The Arsenal Thread
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Lukas Podolski vor Wechsel zu Arsenal London - 1. FC Köln - Bild.de
Essentially says Podolski has agreed to personal terms with us, fee is yet to be decided though. Got a few months to negotiate it down
Essentially says Podolski has agreed to personal terms with us, fee is yet to be decided though. Got a few months to negotiate it down
Lukas Podolski vor Wechsel zu Arsenal London - 1. FC Köln - Bild.de
Essentially says Podolski has agreed to personal terms with us, fee is yet to be decided though. Got a few months to negotiate it down
Does that mean he is to replace Van Persie?
poor troll attempt
How is that trolling? Just asking a simple question thats all.
Feel this is an appropriate time to make my much-anticipated 'comeback' (come back to zero notifications despite how many months away? - Bah!).
So, turns out Arsenal are pretty ******* good when we want to be. Who knew?
So, turns out Arsenal are pretty ******* good when we want to be. Who knew?
Nope, we need a striker anyway. Chamakh's *****, Bendtner's going to leave, Park never plays, and Walcott doesn't look likely to play through the middle any time soon. 1 striker is the minimum for this summer.
lol dont take it so serious i thought the
I missed the
View attachment 227461
lol place that in the fm-base meme land
probably the right time to 'comeback' lol.
Does that mean he is to replace Van Persie?
lol, no way son. i want to see RvP and Podolski play together
. and this means chamakh goes off to Florentina.Ride The Walrus
A pretty cool guy.
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Am I missing something, or has Podolski removed his only good at international level title?
my only worry on podolski is whether he will adapt moving away from home. the last time he moved to a big club, was bayern Munich, and was homesick for most of the time. he was also demoted to play for bayern II for one season.
said that, i would prefer Matias Suarez or Oliver Giound over him.
said that, i would prefer Matias Suarez or Oliver Giound over him.
I honestly think if only Fabianski had Szczesny's confidence and mental strength , he could be **** of a player. It was clear from the start that he has the skills - unfortunately being a world class GK is as much about personality as it is about pure goalkeeping skills. Some players get it when they're older, most never get there. I guess we'll find out.
Shockhorror.
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Yeah, he's picked his game up a lot the past 2 seasons, especially this season. 15 goals in 18 league games so far.
Ride The Walrus
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Robin van Persie has given Arsenal a scare in their challenge to secure Champions League football after being forced to sit out the last section ofHolland's training session at Wembley before Wednesday night's friendly with England after feeling pain in his groin.
The Dutch striker has become pivotal to the club's hopes of success this season after he scored 33 goals in all competitions in what has so far been his first injury free campaign since joining Arsenal in 2004.
Following Arsenal's 5-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates on Sunday in the north London derby the club was aware that the forward had a "very mild injury" in his groin when he joined up with Bert van Marwijk's squad. The KNVB, the Dutch Football Association, claimed that it was agreed the forward would cease training if he felt any discomfort which he duly did when a game took place after taking part in a full warm-up.
Van Persie is said to have felt a pain in his hip and so retired from the session as a "precaution". However his participation against England must now be in doubt. Van Marwijk would risk a major fall-out with the Arsenal Arsène Wenger should the coach start the 28-year-old only for him to break down during the international friendly.
Van Marwijk, though, is considering starting with Van Persie. "I am optimistic that he will play. We will have to wait and see but I don't think it's too serious."
During the international window in November Wenger successfully recalled Van Persie before the striker was due to play in the friendly with Germany after he played in a 0-0 draw against Switzerland. But asked if there had been any conversation between Wenger and Van Marwijk about any need to proceed with caution when deciding in Van Persie's involvement against England the 59-year-old Dutch manager said: "No."
Given his importance to the Arsenal cause and Van Marwijk's willingness then to pull him out of the Germany match in November the situation may change. Then the coach said: "Arsène asked me if I could please not play Robin in both games. I had a good talk with Wenger and we decided that Robin would play only on Friday. After that we would send him back to London. I won't use Robin against the Germans."
Arsenal travel to Anfield on Saturday for the early-kick off to play Liverpool, one of their rivals for a top-four finish. With Wenger's team currently in fourth victory for Kenny Dalglish's side would draw them to within four points of Arsenal so the manager would be loth to see him risked against England. The Holland captain Mark van Bommel suffered a knee injury in the same training session as Van Persie and is also a doubt.
