Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 12/13 MOD POST #232

05-11-2012 02:43PM

Ramsey and Walcott out for the Schalke game.

Vito Mannone
James Shea
Bacary Sagna
Thomas Vermaelen
Mikel Arteta
Johan Djourou
Per Mertesacker
Laurent Koscielny
Jack Wilshere
Olivier Giroud
Santi Cazorla
Andre Santos
Lukas Podolski
Theo Walcott
Andrey Arshavin
Carl Jenkinson
Francis Coquelin
Marouane Chamakh

Potential teams?
Probable:

Would like:

DenMan · 05-11-2012 02:46PM

I see Schalke were beaten 3-2 at the weekend away to 13th placed Hoffenheim. Still second in the league but they are beatable. Come on Arsenal!!!

05-11-2012 02:47PM

Just spent ages making formations to find out Arseblog got it wrong! Walcott's in the squad

ugsparky · 05-11-2012 02:51PM

Mannone
Jenkinson Mert TV5 Sagna
Coquelin Arteta Wilshire Cazorla
Theo Podolski

Shea Kos Arshavin Giroud Santos Chamahk

Charisteas · 05-11-2012 02:54PM

Galvasean wrote: »

Squad for the Schalke match is in. Notable injuries: Ramssey

Blessing in disguise.

Go for Walcott-Wilshire-Arteta-Cazorla in 4 man midfield.

tayto lover · 05-11-2012 03:49PM

Sergio wrote: »

I agree that it is time for some open criticism of AW.Not just last saturdays game but the norwich game,the CL against Shalka and the defeat to Chelsea at home were all clear and obvious signs that we are not performing as well as we should be.Serious questions of tactics,individual players etc etc. If man utd were sharper in front of goal last sat then it could of easily been similiar to the 8-2 last year.Im sick of the same crap for the past few seasons. I just think theres is no direction for the club at the moment and i dont know whether its down to AW or the board members.
I was one of the "sack wenger" brigade this time last year but im not sure whether the problem is with him or the running of the club and if a new manager came would it change things.Its a tough one to call,what do you guys think?

I am not happy with the team's preparation at all.
We have had some really awful performances this season and AW has to take some blame for that. We looked beaten while still in the tunnel on Sat, very bad body language and lick-assing.
We went 4 down to a poor Reading team.
We were very poor against Norwich, Shalke and Chelsea -- no fight.
I though the team would be well up for the United game and actually thought we had a great chance to win there. United are not great in midfield but played us off the park because they were well prepared as usual. They had an abundance of leaders - we had none.
Yes Wenger has to take a lot of the blame. If it happened to Ferguson's team once you can bet your life they would be straightened out for the next game.

farna_boy · 05-11-2012 04:19PM

AdamD wrote: »

Would like:

People talk about Santos being a liability at left back, but I really think Vermalen would be worse there. Any time either him or Kos played as full back last year they got destroyed as well. Vermalen himself has been having a poor run as well at the moment and I really don't think playing him out of position where he could get destroyed will help that either.

If there is a viable alternative to Santos, let them play, especially after what happened at the weekend. If not though, play him but make sure there is a midfielder in front of him to help him. There is no point in losing to Schalke and potentially being knocked out of the Champions League, just to make a point to one player.

Saying all that, I do think there is something wrong with Santos at the moment. Everytime I have seen him play recently he looks totally dejected and disinterested. Whether that has to do with him not being allowed to push forward or whatever else, it should be sorted as soon as possible, as we are essentially relying on him until Gibbs comes back.

Santos should be punished though, but not at the expense of us putting out a weakened team or losing matches because of it.

05-11-2012 04:34PM

farna_boy wrote: »

People talk about Santos being a liability at left back, but I really think Vermalen would be worse there. Any time either him or Kos played as full back last year they got destroyed as well. Vermalen himself has been having a poor run as well at the moment and I really don't think playing him out of position where he could get destroyed will help that either.

If there is a viable alternative to Santos, let them play, especially after what happened at the weekend. If not though, play him but make sure there is a midfielder in front of him to help him. There is no point in losing to Schalke and potentially being knocked out of the Champions League, just to make a point to one player.

