Well well, his lordship Baron Harris of Peckham must have certainly enjoyed his Chardonnay-fueled lunch before speaking with Nik Simon of the Daily Mail! Goodness me he certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons with his comments about “£200 million in the bank” for AW to spend. First of all, you never disclose as a club what your war-chest really is…that’s obvious to all and so are the reasons.
Secondly, as a non-executive director of Arsenal Holdings plc you don’t meddle in the day-to-day running of the business. Lord Harris was out of line completely and I would reckon that Ivan is going to have a few words with him. I seriously doubt we have allocated £200 million for transfers…we probably have cash and commercial lines which amount to that and possibly more but that isn’t really the point, is it? Watch this space for Ivan’s response.
Speaking of Lords…Lord Bendtner returns! He should receive a rousing welcome back from the Arsenal faithful when Wolfsburg takes the field. That in itself is probably worth the entrance fee of £29. Oh Lord (the one above that is)…please ensure he doesn’t score against us…I simply wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry!
Welbeck still suffers from “bone bruising” and Alexis will miss the first game or so. So the question’s been asked “Who plays on the left?”. Excellent question. I think we have enough there. Theo or Oxlade-Chamberlain could certainly play there. Or! Ramsey drops into Santi’s role in the deep and Santi moves up on the left, and Jackie-boy plays on the right of Ozil. I don’t think we’re in any kind of trouble with those 2 out for a bit. What does concern me is that Welbeck has missed the pre-season with the team. That’s a big setback for Danny and the team. Let’s hope he recovers real quick and gets his game going.
The transfer rumour mill seems stuck in the forward gear. Benzema, Lewandowski and Reus going round and round. Even our “inside man” Muzzi Ozcan has gone all silent on the “signing of the season”. As Andy Warhol once declared “everybody will have their 15 minutes of fame”…well you’ve had yours Muzzi. Soon we’ll have Alex Pato back in the mix! Whatever happened to that boy? Brazilian boy burnt badly by Barbara Berlusconi…:) Gosh he was such a talent and probably still is…there you go Wenger…still young, cheap and the upside is potentially huge 😉
The Emirates Cup is on this weekend and we should get to see our boys step it up a couple of notches in terms of performance. Can’t wait for that. We should win our 2 games against Lyon and Wolfsburg (note to Lord Above..don’t forget what I asked you for), but more importantly it’s about the quality of the performance.
Well that’s it for now. Enjoy the games and keep up the passion in a positive way you Gooners!
TJ
Hi Can anyone post an article about how changing the position may affect the performance of a footballer? For example, Monreal improved dramatically after being played as a CB, Cazorla improved as a CM by playing out of position on the wings, Ramsey improved by playing on the wings, Arshavin got screwed after playing on the wings. ETC. Can anyone come up with a full survey detailing these facts. Does changing positions benefit the players?
No problem:
No it doesn’t.
More often than not, how well a player performs in a position is depend depends on his passion or love for such position. No maTter how versatile a player is, there’s always a particular position he’d prefer.
Some players never know how good they could be at playing in a position they haven’t tried before, until the coach experiments with them. After playing in a seemingly unfamiliar position, some go on to prefer it to their previous choice and stick to it afterwards.
However, like I said, when a player really doesn’t like a position forced on him by the coach, he doesn’t perform well because his heart is not in it. And if he’s continually forced out wide, his form drops seriously because he can’t perform happily.
So, very often, a player will do well just mainly because his emotions are in tan dem with the position he’s found himself and he feels he’s not struggling.
A simple question wtih a simple asnwer which doesnt require an entery article to explain.
Its all based with the players abilites they posses. For example. If a striker is known for his speed and beating players, you can put him also on the wings, and he will come good.
If a player like Santi, plays on the wings, his talent will be reduced in that poz, but bec his superb ball controll he somehow can manage him self there.
Santi did not become better by playing on the wings. It does even damage his game. Same goes for Ramsey. He is a total wast there ( shut up you fan boys, you know its the truth). Ramsey does not posses the abilites to play there. He has no speed, his ball controll is bad, and he cant beat player. Player like Welbeck are more usefull there.
Arshavin was a superb player but not fit for the winger role. Wenger ruined a super star. He was indeed a dangerous player.
Monreal was always better then Gibbs. Him turning so good is not due him playing as a Cb but him gaining more exp in the leauge.
Dont complicate things to much. Think simple, what is simple is sometimes the closest to the truth.
I don’t agree with you that Ramsey is totally useless on the wings. I agree that he hasn’t got the pace or ability to beat the man but his runs are quite good and he has a good first touch. The advanced position does allow him to score more goals and get more assists. He actually played pretty well in games like at home vs Liverpool but like you said in games like at home vs Swansea we looked to have no pace with him on the wings.