The Dutch striker has become pivotal to the club's hopes of success this season after he scored 33 goals in all competitions in what has so far been his first injury free campaign since joining Arsenal in 2004.
Following Arsenal's 5-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates on Sunday in the north London derby the club was aware that the forward had a "very mild injury" in his groin when he joined up with Bert van Marwijk's squad. The KNVB, the Dutch Football Association, claimed that it was agreed the forward would cease training if he felt any discomfort which he duly did when a game took place after taking part in a full warm-up.
Van Persie is said to have felt a pain in his hip and so retired from the session as a "precaution". However his participation against England must now be in doubt. Van Marwijk would risk a major fall-out with the Arsenal Arsène Wenger should the coach start the 28-year-old only for him to break down during the international friendly.
Van Marwijk, though, is considering starting with Van Persie. "I am optimistic that he will play. We will have to wait and see but I don't think it's too serious."
During the international window in November Wenger successfully recalled Van Persie before the striker was due to play in the friendly with Germany after he played in a 0-0 draw against Switzerland. But asked if there had been any conversation between Wenger and Van Marwijk about any need to proceed with caution when deciding in Van Persie's involvement against England the 59-year-old Dutch manager said: "No."
Given his importance to the Arsenal cause and Van Marwijk's willingness then to pull him out of the Germany match in November the situation may change. Then the coach said: "Arsène asked me if I could please not play Robin in both games. I had a good talk with Wenger and we decided that Robin would play only on Friday. After that we would send him back to London. I won't use Robin against the Germans."
Arsenal travel to Anfield on Saturday for the early-kick off to play Liverpool, one of their rivals for a top-four finish. With Wenger's team currently in fourth victory for Kenny Dalglish's side would draw them to within four points of Arsenal so the manager would be loth to see him risked against England. The Holland captain Mark van Bommel suffered a knee injury in the same training session as Van Persie and is also a doubt.
Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham: Arsenal complete an amazing comeback
Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham: Arsenal complete an amazing comeback | Zonal Marking
February 26, 2012
The starting line-ups
Tottenham went 2-0 up but then lost their shape completely and conceded five.
Arsene Wenger had something approaching his first-choice back four available. He used Tomas Rosicky in the Aaron Ramsey role in midfield, and Yossi Benayoun getting a start on the left.
Harry Redknapp picked two out-and-out strikers upfront, with Rafael van der Vaart and Aaron Lennon only on the bench and Niko Kranjcar making a surprise start on the right of midfield.
This was another ridiculously open Premier League game (and another North London derby with plenty of goals). Both back fours had poor games and Tottenham were unable to control the game at any point – even when they were playing well and 2-0 up. There were four major themes here:
(1) Tottenham play direct
This was a classic 4-3-3 v 4-4-2 match-up. In simple terms, the 4-3-3 is likely to dominate possession by virtue of having an extra man in the midfield, but the 4-4-2 can be more direct with two strikers.
That’s basically what happened early on. Tottenham played quick, direct balls towards Louis Saha and Emmanuel Adebayor, who battled with the Arsenal centre-backs. But the approach was slightly more complex than that – the two forwards drifted into wide and deep zones to split the Arsenal centre-backs and open up room for midfield runners. Kyle Walker made a clever off-the-ball run to drag Thomas Vermaelen into a poor position for the first goal, while the second came from a penalty won when Gareth Bale found space to drive into.
It was interesting that Adebayor worked the left side in particular, forcing Laurent Koscielny into difficult situations high up the pitch. As mentioned when Zlatan Ibrahimovic did the same, Kosicelny doesn’t like coming high up the pitch – he generally leaves that to Vermaelen and looks to get in covering positions.
But Arsenal’s problem was that they had no covering defender, leaving 2 v 2 at the back and telling both full-backs to push high up the pitch. This made them extremely vulnerable to quick breaks with no spare man and the full-backs not in a position to cover.
They aren’t used to having to play more conservatively at the back – this was only the second time in the Premier League this season that a side had come to the Emirates in the Premier League this season and played two upfront. The other side was Fulham, who also caused Arsenal problems and picked up a point having been 1-0 up, but at least that day Arsenal had a defensive-minded right-back in Johan Djourou to cover. (Manchester United also played two forwards, but Wayne Rooney was usually picked up by Alex Song to maintain a spare man).
