Why Scholes was RIGHT about Arsenal and Chelsea!

Paul Scholes has never been backwards in coming forwards and saying what he thinks and when that something has been about Arsenal, it has usually been on the negative side of the spectrum. He has had a go at Wenger, Wilshere, Ozil and the general lack of characters at the club and that has just been in the last year.

But fair play to the former Man United and England star because he has also had the guts to admit when he was wrong as well, unlike other Arsenal critics I could mention, such as the great and wise Michael Owen and Adrian Durham. But we do not really expect Scholes to be on the side of the Gunners, so when he is I reckon then we must have done something right.

Scholes was part of the BTsport team that worked on the FA cup final and after seeing us win the most one sided Wembley final in years, Scholes was full of praise for the performance, especially the role of Francis Coquelin. And he went on to say that Arsenal were very close indeed to the Premier League champions and that he expected us to give Chelsea a proper run for their money next time.

Some might say that a 12 point gap between the clubs says different but that gap was only there because the injury crisis and the World Cup hangover meant we took ages to get going. In fact we were 11 points behind them in mid October after just eight games. Over the next 30 games we managed just one point less than Chelsea.

And if you want another reason to believe that Chelsea are not the gre4at team that some in the media would have you believe, look how they were knocked out of the Champions League with a poor performance at home against 10 men. So do not think that there is a big gap between Arsenal and Chelsea after all. For once I agree with Paul Scholes. How about you?

68 Comments

  1. Definitely. Reasons I’m positive without even taking into account possible inclusions

    A.) A proper summer break
    B.) Near on an empty injury table
    C.) Coquelin, Gabriel, Monreal, Bellerin have all improved in leaps and bounds this season.
    D.) Consecutive F.A. Cups
    E.) No important players looking to leave

    1. Oh and a proper pre-season as well! Actually giving our team time together to come back after the break and find their groove. Not having important players having to hit the ground running 2-3 games into the season.

  2. Chelsea is heavily relied on John Terry who has been their rock. He is becoming old and next season would be difficult for him to maintain that form. If they do not add then their defense would not be as solid as it was this season.
    They lost 3- 0 to west brom which we beat 4-1 6 days latter.
    if we add Checz and a Holding Midfileder, then it will be direct fight between us and Chelsea next season. Having said that Man City and Man U we can not under estimate
    But if we remain injury free next season, then there is a real cause of optimism

  3. I agree completely. I don’t see much difference between the best XI – it’s not about comparing player for player…but with the best XI on the pitch which team can deliver a suprior performance based on the way they play. To me, it’s very even. but to win a league it’s about depth, it’s about resources and how you manage them.

    I think this Chelsea team was at the peak of their powers and there’s not much real upside but with Arsenal…i see a team building towards their peak with plenty of upside still to come next season. Hypothetically if both teams had the same squad next season – we would edge Chelsea.
    No doubt at all.

    If AW adds 2 world-class top quality signings…that’s game over, put your money on the local treble and a UCL final vs Barca. If he doesn’t, I reckon we still have the resources to win the League, EPL and FA Cup, but perhaps not quite strong enough for a UCL Final.

    Like all seasons – I pray we don’t get smashed with too many injuries all at the same time…injuries will happen…let’s hope nothing serious to key players and any injuries are spaced out!

  4. I rank Scholes up there with the greatest ever footballers ie. Pele, Maradona, Zidane, Cruyff, Beckenbauer etc. Even Zidane said Scholes was the best player he ever played

    My Top 5 is:
    1. Pele
    2. Scholes
    3. Maradona
    4. Cruyff
    5. Zidane

      1. You’d have to extend the list then 😉 To me, it would be something like this

        Zidane
        Ronaldinho
        Messi
        Ronaldo
        Maradona
        Pele

        Having said that, I’ve never really seen much of Maradona and Pele – so it’s purely based on reputation.

        1. Ronaldinho doesnt belong anywhere near that list and as for Scholes… lord knows why hes mentioned. Maradona Pele Cruyff Beckenbauer Messi Zidane, i dont know which Ronaldo was mentioned but i prefer the Brazilian… whether hes better i dont know.

          There are many more debatable names especially Brazil Holland Germany but to name Scholes is laughable.

    1. Jeeeez, without any debate whatsoever, the dumbest statement ever posted on this site. Scholes better than Cruyff, Maradona and Zidane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely has to be a wind-up and dumb old me has fallen for it. They say everyone is entitled to an opinion but I am not so sure now.

