Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

leninbenjamin · 18-05-2009 04:02PM

Indie18 wrote: »

Wouln't say no to Eto'o but the whole Tevez thing would be more trouble than its worth, especially when I feel a fully fit Eduardo could do the same job as Tevez.

not really... Eduardo is more of a poacher/finisher, Tevez more the terrier/link-up type. I think they could be a good combo.

not gonna happen though, no way would Wenger have that much to spend on a single player. notions of Eto'o or Tevez are laughable really.

Galvasean · 18-05-2009 04:15PM

Ive heard that Tevez might be available for as little as 15million due to some bizarre clause in his contract. Probably just paper talk though.

Pepe LeFrits · 18-05-2009 07:12PM

PHB wrote: »

If Arsenal are selling Adebayour or Van Persie, I'd hope United would get in there.
Van Persie imo is the most talented striker in the PL after Rooney and Torres. Utterly fantastic player, who in the right system, could really be special. Not sure Arsenal's system suits him though.

He wouldn't fit into United's system any better than he does Arsenal's. He looked great as a youngster; he was quick, aggressive and unpredictable. He's lost much of the individualism and is generally quite slow and predictable now. He slows the game down far too much and doesn't add enough to the play. The occasional moment of highlight reel flair doesn't make up for it.

We'd be much better off with Arshavin playing off the striker and Walcott either playing as that striker, or sitting on the bench (preferably the latter for now). Neither of them like playing out wide and they don't have the defensive know-how for it either. We'd be better off with actual midfielders in midfield who better balance the attacking aspects with the defensive so we can get back to having a disciplined midfield unit that fills spaces. Our defensive problems start in the midfield; it isn't just our defenders that are the problem.

DenMan · 18-05-2009 07:17PM

What if we sign Michael Owen (finally). Sure Gary (Lewin) and the boys looked after him for England. With Arshavin and Walcott/Nasri playing around him we would be unreal. It would re-ignite Owen himself, with the World Cup next year. Think it is a transfer that may happen over the summer. I, in fact welcome it.

Royale with Cheese · 18-05-2009 07:19PM

Owen? No thanks. There's enough injury problems as there is.

Pepe LeFrits · 18-05-2009 07:21PM

Wouldn't take Owen over any of our strikers tbh.

itsjaybud · 18-05-2009 07:45PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

We'd be much better off with Arshavin playing off the striker and Walcott either playing as that striker, or sitting on the bench (preferably the latter for now). Neither of them like playing out wide and they don't have the defensive know-how for it either. We'd be better off with actual midfielders in midfield who better balance the attacking aspects with the defensive so we can get back to having a disciplined midfield unit that fills spaces. Our defensive problems start in the midfield; it isn't just our defenders that are the problem.

I want to see Arshavin remain playing from some sort of midfield role next season and hopefully get into double figures regards goals. We need to get back to the days of having our midfield players scoring plenty of goals and in some cases be the deciding factor in those tight games where we find it difficult to break down so called lesser opponents.

Ljungbergs goals back in 01/02 season were vital and i think Arshavin could do a similar job from a midfield position. Also Cesc has showed it in the past that he can get goals for us aswell and these could be the difference in winning or not.

I know its placing alot on Arshavin doing well next season but its hard not to after what he has done already when hes only just settling into the club. Getting goals from midfield takes so much pressure off the top two and the team as a whole would benefit greatly from it.

Regards Arshavin and Walcotts defensive abilities, im not too sure Rosicky or Nasri would enjoy tracking back any more than the two mentioned! True our defensive problems does start with the midfield but if we just get in a quality established DM alongside Cesc, I think it will greatly help make up for either of our wingers lack of determination to sometimes not provide cover for the likes of Sagna & Clichy.

yahoo_moe · 18-05-2009 07:45PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

We'd be much better off with Arshavin playing off the striker and Walcott either playing as that striker, or sitting on the bench (preferably the latter for now).

I know you've been punting this 'ship them both out' theory for a while but I still don't fully understand where you're coming from (especially when a new striker seems to be so far down your list of priorities). Are you banking on Eduardo staying fully fit all season with Bendtner/Theo as joint second choice?

