EPL - Wigan vs Arsenal – 12:45pm – 22/12/12 - SS3

[mavelous]

now you guys see why we miss nasri and despite what's popular to be said, he's the perfect cog to a system that requires possession dominance in order to feel secure at the back. it's been all too obvious in the frequent slumps of post-fabregas era - teams just keep pushing because they know we'll struggle to keep the ball for the sake of possession. whereas we used to keep possession for fun and had the added benefit of fabregas pulling strings like mozart fine tunes the subtlest pitches.

we now lose possession not because we try to create chances (which we did a lot), we now lose the ball because we can't deal with sustained pressure. even the equanimous arteta and the magic touch of cazorla doesn't quite make up for it, while gervinho and ox are raw and inexperienced to do what nasri did so well.

 

[outlaw_member]

We miss Nasri in the sense that we have lost his level of technique and ball control, but we haven't missed him as a performer on the flanks. It's worth noting that even Gervinho has been more productive (in his first two seasons) than Samir. Albeit, the stats are misleading for various reasons, and Gervinho had the benefit of playing upfront. The problem with the Frenchman is that he doesn't score or create enough, and unlike other similarly 'blunt' players like Cazorla or Iniesta, he tends to slow down attacks rather than accelerating them. I think Wenger may have been right all along in that he's a DCM type of player, though he never had the defensive nous, aggression or stamina for the position. He's become the very definition of a jack of all trades, and not even a great one at that.

 

[alboots101]

GERBOUE.

Nuff said.

 

[evoh_1]

now you guys see why we miss nasri and despite what's popular to be said, he's the perfect cog to a system that requires possession dominance in order to feel secure at the back. it's been all too obvious in the frequent slumps of post-fabregas era - teams just keep pushing because they know we'll struggle to keep the ball for the sake of possession. whereas we used to keep possession for fun and had the added benefit of fabregas pulling strings like mozart fine tunes the subtlest pitches.

we now lose possession not because we try to create chances (which we did a lot), we now lose the ball because we can't deal with sustained pressure. even the equanimous arteta and the magic touch of cazorla doesn't quite make up for it, while gervinho and ox are raw and inexperienced to do what nasri did so well.

What mix the 4-6 months when he delivered? **** nasri we got minted for him and he has been found out at citeh, they hate him and he looks basic.

Think I've heard it all here though throwing possesion away for creating chances, jesus christ. I'd rather have a go and recover possesion then just keep it through aimless passing. Nasri was notorious for these sort of keep possesion passes when it came down to it, total mug player.

The problem with the Frenchman is that he doesn't score or create enough, and unlike other similarly 'blunt' players like Cazorla or Iniesta, he tends to slow down attacks rather than accelerating them.

Iniesta and Cazorla (especially cazorla) aren't blunt players they are creating regularly, Cazorla is dominating in terms of creating chances this season in the role he is playing for us, similarly Iniesta would dominate in that role.

 

[mavelous]

I think it's a valid claim as any. You have to balance your defence against the quality of creativity. If your defense is very shaky, and your overall gameplay is more suited to keeping the ball rather than pressing or defending, then you have a catch-22. for a team that includes fabregas or hleb/rosicky, keeping the ball is not as laborious and there's more fluidity.

think of it this way - cazorla just received the ball, he realizes the overall pattern of the game is about even, with lots of scrapping, back-and-forth, aerials. he has to set the tempo - is there more benefit from trying to force half-chances or should we try to set a foothold on the game? the second option is the best towards the half-hour mark - if by that time we don't control the game, then it becomes increasingly nervous, the less-stable or not-so-talented players lose confidence, we don't have rhythm.

in an ideal scenario, we thwart the initial onslaught that most teams try by pressing high and with energy. i don't think our squad is good enough to consistently punish this hassling - our finishing is not good enough, chance creation is sporadic, and there's greater danger of conceding an early goal than us scoring. (feel free to prove me wrong with numbers)

 

[mavelous]

i don't necessarily think nasri was good for 3 months and invisible the rest of the time. there could be a case of tremendous improvement or a bit of style change, but his roaming and dribbling was still part of his game. this is the same accusation leveled at hleb - just because it doesn't show up in numbers shouldn't mean they're bad. it's not even their main job to be the goal threat - either by scoring or direct assisting.

in fact, as mainly possession outlet and dribbling, they attract opponents away from the main creator i.e. cesc or arshavin. this is the part about creating space or destabilizing the oppositon, you pass to a teammate who has enough space in a good position to shoot or pass from.

it's true that with so many touches and so much time on the ball, these players should be in the center of goalscoring plays, but that's often not the case with a player whose main asset is dribbling and ball control, not passing/vision. most players are not in that world class category where they have both attributes - cesc, rvp, rooney, silva, mata, modric, nani, toure...

 

[Cruisio]

Nah, Nasri is one of the biggest cowards i've ever seen on the football pitch, we got great money for him and the only position/role I ever see him really excelling in the one Dembele currently plays in for Sp**s

At least Hleb tried to be positive in everything else he did bar shooting