PL | Blackburn Rovers Vs Arsenal | Sat 17th Sept | 12:45pm |

[Irish_Owen]

Hmmm..

 

[Doctor OKO]

How quaint, Irish Owen.

I saw Arshavin against ROI the other week in the Euro Qualifiers and he was instrumental in many of the best Russian moves. I just have the feeling he is not being played where he wants to or he isn't being given the creative licence to roam like he does for the Russian national team.

 

[Hunta]

Bar Barca, how many years ago where the rest? Living in the past ladies.

 

[Doctor OKO]

Arshavin last year scored 10 goals and created 17 assists in all competitions last year.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Premier_League_Combined_2010-11.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Premier_ ... 10-11.html</a>

That source represents the combination of goals and assists per player for 2010-11. He was joint 17th with Cesc last season of all the 354 players in the Premier League in terms of his goals and assists contribution. Labeling him as awful is, to me anyway, unfounded pejorative sensationalism.

 

[Vela]

Arshavin been playing out of position since he joined us. He played the number 10/attacking midfielder role for Zenit and Russia. In an interview after he joined us he even said he was asked play in a new position which was on the wing.

 

[Irish_Owen]

Bar Barca, how many years ago where the rest? Living in the past ladies.

Simple fact of the matter is Arshavin has performed in big games for us, and his country too on numerous occasions as pointed out by other posters, throughout his stay here. And I purposely included performances across the seasons he's been here, but they're have been big performances from him last season alone.

Ignoring that fact would be conscious stupidity

 

[Cruisio]

Its not the big games Arshavin is a problem in, its in these games where he lets his attitude get way too relaxed that he then becomes a problem

Watch the start of the 2nd half again, four times in a row he put us in trouble by mis placing a pass, or getting caught on the ball. He's one of the worst in the team for getting far too relaxed and not showing enough effort....and thats saying something

 

[Hunta]

Arshavin last year scored 10 goals and created 17 assists in all competitions last year.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Premier_League_Combined_2010-11.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Premier_ ... 10-11.html</a>" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That source represents the combination of goals and assists per player for 2010-11. He was joint 17th with Cesc last season of all the 354 players in the Premier League in terms of his goals and assists contribution. Labeling him as awful is, to me anyway, unfounded pejorative sensationalism.

Arshavin was crap last season.

 

[Doctor OKO]

I agree that he was not playing near the standard we expect(ed) from him but to simply sign him off as 'crap' for the entirety of last season is a misnomer.

 

[dyeruz]

Just before they equalised, literally 5 seconds before, I was thinking to myself.. 'holy **** Blackburn look poor, we should absolutely annihilate them'

It was at that moment that I honestly realised that we were going to lose the game, then as I said, five seconds later, they equalised. I was amazed by my own prediction. Due to the fact that I was going out that night, coincidentally I had to turn the match off (even though I really wanted to watch it) and I went out, then not long after, I got a message from a friend 'ARSENAL!!' (he is a Chelsea supporter). I knew he was not celebrating Arsenal doing well. That ws when it was 4-2. Absolutely ******* rubbish.

Although, from what I saw up until 1-1, we were playing almost up to the standards of pre-christmas 2010 Arsenal, and apparently we did show signs of it later on in the game as well.

Consistency, that is what we badly need to work on.

professionalism at all levels from the board to the players, a professional approach to defending not players watching the ball enter the box, then one lazily pokes it TOWARDS the goal. A manager whom must acknowledge when a player is crap should not be within five miles of the team. A player who should pass the ball to an open player for a tap in instead of trying to raise his profile so when Man city come calling he can jump at the first chance. Djourou has been consistently bad for a while now, there is absolutely nothing he can work on to stop him from slipping again at a vital moment, he's become a clown but he will play again and to our cost. We bought too late because the manager honestly wasn't going to buy anymore players, only the 8-2 forced his hand. At least he tried but it's too late. Let's hope for the best.

 

[eye4goal]

What exactly does he add now? He doesn't come up with these match winning goals nor does he put in the effort we need. It's having players like him in our side that makes us as fragile as we are.

