Things can only get better by Sam P
So matchday is finally upon us and Arsenal can banish the negativity from Saturdays unlikely defeat at West Brom by getting revenge on Zagreb. Not only to regain the feelgood factor, but also to give us a real chance of going through to the knockout rounds if Bayern continue their fine home winning form.
Arsene Wenger believes that, although we are suffering from injuries now, when all our walking wounded return to fitness we have the firepower to go a long way in Europe’s most prestigious compeition. “In the last two games we have dropped points,” he said yesterday. “We know as well that before that we won five games on the trot and you can go through a spell like that – it is how you respond to that and that is what makes your season.
“That is why it is a good test for us. It is true that we need a positive result from Bayern, but that only has an impact if we win, so let’s focus on what we can do.
“I believe that when everybody is back we have a squad to compete in both [the Premier League and Champions League]. If we go through now in the Champions League we can be very dangerous for everybody.”
We all know that we can be excellent when we have every single one of our players fit, the only problem we have is convincing the fans that that will ever happen in our lifetimes. Every season we have the same problems and end up making do by playing our reserves out of position simply to make up the numbers.
But last season our injury problems forced the introduction of Hector Bellerin and the return of Francis Coquelin. Maybe we’ll get lucky again?
please name 5 danger men currently on the squad? Other than crisp cake and cheese burger
Ozil, Sanchez, Ramsey, Kos, Gabriel, Bellerin, Monreal, Santi. Even Giroud but i am sure you’ll not consider him. Any more questions?
What do you mean even Giroud?? Arguably our most dangerous player at the minute in terms of scoring… Yes he relies on delivery but when there’s a certain Mesut Ozil playing the way he is that’s not exactly a bad thing.
I agree, i meant to say exactly what you said. But i was sure that the guy above would not count Giroud in his dangerous players list.
But without the defensive cover leCoq provides Mesut and Santi cannot deliver like they usually do, so Giroud WILL struggle
just a bit of info..to all those saying that we should try Bielik in the dm position in the absence of coq..Bielik has been regularly playing at centre-back for Arsenal’s u18 and u21 team,and the coaches fell that cb is his best position,so don’t expect to see him playing at dm this season.
So did Chambers. Specialists explained why. When you are a DM you need a 360 view, so you really have to focus all around you. As a CB is a tad easier because you look only in front of you, the game is in front of you. If the game is behind you you did something wrong. Coquelin got the same training at Arsenal, Freiburg and Charlton. Chambers as well both at Southampton and Arsenal. Bielik is just following the specialists advice and it looks like it is working.
I would really love to see Chambers in DM role tonight but I believe Wenger will play safe with Flamini.
all this speculation stuff could have been avoided if we had just signed a back up for coq.
We had Chambers, Flamini and Arteta at the beginning of the season for that position. And Wilshere and in a lesser extent Ramsey. Don’t make sound like it is the end of the world. Take out Cazorla and Coquelin is going to be just average as the squad is when the midfield is not functioning. Take out Coquelin and same story will happen again. See at WBA. The key in our team was partnership Cazorla – Coquelin. If any of these are missing we were in trouble.
I believe Monreal can do a job in DM. He’s one of the most intelligent and adaptable players we have.
I agree – he can tackle and can distribute the ball well…We used to have Arteta and im sure Monreal is better and he can also offer much more going forward than Arteta and his side way ball distributions..
He definitely could if he had the physique but unfortunately he lacks the pace to play in midfield.
its distasteful hearing alot of folks say flamini’s the best we could possibly rely on in times like this……..he’s what?…. 30 something….. With Loads of games ahead of the season…….. Even when not plagued by injuries , could he be trusted to do his job without being red carded or stretched off? We shall see….
Im sick and tired of these injuries however im more cross with wenger not buying any outfield players. If had bought at least a world class dm like william carvhalo or someone like tht. E.g 6foot 2. Strong. Good breaker of play and international and maybe an attacking player. We could hv coped.
Our squad is dangerous but we hv at least 6 players tht need to b moved on or sold. :
Debuchy
Chambers to an extent.
Flamini
Arteta
Rosicky
Campbell
I also tthink mert needs to be benched and arsenal should buy a cb like howdes whi is the perfect replacent.
also wilshere is too injury proned. He never has a full season. However with so much talent i would keep him about however all the others need to go and replace them with players like :
Mert = howdes
Flamini or arteta = lars/sven bender/ william carvahlo.
Campbell= a world class striker
All realistic buys if wenger offers a decent amount of money and these players would come.