(2) Arsenal pass well
Arsenal have been wider and more direct this season, and reliant upon their wide players for creativity – but this was a bit more like the Arsenal of a couple of seasons ago, with Yossi Benayoun coming inside from the left, and Rosicky moving forward from midfield without any defensive responsibilities. Those two actually played in similar positions, but this allowed them to work short passes, form triangles with van Persie or Arteta, and Benayoun drove well at the defence.
Arsenal had an extra man in this zone, of course, though Redknapp told Adebayor and Saha to drop onto the deepest Arsenal midfielder when Spurs didn’t have possession. This is one area where it works well for Arsenal to rotate their midfield trio, though – if Saha moves onto Song, then Arsenal tilt the triangle to bring Song higher up the pitch, Saha will have to move over and pick up Arteta instead. Not particularly difficult, but not natural for a centre-forward. Jermain Defoe, who was on the bench, has been very disciplined at playing this role in the past couple of years.
(3) Tottenham lack control
Tottenham were 2-0 up without playing particularly sparkling football – they just broke quickly and efficiently. At 2-0 up they were clearly in an excellent position, but they were unable to exert any kind of control upon the game, and invited pressure from Arsenal – Rosicky and van Persie both had good chances before Bacary Sagna got a goal back (and it’s important to note that the advanced positioning of the Arsenal full-backs did have positive effects despite the aforementioned problems at the back).
The second half line-ups
A side can control the game either in or out of possession – by keeping the ball and slowing the tempo, or by retreating into an organised defensive shape and soaking up pressure. Tottenham did neither – they were outnumbered in the centre and therefore unable to keep the ball. Modric’s pass completion ratio was down at 82% (compared to the usual 88%), and he couldn’t do it on his own anyway.
More surprisingly, their defensive shape wasn’t particularly good – previously against Arsenal they’ve defended well with two banks of four, but here the two wide players were particularly poor defensively, and there was also the problem with dropping a striker onto an Arsenal midfielder.
(4) Arsenal start to counter
At half-time Redknapp moved to a 4-1-4-1ish system – van der Vaart on the right in place of Kranjcar, but more significantly Saha off, and Sandro on. Tottenham lost their shape, became increasingly narrow and their gameplan was confused – it wasn’t clear whether they were trying to see more of the ball in the centre, or continue their direct attacking.
Either way, they gradually started to become very vulnerable to Arsenal counter-attacks. Rosicky got the third when Tottenham found six players ahead of the ball – Sandro wasn’t sitting as he was meant to, and Parker was now higher up – and Arsenal worked a 5 v 4 for the goal.
Then Walcott became involved in the game. Having been poor in the first half, he suddenly became excellent midway through the second half. But there was good logic to that – he’d been anonymous when Tottenham sat deep, he became useful when Tottenham pushed up and left space in behind. The away side’s offside trap was poor, and Walcott had the pace to take full advantage on two occasions.
Conclusion
On the face of it, this was a game that defied logic with how open it was…yet there were some fairly logical factors that contributed to the scoreline. In the first half, Arsenal left 2 v 2 at the back and were weak at the back, but dominated the midfield battle 3 v 2 and built pressure.
Redknapp’s changes at half time didn’t have the effect they did in this fixture last season, and in the second half Tottenham were extremely poor – lacking structure at the back and with no ideas going forward.
Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham: Arsenal complete an amazing comeback | Zonal Marking
February 26, 2012
The starting line-ups
Tottenham went 2-0 up but then lost their shape completely and conceded five.
Arsene Wenger had something approaching his first-choice back four available. He used Tomas Rosicky in the Aaron Ramsey role in midfield, and Yossi Benayoun getting a start on the left.
Harry Redknapp picked two out-and-out strikers upfront, with Rafael van der Vaart and Aaron Lennon only on the bench and Niko Kranjcar making a surprise start on the right of midfield.
This was another ridiculously open Premier League game (and another North London derby with plenty of goals). Both back fours had poor games and Tottenham were unable to control the game at any point – even when they were playing well and 2-0 up. There were four major themes here:
(1) Tottenham play direct
This was a classic 4-3-3 v 4-4-2 match-up. In simple terms, the 4-3-3 is likely to dominate possession by virtue of having an extra man in the midfield, but the 4-4-2 can be more direct with two strikers.
