Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

cson · 20-09-2008 09:35PM

Hate to be negative in the wake of a 3-1 away win but.....

1. How dodgy did Almunia look today :eek:
2. What sorta fooked up way do we defend set pieces?

Simplify it lads, take a man each, end of.
3. Toure and Gallas need to learn how to command at CB, the amount of free headers they let go today...
4. Why do we continue to sit back after going a goal up on the opposition when we could be putting them to bed?

Good win, but at the same time, Bolton could easily have gotten something out the game too.

OPENROAD · 20-09-2008 09:37PM

cson wrote: »

Hate to be negative in the wake of a 3-1 away win but.....

1. How dodgy did Almunia look today :eek:
2. What sorta fooked up way do we defend set pieces? Simplify it lads, take a man each, end of.
3. Toure and Gallas need to learn how to command at CB, the amount of free headers they let go today...
4. Why do we continue to sit back after going a goal up on the opposition when we could be putting them to bed?

Good win, but at the same time, Bolton could easily have gotten something out the game too.

I thought Almunia had a very good game myself.

cson · 20-09-2008 09:44PM

OPENROAD wrote: »

I thought Almunia had a very good game myself.

He's a good shot stopper but his decision making is.... questionable at best. He almost cost us the game only Vaz Te made such a shite of his shot.

OPENROAD · 20-09-2008 09:46PM

cson wrote: »

He's a good shot stopper but his decision making is.... questionable at best. He almost cost us the game only Vaz Te made such a shite of his shot.

Pulled off three great saves also, am very happy with him.

Pepe LeFrits · 20-09-2008 10:28PM

cson wrote: »

Hate to be negative in the wake of a 3-1 away win but.....

1. How dodgy did Almunia look today :eek:
2. What sorta fooked up way do we defend set pieces? Simplify it lads, take a man each, end of.
3. Toure and Gallas need to learn how to command at CB, the amount of free headers they let go today...
4. Why do we continue to sit back after going a goal up on the opposition when we could be putting them to bed?

Good win, but at the same time, Bolton could easily have gotten something out the game too.

And there was I thinking we managed to win 3-1 away to one of our bogey teams.

AnCapaillMor · 20-09-2008 10:56PM

Seriously i want whatever song is on. He's been fantastic the past few games. i think eboue and song will be very good for us this season.

Royale with Cheese · 20-09-2008 11:25PM

Was just thinking during the game that Almunia hasn't really done anything stupid in a long time, and has made some great saves.

The Vaz Te incident aside he was quite good again today. Yeah there's probably better keepers out there but he's not bad himself. All keepers make mistakes sometimes. Goalkeeper would be one of the last areas that I think needs immediate strengthening.

leninbenjamin · 21-09-2008 05:01AM

Thank f*ck Clichy is alright. would have hate to have seen another ruled out to a f*cking thick-headed scumbag challenge by a talentless gob****e. the more I see the challenge the more pissed off I am Davies didn't get a red; he obviously had only one intention, to make Clichy hurt, he wouldn't have lifted that left leg otherwise. serious cop out imo considering the linesman was right beside the incident.

on Alumina; tbh he didn't do that bad with the Vaz Te incident. fair enough he came out to close down initially, but he corrected fairly well. he parried the cross but he was up like a shot to close down the angles. most Premiership keepers would have ended up conceding due to something like that but Alumia recovered, only a select few would have recovered in time imo.

Frisbee · 21-09-2008 10:57AM

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Seriously i want whatever song is on. He's been fantastic the past few games. i think eboue and song will be very good for us this season.

Was just saying this to my mate last night...
Lets just hope he doesnt f*ck off to AC Milan...

ErinGoBrath · 21-09-2008 11:14AM

OPENROAD wrote: »

Pulled off three great saves also, am very happy with him.

I totally agree. He's developing into a smashing goal keeper.

estebancambias · 21-09-2008 11:28AM

poor result for arsenal there midweek. would have expected more but back to winning ways.

gosplan · 21-09-2008 11:32AM

Most improved players so far: Eboue, Song and Denilson - really something that we needed this year.

