Arsenal v Manchester City, 7th August, 6pm, ITV

[Niall_Quinn]

Not one senior CB and the season is 7 days away....

Everything back to normal.

[Gooner23]

I hope Gabriel is fine, but despite being the most senior current CB option, he's also the dodgiest and most reckless. Holding and Mustafi/Manolas next week then.

I agree. I don't want to see any player get a nasty injury but I really don't rate Gabriel at all. In the absence of a new signing we may as well play Chambers and Holding who know each other through the U21s. Liverpool will be licking their lips!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Not one senior CB and the season is 7 days away....

Koscielny will be back tbf.

[Munchies]

Go into pre-season with 3 CBs

Leave with 2

Wenger :bow:

Can't wait for the day he leaves

[Keith]

Other teams will be mad to sell their first choice CB at this stage

[Marc Overmars]

Yay

[Niall_Quinn]

Other teams will be mad to sell their first choice CB at this stage

This is why it's a false economy to delay. Just get the business done early. Pay a bit more if you need to, avoid paying a lot more at the last minute. One answer is to spend nothing and wing it. I wonder what Wenger will opt for?

[Master Splinter]

Liverpool will be licking their lips!

Yeah, they always beat us.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Go into pre-season with 3 CBs

Leave with 2

Wenger :bow:

Can't wait for the day he leaves

Whilst you can blame Wenger for not having enough experienced centre backs you can't blame him for the injury

[Power n Glory]

Positive second half. The injury puts a downer on things even if it is Gabby. I don't rate him but he looked in bad shape.

First half team didn't work at all. Missed silky chances but also lacked cohesion in the middle. I really rate Elneny. I think that one change transformed us. We were knocking the ball about with style and confidence and the chances came. Thought Sanchez was positive. I'd give him another go up front. Theo was pretty good out wide also. A goal and assist. Wenger has some decisions to make. Only a pre season but positive.

[Power n Glory]

Whilst you can blame Wenger for not having enough experienced centre backs you can't blame him for the injury

That was just unfortunate. Could have happened to anybody. Heck, could have been the new signing if we had one knowing our luck.

[Kano]

Whilst you can blame Wenger for not having enough experienced centre backs you can't blame him for the injury

He donedit on purpose to save money cos he's cheap

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Annoying because it clouded a pretty solid second half performance from us

We looked good on the ball, our passing was incisive and we were prepared to actually take shots on goal and were fairly clinical

Defensively we looked a bit suspect, both Monreal and Gibbs let their man get past them far too easily.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

That was just unfortunate. Could have happened to anybody. Heck, could have been the new signing if we had one knowing our luck.

I thought it was Gabriel's fault if anyones.....too impetuous. Although I appreciate I'm just the kind of person that if he hadn't made the tackle and as a result they'd gone on to score id have been cursing him for being too passive and standing off.

[Letters]

Wenger out!

Wenger in :bow:

[Goonermerree]

Wenger in :bow:

Make you bloody mind up:shrug:

[Niall_Quinn]

Positive second half. The injury puts a downer on things even if it is Gabby. I don't rate him but he looked in bad shape.

First half team didn't work at all. Missed silky chances but also lacked cohesion in the middle. I really rate Elneny. I think that one change transformed us. We were knocking the ball about with style and confidence and the chances came. Thought Sanchez was positive. I'd give him another go up front. Theo was pretty good out wide also. A goal and assist. Wenger has some decisions to make. Only a pre season but positive.

Didn't see any positive signs in that match, well maybe Xhaka and El'Neny's pressing. I did see a whole bunch of usual stuff. We know we can score if teams come out to play against us. That's no surprise and even Theo will get a goal every now and then. He looks half the player Iwobi is though and if Wenger expects to get anything out of Theo this season then you can't blame Theo for that, you have to blame the old fool who never learns. Defence was a shambles as is mostly the case. Monreal and Bellerin are good players, but they give their opponents far too much space on the flanks. I know they have been told to do that, and I know the old goat then puts the onus on attacking fucking midfielders to race back as cover, but surely Bould could sneak in some coaching whilst the prehistoric fart was asleep? Ramsey looked way off the pace. Alexis too, he did very little up top but disguised this with a couple of good moments. Not his fault and he was coming back from a nasty ankle injury (amazing he's back at all tbf), it wasn't until El'Neny came on that he had anything to feed from. Which will most likely cost Elmo his place. Wenger doesn't like that, forward passing - very vulgar.