That’s basically what happened early on. Tottenham played quick, direct balls towards Louis Saha and Emmanuel Adebayor, who battled with the Arsenal centre-backs. But the approach was slightly more complex than that – the two forwards drifted into wide and deep zones to split the Arsenal centre-backs and open up room for midfield runners. Kyle Walker made a clever off-the-ball run to drag Thomas Vermaelen into a poor position for the first goal, while the second came from a penalty won when Gareth Bale found space to drive into.
It was interesting that Adebayor worked the left side in particular, forcing Laurent Koscielny into difficult situations high up the pitch. As mentioned when Zlatan Ibrahimovic did the same, Kosicelny doesn’t like coming high up the pitch – he generally leaves that to Vermaelen and looks to get in covering positions.
But Arsenal’s problem was that they had no covering defender, leaving 2 v 2 at the back and telling both full-backs to push high up the pitch. This made them extremely vulnerable to quick breaks with no spare man and the full-backs not in a position to cover.
They aren’t used to having to play more conservatively at the back – this was only the second time in the Premier League this season that a side had come to the Emirates in the Premier League this season and played two upfront. The other side was Fulham, who also caused Arsenal problems and picked up a point having been 1-0 up, but at least that day Arsenal had a defensive-minded right-back in Johan Djourou to cover. (Manchester United also played two forwards, but Wayne Rooney was usually picked up by Alex Song to maintain a spare man).
(2) Arsenal pass well
Arsenal have been wider and more direct this season, and reliant upon their wide players for creativity – but this was a bit more like the Arsenal of a couple of seasons ago, with Yossi Benayoun coming inside from the left, and Rosicky moving forward from midfield without any defensive responsibilities. Those two actually played in similar positions, but this allowed them to work short passes, form triangles with van Persie or Arteta, and Benayoun drove well at the defence.
Arsenal had an extra man in this zone, of course, though Redknapp told Adebayor and Saha to drop onto the deepest Arsenal midfielder when Spurs didn’t have possession. This is one area where it works well for Arsenal to rotate their midfield trio, though – if Saha moves onto Song, then Arsenal tilt the triangle to bring Song higher up the pitch, Saha will have to move over and pick up Arteta instead. Not particularly difficult, but not natural for a centre-forward. Jermain Defoe, who was on the bench, has been very disciplined at playing this role in the past couple of years.
(3) Tottenham lack control
Tottenham were 2-0 up without playing particularly sparkling football – they just broke quickly and efficiently. At 2-0 up they were clearly in an excellent position, but they were unable to exert any kind of control upon the game, and invited pressure from Arsenal – Rosicky and van Persie both had good chances before Bacary Sagna got a goal back (and it’s important to note that the advanced positioning of the Arsenal full-backs did have positive effects despite the aforementioned problems at the back).
The second half line-ups
More surprisingly, their defensive shape wasn’t particularly good – previously against Arsenal they’ve defended well with two banks of four, but here the two wide players were particularly poor defensively, and there was also the problem with dropping a striker onto an Arsenal midfielder.
(4) Arsenal start to counter
At half-time Redknapp moved to a 4-1-4-1ish system – van der Vaart on the right in place of Kranjcar, but more significantly Saha off, and Sandro on. Tottenham lost their shape, became increasingly narrow and their gameplan was confused – it wasn’t clear whether they were trying to see more of the ball in the centre, or continue their direct attacking.
Either way, they gradually started to become very vulnerable to Arsenal counter-attacks. Rosicky got the third when Tottenham found six players ahead of the ball – Sandro wasn’t sitting as he was meant to, and Parker was now higher up – and Arsenal worked a 5 v 4 for the goal.
Then Walcott became involved in the game. Having been poor in the first half, he suddenly became excellent midway through the second half. But there was good logic to that – he’d been anonymous when Tottenham sat deep, he became useful when Tottenham pushed up and left space in behind. The away side’s offside trap was poor, and Walcott had the pace to take full advantage on two occasions.
Conclusion
On the face of it, this was a game that defied logic with how open it was…yet there were some fairly logical factors that contributed to the scoreline. In the first half, Arsenal left 2 v 2 at the back and were weak at the back, but dominated the midfield battle 3 v 2 and built pressure.
Redknapp’s changes at half time didn’t have the effect they did in this fixture last season, and in the second half Tottenham were extremely poor – lacking structure at the back and with no ideas going forward.
His lot older now so I have no worries about him, but if we manage to offload our deadweight strikers i'd like us to sign also Giroud.