(obviously it's early days and we did have that Fulham game but I was worried for a while that it might be a lot worse)

Galvasean · 21-09-2008 11:42AM

Gotta admit I was a bit confused with Wenger's decision at half time to play Sagna on the left (where he didnt look himself) and Djourou on the right (he just wasn't marking that Bolton sub guy with the massive dreadlocks) .
I would have taught leaving Sagna at RB and put Gallas on the left (he's played there before) would have been the more obvious option. Maybe Wenger wanted to keep his captain in the middle.

DenMan · 21-09-2008 11:59AM

Galvasean wrote: »

Gotta admit I was a bit confused with Wenger's decision at half time to play Sagna on the left (where he didnt look himself) and Djourou on the right (he just wasn't marking that Bolton sub guy with the massive dreadlocks) .
I would have taught leaving Sagna at RB and put Gallas on the left (he's played there before) would have been the more obvious option. Maybe Wenger wanted to keep his captain in the middle.

I am a big fan of Gardner, I thought he played very well yesterday. He keeps that up he will be on his way out from Bolton should they struggle this year. Sagna is such a wondefully versatile player. I thought he looked good on the left yesterday even though the right is his position. Another possibility for Wenger should Clichy/Traore (when he returns from Pompey) pick up injuries.

estebancambias · 21-09-2008 12:02PM

Gardner is ****, and hasn't been good since 2002, the year Bolton came up. I doubt Bolton would be reluctant to let him go.

Frisbee · 21-09-2008 12:04PM

Galvasean wrote: »

Gotta admit I was a bit confused with Wenger's decision at half time to play Sagna on the left (where he didnt look himself) and Djourou on the right (he just wasn't marking that Bolton sub guy with the massive dreadlocks) .
I would have taught leaving Sagna at RB and put Gallas on the left (he's played there before) would have been the more obvious option. Maybe Wenger wanted to keep his captain in the middle.

My guess would be that he's trying to break up the Toure/Gallas paring as little as possible.
I dunno if its just me but they look much shakier than they did last year...

DenMan · 21-09-2008 12:23PM

estebancambias wrote: »

Gardner is ****, and hasn't been good since 2002, the year Bolton came up. I doubt Bolton would be reluctant to let him go.

I'm sure he has had bad performances in the past. 10 years at Bolton now, but I thought he looked very dangerous yesterday. When he does finish playing at least he can concentrate on Jamaica's Dancehall scene. Read he is a promoter of a record label.

Anybody hazzard a guess as to what will be our team against Sheff Utd on Tues will be?

Frisbee · 21-09-2008 12:42PM

Galvasean wrote: »

Attention turns to Wednesday. Whose it gonna be?
Fabianski

Eboue
Djourou---Silvestre----Gibbs

Walcott---Ramsey---Song----Wilshire
Vela----Bendtner

Pepe LeFrits · 21-09-2008 12:43PM

At a guess...

Fabianski

Hoyte Djourou Song Gibbs

Lansbury Randall Ramsey Wilshere

Bendtner Vela

Pepe LeFrits · 21-09-2008 12:44PM

I don't think Silvestre will be fit for Tuesday.

keano_afc · 21-09-2008 05:05PM

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Seriously i want whatever song is on. He's been fantastic the past few games. i think eboue and song will be very good for us this season.

I was at the game yesterday and Song was awful. Gave the ball away constantly and fouled whatever player he was trying to get it back off. He's getting away with it coz he happens to be playing beside a guy who's in a different class a the moment. It was an absolute pleasure to watch Fab play. Up and down the pitch constantly. His defensive game has improved massively.

Pepe LeFrits · 22-09-2008 11:51AM

I don't agree with that. His passing was a bit wayward in the second half at times but defensively he was solid; positionally he is a lot better at shielding the defence than pretty much anyone else in the squad. Also Denilson outperformed Cesc, who hasn't really gotten going yet.

Anyway, the old frailities remain and I expect they will catch up with us eventually but I'm going to enjoy it while I can. Saturday's game highlighted to me that the squad has more strength in depth than people give it credit for. Winning 3-1 away to Bolton while playing some brilliant football, and it was done without a lot of good players - no van Persie, Eduardo, Rosicky, Nasri etc.

yahoo_moe · 22-09-2008 01:13PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

I don't think Silvestre will be fit for Tuesday.

