Arsenal fans are well used to hearing our club criticised, with everything from the club’s transfer policy, the tactical ability of Arsene Wenger and the heart and talent of our players coming under fire. And for a good few years, there was little we could say, as the years went by without a trophy.
But last year saw the Gunners get some silverware in the cabinet and spend more time at the the top of the Premier League table than any other team, so there is a lot of confidence among us that Arsenal are on the up, especially after some quality business done in the summer transfer window.
However, our optimism and confidence are not shared by many football pundits, including the pairing of Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville, who both dismissed our title chances on Sky Sports last night. After watching Chelsea blow newly promoted Burnley away in the first half, Neville claimed that they and Man City were the only teams in with a realistic chance of becoming champions, mainly because of the power in their squads.
He said, “I’m not writing Arsenal and Liverpool off on the first day of the season, but I’m not sure how they can win it,” he said on Monday Night Football.
“You look at champions and they have to fight when they have to fight. Chelsea have got a back four that’s massive and they’ve got Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa. Man City are the only side that can match them for size and power.
“They’ve got every single thing you look for. Can they counter-attack? Yes. Can they keep possession and control a game? Yes. Have they got dribblers? Yes. Have they got passers? Yes. Can they fight you? Yes. Are they good at set pieces? Yes. Have they got a good goalkeeper? Yes.
“They’re not going to concede a lot of goals, they are going to keep possession and they’re going to score a lot.
“I know it’s only early on, but there’s Ramires to come on, Mikel is to come on and Filipe Luis is to come on. They’ve got power and strength in depth and I think they are going to take some stopping.
“Of those two, definitely one of them is going to win the league, I think. In power, size and physicality I don’t see how the other teams can match them.”
There is still time for Wenger to add to the Arsenal squad before the window shuts, of course, and surely a defender and a defensive midfielder would add strength to our talented team. If he doesn’t, though, do you think that we can prove the Sky boys wrong with what we have?
With Giroud up front. And Sanogo as back up, we haven’t got hope.
I say fcuk them two gimps !!!
yes their right- except micheal owen- hes never right
I think it’s kinda crazy how for the past 3 years everyone says we need a CDM and a stiker, which we doo, and we still need the same 2 players….
Here.Now. I say yes. We will pull this out one way or another.
If Costa gets injured for a few weeks, Chelsea are done. If Matic gets injured for a few weeks, Chelsea are in trouble.
Same with Kompany and Touré at City.
Chelsea have the best injury record in the league, about time they were due some.. We on the other hand have the worst, and we still finished only 3 points behind them last season. A good DM and our summer will have been just as good, if not better than theirs.
And as for Giroud and Sanogo, I’d like to see Podolski given his chance up front. If he doesn’t work out we have Alexis, Theo and Campbell who can play there too.
Gibbs has opened the injury account already for the season. Do you see our injury record improving? I wonder… I really do!
I think we can win the Premier League.
But with the current team.. I don’t know, especially when you compare it to teams like Chelsea and City who are clear favourites.
We’ll have a bigger picture come September 1st.
Last season we only finished 7 points off the top with the all the injuries we suffered, With the addition of Sanchez why not?
Or maybe i’m just being a little too optimistic lol.
The extra 7 points are a lot harder to get than the 79 other points as we have to beat the better teams in order to get them.
Yes we could have picked up extra points and won the title in games against Stoke away, Swansea and Aston Villa at home, but every team can cherry pick games against the smaller teams where they should’ve won. Slip ups are inevitable in the course of the season, the only long-term solution is to compete more against top teams so they get less points by not beating us and we get more by not losing.
Only team we beat away in the rest of the top 8 is Spurs.. A draw away to Southampton and the rest were all losses. It’s not all about beating the likes of a City and Chelsea away. We’ll never be able to count on winning those games, but we can beat Southampton away, Everton away and United away (even with Van Gaal they really don’t have a good team beyond Rooney, RVP and Mata). That’s 8 more points right there. A result at Anfield isn’t beyond our reach either. Liverpool haven’t really improved the quality of their team, if anything it’s worse without Suarez, they’ve only increased their squad depth.
What is encouraging however is that, seeing how bad we were against the top teams yet we were still close to the title, it must therefore mean we’re the best against the smaller teams and less likely to slip up.