Jus buy arsene. At least two class players. Would help the injury crisis and my confidence 🙁
The problem is, he is not selling players which are really not used in the squad. I agree we have a great squad with 2 very good players in each position (except DM) but we all know very well that Wilshere, Welbeck, Ox etc do not play for half a season. So what is the point in counting them? Replace them asap with even like to like players and you’ll have a perfect squad
This is our problem. We have built our squad around players that are seldom available to actually play.When players like Wilshire, arteta,welbeck, rosicky,Flamini are supposed to provide depth to an already injury prone squad, then you need to question your ambition let alone your sanity.
Well, good news is that Ramsey is back in the squad although I am not sure how effective will he be in the middle with Cazorla. Our biggest advantage is how well the partnership Cazorla-Coquelin worked. This match just clicked in place and you could see that if Cazorla does not play with Coquelin or if Cazorla have a day off then Coquelin performance is also just average. There’s no way how we can avoid this: Flamini will probably play the position Coquelin was covering. Sure, he has the experience, plenty of it but it all comes to what I said before : the duo Cazorla Coquelin is the reason our midfield was so strong. You can put Yaya Toure next to Cazorla and still won’t be the same. It also depends how long Coquelin will stay on the sideline. Judging by the half silence around The Emirates and the fact that this is a ligament injury (and not a knock as I initially thought) makes me fear the worst. Remember Theo?
There you have it, it is going to be nerve wracking for a while but Ox is due to return also on Sunday against Norwich and this can give us some breathing space as well. In any case, we need some kind of result tonight just to lift spirit a bit and then move on.
to some of you saying wenger is the cause of arsenal players having injuries because he doesnt rotate?mind u i am neither his fan..but lets call a spade a spade..
can you tell me how he is the cause because the last time i checked 5 of our most used players are still not injured aka sanchez ozil carzola monreal cech..my point is some players are more injury prone..and there is nothing he could have done for coq it was his own doing like a pundit said that was a needless tackle…
if one thing wenger is known for is utilizing his players..monreal and debuchy have played cb in arsenal and they werw decent..
i say play debuchy at cdm along carzola and play ramsey right wing then every other position is covered .
my opininon though but debuchy started out as a cdm he said so himself..so why cant he now?
okay mr big man, I’m gonna list my last 20 titles and you tell me which ones are click bait. I always try to be as honest as i can. So let’s everyone else decide if i write clickbait tiles okay?
Why Arsenal SHOULD take Europa League seriously
Arsenal will still play a very strong team against Zagreb
UEFA pick on Arsenal after Wenger speaks out
Arsenal DO have a squad to be dangerous!
Chambers set to replace Coquelin in Arsenal midfield
Wenger must stop gambling with Arsenal’s success
Ramsey return HUGE for Arsenal as Coquelin out for months
No injured players back for Arsenal – Coquelin in crutches!
Arsenal thought they would win until the end
Why Flamini’s the man to get Arsenal over this blip
In defence of under fire Arsenal captain! No really!
Arsenal ruined Ozil’s awesome record breaking
Should Arsenal now play kids against Dinamo Zagreb?
Arsenal need to focus on bouncing back – again!
THREE reasons for Arsenal fans NOT to panic
Arsenal player ratings from WBA – Alexis MOTM
Arsenal Debate – The best choice to replace Coquelin?
WBA v Arsenal – A perfect nightmare for Wenger may yet get worse!
Wenger – We didn’t throw it away (TalkSport interview)
Did Arsenal boss make a big mistake with Arteta?
Wenger – We were really unlucky today (Sky interview)
Coquelin injury “severe” – Huge blow for Arsenal!
West Brom v Arsenal review – Bad luck, ref and penalty on dreadful day
Shall I go on? You make an absurd accusation but you do not actually tell me where the clickbait titles are….
Or are you talking about 1 per cent and accusing me of doing them all the time?
Give me some facts or just stop the mindless insults. You are the only man I know that complains all the time but has actually topped 3000 comments on the site. If you don’t like then why not bugger off somewhere else and insult them instead. Better still create your own website and see how well you do….
The only danger to our opponent is Sanchez, nobody else!
i ,d like to see chambers or gabriel,gibbs to play as dm because what we need is a defender someone who will take care of the defensive duties in the midfield because going forwards we have the players needed!!do you agree??
Gibbs is bad enough at marking his winger at LB without leaving too much space behind him, def won’t be a good solution on DM. Gabriel might be interesting but would wenger risk a fit CB that we absolutely can’t afford to lose to play there? Chambers might be the best shout although I think Flamini will get the nod over him.
Shame it’s always the potential of Arsenal we have to speak about because the squad is rarely at 100%. It was against Villa and the last few league games last year (bar Welbeck) and you could see how strong it actually could become. Big shame we’re always left with ‘what could be’.