  5. I think fans need to take a more realistic and honest approach when appraising the season. This idea a world cup hangover and injury crisis cost us the league is just ignoring our deficiencies and chalking it up to bad luck. Why did this world cup hangover only affect us? It didn’t, it’s a convenient excuse. Same with injuries that we continue to get season after season, that’s not coincidence it’s poor management of injuries or poor training methods.

    I get we won the cup, this isn’t a negative post despite the usual crap I get for being stone cold sober in my assessment, but as a club we need to be ruthless and clear in what improvements we can make. Too many comments have been made straight after winning this cup that are along the lines of “we have the squad to win the league”, “next year is ours”…..well NO not unless we improve in the areas that need it and not kid ourselves about a current players contribution/talent/potential.

    Let’s ditch the excuses and make the required changes/improvements that will yield the title instead of finding reasons we didn’t win yet swearing we have everything it takes to do so. My advice would be to remember the key low moments during the season and assess why we had them. I’m talking Monaco, Southampton in the cup at home, Swansea at home, Stoke etc.

    For me Giroud is a great plan B but not good enough as plan A, same with Theo. ST of genuine quality needed. Coquelin is a good insurance policy, but not as rounded as a Schneiderlin/Vidal. Ospina is simply not as good as Cech, that deal is such a no-brainer. RW has seen Rambo/Jack/Ozil turn up there in the absence of Ox this second half of the season, a starting RW wouldn’t be a bad investment. I hope we don’t rest on our laurels and make these judgements that we were an injury away from the title etc. We deserve better than that lax approach.

      1. Monaco we totally underestimated, well maybe not underestimate but just didnt take them as serious threat so our midfield said lets kill the tie right now. Giroud missed allot, so that game alone can point to another solid DM and another striker. Also our keeper saved nothing in that game so we may need alternative.

        I know you cant go by one game alone but before that game how many times have we seen similar displays.

        Sou.. has to be put on keepers shoulders, i know its team effort but he never showed up.
        I think if we go through our defeats we will arrive at what we have been asking for all season – DM CF and for majority GK.

        That said… if we had of been playing all season long like we have throughout jan to may i think everyone agrees that we would have had a title fight on our hands. Whether this team can do that for the entire season i dont know… im optimistic though.

      2. I also think Frazer-Forster is a good option and better than both our current keepers, if we dont sign Schderlin or another top DM we wont stand a chance in the league we need two players mínimum. Top quality that is

      3. I think you guys just love the sound of your own voice.None of you have a clue as to what Wenger thinks we need.go give your teacher another Apple CB

    1. The English core is a myth
      as is developing youngsters.
      The top X1 that made 3rd
      place in the EPL were all non English .
      Keep the best 20, sack 10, sign 4.
      Arsenal remains in Chelsea’s
      and man City’s shadows.

      1. So your basically saying well che and city have about 24 man squad and dont get as many injuries as us so why dont we adopt it. Che and manc have had restrictions and we have an issue with injuries, we need a big squad and when there restrictions are lifted they will be more than happy having larger squad.

    2. Sorry but Coquelin has been and is far from an ‘insurance policy.’
      The guy has been playing regularly in our side for only HALF A SEASON!! And has consistently been one of the top-3 players on the pitch. When you perform at that level for that amount of time, it’s not form, we have a genuine top player on our hands! He is perceived as a less rounded player because he has a more simplified role. Keep shape, win the ball back, get the ball to our creators and ball retainers, to which he’s done near to perfection. Both Schneiderlin and Vidal have a lot more attacking and creative freedoms.
      The World-Cup/Injury crisis, I agree, is a weak excuse. But our most glaring needs in the squad were either sorted due to ‘luck’ in the Coquelin case, as i’ve heard it referred to so many times, and the acquisition of Gabriel. Our defensive frailties cost us, but has since found a solidarity both in our system and our current players.
      GK we lack a match winner – 100% agree. Midfield, we need a leader while Ramsey, Coquelin and Wilshere grow. Vidal would be my absolute dream signing. Attack, I disagree, I think between Giroud and Walcott the added competition will propel both of them. I don’t think it’s necessarily a need, more if there’s someone amazing available (reus, draxler, Isco, Goetze to name a few) it would be gravy.

