner

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Would people want Mourinho onboard now? or stick with wenger and this same old crap?

I'd rather keep Wenger and win nothing till the day I die than have Mourinho as our Manager. And I'm really pissed off with Arsenal, Kroenke, Gazidis, Wenger, at the moment. Speaks volumes about my opinion of Mourinho.

L'prof

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Would people want Mourinho onboard now? or stick with wenger and this same old crap?

Definitely no to Mourinho anyway!

Bobby Baccala

jonneymendoza wrote: »

The team is hopeless, nobody seems to actually play anywhere near the level they're capable of. It saddens me.

Is it the board or the managers fault? or both?

This is why i feel the likes of sanchez and ozil dont deserve to play for a club like us with such lack of ambitions.

Do you have any input of your own or just other people's from other forums?

jonneymendoza

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

Do you have any input of your own or just other people's from other forums?

Do you?

That is my input and I also questioned whether it's best we get mourinho or not.

Roaster

I'm like a broken down record as I don't know how many times I've said it
"YOU'LL WIN F**K ALL WITH MERT AT THE BACK!"

The last two games alone are an example of how bad he is (and with no Kos to cover his arse). K***'s goal against us last week. He should never have been allowed out of that corner. An Adams or Keown would have put him through the corner flag.

Two goals yesterday...a feeble attempt at a jump from the throw in for the first and then he allows the Watford CF (not sure which one it was) all the time in the world to hold the ball up and lay it off for their player to smack it home. He actually turned away from the shot too rather than trying to block it.

At the end of the day though one man keeps including him in the team.

Positives from yesterday, Ospina Ozil, Elneny and Welbeck. I also thought Chambers did quite good.

I love that turning away from the ball makes someone disappear from the physical plane that we perceive.

carltonleon

When you look at the figures it is quite stark how bad we have been since the New Year. From 9 Matches we have picked up 10pts from a possible 27pts. Leicester and Spurs have both picked up 20pts from a possible 27pts.
That really goes to show you how motivated Wenger has managed to get the team. We were leading the League on Jan 2nd, 7points clear of Spurs (albeit thay had a game in hand) in one of the most open Premier Leaguse in years and we pick up 10 points out of 27. It really is mind boggling how we have imploded like this

emergingstar

De boar and bergkamp would be a good choice too I reckon

Ken Shamrock

Deleted User wrote: »

I love that turning away from the ball makes someone disappear from the physical plane that we perceive.

I know you're a fan of Mert but surely you can't deny he has had a piss poor season.

Roaster

I know we all have our favourites but surely you can't defend the indefensible, i.e. Mert. He's poison!!! A lovely bloke but no longer a top level player.

Quazzie

Roaster wrote: »

I know we all have our favourites but surely you can't defend the indefensible, i.e. Mert. He's poison!!! A lovely bloke but no longer a top level player.

He is a player who is far off the pace required to meet our playing style, but he is far from poison. He adds a lot of stability to the team. He might not add a lot to the team with his current playing ability but he is probably the closest thing to a leader we have. Its all about figuring out how you can work him into the team so that his leadership skills can be utilized. When Kos is fit it works because Kos covers him usually, but when Kos isn't fit, Mert looks bad and he drags a lot of people around him down too.

To call him poison isn't fair at all. He adds a lot of qualities to the club, even when not in the team. It's something that's badly needed, probably even moreso than a centre back.

extra gravy

To be fair to Sanchez I wouldn't blame him if he didn't give a sh1t anymore. Why should he bother playing his heart out every week when his effort isn't matched by the rest of the team? It's like working somewhere where the same few people do all the work and the lazy ones get away with doing nothing. Eventually the good ones either give up or just leave.

Ken Shamrock

Roaster wrote: »

I know we all have our favourites but surely you can't defend the indefensible, i.e. Mert. He's poison!!! A lovely bloke but no longer a top level player.

Mert,Gab,Walcott. I cannot stand these In our squad anymore. Mert and Gab are not good enough for a top level team, they're laughable at times. Walcott Is away with the fairies, I would never play him again for this club, sell him ASAP.

Welbeck however, I was never big on him cause I knew he couldn't finish, but since coming back I've been impressed and It was refreshing to see a striker actually score a few. However his howler at the end yesterday really drove home the can't finish point. Hopefully he can improve.

Ken Shamrock

Quazzie wrote: »

He is a player who is far off the pace required to meet our playing style, but he is far from poison. He adds a lot of stability to the team. He might not add a lot to the team with his current playing ability but he is probably the closest thing to a leader we have. Its all about figuring out how you can work him into the team so that his leadership skills can be utilized. When Kos is fit it works because Kos covers him usually, but when Kos isn't fit, Mert looks bad and he drags a lot of people around him down too.

To call him poison isn't fair at all. He adds a lot of qualities to the club, even when not in the team. It's something that's badly needed, probably even moreso than a centre back.