No Jojo we cannot win the league. We do not have as much power and depth as our competition and our coach is too emotional to be an epl winner. Can you imagine any of our rivals having a player like Giroud as their first choice striker? We have a lot of talent but as far as squad depth and managerial tactics are concerned, we are behind the others.
To be honest, I’d be willing to bet that Mourinho would have LOVED to have Giroud as a striker last year. Chelsea would have won the PL is he had been. Giroud scored 20+ goals last season with zero pace around him once Walcott was injured. What does that mean? It means that ANY back 4 can focus on Giroud and not worry at all about a damned other player on the pitch because nobody had the pace to beat a fullback. Now that we have Sanchez, Campbell, and Walcott next month, teams will be forced to single mark Giroud so they can cover when a fullback gets beat.
Giroud isn’t fantastic at scoring goals, we all know that. I would absolutely love us to sign a first choice striker and use Giroud as a second choice striker. What Giroud does do really well is fight for everything sent up to him. He allows us a big target man, which enables Ramsey to run beyond him and score goals. Once we have Sanchez on the left, Walcott on the right, and Ozil/Cazorla playing in the AM role, Giroud will flourish. Until then, give him credit for what he does. It may not be the out and out striker that Henry and Van Persie were, but he DOES bring things to our game that they didn’t.
Right now you must not be reasonable when it comes to Giroud and his inability to take Arsenal all the way. It is not enough to say that Arsenal need a much better striker.
You must attack Giroud with vicious vulgarity or you will not get the love of the fans who live in a perpetual state of outrage that Arsenal will not win every trophy available right NOW.
No pundit is ever right…if he is its by mistake and coincidence
But we do need new players..reus as a striker and manolas cb could sufice
If we sign a striker like Cavani or Falcao and a CM like Carvalho or Khedira then yes we can win the PL.
IF we don’t buy a striker then we can still win if we by a winger like Reus, Cuadrado, di Maria and make Sanchez or Walcott a striker.
We must also in the meanwhile make Podolski our main striker. He has played striker for Germany in the past.
Podolski has abysmal stats as a lone striker. Terrible. You need to brush up on your football and stop playing FiFA. Podolski has been used as a second striker for Germany and was average. At Bayern Munich he was a terrible failure when deployed as a striker.
If we buy a CDM any CDM!! Song, Khedira, Carvalho, Silva… ANYONE! and play Sanchez or Walcott at striker we have a shot.
wenger wont buy a striker has faith in OG12 & who is available in the market anyway?
Who is available and better than Giroud?
Falcao, Cavani, Balotelli, Reus (system change needed) are def better.
Then…
Bony, Remy, Jackson Martinez, Benteke are all arguably better. And Arsenal could buy any one of them.
Where are all the fans who say we NEED that backup CB??
Chambers has not put a foot wrong, Per wouldn’t have changed any result thus far.
Cavani or Falcao however could have been a real difference maker. Manolas or whoever (Howedes? Remember that desperate article..)is all well and good, but we won’t be better.
Get a striker worthy of the Ozil/Sanchez/Ramsey support.
No one is doubting Chamber’s ability, but we need Depth.
Before we had Sagna who could cover as 4th choice CB, now we have Monreal…
According to Agent Edward (very reliable source) Arsenal are in talks with Nastatic’s agent.
So how is that different? Sagna played a few games at emergency CB and Montreal can do the same. No change.
Wanting a backup CB is one thing, but prioritising one over a star striker which is what many have been doing….is ridiculous. We are so toothless with Ollie.
You can rationalize all you want. Arsenal were short at CB last season and were just lucky with few CB injuries. And this season Wenger has NOT replaced the defensive departures.
Right now Chambers is really the only backup CB. Last season they had Verm and Sagna (who was much better at CB than Monreal for sure). Additionally we hear that Chambers is backup for RB and CB AT LEAST and he maybe chosen to fill the DM role.
What happens if Debuchy and Mert go out for 3 months? You think it can’t happen? Chambers can’t fill both positions. And players get worn out just from all the games – Wenger admitted overusing most of his players last season and this season the defense has less depth.
A few seasons back Arsenal lost all 4 FBs and 1 CB at the same time. Djourou and Verm were playing FB and Song was filling in at CB. It was not pretty.