        1. “Too many ACM and CM in the team” + “Isco…. would be great addition”… Oh the irony..

          Oh, its Hafiz ^^

        1. You mean the german international, u20 proven performer in the CL who was just recovering from surgery. One of Germany’s brightest talents?? That one??
          Same situation we had with Theo, no need to rush him back. Retaining fitness way more crucial.

            1. no. Jack and Theo have had injuries as well. Hence why they’ve been used sparingly. They’re all quality in my eyes. You’re the one suggesting team selection is the measuring factor.

              1. and despite their injuries they still had a better season than draxlar lol.
                im curious to know though how draxlar would improve arsenal, who would he replace in the first team? also, since we need to improve on the injury front, do you think it is wise to sign another injury prone player?

                1. Are you thick?? you seem to be trying to change my argument to fit yours but you still look like you have no idea what you’re talking about. LOLLLLS hehe :):):):)
                  On either wing. I remember reading about the surgery and injury he suffered. Though surgery was required, it’s not generally a recurring injury, like an ACL injury can be.
                  So one major injury doesn’t warrant the ‘injury prone’ label.

                2. Also, due to his season on the sidelines and no CL football for Schalke to offer, we could likely nab him for a lot less than the 37-40mil reported bid we had rejected.

                3. @josh37 somehow i cant reply to you, but nevermind.
                  name calling asidde, i was not trying to change your argument, your argument was flawed
                  from the start. suggesting that draxlar is some amazing player who would instantly improve arsenal
                  is just laughable. if you want a young german winger who could become a top player in a few years
                  then fine, but we already have one of those his name is gnabry. dont believe the hype mate hes not
                  that good peace.

      1. I do love the standard fan response when we’ve had a modicum of success. No player in the Arsenal team is above critique yet Coquelin is seemingly off limits to many here. I’ve said on countless articles how nice it is to finally have a DM that can do the defensive aspect of the role, but don’t think I’m going to let that overshadow the blatantly obvious truth that Coquelin is not in the same league as Matic/Schneiderlin/Vidal.

        Arsenal have missed a tackler for a number of years and Coquelin is receiving the hype because of it. Ospina’s stats are incredible but why is everyone aware that Cech is an obvious upgrade? We’ve been solid since Ospina went in goal but nobody’s getting carried away and suggesting he’s better than he is. Same with Coquelin, been very solid but he’s not as good as those I mentioned….why the contestation of that?

        As far as Arsenals forward line goes you’re kidding yourself if you think Giroud and Theo are comparable to the goal-getters of England/Europes best teams. Giroud is a 15-20 league goals a season ST while Theo has only ever gotten more than 20 goals in 1 of his 9 seasons at Arsenal yet apparently that’s the accepted norm of what he offers. Arsenal need a top class ST, I think this much is evident given we managed to go 3 home games without a goal and have lambasted our inability to score the crucial goal time and again throughout the season. It’s just as I commented above, Theo scores a hat trick in a non-event game and we waltz passed a pi$$poor Villa and we’re into the transfer window thinking we have no weaknesses. We do, and we need to fix them or be talking about them again in 12months time.

        1. Damn you are so selective with your critique…
          Giroud has 18 from 29 apps this season. I’m no expert at maths but 15-20 mark just doesn’t seem right was he to play the full season… You highlight those three games, what about the 15 before in which he played excellently? Name any striker you suggest takes the role of our first-choice striker who didn’t have a three game barren streak.. Higuain scored one goal in his last 8 games before his double last game of the season, against much, much weaker opposition.
          You also neglect the fact that Theo’s ‘only’ season with more than 20 goals was the last full season he played, in which his stats were better than Hazard’s without taking penalties in a much weaker team… Just sayin’! As I keep pointing out, we need scorers!! We have creativity and dribblers coming out the wazoo!! Theo’s born to get goals!!
          Ok… So Vidal – DOESN’T PLAY DM. Schneiderlin, although still very defensive, plays more advanced than Wanyama generally. And Matic, yes is better, but not by the gap you suggest.

          Ox on Coquelin:
          ‘“He brings that security and confidence that you have someone like that who can pick the ball up, intercept balls that should never be intercepted, win tackles that you don’t think he can win, and he’s also a quality player on the ball as well.
          “You can never take away his technical ability and that goes unnoticed at times because he just does his job, but he’s probably one of the best technicians in our side as well.
          “I love watching him play and it’s not often that you tend to say that.
          “You love watching the Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozils of the world play, and someone who does the work which goes unnoticed you don’t really appreciate.”

