The Arsenal Thread

[Rewinder]

We have threads for every microcosm within this team, why not have a thread to keep all general feelings and analysis about our team as a whole?

Firstly I need to apologize for my Adebayor hate. While he still frustrates me more than anyone else on the team - and I've got into why in another thread, he has finally won me over. His plays with a desire to win that few others on our team has. Only toure, cesc, walcott, adebayor and gilberto seem to be playing to win day in and day out. The rest of our squad seem to be a lot more aloof, and willing to accept whatever result is getting thrown their way. While adebayor has a long way to go in terms of what kind of player he is, he is one of the few people on our team who doesnt run around because he is getting paid for it, or because its his job, but because he actually has a passion to win - which currently most of our squad seems to be lacking.

Secondly I want to mention how disappointing wenger has been this season. He has sent out the wrong team in 90% of our draws/losses, then finally fields the correct players, but they now have to spend the rest of the game trying to undo the screw up we fielded at the start. I also feel this trend of attacking for the first 10-15min, then sitting back lazily until we are given a reason to take things into high gear stems from wenger as well. He seems to be the one taking all non-major opponents lightly, which can be seen by the lineup he fields against them, and as a result the team takes the opponent lightly too. When the pressure is on, like in games vs. manutd, chelsea, liverpool, and most CL games, we come out and play at 110% all game, opposed to our games vs everyone else which are 110% for 15minutes, then 50% until we fall behind and need to play catch-up.

I also get the feeling that he has botched the baptista move pretty badly. Baptista came into form at the end of the season for real, and couldn't have come over in that bad shape. Admittedly he has been poor in his brief appearences, but he has been poor for that reason. He is stuck in this cycle where he lacks match fitness because he hasnt played -> plays poorly in a match -> gets dropped never to see the light of day for another few matches only increasing his lack of match fitness etc. Aliadiere was no better, and has no more recent top flight playing time than baptista, so why start him when you can use the opportunity to finally give baptista a solid run of games to adjust and finally prove himself. Wenger seems biased towards his "creations" hence the reason we saw song make an appearence as well, when he had a a slew of other potential CMs.

We are 1 game away from the halfway point of this season. Clearly things aren't all rosy over here, or we wouldn't be sitting in 4th, but we are the only team not looking to strengthten this january. If everyone else beefs up a bit, wouldn't that suggest we are in for a longer harder slog in the second half of the season? Another pseudo am/winger/ss would be great. We have a ton of games coming up, and it wouldn't hurt to have another attacking player to breathe some life into what has been a really morbid performance in the last third of the pitch.

We may just have to move freddy on as well. He hasn't been doing well because of injury, but has also become more injury prone, and after today might be out for a while. That leaves us only rosicky, hleb, walcott as our wide players, and if cesc was out or injured, we only have 1 of either hleb or rosicky, and walcott to play wide. A player like tuncay would be exactly what we need this january, and wouldn't be very costly. None of the goalkeepers we are looking at will be allowed to leave before the end of the season I'm guessing, so we put that off until the summer, but lets bring in at least one player now.

[ArsenalArsene]

the biggest problem i have at the moment with AW is at the end of the half he stands at the dugout as all his players go by, but he's waiting for the ref to complain no doubt since he got himself thrown off the bench for the 2nd half.

coincedently or not the team comes out flat and a fired up portsmouth gets a goal within 2 minutes of the restart

and what was with the 4-5-1 the team was playing between going down 0-2 and Ade coming on?

[zonametro]

My biggest problem with arsenal is we take two steps forward then one step back.

[SF Gooner]

This thread should be re-titled the "Let's Moan about being in top 4" thread.

Come on guys we are not as good as Chelsea or Man United. Sure we've done well head to head but we don't have the consistency yet. That's all. Don't over analyze things.

[ibby]

This thread should be re-titled the "Let's Moan about being in top 4" thread.

Come on guys we are not as good as Chelsea or Man United. Sure we've done well head to head but we don't have the consistency yet. That's all. Don't over analyze things.

We are not as good as them but today & against Wigan we started to grind out results (or draws) so the penny might have dropped, what Arsenal need to do now is think about the next game and not look at the table at all.

[SF Gooner]

We are not as good as them but today & against Wigan we started to grind out results (or draws) so the penny might have dropped, what Arsenal need to do now is think about the next game and not look at the table at all.


Exactly. Don't forget we are getting a healthy and rejuvenated Thierry Henry back in January. What team is going to do better in the transfer market than that?

[GoonerMan]

Exactly. Don't forget we are getting a healthy and rejuvenated Thierry Henry back in January. What team is going to do better in the transfer market than that?

we will see.

