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

I was gonna comment on this yesterday but with all the testorone and wenger and whole squad out ****e going around I was afraid rational and logical discussion would have been shot down

1st off we have a pretty good squad , Yes we do start from from the back Schezney is prone to the odd clanger but yes he is a quality keeper, Vito and Fabianski are poor enough to be honest, but okay as stopgaps if Woj gets injured , (granted Spurs, and United have 2 good keepers exception rather the rule though)

At the back RB we're covered Sagna and Jenks are both good players, Sagna is one of the best in the league , and jenkinson is constantly improving, Left Back is a problem area though Santos is nowhere near the standard we need although i reckon he'd flourish at somewhere like Fulham or Swansea, Gibbs is excellent but awfully injury prone

At CB we still need one more quality CB we have Vermaelan, Koss and Mertezacker, Djourou and squillachi should be nowhere near our reserve team let alone our 1st team (injury crisis or not)

I think we're strongest in midfield granted two of our best players are constantly out injured (diaby and rosicky) Diaby needs to be replaced he is the only midfielder we have who can take a hold off a game physically when we had him it took alot of pressure off the likes of Arteta and Ramsey who suffered immensly this season, Cazorla was terrific at the start of the season but teams have learned how to shut him down and he dissappears this is something that wenger needs to be sorting and he hasn't done it, I'm not gonna say anything about Wilshire because he's just back from a massive lay off and i think he will come back just as good

On the wings we lack quality, work rate and motivation i think , This year is the best i've seen from walcott, I think he's playing for a move , Ox as others have said his development has been stiffled a bit , Maybe he was pushed in to the 1st team too soon, Podolski is a good lad but very inconsistent at times, He can be world class one game and mediocre the next (reminds me of arshavin tbh)

Up front Giroud looks the part but to me the system doesn't suit him he needs a jermain defoe type up there with him how many times have we seen giroud win the header against the last defender only to knock it on and have no one run on to it

So i think we need to switch back to 4-4-2 and we badly need a new midfield enforcer, Get rid of Theo in january too if he's not going to sign a new contract, Get in a new LB, A new striker is a must(not henry) and i think if we somehow make it to the end of the season in some kind of respectable 4th or 5th , itll be time for Wenger to step down imo , either that or the board to bring back Dein to help Wenger with the transfers, we're all kidding ourselves if any of us think we're gonna compete with the 2 manchester clubs when we've sold some of our best players to them in the past 2 seasons

Someone above said that Giroud looks the part? What am I missing?

He looks completely average, bargain bucket from the French league.

And I think 2/3 players is a bit wishful, I'd say we are easily 5/6 players from where we need to be. We needed 2/3 players back when we had Fabregas etc and kept bottling it every year because of a lack of depth and support.

Deleted User wrote: »

Our back 4 is top notch, Cazorla and Wilshere would make just about any first XI that suited them, Arteta would make any matchday squad in the PL. In terms of a starting XI on paper we're pretty good until we get to the front 3. Hell at times even our "wingers" have seemed very good. The tactics don't work and often the 3 in midfield aren't well-matched.

I dont think our back 4 is anywhere near top notch tbh. Szczesny is still learning the game, all of our centre-backs seem to make a mistake per game, left back is a problem area with Santos and Gibbs, the latter has looked a bit better but is injury prone and hasnt significantly improved since he broke through imo.

The midfield is slow, weak and unbalanced. Talented in possession but not exactly decisive going forward and hugely lacking defensively.

gosplan wrote: »

This thread has gone insane.

Stop over thinking it.

Arsenal need ...

1: 2/3 new players that can fit the system we play

2: a plan b in case the plan a fails

3: some time

1.Isnt that the problem, weve been saying for a number of seasons now every year we need two or three new players and instead all we do is sell players then replace them with players either of equal standing or with less talent therefore leaving us worse off or in the same boat as the year before.

2. We havent had a plan b in a lon long time which is half the issue temas know how to set up against us and we just keep plugging away pushing further and further up the pitch without ever really threatening leaving more and more holes in defence.

3. Time, its been a long time since we won anything patience wears thin when the same mistakes happen year after year.

Ba has a history of injury trouble. You just know if he signed for us he'd end up like Diaby and always be injured.

I think we need to ditch this formation of ours. We just don't have the right players for it.

wandatowell wrote: »

Hate to break to ya but Frimpong is awful

I dont agree. Before Frimpong suffered all his injurys I think he showed trwice the potential as Coquelin. Hes exactly the type of player Arsenal need a player with drive and power who also loves the club.

Im hoping his loan spell can help him back on his feet.

wandatowell wrote: »

Hate to break to ya but Frimpong is awful

Still a work in progress (hopefully the injury didnt set him back too much) but he is far from awful. Could easily see him in the first 11 in a couple of years time. If he can keep his cool, he could be the type of player we need in midfield.

I wouldn't write Frimpong off yet. It'll be interesting to see if/how he develops at Charlton.

Agree re Giroud, we're just not playing to his strengths, off the top of my head i can only think of one cross that he met with his head against Everton which flashed narrowly wide, most of the ball was to his feet which isnt really his game. He needs a poacher beside him because he's excellent at setting people up (not sure how many assists he has?) Maybe Chamakh is worth a try with him, we cant get any worse.

fwiw I also think Frimpong will be a good player, he might not be the most technically gifted but has steel and passion for the club, something we're seriously lacking