PL: Arsenal v Man U | Sun 31st January | 16:00

[brady-hero]

hey guys first post as a forum member, i'm looking forward to debating the arsenal on a deeper level than what is on display in the lobby...

the match was an embarrassment i watched it with four man united friends and i wanted the ground to swallow me up to hide me from my shame

few things: we need a new goalie almunia is terrible (granted the own goal was unfortunate) he has consistently been terrible, i can't believe he is still our number one
denilson is not good enough for us, i can't believe we have to persist with him i've no idea what he offers the team: he can't tackle, has a weak shot ,is not strong and not a superb passer. i don't know why he starts
how great is vermaelens technique , that goal was outstanding for a centre forward never mind a centre half..
rant over, back to being hungover

 

[Rorz]

hey guys first post as a forum member, i'm looking forward to debating the arsenal on a deeper level than what is on display in the lobby...

the match was an embarrassment i watched it with four man united friends and i wanted the ground to swallow me up to hide me from my shame

few things: we need a new goalie almunia is terrible (granted the own goal was unfortunate) he has consistently been terrible, i can't believe he is still our number one
denilson is not good enough for us, i can't believe we have to persist with him i've no idea what he offers the team: he can't tackle, has a weak shot ,is not strong and not a superb passer. i don't know why he starts
how great is vermaelens technique , that goal was outstanding for a centre forward never mind a centre half..
rant over, back to being hungover

I like to think Denilson has only been starting the last few games due to no-one else being available for that position, be it through injury (Diaby/Ramsey) or players being needed elsewhere (Nasri/Rosicky). Diaby showed some great form and hopefully AW considers him first choice CM now, rather than Denilson. Other than that I agree, the guy should be nowhere near the first team the way he is playing right now.

Oh, and congrats on the promotion!

 

[brady-hero]

thanks rorz
hopefully it is only because of injuries etc. i hate putting down our own players but he is awful

 

[sabret00the]

i suspect there are some young players who don't think they have anything to learn from arshavin or gallas, too.

what makes you think this and who are you referring to?

 

[goonerwarsh]

It's funny you mention pace, I honestly don't think we are a pacy side anymore. Were more about passing and movement. The invincibles were fast, bloody fast. The speed at which we counter attacked was breathtaking, we also had the perfect balance of bergkamp pulling the strings and picking beautiful passes. Same for the era before that, overmars and anelka were rapid.

It's crazy when you think of the balance previous wenger teams have had when you compare them to his teams of the last four years. He's sometimes hit on things that have worked for a small amount of time like the champions league finalists and when we had flamini and cesc in the middle but neither of those teams were the real deal like the ones that preceeded them

 

[qs]

i suspect there are some young players who don't think they have anything to learn from arshavin or gallas, too.

I suspect Gallas isn't exactly the helpful uncle type.

 

[Captain]

His first big injury was picked up in training teaching Walcott something.

 

[patrick42uk]

From the same link :

* To state an obvious point that cannot be ignored nor disputed any longer: Arsenal are not at the same level as Chelsea and Manchester United. And that discrepancy is particularly apparent in their head-to-head encounters. In the past 12 months, the Gunners have faced their superiors on eight occasions and have not won once. Total score from those matches: 5-18. In the context of Chelsea and United's status as two of the three best teams in Europe, Arsenal's inferiority is no disgrace. But it is, by and large, impossible to win silverware these years without beating either Chelsea or United along the way and Arsenal will remain trophyless until they find a new way.

Bloody hell.

Theres clearly a gap between us and Chelsea/Man U. But theres another gap between us and the rest of the prem. With that in mind, the league probably represents our best chance of a trophy.

 

[patrick42uk]

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.skysports.com/tv_show/story/0,20144,12975_5909366,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.skysports.com/tv_show/story/ ... 66,00.html</a>

Stewart Robsons sums up well our deficiencies.

 

[Nela]

http://www.skysports.com/tv_show/story/0,20144,12975_5909366,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Stewart Robsons sums up well our deficiencies.

Didn't read the article as it's fairly obvious where our deficiencies lie so I'll just use this as an excuse to rant about Stewart Robson. He pisses me off. He's on ATVO as an 'expert' and he is one of the most one-note "pundits" out there. I know what he's going to say before he says it and he just repeats the same thing over and over again. He also calls up Talkshit whenever given the oppurtunity to have a go at Arsenal and Wenger. Now I don't mind criticism at all, but it's as though they just put him on the air to talk **** about us. They had him on during the Eduardo incident and all he did was slag off Wenger and let that idiot Collymore say the most ridiculous things without a challenge(apparantly Wenger should be banned from the technical area for 8 matches because he fielded a player that dived). And recently they had him on re the long-ball nonsense and he just used it as an excuse to have a go at Wenger, completely oblivious to what Wenger actually said. Can't stand him.

 

[patrick42uk]

I dont listen to talksport but from what i'v heard of Robson on atvo, eurosport or sky, he's an excellent pundit with spot on analysis.

 

[Nela]

I think he's ****, repeats the same thing endlessly and adds little insight. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

His obsesssion with his love child Diaby is also a little disturbing.

 

[outlaw_member]

Ramsey, for me, is the perfect player for the role. It's a shame he's still a year or more away from that level though.