Playing a player in a new position requires him to add to his skilset which can only improve a player. It gets him out of his comfort zone and is a good incentive to add to add to his game. Though in big games, you would want your players to be in their best positions. But for games against the lesser teams I don’t mind seeing Ozil, Cazorla or Ramsey wide. Arsenal under Wenger have always played like this. Fans go crazy about it but I feel it has helped develop a lot of players.
Actually playing in different “roles” (akin to positions)…helps a younger learn different skills. A lot of players started out life in very different roles. Football is a very interesting game. It’s about a round ball and pretty much your feet most of the time. Then it’s about finding space on the basketball court or street to get the pass. Then it’s about the tricks and turns you see your favourite player do. So many have started out with dreams of being the striker of the century but end up playing wonderfully in other roles.
But getting back to point…playing younger players in a couple of different but RELATED roles…helps their development as well rounded players. By this I mean, you don’t play a person who is probably cut out to be a CB or FB in a No 10 position. But then again according to Michels and Cryuff…you probably should! Some of the more obvious transitions have been..No 10 to deep lying playmaker. FB to CB. Winger to Fwd. DM to CB. This being when a player has reached a certain level of maturity – say from 20 onwards. In the younger days…around 11-17…they could have been anywhere depending on the club.
I don’t think i answered your question…but ah well…it was a good question to explore in writing
if we get one of either lewandowski or reus im not sure i could contain my inner rainbow.
i would gush rivers of love all over the missus to the sound of bobby browns greatest hits.
remember the suarez saga? that season we were top of the league for the majority an one decent striker would have won us the league….
fine margins people..wenger has laid excellent groundwork for the squad an the entire club…just needs few purchases an were there .
please let it be this window.PLEASEEEEEEE
we need a top striker no matter what…even if we have to make a robot or kidnap a good one, we need a top forward…we need an energetic, fast, flexible, killer striker…if these doesn’t happen then the first signing we should make come 2015-16 is a new top class manager who understands what building a top side means!!!
I would be pleased with reus as well but he will not improve our team and he isn’t that mark up from giroud because he isn’t more of a CF then sanchez/Walcott.
benzema and lew will improve us massively. benzema was never coming. on the field he is fine but off it wenger would have never accepted.
I just don’t see any logic to the Lewi rumor. He’s just joined Bayern last year. He’s first choice there. Let’s face it they are more competitive in Europe than us. He’s sure to twin the German title there.
I read somewhere that with 200 mill we have in the bank we can afford to buy ajax( With 7 mill to spare, which I think would be enough to buy Greece.)
starting lineup today.
cech
debuchy
mertasaker
kosielney
monreal
coquelin
cazorla
ox
ozil
walcott
giroud
Arsenal have reportedly signed Donyell Malen from Ajax for the youth team Szczesny’s Roma medical will be Monday or Tuesday.
hope benz deal can be sorted soon
mercedes benz? nice! this rumour lark must be paying u well
just wait for it
Doubt either will happen. Not to be pessimistic but Bayern will not sell Lewandowski as they have absolutely no reason to. Taking a simple look at the logistics of it, Bayern are in no need of cash as they are one of the most finacially stable clubs in existence, Lewandowski is NOT surplus to requirements at the Allianz and is Bayern’s first choice striker.
Many point to Guardiola’s experimentation with the false 9 but those were not only quickly abandoned but were borne largely out of the need to try and fit Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Fabregas into a single line up. Moreover the system would largely be wasted on traditional no.9 with Messi in the squad. Bayern don’t have such constraints.
In addition they are replenishing an aging squad which was thin in terms of quality depth. Schweinsteiger was a feasible sale as they replaced him with Vidal. Bayern have no one to replace Lewandowski with.
Lastly if all of that doesn’t convince you, you’re looking at probably in excess of 50 million pounds to get Lewandowski away from Bayern. Bayern is a team that wins major domestic silverware on a consistent basis and regularly challenge for European honours. He has absolutely no reason to leave Bayern from any point of view.
The Reus rumor makes more sense from purely a logistics point of view as Dortmund are out of the CL currently but again look at the feasibility. Reus will be playing out right, given Ox and Walcott play there it doesn’t make sense Wegner would get him. Now I hear those of you saying “oh he can play anywhere across the front line” fair enough. He won’t be playing out left as that’s where Sanchez is. He won’t be playing no.10 see Ozil and if you’re of thd opinion he’ll play as forward it doesn’t add up given Giroud’s extension and Walcott’s contract situation.
Moreover even when fit Wegner prefers to put Ramsey out wide and this hasn’t even accounted for Welbeck or the fact that Akpom won’t be going out on loan. In addition Reus signed a new contract in February.
Wegner has firmly stated he is happy with the squad and as much as I don’t like the look of it I highly doubt any major additions are inbound as far as a forward is concerned.
Very true. There is no point in deluding our selfs. I dont get fans around this side, its like they dont know how Wenger ticks and Arsenal in generally.