I'm all for Arshavin mainly playing off the striker and (even more so) not leaving ourselves too exposed in the wide areas but:

(1) I'd like to have options. By all means sell either Ade or RVP (probably the latter for contract/injury reasons), but if both go, I'm not sure we have enough options up top. Especially if we sometimes want to play Arshavin left side and 2 up top.
(2) If we sign a good CB, our soft centre/susceptibility to crosses (maybe not directly, but we're pants at clearing them) become less of a problem. Hence we'd be happier about playing central-drifting players out wide sometimes.
(3) I'm becoming increasingly unsure about how clinical Theo really is. When he finishes well, he looks dynamite but I've seen him miss too many chances now (even when he's been in a good confident mood) to be sure that he's ever going to start doing that full-time.

Pepe LeFrits · 18-05-2009 07:55PM

Well moe, my view of getting rid of both Adebayor and van Persie is generally based on the assumption that we'd bring in a striker to offset that - somebody like Dzeko, Pogrebnyak or another. However, if the funds were reinvested into the side elsewhere and the right players came in then not buying another striker might not be that bad news. If the money significantly strengthened our back four and midfield, then it could offset the potential fall-off, if any, from losing those two. Eduardo, should he stay fit, could fill the void; Bendtner, still just 21, is improving and has scored as many goals from open play this season as either Adebayor and van Persie; Walcott is a striker in my books and will do well when he gets to play there; while Vela I think is underestimated a little bit as he has been used sparingly while he settles in this season, and is ready for a bigger role.

yahoo_moe · 18-05-2009 08:18PM

I agree that Bendtner is improving all the time and I think his attitude is generally spot on effort-wise (extremely important with some of the other players we have in the squad) but I'd rather have an extra player for a season than find out that Walcott/Vela shouldn't have been promoted so quickly. Going for Pogrebnyak/Dzeko (say 10m or so for either of them?) is fine but it seems like an unnecessary gamble to me when we don't know how well they'd settle, how they'd fit into the team, etc. Plus Ade might well only go for 15m this summer so would that risk/upheaval be worth 5m?

OPENROAD · 18-05-2009 08:21PM

Just a heads up, Tuesday on Arsenal TV 19:30, Shareholders Meeting, believe it has been edited removing some of the more difficult questions, still will be worth a watch.

Pepe LeFrits · 18-05-2009 08:22PM

Well, whether we do business obviously depends on the figures.

For example, as I understand it Pogrebnyak's contract expires late in 2009, so he could be available at a knock-down price in the summer. I doubt he'd represent any real improvement on say Adebayor but if it freed up 10 or 15m, that could give us a top class player in another position.

For me van Persie and Adebayor are two of our most saleable assets; we're quite well stocked in that position and they don't contribute as much as their value suggests (so we should cash in before this becomes more generally acknowledged). Look at our strength in depth in attack and compare it to central midfield or central defence.

Galvasean · 18-05-2009 08:53PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Wouldn't take Owen over any of our strikers tbh.

Ditto. Last thing we need is another sicknote.

Pepe LeFrits · 18-05-2009 08:53PM

itsjaybud wrote: »

I want to see Arshavin remain playing from some sort of midfield role next season and hopefully get into double figures regards goals. We need to get back to the days of having our midfield players scoring plenty of goals and in some cases be the deciding factor in those tight games where we find it difficult to break down so called lesser opponents.

It doesn't matter where the goals come from, and imo we'll create more chances with Arshavin central than out wide. In the days we had Ljungberg and Pires weighing in with double figures we also had Bergkamp in the centre dropping deep and setting things up. We've missed that. Adebayor and van Persie score more than Bergkamp but they don't create like him. Arshavin can.

Regards Arshavin and Walcotts defensive abilities, im not too sure Rosicky or Nasri would enjoy tracking back any more than the two mentioned! True our defensive problems does start with the midfield but if we just get in a quality established DM alongside Cesc, I think it will greatly help make up for either of our wingers lack of determination to sometimes not provide cover for the likes of Sagna & Clichy.

Rosicky and Nasri are terrific workers. They've both played in central midfield in their careers so they are much better suited to the defensive stuff than Arshavin and Walcott who are more used to playing as forwards.

Besides, even if they learned to be more discplined defensively, putting them there to do that dogwork is a waste of their talent. We should be giving Arshavin freedom ala Ronaldo at United, and Walcott just plain isn't very good in midfield. Doesn't have the skillset.

Mickeroo · 18-05-2009 09:36PM

DenMan wrote: »

What if we sign Michael Owen (finally). Sure Gary (Lewin) and the boys looked after him for England. With Arshavin and Walcott/Nasri playing around him we would be unreal. It would re-ignite Owen himself, with the World Cup next year. Think it is a transfer that may happen over the summer. I, in fact welcome it.