I'd prefer that Ramsey takes a similar route as Fabregas and eventually becomes an offensive CM/AM. Ramsey is aggressive and mobile but I wouldn't want to curb the obvious offensive potential he possesses. He looks like he could become a 15-20 goals a season type of midfielder and I wouldn't want him to be shackled with as much defensive responsibility.

I do think that Diaby will eventually become the best option in the position. There was one moment that really summed up what he is capable of, he caught up to the oppositions play by making a successful tackle and then glided up the other end, finally executing an excellent long pass to Eduardo. His 6"3 frame will undoubtedly make him a huge physical asset in the midfield area, something which we could do alot more with. Many challenges tend to be 50/50's and shoulder-to-shoulders, so Diaby will definitely have an edge. Smaller players generally tend to be the underdogs in physical duels, and the midfield is where those type of battles largely takes place. A smaller player has to have the required physical qualities, otherwise he will get overpowered. A bigger player on the other hand will be favourite going into the challenges and more likely to win them and Diaby is bigger than most.

 

[russkiegooner]

denilson is not good enough for us, i can't believe we have to persist with him i've no idea what he offers the team: he can't tackle, has a weak shot ,is not strong and not a superb passer. i don't know why he starts
how great is vermaelens technique

Denilson was poor yesterday, but people need to be fair: Denilson has scored 4 goals this season, and all of them were long distance shots, if I'm not mistaken. His shot is not particularly strong but it turns out precise enough to trouble some of our opponents.

I do think that Denilson is a good squad option to have, but he doesn't seem good enough in such a tight game, where we need a much more assertive midfield.

He starts because our two other serious options available in this position are Ramsey or Eastmond, who are both great prospects (Ramsey in particular), but were apparently deemed too young to be starters in such a game by Wenger. Something I agree with, to be honest. Then, the question is obviously whether our squad is deep enough (in some positions at least), which brings us to some serious managerial issues and the signings that we should have made but didn't for some reason...

 

[Del Boy]

Denilson scoring 4 goals means nothing. In general play he has been utter **** and lately is putting in no effort at all. He is very slow and weak.

Vermaelen has more goals than Denilson and so does Gallas. What does that mean?

 

[Invincible]

All of Denilson's goals were largely flukey except for the one at Everton which was to be fair a sublime strike.

I try hard to see what he can offer this team, his positives but there are none. He can't tackle, he can't sprint, can't head, can't track back, he's slow and weak both physically and mentally, doesn't work hard, has no vision, limited technically and can't pass under pressure. His admirers argue that his value to the side is in his ability to keep the game ticking, we could get Gunnersaurus to do that for us and save Denilson's wages, plus he'd give us a presence in midfield as well.

 

[russkiegooner]

People laments Hleb for not shooting, now people blames Arshavin for shooting. Funny really. Theres always an excuse for everything.

I rate Arshavin pretty high and have been following the lad for years now, but he was incredibly greedy yesterday on a couple of occasions. And it's hardly controversial, really. Of course, affirming he was the worst player on the pitch against Manure is pushing it too far, but he should probably say to himself what they keep telling kids all the time at any football academy in Russia, including Zenit's: 'football is a team sport and you should love football in yourself, not yourself in football'.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

All of Denilson's goals were largely flukey except for the one at Everton which was to be fair a sublime strike.

I try hard to see what he can offer this team, his positives but there are none. He can't tackle, he can't sprint, can't head, can't track back, he's slow and weak both physically and mentally, doesn't work hard, has no vision, limited technically and can't pass under pressure. His admirers argue that his value to the side is in his ability to keep the game ticking, we could get Gunnersaurus to do that for us and save Denilson's wages, plus he'd give us a presence in midfield as well.

I agree with just about every word of this post.

 

[Del Boy]

Give me Lee Cattermole over Denilson anyday. At least you know what you get with him. 110 percent every match, mental toughness and last season he made the highest number of tackles in the PL.

Probably no worse on the ball either. For all the hype about Denilson's passing, he gives it away more than any other player in the squad.

 

[ibby]

I'm not simply talking about "a midfielder" I'm talking about the third midfielder in our system. It's improtant to have someone of the three that can cover a lot of ground quickly. None of Fabregas, Song or Denilson can do this. When Diaby was playing well before he got injured one of the big positives was his ability to track back very quickly, covering a lot of ground at a speed, and defend. None of our other CMs can do this.

You always need pace. If it's available you take it in any position.

My point is it's not essential for a central midfielder to be quick. If a central midfielder is quick then that's a bonus but it shouldn't determine which midfielder plays and which doesn't.

Being mentally quick on the other hand...

All of Denilson's goals were largely flukey except for the one at Everton which was to be fair a sublime strike.

I try hard to see what he can offer this team, his positives but there are none. He can't tackle, he can't sprint, can't head, can't track back, he's slow and weak both physically and mentally, doesn't work hard, has no vision, limited technically and can't pass under pressure. His admirers argue that his value to the side is in his ability to keep the game ticking, we could get Gunnersaurus to do that for us and save Denilson's wages, plus he'd give us a presence in midfield as well.

I agree with just about every word of this post.

I'm up for Denilson bashing at this moment in time but his strike against Hull was equally superb.