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Post #497641  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 4:25 pm 
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DHD wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:

I think if you have any aspirations of winning a title you can’t have a 37 year old full back in your regular starting 11. In Dixon’s last season he played about a dozen times if I recall so was used sparingly.

He was 37 when he got roasted by Michael Owen in that cup final. Total mismatch and it was obvious we needed reinforcements

I think centre halves can get by on their wit and positioning a little but full backs have to do literally tons of running so if you have one older than 33 they can’t be first choice. When Ashley Cole came into the side the more energy we had was visible


Evening TG

Cole is still playing at 38 - not as well, obviously but at 33 he was a regular in Chelsea's first team until he was edged out because his contract was expiring. I agree Dixon was past his best against Owen - but he was 37. I can't be certain but I'm pretty sure it would've been a different story if he'd been 33, which I maintain is not particularly old for a fullback.

Evening DHD

Cole was past his best at 33 for Chelsea, if he was tearing up trees they would have offered him another contract.

I just don’t think it’s a normal comparison I mean Dixon, Adams and Keown were warriors and played to a very high standard even at the ends of their careers. Kosielnys problem is his Achilles is shot to pieces and Monreal whilst being a very decent and hard working defender was never a world class full back.

All players are different I guess. Age caught up with Ljungberg quite quickly if I recall, one moment he was buzzing round the pitch next he was barely mobile. As I’m finding out age catches up with you :laughing7:


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Post #497642  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 4:46 pm 
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Having said that if you gave me the chance to choose between a 27 year old Mustafi or 39 year old Steve Bould I’d pick the latter :laughing7:


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Post #497643  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:06 pm 
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TOP GUN wrote:

Cole was past his best at 33 for Chelsea, if he was tearing up trees they would have offered him another contract.



I suspect Cole had become a bit too showbiz in his last years at Chelsea. He was rarely out of the media and - I think - he was perceived as trouble.

Just shows, 33 is a very good year for some things, though not as good as 35, according to Frank Sinatra. Their chauffeurs would drive!


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Post #497644  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 6:32 pm 
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Errors leading to goals in the last 2 seasons

Burnley 6
Liverpool/City/Chelsea 8
Leicester/Brighton 9
Newcastle 10
Utd 11
West Ham 13
Spurs/Watford 15
Everton/Palace 16
Huddersfield 19
Southampton 21
Bournemouth 22
Arsenal 28
That is shocking. Giving up 20 goals vs the other top teams on individual mistakes.


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Post #497645  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 7:15 pm 
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Rich wrote:
Errors leading to goals in the last 2 seasons

Burnley 6
Liverpool/City/Chelsea 8
Leicester/Brighton 9
Newcastle 10
Utd 11
West Ham 13
Spurs/Watford 15
Everton/Palace 16
Huddersfield 19
Southampton 21
Bournemouth 22
Arsenal 28
That is shocking. Giving up 20 goals vs the other top teams on individual mistakes.


What is classified as an error ? It could be any goal


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Post #497646  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 7:20 pm 
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DHD wrote:
I'm afraid I don’t look for next season's saviours amongst the injured list. Rob Holding has appeared 31 times for us over 3 seasons; he made 15 starts this season, often because he was the last option, but was he really particulalry impressive?

I'm afraid I have to agree with you about Holding DHD. I said something along your lines a while back. The way some go on you'd think he was the next John Terry. But he's not even the next William Gallas. He's nearing his 24th birthday so age wise is approaching his peak. If he was that good he'd be further along in the game. As far as I'm aware he hasn't even won an England cap yet and they hand those out like confetti these days. Grossly over-rated by some.


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Post #497647  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 7:22 pm 
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Ajax playing superbly, all over Spurs, and a goal up at the Toilet Bowl.


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Post #497648  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 7:46 pm 
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Bernard wrote:
DHD wrote:
I'm afraid I don’t look for next season's saviours amongst the injured list. Rob Holding has appeared 31 times for us over 3 seasons; he made 15 starts this season, often because he was the last option, but was he really particulalry impressive?