To say that Arsenal have enough defenders is just denial unless you are SURE than both Bellerin and Miquel are premier league ready, which I doubt.
Who’s saying we have enough? Did you read that from me? No. I said to prioritize a backup CB over a first team improvement is ridiculous.
You can talk IF’s and hypothetical situations about defenders maybe being out. But that applies all over the pitch when you have 2/3 starters out. I’m talking when everyone is fit are we strong enough?
In defence yes. In midfield, just about (dynamic DM would help). Striker, no. So there’s the priority imo.
I have time for Giroud, and it’s not his fault he’s first choice. But if we end this window and he us still our #1 front man we haven’t had a successful window.
It is not only about some of the players we have… Some of them are just not good enough, but still have the trust and backing of the deluded manager… May be hoping for a delusional miracle!
It is also about the manager, Wenger… Just basically average, tactically inapt, poor in decision making, too passive, weak, delusional (he still thinks it is possible to play without a recognised DM and win sh*T…!!!) and point blank not good enough.
Against Besiktas it was clear that pace was necessary, but yet “rubbish” like Wilshere were allowed to play the all game. We have the only number 10 in the world who does not influence the game and cannot keep the ball (and even putting his defence in trouble!!).
Diaby apparently “looks good in training” (which player doesn’t?) and he is the eternal excuse when it comes to recruit a DM, because he is, apparently, “like a new signing”…!!
We have a striker, slow and, according to the stats (Wenger and some Arsenal fans like those) can only convert 1 out of 4 chances…!!
Can we win the BPL?
Hell no, even if we were given right now a 10 points advantage…
We do nto have the squad neither to win the league nor the CL… Those targets are just not for us.
We will, hopefully, grab one of those domestic insignificant cup!
“Not buying Fabregas was the right thing to do”… So not bring more quality to the squad was the right thing to do. So what we get Ozil and Fabregas playing at the same position! The best of the 2 will get the first spot…
Right now Wenger is accommodating may be the worse player in the Arsenal squad… For which benefits?
Campbell should go on loan for his own sake… he won’t get much play time as Wenger will privilege the crap we have in the squad…!
Hard hitting truth! Could not agree more.
But we did win something without the DM that everybody yaps on about. We won the F.A cup last season so how anybody can agree 100% with what you say is beyond me
And Arsenal won the trophy WITH Giroud. Don’t admit it though. It could be dangerous to your health.
So what? DO you think Giroud is good enough to be the first striker of a EPL inning team?
Is he?
Look at the competition: RVP and Rooney or Costa and Drogba, or Dzeko and Aguero
I would take any one of them over Giroud and Sanogo.
Do you think either one of our two forwards would be on the bench of the above teams.
If yes, I would say you are delusional, if no then what the hell are you protecting Giroud for? Dont you think we deserve a striker of the quality that our competitors have?
Well RVP needed a different set of 10 players behind him at a different club to achieve his EPL – achieved f**k all for us in 8 years – so what does that tell you? That our midfield has been overhyped for years and that other players are equally culpable in us not winning anything for years. What was Fabregas, Song, Nasri and golden boy Rosicky up to in all those years? The delusion is that this is all down to Giroud but scapegoats do make life wonderfully simple.
Fourth place with the current squad!
theres no place like home?
East or west. Home is the best. Number 4, BPL Street.
I think until we sort out the spine of the team (cdm, st, and another cb) we can’t win the league. Chelsea and man city have strengthened well and although we only came 7 points off the top I think it was the best opportunity we’ve had in a long time to win the league considering the managerial changes.
Personally I think I’ve been critical of wenger in past seasons mainly due to his tactical approach to games. I don’t necessarily think you always need the strongest squad to win the league but if you employ the right tactics for certain games you can get the result you need. Chelsea won the champions league without having a better team than barca or bayern, but their tactics in those games were delivered to a t.
Wenger doesn’t influence the game enough for my liking and although I can’t say I would do an even better job as manager if I’m honest I wish we had someone a bit braver with substitutions and formations, with different strategies to break down the opponent.
Sometimes it seems as if we don’t really have a game plan, which is probably due to the fact wenger believes in the philosophy he’s taught the players and that if you stick to the “arsenal” way our technical proficiency will prevail.