[total_football]

My biggest gripe: I would say that we have fallen far behind the Mancs and the Chavs in the all important "State of the Crest/Logo" category...seriously, what was so wrong with the old one? I realize that AFC couldn't copyright the design, but couldn't they design something better than present one??? More "product" than art, most likely designed by someone with a de minimus level of graphic design acumen on a PC or Mac. Who thought of that aweful font??

I have about 10 AFC scarves, and I always look for older designs with the old logo.

On the personnel front, we are a work in progress. Arsene has left me dumbfounded with his selections at various times this year.

[zonametro]

My other gripe with Arsenal is the "one year contracts to players over 30" rule I really miss SuperBob this year.

[antifan]

My other gripe with Arsenal is the "one year contracts to players over 30" rule I really miss SuperBob this year.
I wonder if Pires is playing well down in Spain.

[total_football]

I wonder if Pires is playing well down in Spain.

I think he's having one of them "Edu years..."

[Jasonisimo]

It's a squad of boys. This is the main reason for the inconsistency. Thankfully, the situation is temporary.

Wenger talked in past seasons of getting the balance right in the squad. The question is one of experience between older players, prime players and youth. Wenger tried to change the make-up of the squad this summer and last January by bringing in Hleb and Rosicky, who are both enjoying their prime years and are clearly meant to replace Ljungberg and Pires in the squad. The major problem Arsenal faces right now is the injured players are of vast experience in the league--Henry, Gallas, Lauren, Ljungberg. And then there is Rosicky and Senderos out, who both were expected to be big contributors as Rosicky is the right age and has played full seasons in the Bundesliga and whereas Senderos was blooded last year and did quite well.

Now look who's playing in place of all these absentees:

Aliadiere, Djourou, Clichy, Flamini, Eboue, Hoyte, and Walcott

with Cesc, and van Persie or Adebayor regular starters anyway, but themselves still young as well. Average age of these players: 21, and no one over 23.

Think of those players and realize that despite their years with the team, and though undoubtedly most of those players are extremely talented, that this Arsenal is just a rediculously young squad to be competing in the league week in and week out. Yet, Arsenal is in 4th. I can live with this.

[RealMadGunner]

Mad Jens is getting saner .. Thats the root of all problems ..

Ok, seriously, I know there's no point defending the age of our players but what can we do ?! There are too many youngsters for anyone's liking [other than, of course, AW], but then again, most of these are supposed to be substitutes .. For eg: Eboue [can't wait for Lauren to come back and show Eboue how to defend] has been getting really fcuked in defending ..
Our central defence is pretty good, though i would rather see Gallas over Djourou, atleast until Gallas starts losing it ..
Our LB problem can't be spoken about ..

In the midfield, we have the problem most of the critics talk about .. Lack of width .. Basically we have two plans .. 4-4-2 & 4-5-1 , with almost no difference .. We lack width, but so does the current Chelsea first team, thoguh they have options to introduce width in the middle of the game ..

Our finishing has been super terrible .. I'm waiting to see Henry back and paired with Ade in a 4-4-2 formation .. We can expect soem goals then ..

Few questions to be asked about our team:
1. Do we have enough determination to win every game ?
2. Err .. Hmm .. Well, thats about it ..

This is to the impatient fans: Talent is just over flowing in our squad. No doubt. One thing we lack at the moment is experience. We field the same team for the rest of the season, there'll be enough experience to last us for a decade .. Same as Cesc, he was pretty average when he just came on, but look at him now .. How does to manage to play great in almost everygam, with intelligence ?! Thanks to his first team experience and talent ..

Well, just got back from a long journey and can't bother reading wat i've written .. Well, patience is needed right now and the best we can do is not critisize the team too much .. Well patience does wonders, unless you know you are going to die in a couple of months time, then i suggest writing to Wenger ..

[red & wite army]

I don't like the fact that we start a game off like it is a Sunday stroll and only wake up when we've messed up!

Another problem is that we are building for the future all the time, but often don't seem to worry about the actual season we are in. Do you guys like people that only look at the target ahead and not what is around them at that time? We are always hoping to in the CL for next season or saying 'This guy will be good in the future'. I know that with a new stadium we took the decision to focus on youth, but we need to focus on where we are now aswell.

[RealMadGunner]

I don't like the fact that we start a game off like it is a Sunday stroll and only wake up when we've messed up!

Another problem is that we are building for the future all the time, but often don't seem to worry about the actual season we are in. Do you guys like people that only look at the target ahead and not what is around them at that time? We are always hoping to in the CL for next season or saying 'This guy will be good in the future'. I know that with a new stadium we took the decision to focus on youth, but we need to focus on where we are now aswell.

Well, "2 sides of a coin" describes it pretty well .. One, we are currently building a team of the future. But, we seem unconcerned about what's happening now. But funds are pretty much limited to us. There are teams who spend more than us and are fcuking up pretty big time, and there are teams who buy established stars are try winning games .. How many of them actually play "good" football ?! They are more concerned about making some profit rather than improving the game. I know its a pretty lame statement, but look at the current clubs' owners. How much of the game has actually improved after Roman took over Cheslea ?! It should be considered a good thing Dein actually supports what Wenger is trying to do.