          1. Yep you keep saying we have dribblers coming out the wazoo….but it’s where you’re talking from because that’s clearly not true. Also, your whole Giroud argument is on If’s and But’s…..his whole career shows he’s not a prolific scorer like Cavani or HIguain. He’s not in their class and to say as much just shows your bias.

            Vidal started as a DM and is one of the best in world football in that position….do you watch football?

        2. Can you get over this obsession that coquelin is not good enough or in the same league as the 3 players you mentioned cause if you watched him play, then you know he’s an excellent player with world class potential.
          Vidal is not a DM what don’t you get he plays as a #10 for Christ sake he plays as the 1 in a 4-3-1-2 and he always has.
          You keep nutting over schneiderlin and his passing statistics when if you thought critically youd know that they would be skewed since he is there MAIN CREATOR on Southampton. We have players like Ramsey, cazorla, ozil and Alexis who are all creative and can pick a pass, on Southampton do you think Elia, mane, Davies, or long are creative players? NO so schneiderlin has to play as a deep lying play maker.

          The sooner you realize that coquelin is the right man for the job who can take us forward the sooner realize just how wrong you were

          1. As I agree with you on everything you say, we still need a DM. Not because of Coquelin, but Flamini/Arteta. Should Coq get injured, do we really want to rely on Flamini? This summer I would like Arsenal to sign two big names: Kondogbia for the DM and 22 year old Kevin Volland from Hoffenheim for winger (He can also figure as a striker, just like Theo). If we get Volland, then I dont mind saying bye bye to Campbell, Podolski and Wellington Silva.

          2. I have to get over my opinion? Why don’t you get over yours…Coquelin isn’t elite despite the good job he’s done, if you can’t see that and instead choose to simply wax lyrical and claim he’s amazing then carry on.

            You clearly haven’t a clue though when you say Vidal is a #10 and always has been…..like that’s just stupidity wrapped in ignorance. Not worth the response honestly as it’s such a dumb comment. He made his name as a DM and then his all round ability shone through and his versatility has been his strength. But his foremost and best position is as a DM…as it always has been.

            Again, you talk about schneiderlin and about Saints players in such an ignorant fashion. Mane and Long are ST’s while Elia is a winger and Davies is a CM/CAM yet you’re trying to say to me none are creative……huh..does it not just occur to you that Schneiderlin gets involved in attacks despite being a DM simply because of his vision and ability? He’d be wasted at Southampton to simply sit and hold….at Arsenal however he wouldn’t need to get involved as we have superior creators. How this escapes some people on here is stunning.

            1. Dude Vidal has always been a b2b midfielder at Leverkusen that’s where he made his name which is why bayern and juve wanted him. If you actually watched him play this year you’d know his position and that he plays as a #10 so clearly your just a fanboy.

              Mane has NEVER played as the ST NEVER, and Long has been starting at/playing RW for the past 3-4 months so once again clearly you don’t know so this argument is pointless

              1. Vidal made his name as a DM, nothing to say other than that. Mane is a winger who invariably hangs out as a ST, while Long has been a ST for years and playing on the wing for a few months doesn’t change that. All in all the idea none of them have any creativity is just dumb and was your original point…

                1. your seriously going to tell me that those players have the same kind of creative ability as the arsenal players i mentioned do? you for sure have an agenda bro. and yes long has always been a ST but guess what he has a different role now from the wing just like ramsey has been a CM his entire career but has been playing on the wing lately, but by your logic ramsey shouldn’t have to create on the wing now right? since he’s always been a cm?

                  And once again no mane is a 2nd/support striker at best but he plays on the wings, so he doesn’t have to create now?

                  When did i once say “none of them have any creativity”? I said Morgan is the MAIN CREATOR at Southampton so please tell me I’m wrong. The southampton players capacity for creativity doesnt even hold a candle to our players that i mentioned which is why they rely so heavily on schneiderlin from the deeper role.