Could you please give me a few examples of where we have seen these leadership skills? He Is soft, he Is soft on the pitch and makes huge mistakes he doesn't take responsibility for the other defenders and I never see him organising the back line.

He Is far from a leader and I'm sick of people calling him that, I don't think It's taking It too far to call him poison, I'm sick of him.

Quazzie

extra gravy wrote: »

To be fair to Sanchez I wouldn't blame him if he didn't give a sh1t anymore. Why should he bother playing his heart out every week when his effort isn't matched by the rest of the team? It's like working somewhere where the same few people do all the work and the lazy ones get away with doing nothing. Eventually the good ones either give up or just leave.

Sanchez has been woeful since he came back from injury. The team are carrying him at the moment. His play is totally one dimensional. He gets the ball, turns to run at defenders, loses the ball and runs around like a headless chicken to try get it back. The worse part is he isn't just doing this in the oppositions box, he is just as likely to do it in our box. It's funny how some still group him in the class of "too good for us" when has been one of our worst performers

Roaster

Quazzie wrote: »

...but he is probably the closest thing to a leader we have....

I think this sums up where we are at. Outside of the berating he gave Ozil last year for not applauding the away fans I cannot remember Mert having a go at any of our team. To be honest it seems that Le Coq and Flamini are the only two that do this.

Normally when we concede, the heads will go down and they all walk back towards the half way line. Nobody is blamed.

A leader would have thrown himself in front of the ball for the second goal. A leader would have berated Gibbs, Le Coq and Elnenhy and asked them where the hell they where for the second goal.

A leader would have lifted Harry Kane the f**k out of it in the corner and got the crowd and players going.

As I said Mert is a nice guy and does great charity stuff off the pitch but one thing he is not in this team is a leader.

Dolph Starbeam

Roaster wrote: »

Positives from yesterday, Ospina Ozil, Elneny and Welbeck. I also thought Chambers did quite good.

Chambers played well in the first half, he went missing in the second half like a lot of the team. Elneny looks okay, I've still not been hugely impressed, he really should have finished both his chances in the first half too, even a DM should be at least hitting the target in those situations.

DeclanRe

Roaster wrote: »

I know we all have our favourites but surely you can't defend the indefensible, i.e. Mert. He's poison!!! A lovely bloke but no longer a top level player.

He's better than Gabriel

Mr.Micro

Mert is never the same without Kos. Simple as. We had our chances yesterday, but we needed a bit of luck as well. Gabriel is just not at the races. A combo of him and Mert does not work. We need to finish as high up the table as possible.

wandatowell

carltonleon wrote: »

When you look at the figures it is quite stark how bad we have been since the New Year. From 9 Matches we have picked up 10pts from a possible 27pts. Leicester and Spurs have both picked up 20pts from a possible 27pts.
That really goes to show you how motivated Wenger has managed to get the team. We were leading the League on Jan 2nd, 7points clear of Spurs (albeit thay had a game in hand) in one of the most open Premier Leaguse in years and we pick up 10 points out of 27. It really is mind boggling how we have imploded like this

And Arsene says to judge him at the end of season.

He's lost it, time for him to move to Paris. Maybe he could solve the world's impending financial crisis but he definitely can't manage a football club anymore.

Mr.Micro

wandatowell wrote: »

And Arsene says to judge him at the end of season.

He's lost it, time for him to move to Paris. Maybe he could solve the world's impending financial crisis but he definitely can't manage a football club anymore.

If I was to pick one word which sums up his management and addition of players, it's inflexibility.

Roaster

Just the last couple of months alone proves he doesn't like discommoding senior players.

- Walcott has done nothing of note (bar get a nice new contract) and yet he still gets on ahead of Iwobi who when given a chance has looked really good.
- His treatment of Campbell is a disgrace
- Alexis should have come off yesterday and probably shouldn't have started the last couple of games either.
- His persistence with Mertesacker who is a complete liability.
- Bringing Arteta back twice this season when it's the worst kept secret that his calves are fooked.

I'd actually like to see him gone now and replaced by someone that would be ruthless when it comes to team selection. I've tried defending him but it's impossible when you see results like yesterday. 4 wins out of 14 and 2 of them against lower league opposition. The thing is this squad is good enough to win the league THIS YEAR but has somehow managed to balls it up and I think it's mainly down to AW. They don't look motivated one bit and if you can't motivate your players to win a league and an historical 3 in a row FA Cups then It's time to go.

Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock wrote: »

I know you're a fan of Mert but surely you can't deny he has had a piss poor season.

Poor for him alright. He improves the defence when he's on alas.

Ken Shamrock

Deleted User wrote: »

Poor for him alright. He improves the defence when he's on alas.

In what way?

Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock wrote: »

In what way?

