3 months, 2000 posts, 0 players - continuing Transfer Thread

I like the analysis Deaner. It's something I've been thinking as well, that Cazorla is hailed for his attacking prowess but he's not the clinical finisher people might make him out to be. I don't think he's a selfish player because of the chances he takes, I just know he tends to take a lot of chances.

But to be fair to him (and to guys like Theo and Pods in the comparison), Cazorla doesn't seem to take shots at the expense of creating for another player. Instead, he seems the most likely player we have to create a shot out of nothing. So I can't blame him for all the chances and the low percentage of success.

The truth is, I've always felt we need at least one player like that. Someone who will keep defenders honest by not just trying to walk the ball into the goal. Rosicky has his moments where he'll shoot from distance. Maybe Giroud (when he's not so close to goal). But Cazorla is the main threat to shoot from anywhere, and I think that benefits our other attackers as well.

 

And I agree with both points. The Theo thing I was going to point out but 1) I had already rambled on too long and 2) he showed yesterday that he can make the exact finishes we are talking about into unforced errors.

Both points taken however.

 

if memory serves me right, i pointed that exact same trait out before we even signed him. i seriously doubt that side of his game will change to any degree. he just needs to concentrate on those parts of his game that are already very good and keep them like that.

ps. while i'm being an annoying "told you so" dick i may as well add "told you we should have signed vertonghen".

 

Cazorla basically got the short end of the stick from Wenger, he spent much of this season being played out of season. First he gets shoveled aside to suit Wilshere, then he spends the last few games of the season playing mostly in the wings. When he was allowed to play behind a striker and dictate the game like a mini-Cesc he has been great, but Wenger seemed to have other ideas. When you consider that his performance this season has been a lot more remarkable than it looks.

 

i may be remembering this wrongly, but didn't he play all over the place at malaga and didn't cazorla himself say he thought he was signed to play on the wing?

 

I agree but I do not think that is the role at which he will excel long-term. We need a RvP type who creates space with an intial burst and then has both power and technique to make the keeper work. I am hoping Jovetic fills that role soon.

That will pull defenders out of the box (or at least to its outer edges) and make space for passes to Giroud and/or passes or runs for players like Santi to score goals.

 

I also think he'll feel the need less to shoot poorer shots if/when we add a player to run the channels.

On Vertonghen, my understanding is that we did try to sign him but with the expectation that he would play DM primarily and he didn't want that. Given how the CBs turned out, I am OK with not getting him but I think it is interesting to picture him in DM and say "what if". Even better to image old Cock N Balls without him.

 

Cesc and Cazorla are two different players

if anything, Cazorla's position is out wide and not central.

 

i don't disagree that he's a leader but the point(s) made above was that mertesacker is an organiser and, at this point, koscielny is not one.

 

bummer. when he was at newcastle (and we were struggling with our goalkeeping), i thought he would have added a lot to our squad.

 

Totally disagree.....Just re watch the last few games and you will see how much Kos is doing as a leader and as an organiser.

 

i was one of them. though, more specifically, i wanted somebody who would attack the back post and get trash goals. dempsey just happened to have been (more or less) available and for a relatively modest price. i have not seen him at all this season so i could agree/disagree with you on the success or failure of his season.

it still annoys the holy hell out of me when (on those rare occasions that) we'd get a cutback or a halfway decent cross across goalmouth and, with our attack, there would be only one attacker (previously van persie, currently giroud) trying for the ball and he'd, inevitably, be marked out of it by 2 centrebacks and we'd see the back post be completely devoid of any arsenal attacker as the ball sails harmlessly out of bound. by personality, our attackers tend to wait around the edge of the 18 which is fine for intricate setup but i feel like we'd have significantly more goals if we'd just have a trash player to pick up ugly goals on the back post.

 

i've only seen the wigan game (not the prior recent ones) but, like i said, while i agree that he is more vocal (outwardly), i still am not seeing him standing out as an organiser.

for our team's future sake, however, i hope you're right and i'm wrong.

 

I think the Koscielny/Mertesacker pairing is probably bottom of the lists of things we need to worry about right now.

 

Dempsey scored a winner and an equalizer against Man U and scored in a win against Man City. we play in a bloated, profiteering CL because we cleaned up touring the provinces. thank goodness the seeding system reveres our old quality

Santi absorbs a lot of our bad offense by shooting prayers. it's hard to blame him alone for his shooting%, though he's one of the culprits for the stagnation.

Lichsteiner seems good. I'm not sure if he'll seem such a hard working shuttler in the Premier League as he does in Italy. even guys like Balotelli are very involved in the run of play, there

 

we only need center back depth and a dm to supplement the current d line, imo. we don't create very well out of sustained offense but we have great tools for the break and for defending deep

 

That you just listed almost half of his league goals in a single sentence is why my point stands.

 

I prefer beating the big teams, but 3 points is 3 points, as you say

 

IIRC we went after Vertonghen, but he chose Spurs over us.

Solid choice.

 

vertonghen aint touching kos and wouldn't have worked with kos

as i have ALWAYS said, big and little = a good combination, a la sol and toure

unlike verm/kos
toure/gallas

etc etc

 

IIRC, he said Wenger wanted to employ him as a DM and he wanted to play CB...

 

its not just big and little - and its not like Kos is a midget - its mentality. Kos and Verm are similar CBs, while Mertesacker is different in their style of play.

I would say Kos/Verm plays more like the big centerback than Mertesacker does

 

I guess but he is an aerial threat too. Evolutionary as kos does everything and mert cuts out shit well and wins the ball aerially

 

i know they did poorly together at the end but didn't toure/gallas looked good together awhile?