Saying all that, I do think there is something wrong with Santos at the moment. Everytime I have seen him play recently he looks totally dejected and disinterested. Whether that has to do with him not being allowed to push forward or whatever else, it should be sorted as soon as possible, as we are essentially relying on him until Gibbs comes back.

Santos should be punished though, but not at the expense of us putting out a weakened team or losing matches because of it.

Wouldn't mind Jenkinson RB, Sagna LB. ATM a mannequin would be more useful than Santos, not only has he been useless in defence he spurned our 2 best crossing chances against United.

wandatowell · 05-11-2012 05:09PM

Dont know who to play alongside Mert.

Both TV4 and Kosser are making so many errors its beyond a joke

farna_boy · 05-11-2012 05:33PM

AdamD wrote: »

Wouldn't mind Jenkinson RB, Sagna LB. ATM a mannequin would be more useful than Santos, not only has he been useless in defence he spurned our 2 best crossing chances against United.

He also put in a perfect cross into the six yard box that no one met. How many crosses did Sagna put in though?

Don't get me wrong, we have much better players than Santos and if either Jenkinson or Sagna can play left back, they should both be playing ahead of him. All I'm saying is that people are being unfairly harsh on Santos. Yes he deserves all the criticism he gets because of the jersey incident and what he actually does on the pitch, but blaming one player who plays in left back for the demise of the rest of the team is beyond ludicrous (if it were a central midfielder, it would possibly be less so).

How many goals on Saturday came because one of his mistakes? How many came from the left wing? None.

The reason we lost on Saturday was because the whole team played crap. Saying it's all Santos' fault is papering over the cracks and is the same as saying it was all Mike Dean's fault that Wilshere got sent off.

In the Norwich game, Santos was blamed again because so many crosses etc were coming down his wing. However, even though this was clear as day in the first half, no one dropped back to help/cover him in the second half. We all know he is dodgy in his defensive game but unfortunately we must play him at the moment. But if we are forced to play him, why is he being isolated and not being helped when the opposition are targeting him and his wing? There were a number of occasions during that game when it was a two on one and of course he is not going to do well in that situation, no one will. But the manager, or whoever is playing in front of him needs to identify this problem and tell someone to drop back and help him when he needs it.

Maybe while we are playing Santos we should play four in midfield, because it is then obvious who is supposed to be playing in front of him instead of having what appears to be a floating midfield three.

emergingstar · 05-11-2012 05:34PM

Roll on January and I jump back on the mvila bandwagon
Fcuk the rest of ye

05-11-2012 05:43PM

farna_boy wrote: »

He also put in a perfect cross into the six yard box that no one met. How many crosses did Sagna put in though?

Don't get me wrong, we have much better players than Santos and if either Jenkinson or Sagna can play left back, they should both be playing ahead of him. All I'm saying is that people are being unfairly harsh on Santos. Yes he deserves all the criticism he gets because of the jersey incident and what he actually does on the pitch, but blaming one player who plays in left back for the demise of the rest of the team is beyond ludicrous (if it were a central midfielder, it would possibly be less so).

How many goals on Saturday came because one of his mistakes? How many came from the left wing? None.

The reason we lost on Saturday was because the whole team played crap. Saying it's all Santos' fault is papering over the cracks and is the same as saying it was all Mike Dean's fault that Wilshere got sent off.

In the Norwich game, Santos was blamed again because so many crosses etc were coming down his wing. However, even though this was clear as day in the first half, no one dropped back to help/cover him in the second half. We all know he is dodgy in his defensive game but unfortunately we must play him at the moment. But if we are forced to play him, why is he being isolated and not being helped when the opposition are targeting him and his wing? There were a number of occasions during that game when it was a two on one and of course he is not going to do well in that situation, no one will. But the manager, or whoever is playing in front of him needs to identify this problem and tell someone to drop back and help him when he needs it.

Maybe while we are playing Santos we should play four in midfield, because it is then obvious who is supposed to be playing in front of him instead of having what appears to be a floating midfield three.