And Santi is a better player than Silva. A considerably better player. If they swapped clubs then the media would be all, Ooooooh Santi! Santi this, Santi that.

[Power n Glory]

Didn't see any positive signs in that match, well maybe Xhaka and El'Neny's pressing. I did see a whole bunch of usual stuff. We know we can score if teams come out to play against us. That's no surprise and even Theo will get a goal every now and then. He looks half the player Iwobi is though and if Wenger expects to get anything out of Theo this season then you can't blame Theo for that, you have to blame the old fool who never learns. Defence was a shambles as is mostly the case. Monreal and Bellerin are good players, but they give their opponents far too much space on the flanks. I know they have been told to do that, and I know the old goat then puts the onus on attacking fucking midfielders to race back as cover, but surely Bould could sneak in some coaching whilst the prehistoric fart was asleep? Ramsey looked way off the pace. Alexis too, he did very little up top but disguised this with a couple of good moments. Not his fault and he was coming back from a nasty ankle injury (amazing he's back at all tbf), it wasn't until El'Neny came on that he had anything to feed from. Which will most likely cost Elmo his place. Wenger doesn't like that, forward passing - very vulgar.

And Santi is a better player than Silva. A considerably better player. If they swapped clubs then the media would be all, Ooooooh Santi! Santi this, Santi that.

So you did see some positives. :lol:

Give Theo some credit after you said we were down to 10 men.. Also, it's good to see that we tried Sanchez up front. Wasn't convinced by Ramsey but it was his first game back.. Elneny is one heck of a player and I hope Wenger starts him. It's down to team selection now. If Wenger starts Xhaka he has to start Elneny. I think Elneny is essential to the way we want to play. More so than Cazorla because he doesn't make as many mistakes. Santi should play higher up field behind the striker.

But again, it's down to Wenger to try something different and I hope he gets the team selection right.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

You see the best of Cazorla when he's given licence to play more advanced and that I imagine is the benefit of having three defensive minded types like Coquelin, Elneny and Xhaka to choose from (although I think Elneny is more of a box to box supporting midfielder than a defensive one)

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

That plus you can only play who you are up against, yes the way we play suits us when we play teams like Man City but at the same time you can't expect us to showcase a different style of play which would be effective against teams that sit deep but totally pointless against City.

The takeaway from today is that we need a centre back and striker, simple as.

[Power n Glory]

You see the best of Cazorla when he's given licence to play more advanced and that I imagine is the benefit of having three defensive minded types like Coquelin, Elneny and Xhaka to choose from (although I think Elneny is more of a box to box supporting midfielder than a defensive one)

Xhaka is supposed to be that too. He's not a DM. But yes, I think Cazorla is better as the number 10. Two footed, can wriggle out of danger, can play the killer pass as well as crack a shot. I like when he plays deep but he will have moments when he's too casual. He'd be better playing further up field.

[Power n Glory]

That plus you can only play who you are up against, yes the way we play suits us when we play teams like Man City but at the same time you can't expect us to showcase a different style of play which would be effective against teams that sit deep but totally pointless against City.

The takeaway from today is that we need a centre back and striker, simple as.

We can't discredit the opponents now that we have won. That's what I don't like because when we were losing it was typical old Arsenal.

[Niall_Quinn]

That plus you can only play who you are up against, yes the way we play suits us when we play teams like Man City but at the same time you can't expect us to showcase a different style of play which would be effective against teams that sit deep but totally pointless against City.

The takeaway from today is that we need a centre back and striker, simple as.

So the takeaway is what we knew last April?

[Marc Overmars]

So the takeaway is what we knew last April?