        3. I agree with you that Le Coq is not in the league with Matic, because to me HE IS BETTER. I tell you why….being a good player is one thing, bringing your element to complement a team you play for is another. Matic fits into Chelsea. Coquelin fits perfectly into the Arsenal set up. It does not mean if Matic were in Arsenal he would fit in so well. With Coquelin we have played Chelsea once and Matic was not the better of that day….so I do not understand where your argument of Matic is better coming from. A player who started midway and one who started from the beginning. Let the next season start and end, then we shall compare. Problem with many Arsenal fans is that because many of our players came to the club very young or bought with small amount, we keep regarding them low quality…but just look at the Statistics. I can’t be bullied by the English media. There is a reason why Arsenal are FA cup back to back winner. There was a reason why Arsenal beat Manchester City to Charity Shield and in the league. There was a reason Arsenal beat United at Old Trafford. Go back to the matches and see the statistics…Meanwhile, in those matches we triumphed over players bought with whooping sums of money, who the English media trumped praises on before they came. Do I need say more….?

        4. On what basis did you come to the conclusion that Francis is not in the league of Matic, Schneiderlin and Vidal? Statistics that measure the activities of players on the pitch put Francis ahead of your beloved Matic and Morgan. I know you will use that stupid argument that you can prove anything with statistics. If you can prove anything with statistics can you use them to prove that Francis is worse than the trio you mention? Maybe the only statistics you can rely on is their price tags, physic, and height. You seem to suffer from the neighbor’s wife syndrome mate.

          Olivier is a 15-20 league goal a season striker and so is Costa based on goals scored this season. By the way who said you need a 20-30 league goal striker to win the league? Didn’t RVP score upwards on 30 goals in his last season at Arsenal? Did we win the league? Didn’t Suarez score nearly 30 goals in 2013/14 season? Did Liverpool win the League? Didn’t Sergio score over 25 goals this season with Kane being the second top goal scorer? What did Man City and Tots win this past season? You can dream on about the strikers you think will give a club a league title but that will be just that, dream.

          From the way you argue you think spending money fix things but is that so?

          1. I refuse to bother with qualifying the fact coquelin is inferior to those three names, the guy has played 6months of a 6 year career at arsenal well enough to be in the first 11. The fact you’re willing to argue for him being superior to the games best in that position says plenty.

            Again, why do I need to try and justify the obvious statement that you need a quality ST to win the premier league…..I didn’t say it was the only thing as clearly greatstrikers bhave played for clubs who didn’t win the league, but when did a team win the league without a dominant ST? We didn’t have other aspects needed when we had Tobin, now we sorted them and have no class ST.

          2. haha..the whole spine of your argument is wrong. The key is balance. No one is saying anything about replacing Og but having a better alternative. OG will have his game time and score as well but his return ratio is costing us when our midfielders arent scoring. You can do with OG when you have other midfielders scoring for fun. If Ramsey and Ozil get to double digits, I will be absolutely fine with OG, welbeck and Theo.

            My only worry is that next season more teams are going to park the bus against us, and I don’t see any of our striking options coming to the rescue.

        5. Not entirely sure why 25 goal first season Alexis is left out of the “crap forward line/Arsenal lack of fire-power/scoring crisis” debate. Its a little like talking about how RM need a new striker to compete because of Benzema’s poor league return in the last 3 seasons (at about the same goal/game ratio as Giroud) and failing to mention Ronaldo’s goal contribution. OK CR7 scores on a different scale but 25 ain’t to be sniffed at for anyone.

          1. It’s not about a poor forward line it’s about the ST, and Giroud?walcott do not compare to the best in England/Europe….why is that hard to digest?

            Love how you do your best to make Giroud on the same level as Benzema, that made me laugh. Benzema is a good distance better and to ignore the fact he plays alongside Ronaldo who demands all the ball and all the goals is daft. Ask Bale how it is playing alongside him..

    3. Honestly, I rate Coquelin better than Schneiderlin in the DM position. Scheniderlin is more like a Pogba type as he advances in the box. With Coquelin is like drawing a line in the last third over which he does not cross. And why should he? Cazorla is doing that 10 times better than him or Schneiderlin.
      I am not opposing the idea of bringing Schneiderlin or other B2B/DM in the club but I don’t feel like except squad depth he will offer us more options than we have today.
      Personally I believe a monster striker is needed in this squad, this is the main, main and main buy for the Arsenal.

      1. I think people saying of Schneiderlin going forward means hes a further forward player are wrong. I think these are the same people who describe Vieira as B2B, Vieira was the epitome of defensive midfield destroyer. Vieira though like Schneiderlin had a partner he could rely on and even other teammates he relied on covering for him as when he seized on an opportunity.