I think he's done OK for a non-starting 11 player. I'd say he's offered more than Walcott in terms of end product in the PL so far. He can't keep his level for more than 45-60mins but he has been one of our better players this season in my opinion

 

[CandysRoom]

Arshavin and Walcott are not suited to their position. I cringe to watch Walcott looking so ineffesctive from wide, just jogging along with the rest.

Gervinho looks to know how to play efficiently as a wide forward using pace, and cutting in to cause defenders problems.

 

[ebouenolike]

@THunter: Putting a laughing smiley before every sentence doesn't make your point more valid, it makes you look a smug *****.

 

[Doctor OKO]

Why Arsène hasn't started to play Theo through the middle yet I don't know. He just takes into the corner and is just ineffective with width. He needs to be breaking through the middle with his pace and needs to have balls delivered to him because he is undoubtedly a natural finisher.

 

[CandysRoom]

That's my thinking also. Our forwards are mainly strikers playing in wide positions. Why not play them where they belong and see what happens?

 

[Beksl]

I wasn't able to watch the game, and retrospectively thinking thanks the **** I didn't. You do not lose to Blackburn 4-3!! I'm speechless.

I thought we turned a corner after a scrappy win against Swans and with a performance full of grit and solid defensive display against Dortmund. Arsène really is clueless and some drastic changes must be taken NOW if we want to compete for the 4th spot. Unfortunately I've lost my faith in Wenger a long time ago and when I look at him I don't see a man who could bring some much needed changes, I only see a broken old man with shattered dreams unwilling to admit his own defeat(s).

 

[Big Poppa]

Why Arsène hasn't started to play Theo through the middle yet I don't know. He just takes into the corner and is just ineffective with width. He needs to be breaking through the middle with his pace and needs to have balls delivered to him because he is undoubtedly a natural finisher.

I keep hearing this but has anyone actually thought it through? We play a 4-3-3 system with van Persie or Chamakh as lone strikers. The only way Wenger could play Theo as a central striker would be to change our formation to play him alongside Robin, because his hold up play is simply not good enough. Then there's the question of what exactly Theo has proved at any level to justify a change of formation for him. He plays in the same position is people like Pedro, Aguero and Cristiano Ronaldo, so why is it that people think he is so restricted? It's not like the guy is playing in midfield.

 

[CandysRoom]

I think the change of formation is in many peoples minds Poppa, mine included.

As for The Pedro's, Aguero's and Ronanaldo's of this world, i don't think Theo is on their level as a player, but could prove to be a clinical finisher if played centrally and asked to run onto through balls through the middle.

I don't think he has the dribbling expertise required for the wide forward slot and struggles to beat his man. What he has proved, is good finishing ability when running onto balls played through, or over defences.

I think he could do a good job playing alongside RVP.

 

[outlaw_member]

I think the aim is that there is even lesser emphasis placed on his middle third capabilities, therefore focusing all of his moments in the final third. I agree that under normal circumstances, he's playing in the right position, but the key difference is that those players perform for teams that dominate the ball. By dominating the ball in the middle, the wide players can retain a high position and focus predominantly on affecting the final third.

As we've witnessed so far this seaosn, our wide players can't perform like this, as we aren't dominating the ball, thus they are having to drop deep and perform constantly in the middle third. An area in which Walcott is very weak. I agree that it seems laughable to change our entire formation just because of Walcott, but I'd say that the change is just as necessary for van Persie. With a dominant midfield, Walcott is fine as a peripheral wide forward, but without a dominant midfield, our formation changes into a 4-5-1, as the wide players are invariably asked to help out the middle trio. Therefore, the required qualities for the wide position has changed considerably, and Walcott is less suited to the very same role that was almost perfect for him last season.

 

[progman07]

Our formation and tactics weaken our players, Theo included, he rarely gets the ball, as outlaw was spot on, if our midfield cannot be dominant, Theo will suffer, just as Robin, our attackers are too separated to have the impact they could have, our midfield is unbeliavably weak, they should be popping up everywhere to offer passing options, instead they disappear - we switch into attack too slow, we don't press well enough, we don't control the midfield - all down to Ramsey and co. not doing enough, not being good enough.
Being a winger in this lineup, this team is not easy, without a supporting midfield, with only one option up front.