Best thing to do is judge the situation in May.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Like PnG I think Elneny is really good. Shame we won't see him that much really....

And Cazorla is bisto.....obvs.

[Letters]

Best thing to do is judge the situation in May.

Nah. You should judge the season either before it has started or after one game.

[Marc Overmars]

Nah. You should judge the season either before it has started or after one game.

That happened this time last year and as usual people weren't far off the mark.

[Kano]

Like PnG I think Elneny is really good. Shame we won't see him that much really....

And Cazorla is bisto.....obvs.

The 'other' player is always the better option, until a few off performances and he becomes the new scapegoat.

Elneny looks like a good player but he didn't offer a miracles when he became part of the team last season. We played shit football from beginning to end, so the solution comes from the combination used in the middle and of course have a clue what we're doing going forward and defensively.

[Marc Overmars]

To be fair I think Elmo is genuinely a decent player, good box to box players are hard to come by these days. He's far from a miracle worker of course but he's probably more reliable than certain other midfielders we have. From the games I went to last season his style of play was always noticeable, often confidently collecting the ball from deep and later popping up in the final third. I hope he is given a fair crack this season.

[Letters]

That happened this time last year and as usual people weren't far off the mark.

True, but irrelevant. You assess how a season has gone at the end. I really shouldn't have to explain or defend that.

[Power n Glory]

Like PnG I think Elneny is really good. Shame we won't see him that much really....

And Cazorla is bisto.....obvs.

I hope that's not the case. Wenger would be mad not to include him in the squad. Because he's always moving and has a good passing range, it's much easier for us to play the ball out from the back.

A partnership with Xhaka could work. But then we have the Cazorla and Ramsey problem. Where will they play? It will be interesting to see what he does against Liverpool. I think Ramsey will play behind the striker again on Sunday.

[Niall_Quinn]

True, but irrelevant. You assess how a season has gone at the end. I really shouldn't have to explain or defend that.

More useful to assess a car crash before it happens.

[LDG]

More useful to assess a car crash before it happens.

We can at least judge Wenger now.

[Letters]

Well no, you assess it afterwards. Obviously. Even if you know (or are pretty sure) it's going to happen you don't know how many casualties there will be or how many cars written off.
It says something about this board that the idea that a season should be assessed at the end is thought worthy of derision and WUMming.

[Niall_Quinn]

We can at least judge Wenger now.

We have motive, means, there are tens of thousands of witnesses placing him at the scene. We don't have a confession though. Are we allowed to take his priors into account?

[Niall_Quinn]

Well no, you assess it afterwards. Obviously. Even if you know (or are pretty sure) it's going to happen you don't know how many casualties there will be or how many cars written off.
It says something about this board that the idea that a season should be assessed at the end is thought worthy of derision and WUMming.

With this club it's perfectly reasonable to criticise in advance. Before, after, same difference. We all know what's coming over the next few months. Transfer window is a good example. Some people said Wenger would do fuck all to address the glaring gaps in the squad. Others, myself included, said there's no fucking way he'd go through another window without solving the long standing issues, he just wouldn't dare, come on now a joke's a joke but get the fucking striker in at least!

Who was right?

That's the essence of the complaint each season. A man who repeats all his mistakes and never learns. Such a man is perfectly predictable. Some people, like Theo Walcott, have started using this predictability to their advantage. Want to play as a striker? Simple, tell Wenger you want to play on the wing. Predictably Wenger will listen and the do the opposite. Well played Theo.

[Marc Overmars]

More useful to assess a car crash before it happens.

No, you make sure the car is road worthy to begin with. Our MOT failed a long time ago and we were too cheap to pay for the repairs needed.

[Niall_Quinn]

No, you make sure the car is road worthy to begin with. Our MOT failed a long time ago and we were too cheap to pay for the repairs needed.

We have an excellent garage though.

[LDG]

No, you make sure the car is road worthy to begin with. Our MOT failed a long time ago and we were too cheap to pay for the repairs needed.

Because we left the hand break on whilst we were driving. Fucking knackers the whole thing that.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

So the takeaway is what we knew last April?

Yarp