Sadly this isnt always the case, and although I won’t jump on the “wenger out” wagon again, simply due to the fact that regardless of what fans say it is essentially down to the board, I honestly would like to see either wenger adjust his philosophy this season or someone with a bolder set of ideas come in and take this team forward.
We are always only a couple of players short from challenging, but minimal substitutions increases our injury toll which creates a vicious cycle. In short, I hope this is the season we rotate our players well and try to assess the glaring weaknesses in our squad.
Problem jt with changing tactics, as all pundits refer to is, the players HAVE to be aware of their new roles, and practice them regularly, and, you HAVE to have the players that can actually do that, especially during games.
We already moan about Santi being used out wide, because it is NOT his natural position, well, to change tactics, formation, during a game, requires players changing roles and substitutions in order to carry it out. That is why Chelsea can do it, because they have so many top players to choose from, and Maureen can change his team to suit the formation easier than we can.
As we strengthen the squad, we CAN adjust the starting X1 to change the tactics/formation for particular jobs, but right now, we have 13/14 players that are proven, and another 6/7 that are still learning at this level.
I understand what you’re saying bounty hunter, but I feel like the week prior to big games should be enough time to at least tweak our formation slightly or employ a certain tactic, whether it’s counter attack with less possession or playing with two strikers up top instead of the lone striker, I would hope that players at the level required for arsenal would be able to adjust to this as it seems I tend to hear other teams coming away from big wins uttering phrases like “we worked on the manager’s ideas this week and executed them well”, I cant remember our players saying this for a while.
Wenger has always been influenced by players he deems can play in more than one position, he rarely initially buys a player for that sole role in the team but he is hesitant to employ them in different roles when the game is crying for a change. Brendan Rodgers proved to some extent last season that you can have a fairly strict philosophy that is open to change when necessary, obviously a player like suarez makes that possible, but that’s a whole other issue.
Like to prove them wrong but its hart to do so. And by the way, Sumo man, i am srry, i didnt mean it.
With a quality striker we will have a very excellent chance! Jackson martinez wouldnt be a bad option! Coyg!
I think ALL those that have commented clearly AGREE with the pundits.
On paper, of course Chelsea or City SHOULD win the title.
But, as I have said MANY times on here, Chelsea have had the Abramthebitch money for a decade, and Maureen has had free hand to buy whoever he wants without any constraints financially.
Cty have had the Shiekrattleandroll money for 5 years or so.
This year we have SOME decent money to spend, and everyone suddenly believes we should be competing on a level playing field, squad wise.
Of course, WE CAN win the title, same as Pool SHOULD have won it last season, but, we need to keep everyone fit, and, they have to perform all year, whereas Chelsea, and City can afford some injuries, and, have a lot more scope to rotate, so, they MUST be favourites over the season.
With the current team… nope, not possible. Improvements are needed where they have been needed for the past 2-3 seasons. Striker, and CDM. Same story.
I got no big hope for this current squad. This season definitely is between Chelsea and City. To me is the change of power, just like last time was between us and MU. I did remember what wenger said as i quote, we will try to fight with them till the last match. We are only here trying to fight with them but not here to put a stand we are also the forces, that the different. Last 10 years we are trying to build the new stadium so to maintain as top 4th, we did quite well as i said. Now are we going to put a stand, show ppl that we are also one of the big forces, we shall know by end of transfer date.
@RSH
Spot on!
Wenger and the board should be honest to the fans, are we going to fight shoulder to shoulder with them or just hope we can complete with them and get the CL slot. Well i don’t think they will, reality we know ourselves with this current squad we won’t.
The bulk of the EPL predictions I have seen have Arsenal finishing 2nd or 3rd. Keep in mind these predictions do not just look at Arsenal but consider how the other clubs have strengthened also – especially Chelsea a club that adds star players as often as sit down for a bite to eat.
With that in mind, the predictions seem reasonable. It is up to Wenger to finish the transfers and build a team that will make these early predictions look ridiculous.
People only need to say two words to write Arsenal off for the title.
Olivier Giroud.
Haha…..
Funny, but there is truth in it.