I'm afraid I have to agree with you about Holding DHD. I said something along your lines a while back. The way some go on you'd think he was the next John Terry. But he's not even the next William Gallas. He's nearing his 24th birthday so age wise is approaching his peak. If he was that good he'd be further along in the game. As far as I'm aware he hasn't even won an England cap yet and they hand those out like confetti these days. Grossly over-rated by some.


I don’t think anyone was claiming he was Baresi but his performances this year before getting injured were improved from last year and I thought the moment he left the defence we looked less assured.

If nothing else he’s another player that keeps Mustafi further away from the first 11


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Post #497649  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 8:05 pm 
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TOP GUN wrote:
Rich wrote:
Errors leading to goals in the last 2 seasons

Burnley 6
Liverpool/City/Chelsea 8
Leicester/Brighton 9
Newcastle 10
Utd 11
West Ham 13
Spurs/Watford 15
Everton/Palace 16
Huddersfield 19
Southampton 21
Bournemouth 22
Arsenal 28
That is shocking. Giving up 20 goals vs the other top teams on individual mistakes.


What is classified as an error ? It could be any goal

True but as long as the classifications are the same for each team it still shows we’re making far more than is acceptable.
I suspect something like Xhaka not tracking Tielmans in tothe box wouldn’t be classed as an error but Mustafi allowing Zaha to run round him and score would.


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Post #497650  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:04 pm 
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TOP GUN wrote:
Bernard wrote:
I'm afraid I have to agree with you about Holding DHD. I said something along your lines a while back. The way some go on you'd think he was the next John Terry. But he's not even the next William Gallas. He's nearing his 24th birthday so age wise is approaching his peak. If he was that good he'd be further along in the game. As far as I'm aware he hasn't even won an England cap yet and they hand those out like confetti these days. Grossly over-rated by some.


I don’t think anyone was claiming he was Baresi but his performances this year before getting injured were improved from last year and I thought the moment he left the defence we looked less assured.

If nothing else he’s another player that keeps Mustafi further away from the first 11

I’m sure plenty of fans are guilty of inflating a players ability whilst they are out injured


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Post #497651  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:08 pm 
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bromley gooner wrote:
Ajax playing superbly, all over Spurs, and a goal up at the Toilet Bowl.


Ajax not offside for that goal? :42laughter:


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Post #497652  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:09 pm 
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Ash wrote:
bromley gooner wrote:
Ajax playing superbly, all over Spurs, and a goal up at the Toilet Bowl.


Ajax not offside for that goal? :42laughter:


Also what the fudge am I laughing at? We might never win a game again. :20hospitals:


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Post #497653  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:16 pm 
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Rich wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:
I don’t think anyone was claiming he was Baresi but his performances this year before getting injured were improved from last year and I thought the moment he left the defence we looked less assured.

If nothing else he’s another player that keeps Mustafi further away from the first 11

I’m sure plenty of fans are guilty of inflating a players ability whilst they are out injured

If the best thing about Holding is he's better than Mustafi, God help us. He's pretty damn ordinary and there were games when Mustafi looked better than him.


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Post #497654  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:21 pm 
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Ash wrote:
Ash wrote:

Ajax not offside for that goal? :42laughter:


Also what the fudge am I laughing at? We might never win a game again. :20hospitals:

That's true Ash, but however bad we get I'll never tire of enjoying a Spurs defeat.


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Post #497655  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:25 pm 
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Telegraph headline
“Tottenham suggest they can pull off another Champions League great escape after Ajax fade in second half“

I mean that really takes the biscuit in overly positive, biased reporting. What is it with Spurs and the media? They fall over themselves to never give them any stick at all


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Post #497656  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:30 pm 
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Bernard wrote:
Rich wrote:
I’m sure plenty of fans are guilty of inflating a players ability whilst they are out injured

If the best thing about Holding is he's better than Mustafi, God help us. He's pretty damn ordinary and there were games when Mustafi looked better than him.


How many times out of 100 would you take Holding over Mustafi? For me it’s 100. I think we can all safely say that makes him 100 times better than Mustafi. Good enough for me.


