The Arsenal Thread

[Mike.]

Would rather a RB than a LB.

Clichy and Gibbs/Pedro Botelho/Traore (unlikely) should all be fine next season. Clichy is underrated - he makes mistakes occasionally but nothing that can't be fixed by harder training and some help from the man in front of him. You have to remember that a lot of the time he's having to deal with both a winger and a full-back without help from Arshavin (see Barcelona game when he did this brilliantly)

clichy isnt underrated, the mistake he is making are schoolboy, mistakes that he shouldnt be making at his age this consistently. Made a mistake against barca too

 

[Joss]

clichy isnt underrated, the mistake he is making are schoolboy, mistakes that he shouldnt be making at his age this consistently. Made a mistake against barca too

Hmm. Maybe "underrated" is the wrong word.. I more mean that he's criticised too much IMO - Agree that he makes silly mistakes & needs to add consistency to his game (because he can be a very good LB) but I think part of it is not having enough competition with Gibbs out injured and also not having any support from Arshavin/Nasri.

Still want to give him a chance to prove himself and if he can't, Gibbs can step in and then I'd look at signing a new LB.

 

[sunilvk7]

Taiwo will be a free agent and also has French passport. But i think he is Milan bound. Would have been good signing for any top 4 side..

 

[Mike.]

Hmm. Maybe "underrated" is the wrong word.. I more mean that he's criticised too much IMO - Agree that he makes silly mistakes & needs to add consistency to his game (because he can be a very good LB) but I think part of it is not having enough competition with Gibbs out injured and also not having any support from Arshavin/Nasri.

Still want to give him a chance to prove himself and if he can't, Gibbs can step in and then I'd look at signing a new LB.

Aye, the only reason he hasnt lost his place is becuase Gibbs gets injured whenever hes abut to go on a good run

 

[Calum]

i would play gibbs as first choice LB next season if he isn't injured

---------- Post added at 07:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:30 PM ----------

how much would jose enrique be?

 

[Mike]

Not interested in Jose Enrique - Clichy/Gibbs is fine.

I'd like to see some expidenture this summer (not too much to put us in serious trouble financially, obvoiously...) but we really do need some experience.

We need a bully in the middle of the park - we have Cesc (who may well be leaving in a few months, fingers crossed he won't), Song, who's getting there but still isn't 'tough enough'; and Wilshere who likes to go in strong but has been a bit late a few times this season. Thankfully Ramsey will be back to full fitness come next season but he's another attack-minded midfielder. We need a Fletcher, an Essien; a player guaranteed to knock over a player and win the ball at the same time.

We could do with an experienced keeper - Szczesny is vastly becoming my favourite goalie at the club but he's still only a youngster, and Almunia and Fabianski are too error-prone to keep goal at the top level. Somebody like Frey or Neuer will be superb.

I could bet anything that AW has been looking at Scott Parker all year. I wouldn't mind him at Arsenal but I get the feeling he wouldn't suit the team or will become a flop.

 

[*Jones*]

Actually didn't even see the MUFC thread. Just posted the truth is all

Hmm - completely different situations tbh. Torres was out of form and Liverpool needed the money.

I expect someone to come along and suggest that Fabregas has also been out of form and hasn't played well this season and therefore wants to leave to Barca but I strongly reject this claim. He's had a tight hamstring pretty much all season and didn't get a pre-season because of the whole winning the World Cup thing Torres was out of form even towards the end of last season, though iirc and clearly didn't get on with Hodgson and his tactics.

Cesc on the other hand clearly has a lot of time and respect for everything Wenger has done for him (If he didn't come to Arsenal - where would he be now? Like Bojan on the bench? Wasting away his potential with a handful of First Team apps?). He may well want to go back to Barcelona but I think he cares about the team and Arsenal are under no financial pressure at all to sell.

The team and tactics at the moment is built around him - if he goes, Ramsey will be his natural replacement but Arsenal will try and hold out and I think they can successfully block Barca's attempts (if they make any - Rossell has already said he won't "break the bank"; whatever that means considering their in masses of debt anyway)

how on earth did we need the money? :O :S

 

[Ride The Walrus]

actually didn't even see the mufc thread. Just posted the truth is all

hmm - completely different situations tbh. torres was out of form and liverpool needed the money.

i expect someone to come along and suggest that fabregas has also been out of form and hasn't played well this season and therefore wants to leave to barca but i strongly reject this claim. He's had a tight hamstring pretty much all season and didn't get a pre-season because of the whole winning the world cup thing torres was out of form even towards the end of last season, though iirc and clearly didn't get on with hodgson and his tactics.

Cesc on the other hand clearly has a lot of time and respect for everything wenger has done for him (if he didn't come to arsenal - where would he be now? Like bojan on the bench? Wasting away his potential with a handful of first team apps?). He may well want to go back to barcelona but i think he cares about the team and arsenal are under no financial pressure at all to sell.