Owen would be quality if he could stay fit, tbh it looks like his career's over at the top level to me. Newcastle have a habit of doing that to players it seems

> Damien Duff

gosplan · 19-05-2009 10:36AM

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

We'd be much better off with Arshavin playing off the striker and Walcott either playing as that striker, or sitting on the bench (preferably the latter for now). Neither of them like playing out wide and they don't have the defensive know-how for it either. We'd be better off with actual midfielders in midfield who better balance the attacking aspects with the defensive so we can get back to having a disciplined midfield unit that fills spaces. Our defensive problems start in the midfield; it isn't just our defenders that are the problem.

I'm not sure if I get this.

Sure everyone wants to see Arshavin off the main striker but you figure we should just have Eduardo and Bendtner as that main striker or are you saying keep Ade and let RVP go?

Very few of our players have covered themselves in glory this year. Ade and RVP both had much better seasons last year but for me the difference is in their attitude this season, RVP's has been quite good and he has contributed, Ade hasn't.

Selling both would be sheer stupidity IMO. You begin next season feeling comfortable about a Eduardo/Arshavin combination up front and that's it, anything else and the doubts creep in.

I take your point about Walcott in midfield but I don't think he's ready to be relied on up front. Sadly, bar the odd great moment, he still seems to be about pace and nothing else.

gosplan · 19-05-2009 10:37AM

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Wouldn't take Owen over any of our strikers reserves tbh.

FYP

gosplan · 19-05-2009 10:46AM

gosplan wrote: »

I'm not sure if I get this.

Sure everyone wants to see Arshavin off the main striker but you figure we should just have Eduardo and Bendtner as that main striker or are you saying keep Ade and let RVP go?

Very few of our players have covered themselves in glory this year. Ade and RVP both had much better seasons last year but for me the difference is in their attitude this season, RVP's has been quite good and he has contributed, Ade hasn't.

Selling both would be sheer stupidity IMO. You begin next season feeling comfortable about a Eduardo/Arshavin combination up front and that's it, anything else and the doubts creep in.

I take your point about Walcott in midfield but I don't think he's ready to be relied on up front. Sadly, bar the odd great moment, he still seems to be about pace and nothing else.

Sorry, you've answered all of this in between then and now.

gosplan · 19-05-2009 10:50AM

We've been linked with the worlds most evil looking player - Thomas Vermaelen.

Saw him play for Ajax a year or two ago. Looks like a serial killer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Vermaelen

DenMan · 19-05-2009 10:54AM

gosplan wrote: »

We've been linked with the worlds most evil looking player - Thomas Vermaelen.

Saw him play for Ajax a year or two ago. Looks like a serial killer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Vermaelen

Good. That's what we want. A solid defender with eyes of steel. Imagine Felaini or the Rafael twins with their afros strutting into the Arsenal defense and bam...nice to meet ya. He does look like a James Bond villian.

leninbenjamin · 19-05-2009 12:08PM

itsjaybud wrote: »

I want to see Arshavin remain playing from some sort of midfield role next season and hopefully get into double figures regards goals. We need to get back to the days of having our midfield players scoring plenty of goals and in some cases be the deciding factor in those tight games where we find it difficult to break down so called lesser opponents.

Ljungbergs goals back in 01/02 season were vital and i think Arshavin could do a similar job from a midfield position. Also Cesc has showed it in the past that he can get goals for us aswell and these could be the difference in winning or not.

Arshavin is a central player. almost all his goals come from him drifting towards the more central positions. he's not strong enough or industrious enough to play as a CM, so the best place for him is in the support strikers role (like the role that got the most out of Hleb). He's the most creative player on the books at the moment. He's got pace, vision and an eye for goal. Exactly what's missing up front at the mo with RVP and Ade. Why play him anywhere else when you can give him the freedom to get the most out of his abilities?

itsjaybud wrote: »

Regards Arshavin and Walcotts defensive abilities, im not too sure Rosicky or Nasri would enjoy tracking back any more than the two mentioned! True our defensive problems does start with the midfield but if we just get in a quality established DM alongside Cesc, I think it will greatly help make up for either of our wingers lack of determination to sometimes not provide cover for the likes of Sagna & Clichy.

have you watched Nasri or Rosicky at all? Sure they aren't hard tackling heavyweights, but they are well capable of throwing themselves into a tackle here and there, and Nasri in particular is very effective at harrying opponents off the ball. Contrast that with Walcott who can only jog lazily around them, he tries but he just doesn't have a notion of how to close down players effectively. Arshavin's better at it, but it's a complete waste to place additional defensive burdens on him. Keep him up front and make his sole responsibility to find space.

if the offers come in for Ade and RVP, we should take them. This still gives us 5 concrete options up front, and arguably forces proper the proper target man / creative man pairing that we've been missing so much of.