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Post #497657  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:35 pm 
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Rich wrote:
Telegraph headline
“Tottenham suggest they can pull off another Champions League great escape after Ajax fade in second half“

I mean that really takes the biscuit in overly positive, biased reporting. What is it with Spurs and the media? They fall over themselves to never give them any stick at all


I think Spurs have earned that. A mate said to me this week I don’t know what it is about Arsenal they seem to lose so many games against rubbish opposition but they’re still up there. How many times have we been within a point or ahead of this “amazing” Spurs side yet they’re supposedly a great side and we’re so terrible. The perceptions are definitely different yet points wise we haven’t been that far apart.

I think it’s down to big results against big sides over the past 5 years and I don’t need to say any more now do I... :8angers:


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Post #497658  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:35 pm 
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Ash wrote:
How many times out of 100 would you take Holding over Mustafi? For me it’s 100. I think we can all safely say that makes him 100 times better than Mustafi. Good enough for me.

I'd rather have Holding but there's no way he's 100 times better than Mustafi. Not even close. There were games when Mustafi played better than him.


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Post #497659  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:38 pm 
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Rich wrote:
Bernard wrote:
Wouldn't we just go into the Europa League next season? Chelsea would have got into the Champions League via a top four finish and winning the Europa League. But so would either Liverpool or Tottenham if they finish in the top four and one of them wins the Champions League.

Yep, that’s right. England have 4 champions league places. A 5th place is only opened up if an English team that finishes outside the top 4 wins the Europa League or champions league.
If both champions league and Europa league winners are English and both finish outside the top 4 then the 4th place team in the league is demoted to the Europa league.
I think I might be right in saying that the winner of the Europa league also enters the champions league as one of the 8 top seeds in the group stage.


Lets not balls up Thursday then!

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Post #497660  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:40 pm 
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Bernard wrote:
Ash wrote:
How many times out of 100 would you take Holding over Mustafi? For me it’s 100. I think we can all safely say that makes him 100 times better than Mustafi. Good enough for me.

I'd rather have Holding but there's no way he's 100 times better than Mustafi. Not even close. There were games when Mustafi played better than him.


But I proved it. With conclusive proof. Subjective statistics I made up.

I don’t think we need to link Holding and Mustafi at all. Mustafi has played out any credit he has at the club and he should probably just go for his own good and Emery clearly doesn’t want to play him.

Holding is still building up his credit hence all the hope for him. And he did look pretty assured and crucially was showing an upward trajectory before his injury.


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Post #497661  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:53 pm 
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Ash wrote:
But I proved it. With conclusive proof. Subjective statistics I made up.

You've lost me.


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Post #497662  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:54 pm 
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kiwipete wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:

Even if he wanted to he couldn’t, the money just isn’t there. If he only has 50 million to spend that won’t buy us a wide man of the required quality we need let alone make us contenders again.

We need 5 players, he probably has only enough money for a couple.


but a lot of these teams that have outplayed us of late Watford , Palace , Wolves , Brighton , Everton , Leicester wouldn't been assembled for much more than fifty million .

I don't harbour thoughts of league titles anymore ... I'm just sick of these painfully slow buildups , an exchange of f*&&%$$$ useless passes back and forth in non threatening positions .

Three of the most useless pricks at our club cost the most , so it's not just a question of money .

We lose I've got no problem ...... but watching/ reading about us get turned over by 'lesser' just because they had more 'bottle' is what annoys me most .


Palace & Brighton yes. Watford to an extent. Everton, Wolves and to a lesser degree Leicester have actually spent a lot of money. In the last 2 years Everton have spent more Net than us, and only about 25% less over the last 4 years. Wolves net spending over the last 2 years is more than our and have spent £150m net over the last 3 years. Leicester have outspent us since winning the title, but made 1/2 of that back selling Mahrez, Kante, Drinkwater and some of their minor sqaud players.

