Have you seen Xhaka play before Arsenal? Xabi? Also, I think the control we think Santi provides is more what we hoped than what's real. There are many ways a midfielder can control a match.
Cazorla's main qualities are ability to receive the ball in really difficult spaces with either foot, really quick ball movement and the ability to dribble past the press. He's not a controller, but I wonder if the rise of high intensity pressing means that kind of controller is a liability in games between the best teams.
jesus...prince - you are incredibly contrarian i have seen him play before as I watch tons of BL.. Santi's ball control, ability to retain ball, movement in tight spaces - works well for us
This. Not so sure about Ramsey's fitness, but his form is definitely not quite there. Xhaka's fitness has supposedly been a bit short, at least from what Wenger has been saying about his still getting used to the EPL, but let's just test his fitness out OK? He's gone a couple of full-90's now... give him some more. If he can't handle it fitness-wise, I guess we'd want to know that, but it would be kind of depressing considering how young he is and how much he cost.
Ozil would have trouble going 90 minutes when he first came to Arsenal as well. The Premier League is insane.
I seem to recall Ozil was great the first several months after he arrived, then he dropped off after that. And I don't recall Wenger easing him into playing time the way he has with Xhaka. Am I misremebering about Ozil?
I'm not being contrarian. I'm saying Santi ain't a controller. He is an amazing player, but I think we can do better. We actually did buy a controller who has controlled against some of the best midfielders in the world. I love Santi but with him we have not come close to winning the league. My beef isn't with Santi but with Wenger at the end of the day.
Yup that's basically what I was remembering. He made us think "man we can win the league now!" Then several months later the other shoe dropped. But happily he came good again. Obviously, as good as he is, he's not immune to ups & downs, hot streaks and lulls. He's been in a bit of a lull in recent weeks. But he'll be back! That video reminded me of those silly munchkin socks we wore that year. And also of the old Aaron Ramsey who was so confident and could score for fun. Bring that back too please!!!
Welbz is back in training today, along with Rambo. Good to hear for both. We could use Ramsey to mix things up in the middle and keep players fresh. Obviously there's no rush with Danny, which is a good thing. Once Wenger has finished allowing Alexis to run himself into the ground, Giroud should be poised to take his place.
Pretty promising news. http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20161229/team-news-who-s-back-to-face-palace- Looks like Danny, Mustafi and Alex are close to being an option for us. Huge news. I've missed Danny and especially Mustafi.
Yup. Good news indeed. Mustafi if he returns to his form just prior to his injury will no doubt be a big plus. You might say the same about Welbz, but what are the odds that he'll come right back to his old form, given the type of injury and the duration of layoff?? Not to mention that he might find it tough to get back into our new offensive system. But, all these like-a-new-signings notwithstanding, I must say I'm unusually pessimistic about our likelihood of going on a title-chasing run over the next few months. I guess this is based on how relatively poorly we've been playing lately and how ALL FIVE of our direct competitors won their last round match in rather dominant fashion, while we just managed to squeak out a last-minute 1-0 at home against the likes of West Brom, preceded by two deflating defeats away. Very much hope I'm wrong, and that we go on another run, while all of our competition falters.
Arsenals line up that day -------Szcz------- Jenks--Sanga-Kos-Gibbs ---Flamini---Wilshere -------Ozil------- Ramsey---Walcott ------Giroud---- The bench consisted of Akpom,Miyachi,Frimpong,Verm,monreal and Gnabry. I think I like our team now a little bit more.
Ramsey's go ahead goal in that game was pretty absurd. Some of the goals Ramsey scored that season were absurd. Couple of unreal volleys.
Another day, another hamstring injury for ArsenalArsenal lose Francis Coquelin for up to four weeks https://t.co/0MGIZDQ38h via @SkySports— Robbie Mustoe (@robbiemustoe) January 5, 2017
Just read this article about post-concussion Hector Bellerin http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20170208/team-news-the-latest-on-hector-bellerin It was plain to see that he had a significant concussion last Saturday and for once the right thing was done to take him out pronto. But what I found most interesting in this article was the poll. As of today, 67% of fans would say YES to starting Hector in 2 days, and 33% would say NO. In recent years, I've had the impression that it was the fans that were smarter than management about post-concussion safety. But this pool seems to clearly say otherwise! Are these fans aware of the serious long-term, possibly life-long, effects of not allowing an injured brain to heal properly before going back into the fray? And what about the fact that he hasn't practiced all week?! smh
People are ********ing stupid. Age, race, education, religion, nationality, gender...doesn't matter. We're all stupid.
Initially, I put this in "The other team's thread" but then it occurred to me that with the few weeks left in the season, if Wilshere is gonna be out for a while, Bournemouth will likely terminate his loan and Wilshere could be back at Arsenal as soon as tomorrow. https://www.google.com/amp/www.dail...ilshere-crutches-wearing-protective-boot.html Spuds fans brutally serenaded him off the pitch as well . . . so what now for Wilshere?
Sell him. He's 25 now and instead of improving with age he's just constantly injured and has seemingly regressed. He's never going to be what we thought he could be. Time to cut ties.
What bloody morons. Very sad day for Jack. Prior to this news, I was hoping we'd let him stay out on loan, assuming his contract is still not up, and assuming Eddie Howe still wants him. But now, as you rightly say, they may just want ot return the damaged goods. The thought of him coming back and then limping through another incomplete season is not exactly what we need to turn our midfield around