        Who would people say Schneiderlin may look back upon or look to when modeling his game, personally i think he would have looked towards Petit and Vieira.

        Also we all know what type of player Vieiras enemy where… R Keane got forward, hes even scored goals and against us… doesnt mean hes attacking CM.

    4. was de gea a world class goalkeeper the season before? if not according to you then de gea would be second choice and begging for contract extension. Everyone jumps for cech what if he fails to deliver and you have to give a half season to see whether ospina is good after all.
      The world cup hangover is said as a reason because we lost ozil,mertesacker for a month koscielny was injured ,which meant we were trying different combination of defensive line.
      vidal is injury prone as well as schneiderlin and i don’t think both are out and out defensive players. coquelin will run out of steam at a point in the season thats why need a backup player who can fill him without any struggle rather than a upgrade (whom are rare to be seen nowdays).

    5. I get it. Arsenal not perfect. Is this news? No.

      But fans are right to be excited about a great core group of players who were able to put on a classic Arsenal performance in the Cup final for the first time in a looooooong time.

      Please, let the fans have this moment. They have been too few recently. Plenty of time for harsh, cold reality all this summer.

    6. So you do not want factors that put paid to your argument to be brought to fore? From your own reasoning our low moments were: Monaco at home, Southampton in the cup at home, Swansea at home, and Stoke, because I do not know what etc means. We lost 3-1 to Monaco at home and the same players went on to beat Monaco 2-0 away. Those that call themselves analysts blamed it on complacency. So should we enter the market to address the problem of complacency?

      Southampton in the league cup what happen? Rosicky giving away a needless penalty to hand back momentum to Southampton after Arsenal had taken a 1-0 lead. The players that disappointed on the day were the senior players.while the CB partnering of Chambers and Hayden was faultless. In essence Southampton put out their first eleven while Arsenal put out a second string squad with the back dominated by youth players, yet those youth players did not disappoint. What can we analyze and learn from this game, which can help us improve the squad? For me nothing.

      Swansea at home, where we lost 1-0 to a team that parked the bus for 90 minutes and scoring with their only opportunity. While the team did not perform at its best as is expected for any team from time to time, we had a couple of chances to take the lead there by foiling their game plan. One of those chances fell to Alexis who shot straight at the keeper at close range. Lessons that can be learnt from that game are that every half chance needs to be converted and the chances fell to people whom we expected to convert such chances. Not many players have the capabilities to produce moments of magic that can shatter parked buses. You can only think of Messi, Ronaldo, Roben, and Bale to some extent. What are our chances of getting any of those players?

      Stoke away. How many games had the back four played together? Why was the back four not familiar with each other if not for injuries? That is where the argument about injuries having affected our season come in. You may dismiss it because it does not fit into your thesis but imagine what would have happened to Chelsea if they had Terry and Ivanovic injured at the same time? Zouma (with zero EPL experience and 19 years old) would have partnered Cahill for extended periods in the season. Azuplecuata would have been shuttled to the right with Felipe Luis going to the left. Despite his experience Felipe showed that while good going forward he was poor in defense. In short the Chelsea back four would also have lost stability had Terry and Ivanovic (Kos and Debuchy) got injured at the same time. To make matters worse for Chelsea should that misfortune had befallen them they would have had to make do with Ake (19 years old) as their known defender on the bench. So when comparing Chelsea to Arsenal in the past season you can not ignore the impact of injuries.

      Overall you cannot ignore the fact that our squad lacked stability at the beginning of the season due to a number of reasons some of which include injuries, new players, and fatigued players in key positions from the world cup. If you look at some of the goals conceded in the early part of the season, including in the champions league, it was down to attacking players not doing their defensive duties properly. This allowed the opposition to launch long balls from their own half into our last defensive third. In games where we witnessed polished performances it was down to attacking players taking part in defending early without the ball, including committing some cynical fouls. In summary if every player puts in a defensive shift, the current squad will be as good as any other top squad in the league.