My question to you is, Do you think that our team is good enough to have a go for the Epl or Cl? If yes, how do you see us win, if not, why so?
Yes for PL, no for CL.
Despite the want for a DMF and ST we have actually addressed plenty of big issue this season and in the last two seasons we have had long periods of being at the top. Season before last we were top for over half the season. Last season we had the most points from 2015.
Injuries; people don’t realise the massive impact this has on all teams and the stupid mantra that it “happens to everyone” needs to end. Depth does not address injuries, it addresses anomalies that cause injury, like bad tackles or a knee injury that lasts 9 months but not muscle injuries that are caused by not good enough preparation. We brought in a fantastic fitness expert last summer, he said it would take him 6 months to reverse our backward thinking and we have seen a 25% reduction in injuries since that 6 month mark. We have now gone out and brought in two more physios to further improve that situation. Chelsea and City had the lowest number of injuries last season if you think it isn’t the most important thing (ending 1s and 2nd).
We upgraded the DMF position with Coquelin and I think Arteta is adequate for backup (adequate, not ideal)
We brought in Gabriel and finally secured backup to CBs (potentially displacing Merte this season)
Monreal looks a lot better than last season, has had a complete turnaround in my opinion.
We brought in Bellerin who looks fantastic as backup.
We brought in Cech and now have Ospina as backup (more secure than Szcz in my opinion)
Walcott is back and looking dangerous. We missed his goals and assists and we still haven’t seen him with Ozil. Ozil looks to have increased his strength over this season.
Just because we haven’t bought doesn’t mean we are not far stronger than last season.
Honestly I see us giving a good account of ourselves but don’t see us winning the EPL. As for the why I’ll go a bit into detail.
I’ve followed Arsenal closely for a long time but for this current squad I see our main faults being our depth and consistency away from home vs tough opposition. It’s primarily the latter that usually leads to a lot of dropped points.
Usually a title challenge is built on solid to exceptional home form, consistency and the ability for a team to get points at tough away grounds, usually key venues. As it stands Arsenal have solid home form. We lost 2 matches vs any opponent in the top 11, however it wasn’t good enough compared to Chelsea, only 3 teams in the top 11 left with a single point from Stamford Bridge, every other team lost. 1 of those teams was after Chelsea won the title. Chelsea remained unbeaten at home. So out of a maximum of 30 points Chelsea picked up 24 points. Out of that same 30 we picked up 18 points losing twice. That alone accounts for 12 points that we finished behind Chelsea. That’s 1 area.
Reversibly vs the top 11 we managed to win a mere 2 matches away from home. Which will not allow for a title challenge. Chelsea by comparison won 5, 9 points difference. Crucially they lost 1 drawing the other 4 meaning no net loss. We won 2 but lost 5. Had those 5 been draws that alone would have put us 5 points behind Chelsea.
But it’s specific grounds, grounds that are tough for several teams to win at not Arsenal alone which is more indicative of a quality/mentaility issues. Grounds like Goodison Park (only 1 of the top 6 won there, Chelsea), Anfield (only 2 of the top 6 won there Chelsea, United), Stamford Bridge (no team won there) as well as places like the Britannia.
Now the reason I bring up vs the top 10 is that Arsenal are the most consistent team vs the bottom half. I know several people will say we don’t only need to win vs top opposition but Arsenal already have a good record vs the bottom teams. So I’m not conveniently forgetting it, we’re just already great there.
But as it stands we drop too many points to allow for a sustained title challenge. What componds things is that we are either all or nothing. Settling for a point is something we view as entirely Mourinho – esque and boring but in a game where pure numbers are the only thing that matter come May, sometimes settling for a point is beneficial especially if you’re away from home.
I’ll tackle the depth bit in a bit.
I like some parts of your analysis…but you seem to forget what injury has,is and will always do to your beloved team..remember, the sad truth which is a fact is, our best players are always out injured when we need them the most..
so; wouldn’t you appreciate a quality addition like Reus?….Arsene said you need consistency throughout the entire campaign…
Appreciate? You have me misunderstood, Reus would be an exquisite addition. I merely put forth the hoops we had to jump through to get him. The above analysis isn’t my personal opinion on either signing, merely the dynamic involved with such a signing.
wenger is a manager who will always wait until the unexpected happened before taken a decision.he would be using the emirate cup to assess the striking department.we should not pray that something goes wrong but if it is the only to compel wenger to enter the maket,then so be it.
don’t care if Harris or bendtner is spanked for their wrongs………. Wenger needs some spanking as well……..he ain’t above the Law
Shut up infidel, Wenger is God.
Hahahahahaha……..go ahead…. Bow and worship! Hahahahaha
Don’t believe you.
Like everyone else, I think the board is showing it’s frustration that we’re just two players away from launching a serious bid for the EPL, yet Wenger isn’t budging.
If he fails to sign anyone and rocks up again in 3rd or 4th place (or lower) I believe he will be under pressure.