The team and tactics at the moment is built around him - if he goes, ramsey will be his natural replacement but arsenal will try and hold out and i think they can successfully block barca's attempts (if they make any - rossell has already said he won't "break the bank"; whatever that means considering their in masses of debt anyway)

what?!

 

[mvp93]

Good to see a thread made
this is a summary of what i think should change at arsenal
A new formation instead of the 4-2-3-1 a formation designed to work around 1 player Cesc i think we should switch to the formation that brought us so much sucess the 4-4-2
New GK:Szczesny is a great up and coming GK but we need a experienced GK we can help Szczesny become the great keeper we know he will be. Adler/Given (may be unrealistiv but meh)

New LB: Since the 4-4 draw with spurs in 2008 or 09 (nt sure) he hasnt looked consistenly the player he was the one who didn't hold up play and struggled to make decisions.Converting Gael to a AML/ML would be better imo as it would be a better outlet for his pace but he needs to cross well constantly. Baines/Taiwo (Baines seems more realistic)

New CB: Well this is a well noted area where we need to improve except for TV5 i see no shinig light in the back a player other teams should fear Djourou has had a good season but is not a starter in my eyes he is more of a 3rd choice in my eyes. Cahill/Mertesacker would be very good choice

New DMC i have never been a fan of song he is a good player but his passing is really poor and his decision making is poor as well which is key components to a DMC i would like to see Parker who would add another leader to the team

New Striker - RVP needs some help while Chamakh started off well he could cope with the lack of a winter break and has srtuggled since we need a poacher we can finish off the chances we create

Players we should offload Eboue,Squillaci,Denílson and Bendtner

 

[Athe~]

Well, now the press down here are linking both Milito's with Arsenal. Diego Milito may cost ~€5m and Gabriel could arrive on a free. This is just speculation, though.

 

[*Jamess*]

We need a striker that can score 20/25 goals a season.

 

[Mike]

We need a striker that can score 20/25 goals a season.

A fully fit van Persie will/can. Saying that, I'd love another Thierry Henry; very quick, intelligent, almost never injured.. these don't come around very often, and unfortunately we're not seen as a huge club anymore becuase we haven't won a trophy for such a long time.

 

[vlad-the-impaling-gunner]

We need a striker that can score 20/25 goals a season.

I wouldn't say 20/25 goals (obviously if we did get one that would be nice) but I feel like we need to get a fox-in-the-box sort of striker. Man Utd got Hernandez, someone along his lines would be perfect. Van Persie tends to drop deep meaning sometimes there is no one in the box breathing down the neck of the defenders. In addition, van Persie is creative and he can do what Rooney does for Utd by setting up a whole lot of assists whilst chipping in with goals too.

 

[Joss]

We need a striker that can score 20/25 goals a season.

A fully fit van Persie will/can. Saying that, I'd love another Thierry Henry; very quick, intelligent, almost never injured.. these don't come around very often, and unfortunately we're not seen as a huge club anymore becuase we haven't won a trophy for such a long time.

Interesting - what KIND of player, though? A poacher you mean? In the Darren Bent mould?

I'm writing an article during this week about why a poacher wouldn't benefit Arsenal... I've also got a guest writer giving a counter point to that (that a poacher would be good for us)

 

[Quasit]

For the Fox in the Box we could get Papiss Cisse. He's currently top goalscorer in Bundesliga. By what I've seen in a video which shows some goals he has scored this season he's comfortable with both feet , decent technique, good pace and good strenght.

Kevin Gameiro also could be good, but I'm not sure about him cos he's quite small. He does well in France but I doubt he'd be succes here.

 

[Joss]

I wouldn't say 20/25 goals (obviously if we did get one that would be nice) but I feel like we need to get a fox-in-the-box sort of striker. Man Utd got Hernandez, someone along his lines would be perfect. Van Persie tends to drop deep meaning sometimes there is no one in the box breathing down the neck of the defenders. In addition, van Persie is creative and he can do what Rooney does for Utd by setting up a whole lot of assists whilst chipping in with goals too.

Theo Walcott does that for us, though - he's effectively a poacher on the wing. He moves into the space behind RvP when he drops back as part of his "False 9" duties.

I agree somewhat that it would be good to have more bodies in the box and that someone like Hernandez - with his excellent movement inside the box could be useful but considering we've had 16 different goalscorers this season (joint-most), I don't think we need a 25 goal a season striker who can do it all on his own.

RvP would get that, though if he stayed fit. I'm sure of that.

 

[curtis290]

I like their 4-2-3-1. Cesc had an off-year but will be better next season after he's rested.

I'm not sure if either Milito would be good for the Prem. Diego is too slow (not to mention he's old), and Gabriel is very small. People keep on saying Arsenal need a commanding, large CB who is good on set pieces (although I think they're fine with TV5 and Djorou).