TV money means every club can have a net transfer spend of £50+ every year as long as they are confident they won't go down. Arsenal sadly have been guilty of appalling business (though more in terms of not getting anything like market value for players leaving) between 2014 & 2014, and it continues with Ramsey. Sanchez, Wilshere, Szczesny, Lucas Perez, Cazorla, Akpom, Giroud, Coquelin, Oxlade Chamberlain, Gibbs, Walcott, Gabriel, Gnabry, Podolski left for a grand total of our inconsistent Armenian and £115m, with almost half of that from Walcott & The Ox. Given their values at times in their careers that is nothing short of an embarassment of mismanagement.

So far the signings of last summer all seem to be worth what we paid at worst.

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Post #497663  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:12 pm 
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kiwipete wrote:
Goonie wrote:
Emery needs to do a GG. Get rid of the "big name" players and build HIS team with youngsters. Mariner, Woodcock, Nicholas, et al were all disposed within a couple of seasons GG taking over. GG rebuilt the defence with Dixon, Bould and Winterburn plus Seaman. Emery's problems are quite similar - leaky defence and non-performing ageing superstars.


Agreed Goonie ... but another important factor his team had in ...Seaman , Lukic , Bould , Adams , Dixon , Winterburn , Richardson , Marwood , Merson , Rocastle , Smith , Hayes , Allinson , Davis , Thomas ........ see it

They were all English ... chuck in O'Leary and Quinn from across the canal ....wasn't hard for the Scot to get his message across

We now have the United Nations team in which you need twenty translators to hand out a bollocking or convey team tactics .
There is no common spine , just don't have the same bond .


Also English football was much less complex and had far fewer technically excellent players, and also had the majority brought up and developing in tough professional environments better for developing character than technical expertise or peak athleticism. Only the best 10% of teams (including GG's) from that era wouldn't get destroyed by mid table teams today.

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Post #497664  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:14 pm 
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Niall wrote:
lomekian wrote:

Don't you rate Hector or Lacazette?

Not overly, no.

If they stayed I wouldn't be upset but I do think they are players we could shift to raise some funds. Lacazette maybe harder to replace than Bellerin but for me hasn't justified his reputation.


Wow! Bellerin was excellent when fit this season, and improved under Emery - and we could easily get £50m+ for him tomorrow.

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Post #497665  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:20 pm 
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Bernard wrote:
dec wrote:
Emery only started putting him in the starting 11 in the second half of the season. Ramsey has been thoroughly professional in his approach.

Across competions, up until the point when Ramsey's move to Juventus was confirmed on 11 February, he had started 16 games. How well did he play in any of them, regardless of his fine finish at Craven Cottage?

Ramsey's form really improved quite dramatically once his move to Juventus was sealed. Maybe it wasn't a question of attitude. But if not, unless it's pure coincidence which seems a little far-fetched, there must be some sort of explanation.


I've heard that having had the uncertainty surrounding his future sorted, he wanted to go out with a bang. Also, Emery stopped trying to use him like Wales do and started using him more as he should be. Though, as Juventus said, he's best in a midfield 3. Like most of our midfield. Which is clearly why we haven't played one more than occasionally for years.

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Post #497666  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:26 pm 
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Niall wrote:
Darren wrote:
I think position-wise, we're par for the course. But as Arseblog suggests, it's the timidity of some of our formations and approach to some highly winnable games. He's got it right in the bigger games at home largely but plays too safe in games against more average opponents. EVen before AMN was sent off, after twenty minutes we had 19% possession!! Against Leicester City! That's embarrassingly poor. I think he could be doing better in many ways, even with what he has.

Emery is in trouble when relatively mild bloggers such as Arseblog are coming out against him this early into his reign.

If you look at his record in the round it has to be acknowledged he's done a fantastic job in the home fixtures this season - though it has to be said we were fairly fortunate in a few of those early victories - we totally mugged Everton and I think West Ham could have got something at the Emirate this year. But overall, many of those very good results Arseblog mentions were achieved at home.

Away, completely different story and I got to say that the manager has a very poor defence to work with and we also lack creative players who can carry the ball and hurt the opposition with dribbling/bit of skill. With end product. As Kiwi often says, we are a passing outfit and therefore sometimes easy to negate away from home.

