Quick question for Arsenal fans. Do you guys think Wenger knew all along that Cesc would leave this summer and bought Gervinho with the intention of switching to a 4-4-2? Gervinho would definitely fit best as a striker if he played for Arsenal and I don't see Wenger spending that kind of money to put someone on the bench (Walcott, Arshavin, and Nasri--Mata if Nasri leaves--would start on the wing over him, and Van Persie would of course start at striker over him). So maybe he knew Cesc would leave and decided that Arsenal would switch to a 4-4-2, with Gervinho and Van Persie up top, Walcott and Nasri (or Mata) on the wings, Song as the holding midfielder (Diaby as a back-up), and Wilshere as the CM (Ramsey as a back-up). This is wild speculation and I haven't heard anything about Arsenal's friendlies this season or what formation they've played, so I realize I'm probably wrong, but it's just a thought.
I have a feeling he'll stick with the 4-5-1, sell Nasri and Fabregas and put Gervinho on the wing with Ramsey playing as the CM (or Wilshere at times). I hope not, and if that happens they should definitely buy a steely, ball-winning DM with good distribution to support the playmaking CM, since Ramsey or Wilshere are not quite ready to fill Cesc's shoes yet. A midfield trio of Song, Wilshere, and Ramsey might not be good enough. If this happens without a good DM brought in I don't know if they'll be able to stay in the top 4 (I think Liverpool will be great this season). Of course they'd make tons of money with the Nasri and Fabregas sales, and if they did stay in the top 4 it'd be a testament to how great a manager Wenger is and that it is possible to succeed in the Prem on a negative transfer budget. But this season I think it's risky to try and prove that point.
In a word: No.
We've stuck to 4-2-3-1 (note the difference between that and 4-5-1) throughout pre-season and I don't see us changing that. Especially not now - so close to the season proper.
Gervinho can, but doesn't like to, play up front. He refused to play there for Lille and his movement on and off the ball makes him more valuable as a wide-player IMO. The whole point of having van Persie up front is that he's a 'false 9' - dropping deep and taking a defender or two with him so that wide players cut into the space behind him off the ball.
You say Wilshere/Ramsey aren't good enough, but a) Did you WATCH Wilshere last season? He had a better season than Fabregas did. In fact - screw that, he was our POTY on the official site.
Ramsey has been brilliant in pre-season (one of few positives) and was superb pre-leg break to the point that he was a genuine threat to Cesc (had it been anyone else, he would have taken it without doubt, but how do you leave out someone like Cesc?!). Definitely capable of replacing him IMO.
Even if they weren't... I don't understand your conclusions. Ramsey/Wilshere may not be good enough, so don't sign a creative MF to replace Cesc, buy a defensive-midfielder to - uh - replace the not-going-anywhere Alex Song? Song has come on leaps and bounds and is now one of the best DMs in the league (to the extent Inter were reportedly after him). Frimpong looked brilliant in pre-season again as well.
And you can't just assume Wenger will sign Mata if Nasri leaves. We're definitely interested, but can we afford him now? Quite possibly not, and even if we could, he wouldn't necessarily come in.
Finally - don't understand people who say "Will Wenger/Wenger should switch to 4-4-2 (?)" --> No, he wont. He didn't switch to a 4-3-3 variant because he was bored of counter-attacking 4-4-2 formations, he did it because he wanted to succeed in Europe and we're not going to do that without more players in CM. Look what happened to Utd - Barca's midfield dominated them because they had space and more options than Utd's CMs did.
4-2-3-1/4-3-3 ftw.
since gervinho is vesatile up front,
we CAN switch to 4-4-2, like how we played against benfica. but wenger might stick to teh orginal 4-2-3-1, were ramsey replces cese, and gervinho on the left and walcott on the right.
but it could change IF mata comes.
in a 4-4-2 mata left, walcott right, and gervinho + rvp up front.
cm's will be ramsey/wilshere and song
---------- Post added at 01:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:14 PM ----------
this must be a joke. why should Arshavin Leave ?
RIA Novosti: Arshavin and Lazovic close to joining Anzhi - Football - Sports.ru
Eh? We didn't go 4-4-2 against Benfica.
And I wrote a bit about why we don't need a poacher up front, part of my reasoning was that van Persie is so much better as a lone-striker:
Is the “poacher” the perfect Arsenal signing this summer? | Arsenal Report
(I haven't plugged that in SO long!)
Not really happy with the signing of Chamberlain... Young talent, sure, but 11(?) million seems too much. Would've rather we signed a new CB.
"Spend some ******* money!" // "No - not on him! HIM! No, not him either!"
Wenger can't win can he? This isn't an either/or situation - I expect Wenger to make at least one more signing (I say at least, he won't buy 2 players in 3 weeks) before August 31. He has said he wants a defender, he's not stupid - he can see our squad and it's problems. This just happened to get sorted earlier because it was easier. Agree a fee with S'Hampton and you're done. More complicated for others like Jagielka.
its on course i think mate. cahill deal possible.
and is TV5 injured again. NO!!!!
---------- Post added at 04:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:52 PM ----------
if u where to choose between two forwards, who will it be.
Chamahk or Bentdner. ????
just wanna know cuz some fans in Fb are ranting about Bentdner atleast better than Chamahk, whilist Chamahk is a better aerial player to say the least.
Generally Chamakh, but he's so out of form at the moment I honestly think we might be best off keeping Bendtner for now.
If Chamakh returns to the player he was for the first 4 months last season, him everyday of the week. But if he continues to be a statue up front, then neither. Bendtner will frustrate the **** out of you, then pop up with something brilliant that makes you think he might just have a shot at being a good player. Then will miss a wide open goal.
This. His big-ego leads to inconsistency and does no one any favours IMO.