Eduardo/Bendtner/Walcott

Arshavin/Vela

not to mention that both Rosicky and Nasri are capable of playing an advanced/support striker role if needed , they both have the creativity to do so (although Nasri needs a bit more experience).

here's my desired script for the summer (using FM notation

):

Transfers Out:
ST - Ade
ST -RVP
CM - Diaby

Transfers In:
AMR - don't really care as long as they can cross a ball, which is something that's really lacking in the current team. feck it, i'd nearly take back Bently... :eek:
CM - not overly fussy, Denilson and Song are coming along nicely, but if the opportunity came to buy someone like Veloso, or again someone more experienced like Barry/Alonso i think we should snap them up (although i know the chances are fairly nonexistent).
DC - I still want Zapata, although the Ajax fellah sounds alright.

those sales would hopefully generate around 30 million (say 15 for Ade, 10 for RVP and, with a bit of luck, maybe up to 5 for Diaby). Then the supposed kitty is around 13, that gives us near 40/45 to spend. That should be able to get us in some quality in the areas above and give us a better balanced squad.

Frisbee · 19-05-2009 12:17PM

First of all I'd like to say that's a very good post. Now...

leninbenjamin wrote: »

have you watched Nasri or Rosicky at all? Sure they aren't hard tackling heavyweights, but they are well capable of throwing themselves into a tackle here and there, and Nasri in particular is very effective at harrying opponents off the ball.

I'd definitely have to agree with this, one of the things that has most impressed me about Nasri this year is his defensive tracking, he really works his socks off and gives the opposition very little time on the ball.

leninbenjamin wrote: »

if the offers come in for Ade and RVP, we should take them. This still gives us 5 concrete options up front, and arguably forces proper the proper target man / creative man pairing that we've been missing so much of.
Eduardo/Bendtner/Walcott
Arshavin/Vela

One of the things I'm really hoping for next year is for Eduardo to remain fit. He is absolutely clinical in front of goal, something we've been sorely lacking. Keep him fit for a season and have him playing as among our first choice and I reckon he's easily worth 18+ goals in the league. Especially with Fabregas and Arshavin to set him up.

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Transfers Out:
ST - Ade
ST -RVP
CM - Diaby

I'd really like to keep RVP and Ade, although if we get a decent offer for Diaby I'd be happy enough to let him go.

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Transfers In:
AMR - don't really care as long as they can cross a ball, which is something that's really lacking in the current team. feck it, i'd nearly take back Bently... :eek:
CM - not overly fussy, Denilson and Song are coming along nicely, but if the opportunity came to buy someone like Veloso, or again someone more experienced like Barry/Alonso i think we should snap them up (although i know the chances are fairly nonexistent).
DC - I still want Zapata, although the Ajax fellah sounds alright.

Alonso or Veloso would be

leninbenjamin wrote: »

those sales would hopefully generate around 30 million (say 15 for Ade, 10 for RVP and, with a bit of luck, maybe up to 5 for Diaby). Then the supposed kitty is around 13, that gives us near 40/45 to spend. That should be able to get us in some quality in the areas above and give us a better balanced squad.

As I said I'd prefer not to sell Ade or RVP but if it came to it I reckon we could certainly get a better price for them.
If City are involved I'd be looking at 25+ for Ade.
And if RVP is going to go it's no big secret he's very much admired by Real, who aren't exactly known for being overly pragmatic in the transfer market.
I reckon we could get upward of 16 million for him, wouldn't be suprised at 20.

leninbenjamin · 19-05-2009 12:28PM

In my last post i forgot to emphasise how important i think it is to buy an out and out winger for the summer. Arsenal really really REALLY lack width. Rosicky/Nasri/Walcott all tend to drift inside on the ball. This isn't a huge problem in itself but one of the reasons we are so sh*t at beating the smaller teams consistently is that we fail to spread their defences effectively. Instead the narrowness allows them to compact themselves and makes them more difficult to break down.