The Palace game he definitely got the team selection wrong for that one but it did look as if he had rectified that as by the 46th minutes we were 1-1 and should have wrapped up the game until the defensive shambles occurred again.

There are too many similarities with the last years of Wenger this season which makes me more inclined to look at the quality of player we are putting out these days. They've actually done well to be where they are.

I'm not sure if Emery is the man; and I'm not sure if he will sign the players we need; but I'd be prepared to see what he can do in the summer.

Of course, there may well be things going on behind the scenes where that doesn't play out.


Worth pointing out that Arseblog was never that keen on Emery. This is a squad lacking in defensive competence in most individuals, and lacking in penetration for anyone bar the front 2. This has also massively undermined Özil's effectiveness. He's only really good when the team around him has pace, incisiveness and enough defensive solidity to allow him to be a playmaker, while still getting him the ball in useful areas. Its no coincidence that with Walcott, Sanchez, Ramsey and settled back 4 behind him, Özil was making assists at a very good rate. Not so much since all that penetration has been lost.

I mean, we don't have a single genuine wide player in the whole squad, and only one midfielder capable of getting in the box from deep, and half our defenders just make endless individual errors. The teams we are competing with have measurably better squads. Maybe not Spurs, but they are built for the Premier League battle, and have a world class striker (though basically have been saved by Son taking a massive step forward in his effectiveness).

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Post #497667  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:30 pm 
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Gaz from Oz wrote:
Bernard wrote:
Across competions, up until the point when Ramsey's move to Juventus was confirmed on 11 February, he had started 16 games. How well did he play in any of them, regardless of his fine finish at Craven Cottage?

Ramsey's form really improved quite dramatically once his move to Juventus was sealed. Maybe it wasn't a question of attitude. But if not, unless it's pure coincidence which seems a little far-fetched, there must be some sort of explanation.

You are correct IMO. I can't recall which one of the cup games he played in but he just turned up. It was one we were eliminated from and I think I commented on here. Also there were a couple of games which people may recall where he tried a back heel near the box. Not because it was a good move but simply because he did not want to try and keep the ball. I won't miss him. The only players I have missed over the last few years were Santi, Alexis and before him RVP. Because I think they genuinely bought some added value to the team.

Ramsay was a Wenger buy and I don't think the club will start any recovery to all of them are gone. That includes all the silly contracts negotiated under the Wenger years - Özil, Mhkitarian, Xhaka, Mustafi and on and on down to Jenkinson. Emery will be a busted flush by that time. His health will probably give out because if his blood pressure is anything like mine when watching a game - it is not a good thing.


Ramsey has been a good but not great Arsenal player who sadly always gets injured as he hits top form. In 13/14 til he got injured he was the best midfielder in the country by some distance. But has never re-found that level consistently. Also, he was misused and badly partnered for much of his time here. Agree that Santi, Alexis and RVP were the best players of the time since that 07-08 team was brutalised out of the title. That was a bloody disgrace because that team was by far the best in the country, but we just ran out of players, and the horrific injuries really scarred the team. Eduardo, Diaby & Hleb's injuries were all premeditated and violent assaults, and sadly Rosicky and RVP both picked up freak injuries that can't really be planned for.

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Post #497668  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:38 pm 
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lomekian wrote:
Bernard wrote:
Across competions, up until the point when Ramsey's move to Juventus was confirmed on 11 February, he had started 16 games. How well did he play in any of them, regardless of his fine finish at Craven Cottage?

Ramsey's form really improved quite dramatically once his move to Juventus was sealed. Maybe it wasn't a question of attitude. But if not, unless it's pure coincidence which seems a little far-fetched, there must be some sort of explanation.

I've heard that having had the uncertainty surrounding his future sorted, he wanted to go out with a bang.

That fits and had crossed my mind before. But it did mean he only started playing once the move to Juventus was sorted.