Do you blame them for writing our chances off? Is not as if we started like a train on fire in the 2 games so far played and we are equally lacking in depth of strenght in key areas when compared to our main title rivals! I saw Chelsea and Man City and though it would take a foolish man to bet against these 2 for the title! They were both strong, Speedy and skillful and coupled with this if-you-score- against-us-we-will-come-for-you sort of attitude. Scary!!! Let’s hope the boss does some serious business before the window shuts in a few days time!!!
If you think about it, how much exactly our team has improved from last year ? Giroud and Sanogo are still the lead 2 strikers as Wenger has planned to bench Campbell during the season. Arteta,Flamini are still the lead 2 CDMs. MF is almost the same. Only slight upgrade in RB. Chambers is good but Mert and Kos would still be the 1st choice pairing. The only real reinforcement and improvement is Sanchez if we consider the starting 11 of our team for the majority of the PL games. So have we really done enough to genuinely challenge for the PL title? I don’t think so.
Before the 1st signing came almost all of us agreed that we need 3 ADDITIONAL signings (not REPLACEMENTS like Debuchy,Ospina,Chambers) to win the league.
1. Signing a top class ST. Loan/Sell (do whatever) Sanogo or Giroud. I rate both of them equally and only one is more than enough burden. We bought Sanchez but Wenger wants to play him on flank, so not counting him as striker.
2. Sign a top class CDM. For Christ’s sake terminate Diaby’s contract. I know for sure he is injured again and the news is being shielded. Arteta is just not good enough and Flamini tends to get suspended more times then he wins tackles.
3. Signing a top class CB. Mert is just not good enough. He is not. Especially against big teams. And getting Old. Enough said.
So to speak the truth we have not done anyone of the above 3. And That is why i am not blaming Pundits to write us off. But may be if we accomplish even the top 2 points then i am sure the pundits’ view will change.
Have we done any of the above – well depends on where you stand and how badly you want to be critical before all the facts are known/established. From my point of view I think we have addressed, or are about to address the 3 points you list, in answer:
1. Sanchez
2. Chambers
3. TBC shortly.
Cue the “Sanchez not a striker”, “Chambers not a CDM” blah, blah. Maybe Sanchez is not the No.9 Benteke, Bony, Ba bulldozer bollocks type that everyone gets a hard on for. Can some one tell me how Sanchez’s profile, physique, skill set, finishing ability etc is so different from Aguero for instance. Admittedly SA plays in a 2 up front role but no-one doubts his striker credentials. Should someone tell Chile, Udinese and Barca (at times) that he is definitely not a striker and never will be? And is there anyone on here who seriously believes Walcott is not going to walk back into his RW position when fit – Sanchez is filling in – we don’t know what will happen but we should assume Wenger has an idea at least. And maybe Calum Chambers has the wrong profile for others – if he was 6’4″ and of African descent then that it might be good enough to convince some on here we should at least give him a chance – that is sadly just a reflection on how superficial people can be. 90% of those touting WC haven’t seen a single match he has played. Could CC surprise us as a CDM – has he been a revelation thus far? The man most want to give a chance to is a £37M kid not much older than CC and hardly any more top level experience. The second on the wish-list is a very good player, but in no way a proper CDM and is an injury prone wreck who wants £150K a week. If I was spending my own money I’d go with CC and trouser the £21M change rather than take a punt on WC. The fact remains that both Sanchez and Chambers have been converted from striker and CDM respectively to suit their previous employers. It doesn’t take a huge amount of wit or imagination for them both to be converted back – especially where Wenger is involved. And none of us have the full picture yet, Wenger said weeks ago more business between 15-31 Aug. And btw the pundits are right, although they both got it wrong last year – if anyone thought it was possible to catch up with Man City and Chelsea’s 5-10 year £2B spending spree to get parity in squad quality in a single transfer window is a fool. This will take a couple of years at least. But then again the whole essence of competitive sport is that there are no givens – if Costa and Cahill get crocked then I don’t see quite the depth everyone yaps on about. And we have seen what happens when any combination of Aguero/Kompany/Toure go missing, throug injury, loss of form or whatever. Nowhere near the same team.
We just like to hear good comments about our club even we know the actual answer. We only can cheer our gunner, hope all this pundits will eat their words. We got no quality depth so we only can wish miracle.
The only way Wenger is going to spend on 3 quality players the team desperately needs right now, in next 10 days without worrying about His money, is if FIFA somehow bans the the club for next 2 no make it 3 transfer windows!
