Tottenham vs Arsenal | Wed 14 Apr. 20:00 | SS1/2

[Wenger14]

Very true USA, that and Chelseas turnaround once they'd no CL football to worry about. The margins were fine this season. We are close. We are much better than 1 year ago. This team is on the up.

Which is why it confuses the hell out of me when people are blabbing on about wholesale changes needed. We don't need wholesale changes, just a couple of astute ones to move us up a notch.

 

[Abs]

honestly, if we didnt have half our first team injured, we might have actually been able to win the title.

RvP
Arshavin
Gallas
Song
Fabregas

for much of the season, we had the likes of these players that had significant injury layoffs:

Walcott
Clichy
Ramsey
Djourou
Nasri
Rosicky
Eduardo
Bendtner
Denilson

lets be btually honest, did we really think we would win the title with all those players missing significant chunks of the season? no, no one did.. but we still had a chance in April (when was the last time we were realistically in a title race in mid-April?)

Chelsea is the least-hurting team of the top 3 right now (in terms of quality depth), which is why they will end up winning the title..

We have a solid squad with 20+ players who can do a job, we need 2-3 players for the first 11 with special qualities and we are ready for everything. Alot of the young players has shown they can come in and do a job, but over a period of time, they age shows and inconsistency comes in.

Gibbs, Denilson, Diaby, Bendtner Nasri, Ramsey and Walcott have all done a good jobe at times, but they still dont have the consistency needed to be a full starter every game. The problem was when they needed to fall on our big players like RVP, Arshavin and Cesc at times havent been there. Chammakh is a good start. Keeper and CB will go long way as long as they are reliable experienced players.

All the young players I mentioned will take another step further next season as well.

 

[qs]

Very true USA, that and Chelseas turnaround once they'd no CL football to worry about. The margins were fine this season. We are close. We are much better than 1 year ago. This team is on the up.

Which is why it confuses the hell out of me when people are blabbing on about wholesale changes needed. We don't need wholesale changes, just a couple of astute ones to move us up a notch.

I agree. There are one or 2 places I'd like to see us strengthen and some liabilities, mostly the more injury prone kind, moved out. 2 or 3 each way would be plenty.

 

[USArsenal]

i agree with people's sentiments that we need a few key players in.. we all know what they are.. a new keeper, a new CB and another striker who can actually score (and more importantly, stay healthy).. maybe another DM would be good too..

 

[number_0]

A DM is more important than a CB and striker imo.
Song, denilson and diaby all are great players but have different weaknesses which most oppositions have learned to exploit, I feel the third spot in midfield next to song and cesc is still vacant.

A new goal keeper is a must though.

 

[Emma Lusa]

Is this a time-warp? These posts are identical to last season and in fact the last three. Our attack last night was terrible we had 63% possession and their keeper had nothing to do until RvP came on. A team with aspirations like ours can't rely on one striker, look at others -

Zlatan, Ibrahimovic, Bojan Krkic, Thierry Henry, Pedro, Jeffren Suarez, Jonathan Soriano, Victor Vazquez

Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge, Nicolas Anelka, Gael Kakuta, Fabio Borini

This is not new, we've lacked real quality-in-depth for a very long time all over the pitch ..... maybe the Spuds did us a favor by exposing this obvious weakness ..... we need to spend >60m on proven quality. If AW ends up buying yet more 'average' players to add to the 'average' players we already have you can forget about trophies. If Cesc or RvP leave .....

 

[marco]

absolutely devastated, couldnt give a **** about the league couldnt give a **** losing to barca but last night was very very hard to take.
mixture of anger and frustration..
fundamentally we arent good enough we dont take our chances and pay for it time and time again- and with a clown at the other end the opposition always have a chance.
sol- was an absoulte rock last night the only player in that team along with rvp who knows how important a nld is..

if diaby is the new vieira than im lionel messi!

 

[SA Gunner]

Rosicky was a disgrace tonight.

Imagine where we'd have been with a fit RvP.

Champions, assuming fabs and gallas were still fit.

Not only are those three great players, they fight for the shirt. Just look at RvP when he came on, he was desparate to turn it around...

Absolutely.

I mean before he came on we were just playing into the corners and trying to cross it to the box. No one (and Im ignoring Rosicky and his hopeless attempts to shoot) was actually going for goal. Eboue wants to pass it, Nasri gives it to Sagna and Walcott was just nowhere.

With RVP's entrance we looked like a team who is above Sp**s on the table, because in those last minutes we played with vigour and strength.

I hope Wenger looks carefully at what he has seen today, and dog gone it forget about the fact that you are playing your second stringers. If we want the title, we need players who can deliver the same (if not very close) level of performance to that of our strongest team. This is the PREMIERSHIP, not the Academy of Barcelona, London ****ing Branch.

 

[Clrnc]

Very true USA, that and Chelseas turnaround once they'd no CL football to worry about. The margins were fine this season. We are close. We are much better than 1 year ago. This team is on the up.

Which is why it confuses the hell out of me when people are blabbing on about wholesale changes needed. We don't need wholesale changes, just a couple of astute ones to move us up a notch.

I agree. There are one or 2 places I'd like to see us strengthen and some liabilities, mostly the more injury prone kind, moved out. 2 or 3 each way would be plenty.

But did you guys think of how many chances Chelsea and Manure gave us? We should have already won the league if we took our chances. Another failed season, not good enough imo. I was starting to think if Wenger should really go during the match, and i am the biggest fan of him! Says it all really.