I know i'm talking mostly crap today, but Wenger was critisising the Alan Padrew sacking, saying he obviously needs more time to work with the team. This is coming from a person who has been developing good teams that play good football, and sometimes win ;) . And what we are seeing from Wenger is not really new. Inspite of being a "big" club for a while, Wenger has stuck to his principles and his philosophy. He doesn't want to be forced to do what other "big" clubs are doing. And has he failed in his attempts ?! He refuses to buy big stars [though i hope Buffon is in AW thoughts], why ?! Because big stars aren't big when they start off .. There has to be a feeder club, a developing club etc.. Why don't we find those big stars of the future right now instead of spending lots of money on established stars, where a scenario of regret of buying them is also possible. Seriously, how many people wil lactually feel bad .. There has been a history of misfits at every club, only at Arsenal, there have been relatively fewer. Now, how many Arsenal fans have actually cursed Wenger for buying some misfit for loads of cash [Jeffers and Reyes set aside] ?! And how many have actually praised his transfer dealings ?! His moves usually ask for patience, but if thats missing from a fan, we're better off supporting Chelsea expecting instant results .. [i'm actually curious how many people will curse/critisize Jose if he fails to win the Prem this season after spending enough cash to last us for a decade or so !!] ..

*[I]Bull$hit over, continue with the conversation*

[Aussie_gunner_14]

Very well put real mad!

[The Jitty Slitter]

as well as a red card for the s word there should be one for transfer muppets who suggest we spend 25m on established stars in the window.

either than or they should have to read the clubs loan agreements :D cover to cover with nicephoras testing comprehension

[Rewinder]

Mouinho's net spending won't last wenger a decade - more like his entire career. I remember before the 05/06 summer, wenger spent a net of 40-60m if you include cash paid and cash received.

We definately shouldn't be in the market for superstars - unless its a goalkeeper, where its worth it to spend 15m+ once every couple of years. I just want to see wenger make more of those purchases for undervalued, but experienced players who can come in and make a difference right away. Like the rosicky's and hleb's of the world.

[davisplaid]

IMO..it just depends on what you expected out of this season. Personally I didn't think we could make up for the loss of so much experience in one season and compete for the league title. I'm not saying we were wrong to let Sol, Pires, Patrick, and Jose go over the last two seasons....you can certainly see the logic in all of those decisions. Wenger wasn't waiting..he was beginning the transition early, rather than later. So my hopes for this season were that we would answer alot of questions about our young players, finish in the top four, make a good run in the cash league, and win the FA Cup. So, nearing the midpoint of the season....I am not too dissapointed. If Rosicky, Gallas, and Henry had stayed a little bit healthier...I'm not sure we'd be nearly as off the pace as we are. Some teams can cope with the loss of three first teamers, but those are three of our most experienced players...and perhaps our most talented.

The last two games we played pretty terribly and got 4 pts...from a game against a team one place below us and a team away in the NW...that is not awful. Sure we need to beat Pompey at home if we want to win the league...but its not really about that this season...

Wenger is getting some answers on the youngsters...(good enough-Cesc-RVP) (Probably Adebayor-Hleb-Djourou) (Maybe-Eboue, Clichy, Walcott-Hoyte-Senderos-Flamini) (doubtful-Beast) (not-Song, Alliadiere) (unknown Diaby-Bendtner-Larrson-Denilson)

I feel the biggest problem is competition for places (especially in CM and our wingbacks)and focus and I happen to think those things are related. Why can we stutter through a game for seventy minutes and then turn it on...why do we run all over the pitch against Sp*rs but can't be bothered at Fulham. Youth is part of it...but Eboue knows he's not got anything to worry about place wise. Gilberto has no competition..he knows Flamini is not good enough. Clichy isn't losing his spot. At CB where there is real competition we've seen Djourou excel...RVP and Ade are competing hard for the first team place when Henry returns. Maybe this can be addressed over the summer or maybe Wenger needs more time to see if it is laziness or something else. At any rate...it's been a decent first half. We've won at OT and held the champions away and sit fourth. We thrashed Sp*rs and Liverpool at home...we are in the last 16 with reasonable draw, and have a huge game on Jan 6 at Anfield where hopefully the captain will return in top form.

The Arsenal Thread-status not too bad...future mostly bright but a bit uncertain...I'll take it.

[Schu419]

I'd have to consider myself very content with the state of Arsenal's future for basically one reason:

I do not dread every game where Henry will not be in the squad. In fact, I'm not even sure if I look forward to his return (unless he is in his top form). That says a lot about the quality, and potential, of a team age averaging in the low 20s.