The defence is overall much better when he's on. That's about it.

Ken Shamrock

Deleted User wrote: »

The defence is overall much better when he's on. That's about it.

How? In what sense are they better? You can't just state that and have nothing to back It up.

Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock wrote: »

How? In what sense are they better? You can't just state that and have nothing to back It up.

A while back I went through a load of games with/without Gabriel and so on. I'm not arsed doing it again. Gabriel is useless and needs someone to organise everything. Without Mertesacker Koscielny ends up having to make up more ground more often. The fact that Mertesacker having a poor run of form leads to our results tanking so much shows his importance.

Ken Shamrock

Deleted User wrote: »

A while back I went through a load of games with/without Gabriel and so on. I'm not arsed doing it again. Gabriel is useless and needs someone to organise everything. Without Mertesacker Koscielny ends up having to make up more ground more often. The fact that Mertesacker having a poor run of form leads to our results tanking so much shows his importance.

Gabriel Is poorly disciplined yes but Mertesacker hardly organise's anything at the back and If he does he does It very poorly. Any defender playing along side Mert has to make up more ground than playing beside any other defender due to his poor positioning when we are pressing and his complete lack of pace.

Mert Is hardly the only player we have on a poor run of form, don't make It out like If he was playing well our problems would be solved. He Isn't good enough anymore simple as.

DeclanRe

Ken Shamrock wrote: »

Gabriel Is poorly disciplined yes but Mertesacker hardly organise's anything at the back and If he does he does It very poorly. Any defender playing along side Mert has to make up more ground than playing beside any other defender due to his poor positioning when we are pressing and his complete lack of pace.

Mert Is hardly the only player we have on a poor run of form, don't make It out like If he was playing well our problems would be solved. He Isn't good enough anymore simple as.

I'd have Mert in ahead of Gabriel any day of the week. But long term, i wouldnt want any of them in the team

Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock wrote: »

Gabriel Is poorly disciplined yes but Mertesacker hardly organise's anything at the back and If he does he does It very poorly. Any defender playing along side Mert has to make up more ground than playing beside any other defender due to his poor positioning when we are pressing and his complete lack of pace.

Mert Is hardly the only player we have on a poor run of form, don't make It out like If he was playing well our problems would be solved. He Isn't good enough anymore simple as.

Since when? Couple of months. Is anyone saying he has been good enough the last 6 months?

I'm wondering if anyone on here has coaching badges or the like because the thing about Mertesacker "turning away" is often touted but I'm gonna guess players are coached not to dive at every single ball because every attack would end up as a 1v1 with the keeper after a dummy or two by the attacking team.

Ken Shamrock

DeclanRe wrote: »

I'd have Mert in ahead of Gabriel any day of the week. But long term, i wouldnt want any of them in the team

That's fair enough, I'm not saying Gab Is better than Mert.

Deleted User wrote: »

Since when? Couple of months. Is anyone saying he has been good enough the last 6 months?

I'm wondering if anyone on here has coaching badges or the like because the thing about Mertesacker "turning away" is often touted but I'm gonna guess players are coached not to dive at every single ball because every attack would end up as a 1v1 with the keeper after a dummy or two by the attacking team.

Since the start of the season yeah, similar to Arteta, although I've never been a big fan of Mert to begin with. Yeah we all have coaching badges... like what does that even mean? None of us can give an opinion unless we have badges?

Turning away? What are you talking about? I never said anything about anyone turning away? Just deflecting? and no generally speaking Centre Halves are not meant to turn their back to the ball like a fairy, Gibbs gets hammered for It I see no reason why Mert shouldn't, especially If that's the example he's settings ya know being a leader and all.

Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock wrote: »

Since the start of the season yeah, similar to Arteta, although I've never been a big fan of Mert to begin with. Yeah we all have coaching badges... like what does that even mean? None of us can give an opinion unless we have badges?

Not in the least, got none myself.

Turning away? What are you talking about? I never said anything about anyone turning away? Just deflecting? and no generally speaking Centre Halves are not meant to turn their back to the ball like a fairy, Gibbs gets hammered for It I see no reason why Mert shouldn't, especially If that's the example he's settings ya know being a leader and all.

I haven't noticed Gibbs be hammered for it so much. The point I'm making is that "turning away" still means about 90% as much space is blocked but the player can follow a run if it's a feint or be quicker to get back for a cross/fumble rather than be heroically sprawled on the ground. It seems a very narrow window (and probably not exactly accurate) to view a player through when one wishes to criticise them.

Ken Shamrock

Deleted User wrote: »

Not in the least, got none myself.


I haven't noticed Gibbs be hammered for it so much. The point I'm making is that "turning away" still means about 90% as much space is blocked but the player can follow a run if it's a feint or be quicker to get back for a cross/fumble rather than be heroically sprawled on the ground. It seems a very narrow window (and probably not exactly accurate) to view a player through when one wishes to criticise them.