We need proper wingers, who can stay out wide and bang in crosses effectively while the opposition defences are spread. With the emphasise on possession and keeping the ball on the ground these days, people forget how much damage a good old fashioned crosser can do. Even if you don't offer the ariel threat, the danger posed by a good high cross and the ability for it to ricochet anywhere in the box should never be underestimated. We really really need a winger or two, even to just give us that additional unpredicability in our play.

I'd prioritize the right ahead of the left as Walcott is really our only option there at the mo, although in an ideal world i'd like to see us get in options for both sides if the cash were available. They don't have to be world beaters, just someone who can gives us that additional option.

gosplan · 19-05-2009 01:35PM

Arshavin needs to play up front. Either 4-4-2 as support striker or 4-5-1 as most advanced midfielder - but that's pretty much the same thing.

IMO, we need someone like Alonso/Veloso (neither of whom we'll get close to btw), a big aggressive CB (I'd take the 27 year old Hangeland in a shot), and a RMF who can attack and defend (god knows who).

If we had three such targets in mind and selling Ade + Diaby along with the money we'd get from the dog food factory for Silvestre wasn't going to raise the captial, I'd probably consider selling RVP.

However, selling RVP with a view towards bringing in another striker doesn't make too much sense.

Edited to include: The thoughts of Cesc, Arshavin & Rosicky in the same team is comforting. This season we've had one player who could pick a pass and he was missing for a large part of it.

itsjaybud · 19-05-2009 01:59PM

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Arshavin is a central player. almost all his goals come from him drifting towards the more central positions. he's not strong enough or industrious enough to play as a CM, so the best place for him is in the support strikers role (like the role that got the most out of Hleb). He's the most creative player on the books at the moment. He's got pace, vision and an eye for goal. Exactly what's missing up front at the mo with RVP and Ade. Why play him anywhere else when you can give him the freedom to get the most out of his abilities?

Im not trying to tie Arshavin to the left handside line of the pitch at all, im sure he will be given freedom to roam into central positions and link play, but also can be used to great effective for driving at players from the left. The likes of Walcott can keep the width to the team on the opposite side of the field, i dont really buy into the idea that Walcott tends to dift in field alot. Giving Arshavin this type role will get plenty out of his abilities and the new DM becomes a key component in providing cover for Clichy when Arshavin is caught up field.

[/quote]
have you watched Nasri or Rosicky at all? Sure they aren't hard tackling heavyweights, but they are well capable of throwing themselves into a tackle here and there, and Nasri in particular is very effective at harrying opponents off the ball. Contrast that with Walcott who can only jog lazily around them, he tries but he just doesn't have a notion of how to close down players effectively. Arshavin's better at it, but it's a complete waste to place additional defensive burdens on him. Keep him up front and make his sole responsibility to find space. [/quote]

Its quite a similar post to that of Pepes, but I think you misread my post i never said that Nasri or Rosicky were not able or effective at tracking back, defending and winning the ball. That wasnt my point at all, and tbh i cant recall Rosicky's defensive abilities for obvious reasons!

As for Nasri I think his performances have gone down a notch or two in latter stages of the season and our most recent game last saturday he was pretty much in and out of the game. He didnt really provide that much cover for Sagna against Rooney. Granted he has shown he is more than capable of winning the ball back and setting up attacks and both Walcott and Nasri for that position is ideal imo. Walcott is still developing and is working on the physical side to his game and will need more time but i still hold high hopes for him becoming a very good player wide right for Arsenal.

leninbenjamin wrote: »

In my last post i forgot to emphasise how important i think it is to buy an out and out winger for the summer. Arsenal really really REALLY lack width. Rosicky/Nasri/Walcott all tend to drift inside on the ball. This isn't a huge problem in itself but one of the reasons we are so sh*t at beating the smaller teams consistently is that we fail to spread their defences effectively. Instead the narrowness allows them to compact themselves and makes them more difficult to break down.

We need proper wingers, who can stay out wide and bang in crosses effectively while the opposition defences are spread. With the emphasise on possession and keeping the ball on the ground these days, people forget how much damage a good old fashioned crosser can do. Even if you don't offer the ariel threat, the danger posed by a good high cross and the ability for it to ricochet anywhere in the box should never be underestimated. We really really need a winger or two, even to just give us that additional unpredicability in our play.

I'd prioritize the right ahead of the left as Walcott is really our only option there at the mo, although in an ideal world i'd like to see us get in options for both sides if the cash were available. They don't have to be world beaters, just someone who can gives us that additional option.