Honestly I'm not sure what they should do. Their starting XI is fine as it is. I think their only problem is they don't have an adequate replacement for RVP when he is hurt. Bendtner and Chamakh are both plan B's, but they need a great finisher who can be RVP's backup. I guess Milito could be that, since he's pretty good in the air too, especially if they can get him for 5 million quid (what other proven striker could they get for that in this market?). On the wings they have Nasri (great), Walcott (fast, English, and improving), Arshavin (had a bad year but is a great player, should be back), Vela (potential), Rosicky (experience). At DM I like the starting combo of Song and Wilshere, and Diaby and Denilson are capable backups (and there's Frimpong to think of). They have 4 good CB's. Two good RB's. If Gibbs is healthy they have a young, promising, fast, English LB, and Clichy is a capable back-up.

The squad is fine, they just had terrible timing with the CC final, Barca second leg, and OT FA Cup draw all in the same week. Losing that CC final destroyed their confidence, and the next two defeats (which were tough, tough games) meant they were ****** in the heads. The "no trophy" criticism has gotten to them and they really underperformed down the stretch at the end of the year. But I think the team is well-built and well-coached and they're fine. They just need to be confident next season and not let the criticism/lack of trophies/underconfidence get into their heads.

 

[Frank]

Someone on the wing who has the killer instinct to get in the box would be my pick, plus a commanding CB if Vermaelen doesn't get fit or has more injuries.

 

[Joss]

I like their 4-2-3-1. Cesc had an off-year but will be better next season after he's rested.

I'm not sure if either Milito would be good for the Prem. Diego is too slow (not to mention he's old), and Gabriel is very small. People keep on saying Arsenal need a commanding, large CB who is good on set pieces (although I think they're fine with TV5 and Djorou).

Honestly I'm not sure what they should do. Their starting XI is fine as it is. I think their only problem is they don't have an adequate replacement for RVP when he is hurt. Bendtner and Chamakh are both plan B's, but they need a great finisher who can be RVP's backup. I guess Milito could be that, since he's pretty good in the air too, especially if they can get him for 5 million quid (what other proven striker could they get for that in this market?). On the wings they have Nasri (great), Walcott (fast, English, and improving), Arshavin (had a bad year but is a great player, should be back), Vela (potential), Rosicky (experience). At DM I like the starting combo of Song and Wilshere, and Diaby and Denilson are capable backups (and there's Frimpong to think of). They have 4 good CB's. Two good RB's. If Gibbs is healthy they have a young, promising, fast, English LB, and Clichy is a capable back-up.

The squad is fine, they just had terrible timing with the CC final, Barca second leg, and OT FA Cup draw all in the same week. Losing that CC final destroyed their confidence, and the next two defeats (which were tough, tough games) meant they were ****** in the heads. The "no trophy" criticism has gotten to them and they really underperformed down the stretch at the end of the year. But I think the team is well-built and well-coached and they're fine. They just need to be confident next season and not let the criticism/lack of trophies/underconfidence get into their heads.

Have you stolen my identity?

Agree to an extent with most of your points...

I don't think Denilson is adequate back-up and Diaby is too inconsistent. Frimpong and Coquelin could well provide competition to Alex Song at DM next year, though. Lansbury has done very well in the Championship, but I'm not sure if he'll be ready to be 2nd/3rd choice to Wilshere (Long Term replacement), though we do have Ramsey who will hopefully make a full recovery - ability and fitness wise.

I think we need a left-forward who would provide the goals that everyone is going on about... Not 20 a season, obviously but Arshavin has been largely poor and he really needs good competition for his spot. Ryo won't be able to provide that yet, I don't think and Hazard isn't likely to come to Arsenal, so rule that one out!

Someone on the wing who has the killer instinct to get in the box would be my pick, plus a commanding CB if Vermaelen doesn't get fit or has more injuries.

Exclusive: Vermaelen Set To Face Man Utd « Young Guns || Unrivalled Coverage Of Arsenal's Young Players & Their Development

Stolen by TalkSport here: Arsenal boost as Vermaelen to make shock return for reserves this week | talkSPORT

 

[Mike]

A fully fit van Persie will/can. Saying that, I'd love another Thierry Henry; very quick, intelligent, almost never injured.. these don't come around very often, and unfortunately we're not seen as a huge club anymore becuase we haven't won a trophy for such a long time.

Interesting - what KIND of player, though? A poacher you mean? In the Darren Bent mould?

I'm writing an article during this week about why a poacher wouldn't benefit Arsenal... I've also got a guest writer giving a counter point to that (that a poacher would be good for us)

In fact, just thinking about it, I'd much, much prefer another Pires and Ljungberg cutting in from the wings and bagging goals + loads more assists.