Fair enough, yeah no I understand that but It does leave an opening the width of someone dead on and the width of someone sideways Is a big difference, when you turn like that you make an opening and you generally stick a flailing foot out which can cause nasty deflections etc but It just doesn't look good and Is an ineffective way of dealing with an oncoming attacker.

Mert can't rush out and close down an attacker quick enough so instead he turns away from the shot like a clown Instead of standing tall closing the gap In which a player has to shoot and also coming towards the player but not rushing so that If It Is a feint he can still stick with him. Unfortunately Mert doesn't have the pace to stick with someone anyway.

He's just a big fluffy bear from what I see, he needs to be tough as nails and aggressive (not In the Gabriel sense). The team Is full of enough weak ass fairies as It Is and Gabriel although Is tough Is absolutely reckless and daft. It's not a coincidence that most of the best CB's are tough bastards. If you aren't tough you should at least be able to make up for It with your intellect,positioning,mobility etc but Mert Isn't great at that either. (Football Intelligence).

I mean for a man his size to get pushed around, pull out of challenges, lose headers and move out of the way of shots Is just embarrassing.

tayto lover

Mert has been very poor. Slow and not one bit brave for such a big man. Made no effort to get close to the scorer again yesterday for the second goal. Brave defenders would have hurled themselves in the way of the shot. Not his first time chickening out either. Milk would turn quicker too.

gosplan

It's very hard to know how good our players are currently.

Coq, Ramsey, Sanchez, Mert, Gab all playing badly.

They're not ****, they're just not motivated.

cson

Player for player we probably have one of the better squads; the two full backs are probably leading their respective categories in the league this year, you could make a solid argument for Ozil, Sanchez, Cech, Koscielny and Ramsey as being in the top 3 in their position based on form over the last 12 months. There are good players at the club.

kronsington

Lots of interesting comments above. I don't know if much has been said about Sanchez's comments after the Swansea game that the team lacks the belief to be champions. I found that to be a pretty extraordinary statement. what kind of message does that send the fans, opponents and what does it say about the mindset of this lot? AW harps on ad nauseum about belief, mental strength ( the team has neither of these) and Sanchez says something like this.

Im not even angry anymore. I expect failure and self-destruction these days. Probably the lowest ive felt since started to support the team in the early 90s. Just a constant feeling of bemusement, exasperation and sadness.

Tough times indeed

wonga77

I appreciate that Sanchez was honest enough to say it. Wenger (and all other managers) come out with the same sh1te after games anyway. Nice to hear a player say it as it is

omega man

Steaming pile of sh1t. Leicester had one shot on target ffs. League is done for us, no chance now.

extra gravy

omega man wrote: »

Steaming pile of sh1t. Leicester had one shot on target ffs. League is done for us, no chance now.

They're grinding out results now, something we're incapable of doing. Hopefully they can go on and do it now, anything to prevent that lot from winning.

omega man

extra gravy wrote: »

They're grinding out results now, something we're incapable of doing. Hopefully they can go on and do it now, anything to prevent that lot from winning.

They closed the game out so well. We would be incapable of that type of effort.

Underdog story or not it's getting harder to accept every week. It's so shameful for us really.

wawaman

omega man wrote: »

Steaming pile of sh1t. Leicester had one shot on target ffs. League is done for us, no chance now.

Did you think we had a chance beforehand? We have a bunch of players and a manager who would find a way to bottle it even if we were 4 points clear with one game left

Gringo180

wawaman wrote: »

Did you think we had a chance beforehand? We have a bunch of players and a manager who would find a way to bottle it even if we were 4 points clear with one game left

The club needs a massive wake up call. Finishing outside the top 4 is a reality now. Madness to think thats possible with the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Utd having disastrous campaigns.

omega man

wawaman wrote: »

Did you think we had a chance beforehand? We have a bunch of players and a manager who would find a way to bottle it even if we were 4 points clear with one game left

Yes but only because I was certain Leicester and Spurs would collapse and we'd go on some kind of run to give us a chance.

Assuming we go out of CL on Wednesday, if we don't beat Everton on Saturday Wenger should walk there and then (I know he wouldn't though).

What's to look forward to now as an Arsenal supporter. This is horrible.

Alfred Borden

omega man wrote: »

Yes but only because I was certain Leicester and Spurs would collapse and we'd go on some kind of run to give us a chance.

Assuming we go out of CL on Wednesday, if we don't beat Everton on Saturday Wenger should walk there and then (I know he wouldn't though).

What's to look forward to now as an Arsenal supporter. This is horrible.

A titanic battle for fourth where we scrape in on the last day. Whats not to like? :pac:

wonga77

I cant believe that anyone though we would pull this off, havent looked liked going on any kind of a run for a long time now. Its a 2 horse race