3rd or 4rth and a defense of the FA Cup are the realistic targets if one is honest.
Am I missing something or did we just beat City, a team they praise so much.
Yeah they didn have all the people…well neither did we!
I know they are tough, but we seem better now, and with the additions (sorry sorry, lets not whine again….the replacements) we look closer to them.
Hey a few of those “greats” arent any younger…
We are loser with current squad. Giroud is garbage, Arteta is older than deadsea.
Common Wenger world class forwards are available Cavani/Reus/Falcao/Balotelli.
Wenger , i am naive and not a top class manager like you but if you could explain these to me i would be grateful :
1. Why are you hell bent on playing Santi out wide when he plays so good through the center and Ox through center when he can strengthen Left flank so much whereas Santi is useless there and wastes that position ?
2. If i remember correctly you said that teams like Liverpool and MANC scored like 100 goals in the season and that is where Arsenal need to improve. But effectively you have the same team of strikers this season too as you have decided to play Sanchez on the flank and bench a talented Joel Campbell for eternity and have not signed a WC stirker. Where is the 100 goal going to come from ? Maybe you forgot that you thought about is once.
3. Is Diaby going to be a new signing on the deadline day and then in Jan window and then next year summer window ?
You do not need to be a top class manager to recognize reality. In fact, it is often an advantage to view a situation from an outside perspective. What you say is absolutely true and your comments are directed at the right person – Wenger, who is the only man who can rectify the situation.
We do have a very good squad but our good squad is missing a couple of players to become an excellent squad on a good day we can beat city we just did that with a couple more players we will rule
It is sad that Giroud has become the whipping boy and focus of blame for all Arsenal deficiencies and for all fan dissatisfaction.
EVERYONE knows Arsenal need a better striker – this has been known for a while. Talk about beating a dead horse. I would not be surprised if fans starting jeering when he plays.
Giroud has the quality to maybe serve as #2 or #3 striker for Arsenal at best. But that is not his fault. He plays to his ability. Wenger decides who is #1. Yet few comments direct the venom toward the source of the problem – Wenger. Everyone ridicules Giroud instead like a bully ridicules a weaker schoolboy.
I have the same desire as all fans – we ALL want a better striker!! But right now he is all we have and he is the top goal scorer in the club – a reality most fans REFUSE to acknowledge.
Stop blaming Giroud for Arsenal’s weaknesses and blame the right person if you desire a new striker – Wenger. Giroud is NOT your enemy. When fans just have fun and offer joke about the situation it is understandable. But it is sad that fans direct such vicious attacks toward him. Shameful really.
So should we start the wenger out campaign.
Calm your tits mayte. All we are saying is “Giroud is shit and Wenger is stupid”. It is only the truth that we are speaking and i am sure you will agree too. Where is directed criticism against one person ? Wenger is in that statement too.
“Giroud is shit and Wenger is stupid” Very deep and well-thought-out analysis. It tells me very little about the problems with the team but it does tell me that you are angry and you are blaming 2 people you don’t know for that anger.
If Arsenals top 29 players
stay fit and deliver
consistently yes Arsenal
can easily win the league.
Consistent and mostly
injury free 8 players.
Szcz Debuchy Chambers Mertz Kos
Cazorla Ozil Sanchez.
So it’s the other 21
injury prone, inconsistent
or not good enough
upon whom our season really depends.
Gibbs Monreal Diaby Flamini Ramsey
Wilshere Walcott Chamberlain Podolski
Rosicky Giroud Sanogo.
Bellerin Campbell Ospina
Gnabry Akpom Ryo Coquelin.
Unknown possible additions 2?
Teams like chelsea and man city have top class players in every position and then they have some bench players who are better than some of our first choice. I hate to say, but the best we can achieve with the current squad is 3rd, maybe just MAYBE 2nd. The truth is that we are just 2-3 signings away from the title. We have the resources, I just don’t know what is going through wengers head
So wish that 31th come soon than we will know where we stand.