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Post #497669  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:40 pm 
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TOP GUN wrote:
Wilts-Gooner wrote:

Not this again, sorry but it is quite simple really, Kroenke allowed Wenger to stay around way beyond his sell by date and waste all those funds, how is that Wenger's fault?, managers generally don't sack themselves!.

It is total futility blaming Wenger, Kroenke backed Wenger far too much and should now admit he got it wrong but he won't, instead we'll be back to saving the pennies, all because he got it wrong, now we all have to suffer because he is 'hands off' aka knows f*ck all about football so allowed Wenger to run things into the ground.

Keep blaming Wenger though, that is exactly what Stan wants....


I get all that and I hate Kroenke too and yes he took way too long to sack Wenger but it was only in the last couple of seasons where the majority of our fans wanted Wenger out and started being vocal. I used to get chewed out on here for suggesting it.

It wasn’t kroenke who spunked 100 million on perez, Xhaka and Mustafi or let Ramsey and Sanchez run their contracts down.


I was with Wenger right up to the Leicester fairy tale season. For most of that time he'd not had any real money to spend and you could see what he was trying to do. But someway towards the end of that season and the beginning of the next, the wheels came off. The quality of incoming players dropped off massively, and he refused to address weaknesses despite having money to do so. I'll always be grateful for the Cup Final against Chelsea (though not as much as to the person who got me a ticket!), but I don't think anyone thought for a second that staying on after that was a good idea. Word on the street is that Wenger was talked into staying that summer because the club had nothing in place for when he went.

Gazidis takes a lot more blame than kroenke for me. Kroenke has only ever done exactly what he said he was going to on the very rare occasion he has spoken. Gazidis failed to improve almost anything during most of his time at the club, and then ran off for a bigger paycheque as soon as he got any actual power and responsibility.

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Post #497670  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:43 pm 
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Goonie wrote:
Can we stop with the Emery inherited dross and any manager is bound to fail with this lot narrative? He, along with a bunch of other managers, applied for the job knowing full well what he's getting himself into. He's confident of doing the job required of an Arsenal head coach, and if he can't, it simply means he and the board had over-estimated his capability.


To be honest Emery was hired to win us the Europa League or get us into the top 4. He's within 3 games of one and 2 games and a favourable result elsewhere of the other. If he does so with the weakest overall squad of the top 6, he'll have done well despite some appalling performances.

I want to see how he does this week and next with his balls really against the wall.

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Post #497671  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:49 pm 
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Decaf wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:
However that aside I can’t get the thought out of my head that this squad is one of the most mediocre we have had in years. There’s absolute dross in the squad because Gazidis let Wenger run his squad down. I don’t even think our players are even as good as the ones we had a few seasons back?

Would you swap Kolasinac for clichy ?
Would you swap mhikitaryan for Walcott?
Would you swap Iwobi for the OX?
Would you swap Xhaka for Cazorla?

I would and some of those players who left are hardly world beaters, the team is visibly worse than a few years back.

Do you think a 5th or 6th place finish would be disappointing from Emery considering the circumstances? I think Chelsea and spurs have far better players than us and are underachieving in the league.

Apart from the other burning issues you raise (eg Kolasinac or Clichy?), why do you think that Chelsea, Spurs and for that matter, Manchester United, are struggling so much in this league?


Chelsea have too many players past their best and are caught between opposing styles of the current and previous managers. And to be honest they've been increasingly reliant on Hazard every year for a while now.

Spurs have been incredibly fortunate with injuries (and dodgy penalties!) for the last 3 years. Playing at high physical intensity with limited rotation will always start to catch up on team (which I think has contributed to Arsenal's recent form collapse a lot too).

Man Utd have no idea what their identity is, have a back four only marginally better than ours, and lack any real top level creativity.

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Post #497672  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:54 pm 
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TOP GUN wrote:
Trying to remain positive

In the summer if we could flog Mustafi, Chambers and el Nenny for about 40 million we could have a transfer pot of around 80 or 90. That would give Emery the money he needs for about 4 players if spent wisely like we did last summer. No matter what we say this is surely possible and then going into next season with renewed hope could be possible.