And I hope you're right that Theo will be rested/considered beyond Carling Cup duty as well - think Hull at home next week could be a good match for him in the form he's in.

Also Denilson outperformed Cesc, who hasn't really gotten going yet.

I agree that Cesc is behind but it's no surprise really, given his summer schedule and late return. And with the way Arsenal's fixtures fall, I'm happy for others to carry a bit of the burden for a bit while he gets himself sharp. Out of curiosity, though, what way did the midfield line up the other day (only saw highlights so couldn't really tell)?

Galvasean · 22-09-2008 01:51PM

Frisbee wrote: »

My guess would be that he's trying to break up the Toure/Gallas paring as little as possible.
I dunno if its just me but they look much shakier than they did last year...

They looked pretty shakey in the later stages of last season too.

Moe, our midfield was Eboue (left), Fabregas, Song, Denilson (right). Although a fair bit of switching occurred.

leninbenjamin · 22-09-2008 03:01PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Also Denilson outperformed Cesc, who hasn't really gotten going yet.

I'm not sure it's fair to say that about Cesc. I think he is playing a much more controlled game along side the others. he's not as willing to try that through ball it seems because neither Denilson or Song still have the effectiveness at stemming potential counters that Flamini did.

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Saturday's game highlighted to me that the squad has more strength in depth than people give it credit for. Winning 3-1 away to Bolton while playing some brilliant football, and it was done without a lot of good players - no van Persie, Eduardo, Rosicky, Nasri etc.

i've been saying that for a while now. the lack of experience in midfield is still apparent at times, but both Song and Denilson have shown us that they are more than capable of claiming the free starting spot along side Cesc.

I'm more worried about the CBs though. It's ironic isn't it? the partnership of the two most experienced players on the team and they are arguably the most vulnerable part of the team. Watching Kolo and Gallas on Saturday and then comparing them to Ferdinand on Sunday; it becomes really apparent that they aren't half as commanding enough, not strong enough, their positional sense isn't good enough and considering the backline is comprised entirely of native French speakers they don't communicate half as well as they should. When Clichy went off it becomes really obvious how he's able to bail them out so much with his pace. I really don't see how the team can win anything with Toure and Gallas as the pairing.

but then the big question is, who can Arsene replace them with?

Frisbee · 22-09-2008 03:38PM

leninbenjamin wrote: »

but then the big question is, who can Arsene replace them with?

Ezequiel Garay would be nice...

Wreck · 22-09-2008 03:50PM

I think Cesc has played well so far without hitting the heights of the first two thirds of last season. I'm also happy enough at how Denilison and Song have preformed, and while there is obviously room for improvement in the centre of midfield, the potential for a good partnership is definetely there. I've also been very pleased by Eboue's performances so far, seems alot more focused and mature. (Honestly never thought I'd say that

)

Fully agree that the centre back pairing is looking very vulnerable at the moment, there doesn't seem to be the hunger or will to dominate the penalty area.

This is going to sound strange considering he already has three league goals to his name, but I've been really disappointed with Adebayor. He is nowhere near clinical enough at the moment and has at times seemed uninterested.

yahoo_moe · 22-09-2008 04:38PM

Wreck wrote: »

I've been really disappointed with Adebayor. He is nowhere near clinical enough at the moment and has at times seemed uninterested.

Adebayor is never anywhere near clinical enough - he scored the amount he did last year by virtue of how many chances he got. But in an Arsenal team these days, that's often enough. Haven't seen as much as I'd have liked of the matches so far but to me, he's looked like he's working pretty hard for the team?

leninbenjamin · 22-09-2008 07:09PM

Frisbee wrote: »

Ezequiel Garay would be nice...

nah... Garay's PA is only 170

Frisbee · 22-09-2008 08:13PM

leninbenjamin wrote: »

nah... Garay's PA is only 170

I cant believe it took me like 30 seconds to get that...

Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

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