Don’t think we can based on the two competitive games we have played so far. Let’s face it, it’s a poor excuse for Giroud not being fit, he’s a professional fr crying out loud and players who played the same amount of games as he did in the world cup are back their teams and are looking much sharper. We need more quality in the striker position and I think Wenger has painted himself into a corner by saying that any forward purchased will not replace but play with Giroud, where is the desire to do better or simply show up when there’s a lack of direct competition. It was appalling watching forward progress on Saturday and even worse watching them yesterday. Now if Giroud competition remains Sanogo well we would have failed they are simple not good enough.
Why wenger bring our hope up by bringing in Sanchez and now throw us to the hell again. Its time to send wenger back to Brazil again, maybe there can enlighten him more. He is back to the old wenger now, the tactical moron one.
Based on our performances so far this year, injuries we are already racking up and our current squad, (and striker situation) who could argue. We just dont measure up against city and Chelsea 🙁
Top level players help are needed to make a top level team. But it is not always ONLY about top players. Having the players that make up a good TEAM is also important – The right mix of players. To me that is where Arsenal also still have some problems. (Where is the left wing play for example).
Brazil was poor in the WC – even in the games they “won” they did not look good. Neymar was carrying them but they were lucky to even get out of there group and they would have lost to Germany even with Neymar and Silva. They have some of the highest valued players in the world but they were not a TEAM. (Especially when you have D. Luiz as captain).
Now look at the U.S. Team. Very few players of note on that team at all. Yet they were able to get out of the group of death and play into extra time with Belgium because they played well as a team.
Don’t get me wrong. Arsenal need better strikers/DM to be more successful – this is not really a question anymore. But the pundit predictions only take into account the level of the players, not the level and unity of team play. That is why predictions are often only good guesses.
I do agree, and just as an example look at Atletico, they don’t have world class everywhere but they made it, but you can also say it is a kind of miraculous and that’s rare nowadays.
But my friend, mohawk, if you look at City and Chelsea, they really do have unity, leadership, and classy players.
Reality talk and on paper, we are out of the title race with the current squad. But, hope still there, only hope
On why we haven’t signed the players yet that I’m sure wenger knows we need, I guess we have to wait to secure cl progress. Not to enable arsene to spend money we have but almost certainly our targets will only come if we progress. Twitchy bum time on the 27th! Go out ofnthe cl and our prospective signings will fo out the window as may our contention for the title. On a postive note I’m keen to see if ozil can unlock sanchez and sanogo’s potential soon, if this happens I can see giroud having some well deserved bench time 🙂
Well I don’t mind the two as pundits – but not really sticking their neck out are they or saying something every man and as dog already knows. City and Chelsea have probably spent thick end of £2B over the last 5-10 years to get to this position – we can’t catch them in one transfer window. I think most reasonable punters on here can see Arsenal embarking on a 3 year project here to narrow the quality gap – the gung-ho plastics will demand PL/UCL titles this season hence all the shouting. Another 2 years, keep this core together, cherry pick 3 or 4 more properly world class players in key positions, average age of the first team near peak and we will be could to go to see off Wenger’s last years in style. Who knows the oil money may have disappeared and the Russian mafia caught up with RA by then and our path will be clear.
good to go*
So basically Sky is saying that the sport, that prints money for them, isn’t worth watching, since the richest team should win it. I don’t think sport would be very interesting to follow in general, if logic is always respected.
we are 5 signings away。。
striker
LW
LB
DM
CB x2
Yes…… they are right
Whoever said Giroud is shit and Wenger is stupid is a twat, and a glory hunting spud and certainly not a gooner.
so, basically I’m a spud and glory hunter and those who are feeling content with what they have in Giroud are gooners
We all wouldn’t mind a world class striker mate – no different from you. Difference is that not everyone is bitching and whining about something they can’t control. Certainly ain’t OG’s fault he ain’t world class and I have no idea whatsoever as to what slagging him off on a personal level is supposed to achieve. Perhaps you should go on strike and not watch Arsenal, give back your season ticket (…oh wait), parade placards around the Emirates, hand in a petition at No.10 – do something, anything but quit the wailing. Everyone on here knows the score with every other poster and where they stand on this – I assure you we all geddit.
I’ll go out on a limb here and say us wining the league will come down to what happens by midnight on Auguat 31. If we can strengthen our team in key areas then we’ve got a legit shot. If we don’t bring anyone else in we will find it very thought to win.