We don't need a radical change, but we desperately need to clear dead wood and breathe a new life into our squad

 

[HollandGooner]

Every year, we are thrashing our title chances, we cant cope with the pressure, how the **** is the possible for a club like Arsenal?

 

[sabret00the]

My favorite part about Bendtner's performance today is the fact that he's the only one out of our front three that's an aerial threat. So what does he decide to do time after time? Move to a wide position, where he crosses into the box or feeds it to someone that crosses into the box. The problem with that is that there's never anyone to meet those crosses.

Oh Thank God somebody else noticed!

That's the problem with Bendtner though, he's a team player, he's a Bergkamp in that he'll always be more inclined to drift towards facilitating play more so than scoring goals, it's just who he is as a player. It's frustrating and it makes him look like a lesser player than he actually is. Wenger basically put our a forward line made up of a certified second striker playing as the goal threat, a right foot only right winger playing left wing and a right back playing right wing forward. That was ridiculous.

I'd also like to add, while I'm impaling Wenger here, I'd prefer he use these games to blood a youth central defender than persist with Silvestre. Silvestre done some nice things but done some equality abhorrent things.

 

[sabret00the]

Is this a time-warp? These posts are identical to last season and in fact the last three. Our attack last night was terrible we had 63% possession and their keeper had nothing to do until RvP came on. A team with aspirations like ours can't rely on one striker, look at others -

Zlatan, Ibrahimovic, Bojan Krkic, Thierry Henry, Pedro, Jeffren Suarez, Jonathan Soriano, Victor Vazquez

Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge, Nicolas Anelka, Gael Kakuta, Fabio Borini

This is not new, we've lacked real quality-in-depth for a very long time all over the pitch ..... maybe the Spuds did us a favor by exposing this obvious weakness ..... we need to spend >60m on proven quality. If AW ends up buying yet more 'average' players to add to the 'average' players we already have you can forget about trophies. If Cesc or RvP leave .....

I get where you're coming from, but ultimately, Vela and Dudu were supposed to be our goal-threat in depth and neither stepped up.

 

[Anzac]

Wanna check my comments from three games ago and see what they said?

Well I can't remember you, ricky, fabo or the dozen other people in this thread having a go at him back then and arguing against all the threads praising him.

I did v Bham & got stick for it.

 

[Anzac]

Haven't seen the full match - only a few moments whilst getting ready for work - don't really think that I either want or need to watch it from what I did see.

Saw their 2nd goal & thought WTF where is the marking & where was TV - and then realised we were in trouble.

Saw some of our 'response' to being 2 goals down & thought that we'd learned nothing from the performances v Barca etc, on or off the pitch.

 

[lagos]

I certainly do not want that. Am quite happy with how most of our players developed, just think we need some strengthening.

My comment wasn't directed at you Clockwork, I was just adding meat to what you said, we need strengthening not gutting!

We spend half of every season without him though.

Yes but usually we've had other strikers available

 

[Lazaq]

Wenger said a few things in his post-match interview that is at least somewhat encouraging:

1. He said our defending for their first goal was not good enough for a team competing for the championship. That means he should buy a CB this summer.

2. He said we lacked quality in the final third. That means he should buy a goalscoring striker.

3. He felt that we had loads of inefficient possession. So he should strengthen midfield.

Sadly, he didn't say anything about goalkeepers.

 

[Anzac]

Wenger said a few things in his post-match interview that is at least somewhat encouraging:

1. He said our defending for their first goal was not good enough for a team competing for the championship. That means he should buy a CB this summer.

2. He said we lacked quality in the final third. That means he should buy a goalscoring striker.

3. He felt that we had loads of inefficient possession. So he should strengthen midfield.

Sadly, he didn't say anything about goalkeepers.

I won't believe anything until I see him taking action - he said the same about our defending through the middle 3 seasons ago.

 

[Captain]

Is this a time-warp? These posts are identical to last season and in fact the last three. Our attack last night was terrible we had 63% possession and their keeper had nothing to do until RvP came on. A team with aspirations like ours can't rely on one striker, look at others -

Zlatan, Ibrahimovic, Bojan Krkic, Thierry Henry, Pedro, Jeffren Suarez, Jonathan Soriano, Victor Vazquez

Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge, Nicolas Anelka, Gael Kakuta, Fabio Borini

This is not new, we've lacked real quality-in-depth for a very long time all over the pitch ..... maybe the Spuds did us a favor by exposing this obvious weakness ..... we need to spend >60m on proven quality. If AW ends up buying yet more 'average' players to add to the 'average' players we already have you can forget about trophies. If Cesc or RvP leave .....

I get where you're coming from, but ultimately, Vela and Eduardo were supposed to be our goal-threat in depth and neither stepped up.

Also helps when you make Ibrahimovich two players.

Those striking options are no better than ours except their star strikers aren't crocks.

 

[regele]

Which is why it confuses the hell out of me when people are blabbing on about wholesale changes needed. We don't need wholesale changes, just a couple of astute ones to move us up a notch.

I agree, but there's also a problem with Wenger's stubbornness, how Diaby wasn't subbed early in the second half is beyond me, just like the game before Porto when Nik was missing chance after chance and was clearly having an off day, where he was subbed with 15 minutes to go. Then there's the fact that nobody shoots on goal, considering that we regained possession of the ball fairly easily yesterday and that Gomez has a track record for blunders, we should have tested him way more than we did.

I don't think we have big issues, but they've been the same for ages and they aren't addressed, I trust Wenger for another season, but I hope that he finally gets his head out of his arse and fixes them.

 

[sabret00the]

Wenger tends to think about what a player can do on the pitch according to the image he's built up of them in his mind, rather than what they've done in that match.