Wenger has plenty of options going forward imo, we certainly dont need another player for the right or the left. Walcott and Nasri for that spot is plenty, with regards them tending the drift inside maybe Nasri can be guilty of this a times but we do have Sagna who likes to move forward and occupy the space for crossing the ball. I know hes shocking at it and needs to drastically improve but an out and out winger is not what this current squad needs

If one of our strikers goes which looks like Adebayor atm it has to be another striker brought in to replace him as far as im concerned!

If Diaby is sold i dont think its half as important to replace him with a similar type player.

RVP stays put, bring in a DM & CB and if Ade is sold replace him with a striker and only a striker and im happy. Let Arsene figure out the rest!:)

leninbenjamin · 19-05-2009 02:44PM

itsjaybud wrote: »

The likes of Walcott can keep the width to the team on the opposite side of the field, i dont really buy into the idea that Walcott tends to dift in field alot.

When walcott gets the ball he either runs straight for the box or he runs to the touchline. If he gets to the touchline, he tends to cut inside to the edge of the box. As i said, this causes opposition defence to recede on themselves, and ultimately creates less space for the likes of Arshavin, Ade, Cesc, RVP in the box. He might take a wider route than Nasri or Rosicky, but it creates the same headaches, he holds onto the ball too long and allows the opposition to get organised in the box.

have a look at this vid supposedly of Walcott's best moments. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnQcObzcqg

how often does he play as an actual right winger there? most of those best moments are when he runs through the centre or comes from the counter. At no stage does he ever really cross or create space for the forwards, the best is a few low cutbacks. At no stage does he ever really pull defenders out of position, his tendency to just run at defenders even when in wide positions compacts the opposition defence further and generally makes life harder for the forwards. The opposition don't have to worry about him picking out a pass to find a bit of space, or getting a cross in when the CBs have their hands full with Ade and RVP.

When the ball is already high up the pitch and space is tight in and around the box, what does he offer? This is where Arsenal struggle most, and honestly i've never really seen Walcott make much of an impact in those kind of situations. He will run at the fullback, and maybe if he gets around him he'll put a low ball in across the goal. great. Unfortunately, by the time he gets that ball in, Ade and RVP are marked up, the GK is in position and it's really bloody hard for anyone to get a foot on that ball.

You actually see in the video, there are plenty of passes he doesn't see that would have put Ade in through on goal. It's great that what he chose to do worked out but he might actually have made life easier had he just offloaded it quicker, little ball over the top, a floating cross to latch onto, a through ball to run onto, he just doesn't offer anything like this consistently.

We need a right winger who can deliver a ball almost as soon as it reaches him, when the forwards still have some space ahead of them. Walcott can't do this for sh*t. he can't cross. never will.

I'm not saying he wont become a great little player, I love watching him, but as a manager your options are everything. Having a winger in a different style to Walcott could make a big difference over the course a season. Hell it might even improve Walcott's game, if there were someone in the squad who could deliver the early ball we might be able to capitalize on his pace up front a bit more.

OPENROAD · 19-05-2009 06:38PM

Arsenal shareholders meeting on Arsenal TV now.

leninbenjamin · 19-05-2009 09:15PM

OPENROAD wrote: »

Arsenal shareholders meeting on Arsenal TV now.

has it finished yet? anything interesting said?

Pepe LeFrits · 19-05-2009 09:59PM

I don't think Veloso or Alonso are what we should be looking for, particularly if we switch to a system with Arshavin playing as a withdrawn striker. Nor do we really need a touchline-hugging winger. We don't really have the sort of players who'd take advantage of that kind of football enough to warrant it.

What I'd like to see us going with next season system wise, is something similar to what we had last year. Two strikers, one floating, with three central midfield playmaker types and an aggressive ball winner. The midfield four can freely interchange positions but remain a compact, hard working and discplined unit, keeping space to a minimum when the ball breaks. Alonso and Veloso aren't really destroyers and we definately need one with a midfield of creators. I don't mean a pure DM in the Makelele sense, but certainly someone with more of a sense for snuffing out danger outside the D.

Width once again comes from the full-backs. I feel Sagna's form in particular has suffered this season as he's spent most of it with Walcott or Eboue sitting on the touchline ahead of him playing pointless passes back to him with the sole purpose of retaining possession. Put someone with more guile like Hleb (I'm not saying him per se, but someone of that ilk) who can bring the ball forward, drag defenders towards him and release the ball to Bac at the right time.

greendom · 19-05-2009 10:01PM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/8056883.stm

Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

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