Even a two year old could tell you that!! we don’t need two pundits to realize a combination of Giroud/Sanogo won’t win us the league, let alone the CL. So far we’ve only spent 30 million by replacing players that’ve left so instead of going those two if wenger wanted to win the league he would’ve went all out to get Cavani/bony/benteke and sent Sanogo on loan so he can get regular experience. That’s how you win the league, 3 strikers and even if we failed to get cavani we should have Bony/benteke/giroud THEN and only THEN we could be somehow competitive.
Some light humour folks…
I love the EPL Table at the moment. This is how it reads – Arsenal, Chelsea, ManCity, Liverppol slugging it out in the Top 4 and Man Utd is embroiled in a relegation battle with 6 teams. It will be a close one folks.
LMAO!!!!
So many with the same view point. Why Arsene won’t acknowledge the blindingly obvious is so frustrating. I concur with many comments, Arsene can’t make though decisions, preoccupied with winning with an unearthed gem, too sentimental about players with talent (Diaby etc) who just aren’t going to do the business etc etc.
Buying Ozil and Sanchez and putting them in the current Arsenal team is like taking a Ferrari engine and putting it in a 20 year old Cavalier…..great moments, sounds fantastic, but it’s never going to deliver as the rest of the machine can’t support it.
Ffs Arsene go break the bank, take the 35m we’ve made on sold players and the other 40m we have and spend it on the f****** DM and CF we need!!!
I’m of the opinion that the pundits are generally biased against Arsenal and even if we had all the players which have been cited above from the other clubs i.e costa, matic etc etc, they’d still say we aren’t good enough !
However, they can actually speak their vitriol with some confidence as far as it pertains to our current assault on this years premiership.
One of the main reasons for this is that although we are essentially an attacking team, in reality we don’t have enough attacking threat, especially given that we are relying on Giroud and Sanogo to be our main providers. Although both of those players make the effort and the overtures, I don’t think they go into many games with the intention of actually, being a threat and similarly, the opposing teams, especially defenders are of the same opinion.
I’m a fan of Giroud and thought that given the last two season, he might be on the cusp of greatness but it’s clear that he’s not worked on his game be it technically, psychologically or physically and is still trying to get away with the limited performances that we’ve been accustomed to which was again evident at Besiktas.
I’m gonna hold fire on levelling that same complaint at Sanogo for the time being only due to his length of time at the club, in the premiership and due to his age. But, he should be asking questions of himself in two years time if he’s not better than what he is now !
Due to this lack obvious forward threat, it then encumbers the rest of the team, mainly the midfield to provide the majority of the attacking offensive threat and to get the goals, as well as supplying the already mentioned ineffective forward line. So, you balance out your midfield to compensate for the lack of forward line but, they themselves can’t operate effectively as the opposition can often counter balance by putting one of their defence in midfield and cancel us out.
You also try to compensate by putting in a lot of your florid and creative players such as Carzola, Ozil and even the new Sanchez and hope that they can pick the locks of other teams. However, that don’t work as a lot of teams will work diligently and industriously to nullify those players (we’ve already seen that with Carzola and Ozil, too many times).
So the opposition know we don’t have a reliable and threatening forward line, also know that we have potentially dangerous midfield but one that is also lightweight and can be outnumbered and out muscled.
They have also (unlike us) learned the lessons of previous seasons and play a tried and trusted method of industrious style of football and negative tactics which always seems to prove dividends.
We on the other hand, also have a tendency to keep to a historical perspective but unfortunately it’s one which the opposition enjoys.
This is why the pundits claims are gaining more resonance as the seasons go by. They look at our team (although it’s quite a good one) and know that the make up of that team plus, the type of football that we aspire to is not at a level whereby it can seriously threaten the title hopes of other more balanced teams. They also know that by introducing yet another florid, creative player isn’t going to fool anybody either. Oppositions are going to be no more scared on Sanchez on the ball than they are of Ozil or Carzola.
Unless Arsenal can convince themselves that they are more than just a good ‘top four’ side they are never going to convince the pundits. As it stands, the pundits are rightly saying to Arsenal that the onus is on us to prove them wrong.
We have to change, and I don’t mean resorting to the industrial strength style of football which Alardyce or Pulis employ with their teams or, the equally industrious but perfunctory football of Mourinho. But, unless we change something at Arsenal, we’re never going to be taken seriously.