Nobody's saying Santos is the one solid reason for the team's the decline but hes been an absolute disgrace tbh. That 1 cross you're talking about was an example of horrible decision making. He actually looked up, saw Podolski and Giroud in the box then proceeded to play it into a great area sure, but an area he knew neither of those players could get within 5 yards of. It was a complete waste. Before the 'jersey incident' people were wanting rid of him, he was destroyed by a fairly average winger against Schalke and was pretty much the difference between the two sides that night. I don't think anyone's being overly harsh to be perfectly honest, he really is an awful left back.

In saying that, Arteta (and Coquelin in the Schalke match) haven't shown themselves to be all that clever on the pitch. They seemingly never attempt to double up with him even though its frighteningly obvious his side needs more help than a side with Ramsey + Sagna/Jenks.

Regarding your post in bold; can people not allow us to discuss issues without it being claimed that we are blaming the loss on the 1 issue?

gnfnrhead · 05-11-2012 06:07PM

Is Miquel fit? Obviously he isnt in the squad for tomorrow but I'm thinking for the weekend. Santos isnt offering much so there is no harm in trying Miquel. He cant do much worse.

wandatowell · 05-11-2012 06:26PM

Staff wages at the club

http://gossip.ladyarse.com/2012/11/05/arsenal-staff-wages-revealed/

We've got two assistant managers according to that list

farna_boy · 05-11-2012 06:38PM

AdamD wrote: »

Nobody's saying Santos is the one solid reason for the team's the decline but hes been an absolute disgrace tbh. That 1 cross you're talking about was an example of horrible decision making. He actually looked up, saw Podolski and Giroud in the box then proceeded to play it into a great area sure, but an area he knew neither of those players could get within 5 yards of. It was a complete waste. Before the 'jersey incident' people were wanting rid of him, he was destroyed by a fairly average winger against Schalke and was pretty much the difference between the two sides that night. I don't think anyone's being overly harsh to be perfectly honest, he really is an awful left back.

In saying that, Arteta (and Coquelin in the Schalke match) haven't shown themselves to be all that clever on the pitch. They seemingly never attempt to double up with him even though its frighteningly obvious his side needs more help than a side with Ramsey + Sagna/Jenks.

Regarding your post in bold; can people not allow us to discuss issues without it being claimed that we are blaming the loss on the 1 issue?

I have said it numerous times already in the thread and I only say it once more: it looks to me like Santos is no longer allow play to his strength (notice singular

), and push forward. He only did it maybe three or four times during the whole match on Saturday and as far as I can remember, every time he played last year he did it a whole lot more i.e. scored the 2nd goal in the last game of the season last year vs West Brom, we won 3-2 which meant we finished 3rd.

He is a bad left back, I am not denying that for a second and we both agree that the players in front of him should be helping him, considering how frail he is. However, from what I remember from last year, whenever we played Kos/Verm at left back, they were possibly as bad as Santos and offered even less going forward than him (basically because they never pushed on). If Jenkinson / Sagna can do a better job there, they obviously should play ahead of Santos, but I don't think but either Verm/Kos on the wing will make things any better.

As for the part in bold, I never said people can't discuss it. I was referring to the following post in particular which lays most of the blame on Santos. There are others highlighted in the post as well, but if people start thinking that Santos is the only one who is to blame and think that when Gibbs come back all will be rosy again, they will be in for a shock. The whole team needs to be shaken up/kicked up the hole and until that happens, we should just expect more of the same.

greendom wrote: »

no balls in the QPR game ?

i don't think the dip in form has much to do with balls or the lack of them but more to do with performances on the pitch.

Our dip in form coincides with Santos being brought into the team. As well as being an inferior player to Gibbs in every respect, his introduction has also seen Podolski suffer a dip in form. This has put too much pressure on Cazorla to perform and he's not coped well with being the sole creative output.

Relying on Diaby has proved unwise too. His performances at the start of the season were very impressive and we have no one else who can provide that drive and power from midfield. AW should not have relied on him for such a pivotal role and maybe M'Vila should have been brought in.

emergingstar · 05-11-2012 07:33PM

Eisfield scored again for the u21s, my man crush grows stronger by the day

.jacksparrow. · 05-11-2012 07:46PM

emergingstar wrote: »

Eisfield scored again for the u21s, my man crush grows stronger by the day

Although I was nearly lynched I still maintain he would be a better option than ramsey on the wing...