Quite agree. Much of course will depend on the development of AMN, Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe, Willock, Nketiah & Saka, but if 4 of those can become genuine squad players (or even better first teamers) it will massively ease the transition.

Also worth remembering that if we ship out the three you mention, plus lose the wages of Rambo, Lichsteiner, Čech, maybe Monreal (has he been extend or not?) and possibly Welbeck (though whispers that we might try to bring him back), that's £550k-£600k of the weekly wage bill.

So much depends on the quality of our transfer business this summer. If it can be as good pound for pound as the summer just gone, I think we'll be happy enough.

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Post #497673  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:55 pm 
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socrates wrote:

I know people were incredibly bored by Wenger's tippy tappy football but when you see us outplayed and outfought by Leicester, who enjoyed the lion's share of the possession and frankly made us look second rate both physically and technically, I find that pretty hard to stomach.

When Emery arrived it seemed he was promising exciting high tempo football with us on the front foot most of the time. I get that we have some limited players but even so we are quite stodgy in our play, even at home, and the less said about our away performances the better.


Part of it is due to a total lack of athleticism in our midfield. Its one reason why we found Napoli easier than Palace, Wolves or Leicester.

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Post #497674  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:58 pm 
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Rich wrote:
I’m surprised more wasn’t made of Maddison’s blatant dive to get AMN sent off. He clearly wasn’t touched, no problem him jumping out of the way if he thinks he’s going to be touched, but he then rolled around on the floor screaming and holding his ankles. The replays show AMN going up to Maddison and saying “that’s not good Mads” they must be mates from the U21 set up.
Diving and feigning injury to get a player sent off of far worse than diving to win a penalty in my book.

Hope the Emirates crowd remember that when Maddison plays there next season


Danny Murphy ripped into Maddison on the BBC

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Post #497675  Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:00 pm 
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TOP GUN wrote:
A few articles have cropped up in the media criticising Emery’s tactics quoting player sources. Interesting, wonder why this is happening.


If you look at the journo's dropping the quotes, there are quite a few Spurs fans, Spurs journo's among them. Not the usual suspects for a boardroom leak.

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Post #497676  Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 5:24 am 
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https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer ... 8?mode=amp

Good article investigating how football has changed and the value of total team tactics. Concentrated a lot on Pep and Klopp.


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Post #497677  Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 5:42 am 
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lomekian wrote:
Rich wrote:
I’m surprised more wasn’t made of Maddison’s blatant dive to get AMN sent off. He clearly wasn’t touched, no problem him jumping out of the way if he thinks he’s going to be touched, but he then rolled around on the floor screaming and holding his ankles. The replays show AMN going up to Maddison and saying “that’s not good Mads” they must be mates from the U21 set up.
Diving and feigning injury to get a player sent off of far worse than diving to win a penalty in my book.

Hope the Emirates crowd remember that when Maddison plays there next season


Danny Murphy ripped into Maddison on the BBC

To be fair he did but he’s the only voice in any report I’ve read of the game.


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Post #497678  Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 6:11 am 
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Ash wrote:
bromley gooner wrote:
Ajax playing superbly, all over Spurs, and a goal up at the Toilet Bowl.


Ajax not offside for that goal? :42laughter:

No. The player standing offside never touched the ball.

Ridiculous aspect of offside. A player can be in the eyesight of a goalie thus interfering in play but not be called offside.

Answer, why do we not do the same?


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Post #497679  Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 6:16 am 
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Concussion in football needs to be taken far more seriously. The ref asked spurs if Vertonghen was ok to continue last night, they said he was and he went back on - within 30 seconds he took himself off and could barely stand up!

Maybe there needs to be an independent doctor who assesses all head injuries, and perhaps the team with the man down call be allowed to temporarily substitute a player on whilst he is being assessed.


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Post #497680  Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 7:49 am 
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Have to say I really enjoyed watching that spurs game last night.

These days I watch little football apart from arsenal. Champions league is always good entertainment though we have to get back in it even if we have no chance on winning it.

Next up Barca hopefully smashing Liverpool


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