    7. Come on CC you talk about “realism” and sober assessment and then advocate replacing 4 or 5 of the 1st X1. You know that even if all the named replacements were readily available and willing to join, at a price we could afford, and that we were able to successfully beat off all the competition to each signing, and we could off-load the existing players who would have to go (four massive “ifs”) then it still wouldn’t happen. Like it or not, Wenger couldn’t have been clearer on this – he has said it many times before. It will be one first team addition and a couple of proper squad additions at most. I cannot see how ripping it up and starting again each year when you don’t win the PL is a sustainable or sensible approach. Does anyone value team spirit or continuity and losing, winning and growing together etc? Are you suggesting we should buy say Higuain, Sterling, Vidal and Cech to make sure we beat the likes of Southampton, Stoke, Swansea, Spurs and Monaco next year? Do you think it is unimaginable that our present squad should be able to do the job. It was clearly not a serious talent deficit that lost us those games. Reverse those results and we win the league on 90 pts and are in UCL QFs – a bit simplistic I admit but those results were the difference or “margin if error” last season and doesn’t need £120M+ to correct IMO.

      I agree regarding the WC – I don’t buy that. I think we can argue about the cause of injuries all day long but there is always an element of luck – Giroud and Debuchy were not down to “poor training” or the like. Man U suffered more than we did on the injury front – are we seriously offering a theory that United and Arsenal have got their training and physio work SO massively wrong and are totally clueless? I’d sign up to the idea if there was evidence other than the odd anecdotal reference to “dated” methods etc. Whatever the causes, injuries to key players are genuine reasons and not excuses why a team may perform less well. You only have to take Toure or Aguero out of City or Matic and Costa out of Chelsea to plainly see “cause and effect”.

      1. You lost me after your first sentence….where have I said for us to buy 4/5 players?

        Replace Szczesny with Cech
        ADD a DM
        ADD a ST or Winger dependent on where Theo’s future lies.

        That’s it…perfectly realistic business for this summer.

  6. I will go for kongdobia,for me he looks better than schenderlin. He has champions league exp too. Don’t forget he was phenomenal in those games.

    1. Kongdobia is a pure DM while Schneiderlin is a B2B…..

      Take out Wanayama from their partnership and Schneiderlin will struggle in the defensive part…

  7. Giroud adds another dimension to our attack. He is good at it but not better. Anyone who plays like giroud but has other attributes like pace, trickery shooting?

  8. I can’t remember a team (other than Barcelona) that manage to win a major trophy after selling their players and buying a new one. Look what happen to Madrid, they were 1-2 season apart from dominating Europe but they sold Di Maria and Ozil…

    1. Exactly. Great teams keep their best players, and add 1-2 maximum instant first-teamers and build. Not re-assemble. It’s what kept us so far behind for so long, constantly looking for instant fixes in our first-team.

    2. Well, you just mentioned Özil there and Real Madrid. What happened to Real Madrid the season they replaced Özil with Bale? They won Champions League and Copa del Rey

      1. In fairness you should mention that they won the Copa del Rey and La Liga with him as well.

  9. As for need,no need of buying schnerderlin,le coq is capable of leading us to epl title next with d experience he has gathered this year playin for us,which he performed. Brilliantly for us,imagine him playing a full season with proper pre season for us.I also think d arteta I saw on saturday during our cup final stil has a year or two to deputise le coq and a young beiliek in d mix too,so for me more than anything we need an all round striker dat can guarantee atleast 30 goals which is a striker with experience and d only available striker is Higuain,he’s been succesful in two major leaque and might not need time to adapt unlike jackson martinez and a beautiful bt non prolific benzema. So pls higuain is available fo d right price and he’s very intelligent,pacey and has been able to learn how to b physical in italy which is a requirement for d EPL.

      1. Agree on the higuain part though..for me Martinez is not worth the 25 million. If we buy we need to buy a world class striker! Martinez imo is too similar a player to Giroud.

  10. Some Arsenal fans are very ungrateful. I can imagine someone prefering Matic to Lecoq. Infact i would take lecoq over pogba any day. This guy is the reason we are organized at the back. Its not by chance that we have conceded few goals since his arrival. He does his job perfectly well and i do not want any signing that would halt his progress. We can use beilik to deputise coquelin. Arteta is there too.

    1. We are more solid now due to basically the whole team not neglecting defensive duties and in particular our wingers as well as CMs getting back to keep shape alongside Coq.

  11. we need a DM(kondo/schni) 4 sure… coz coq cud get injured sometime also… plus in champ league or big teams we can den play wid 2 DM wid our not awsum but gud enough offensive lineup..
    plus cech no doubt is an upgrade… and a striker (benteke maybe) giroud is just too slow we need a lethal striker wid pace nd gud hold up…

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