Soups123 · 05-11-2012 08:06PM

Wenger has lightly criticized Santos over the shirt swap in the media, suspect that he had a good go at him in private.

greendom · 05-11-2012 09:26PM

farna_boy wrote: »

As for the part in bold, I never said people can't discuss it. I was referring to the following post in particular which lays most of the blame on Santos. There are others highlighted in the post as well, but if people start thinking that Santos is the only one who is to blame and think that when Gibbs come back all will be rosy again, they will be in for a shock. The whole team needs to be shaken up/kicked up the hole and until that happens, we should just expect more of the same.

It just seems to me that the general dip in form has co-incided with Santos being in the team. It could just all be co-incidental I don't know.

Perhaps this is down to Santos not being allowed to play his natural game. What is sure is that Podolski is not playing as well as he was when he had Gibbs was supporting him. This in turn has affected Cazorla who is not finding the space he was earlier in the season. Add to that Ramsey not doing great on the right and a centre forward still adjusting to life in the EPL and it's easy to see why we are struggling so much. if Gibbs can quickly get back to the level he displayed at the beginning of the season, it will make a huge difference to our attacking play.

Frisbee · 06-11-2012 09:11AM

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Although I was nearly lynched I still maintain he would be a better option than ramsey on the wing...

No you weren't.

I called you up when you said Eisfeld was a better player than Ramsey. Not better to play on the wing.

Of course Eisfeld would be more suited to playing on the wing than a central midfielder. It was when you claimed he was already better than Ramsey full stop that people disagreed.

.jacksparrow. · 06-11-2012 09:51AM

Frisbee wrote: »

No you weren't.

I called you up when you said Eisfeld was a better player than Ramsey. Not better to play on the wing.

Of course Eisfeld would be more suited to playing on the wing than a central midfielder. It was when you claimed he was already better than Ramsey full stop that people disagreed.

I actually stand by this,of course its my opinion,but ramsey slows down play gives the ball away rarely tracks back,even when he is in the middle I feel he offers nothing.

Frisbee · 06-11-2012 09:53AM

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

I actually stand by this,of course its my opinion,cut ramsey slows down play gives the ball away rarely tracks back,even when he is in the middle I feel he offers nothing.

Bollocks, he runs the hole off himself defensively.

When he was in the middle last season he was doing less defensive work alright. But that's because he was playing where Cesc did, and where the manager gave Cesc (and by extension Ramsey) permission to not have to do all that dirty defending like a commoner.

.jacksparrow. · 06-11-2012 10:26AM

Frisbee wrote: »

Bollocks, he runs the hole off himself defensively.

When he was in the middle last season he was doing less defensive work alright. But that's because he was playing where Cesc did, and where the manager gave Cesc (and by extension Ramsey) permission to not have to do all that dirty defending like a commoner.

Ok chief calm down,its a forum where opinions are welcome.

emergingstar · 06-11-2012 11:26AM

Terry burton was quick to praise eisfield in his interview think we could be seeing him get a few runs this side of Xmas

Galvasean · 06-11-2012 01:25PM

This is the second game in a row where I'd be effin' delighted witha draw. Sign of the times I suppose

bad2dabone · 06-11-2012 02:15PM

I don't know whats wrong with me but i'm optimistic - again. Wenger needs to give the team a kick up the hole. They're better than that muck they served up at the weekend and we can and should be beating Schalke.

Sergio · 06-11-2012 02:53PM

Im not a bit confident tonight the way weve been playing lately. Im predicting a draw if were lucky after recent performances!

keano_afc · 06-11-2012 02:56PM

bad2dabone wrote: »

I don't know whats wrong with me but i'm optimistic - again. Wenger needs to give the team a kick up the hole. They're better than that muck they served up at the weekend and we can and should be beating Schalke.

And therein lies the problem. Is he the man to do that?

DenMan · 06-11-2012 03:03PM

We're going to lose tonight and badly too! They were great against us at the Emirates. I have a very bad feeling about this!

bad2dabone · 06-11-2012 03:04PM

keano_afc wrote: »

And therein lies the problem. Is he the man to do that?

he once was. He'd be nearly having a nervous breakdown if we lost earlier in his career.

Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 12/13 MOD POST #232

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