Printable View
Now I have had time to calm down, I can be more reasonable with my response.
DOGSHIT.
Eddie is also a waste of space, I think we sold the wrong striker or should have sold them both and bought someone else.
Hopefully the Toney rumors' are true.
Also what was that starting front 3 ??
I know we have a lack of options but christ!
I was aware of that even before I posted this as I put money on Nice to draw the game which you know they more than did.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
What I don't get is how this is related to what I posted earlier i.e. we had no option but to play Eddie for 90 mins as we only have two strikers?
Does the fact that he misses penalties mean he wouldn't have been preferable to have had him on the bench on Sunday? Does missing penalties now erase all the goals he scored last season in Ligue 1? If Havertz scored 2 penalties in a row does that mean he is a justifiable buy?
I honestly don't get what you are implying here, unless you are saying you prefer Eddie to Balogun, which TBH is your prerogative but doesn't change what I said about us having the option of all 3 earlier this season and choosing to start and finish a season with only 2.
Man....I am surprised no one pulled me up on calling Havertz the 2nd best player at the club :haha: ..... anyway corrected it but still wondering WTF happened with my brain there.Quote:
Originally Posted by 21_GOONER_SALUTE
Quote:
Originally Posted by 21_GOONER_SALUTE
Crikey….I thought it was meant to be me who got the hump too easily :lol:
Not being you or for that matter being psychic I don’t know what you know or don’t know about what happened in a French league fixture at the weekend
I think Sunday’s match suggested that it was quality rather than quantity we lacked up front. I’ve been very outspoken about how Arteta has spent loads on defenders and hasn’t actually bought an out and out striker in the almost four years he’s been here. But yeah I remain unconvinced that we shot ourselves in the foot by letting Balogun go, and actually more peeved that we spent sixty five million on Havertz rather than an out and out striker.
I don't agree with you on this.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
I mean yes "Quality" is obviously something we all want but not understanding that "Quantity" counts in a 38 game season where we will be seriously chasing 2 other competitions (CL & FA cup) that could mean an additional 25 games is more than naive if you ask me, and only adds to the notion that Arteta is still learning on the job.
I mean look at the quality we've already lost in Timber and Partey. Add that to the absentees we had on Sunday, if you don't have options you get f**ked like we did.
Lets go further back to an experienced winning manager we had ....AW started 96 season with 3 strikers, Wrighty, Bergy and Hartson, by February he was strengthening by adding an unknown "quantity" Anelka, meaning we had 4. Yeah Hartson also left in February but AW didn't want him to go. Anyway our title challenge faltered around February but Wrighty still ended up with 23 goals being the 2nd highest scorer.
The next season, AW again signs another striker he had worked with in Wreh and our 23 goal striker gets a long term injury at the start. However the quality that is Bergkamp and the unknown quantity that was Anelka take the reins and we win the league. Wreh also helps with some important goals.
Next season, despite the fact we won the league he strengthens further by adding about 3 or so strikers with Kanu being the star pick. Yes we didn't win it but we didn't fall far short either.
What I don't get is that we don't need to go that far back to realise that Arteta was playing russian roulette with this season yet again
Last season, when we had only one competition we were serious about, we started well thanks a lot to Jesus but once he got injured we all had our hearts in our mouth and wondered how we would cope. Despite Eddie surprising a lot of us and doing a good job what would have happened if he had also got a long term injury?
You would think that a manager who now waxes lyrical about having options for every position and who now freely admits that losing only one player meant he squandered a 9 point lead against Citeh, would make sure he has more than 2 strikers just in case.
Anyway, I didn't want this to be long but I think you get what I'm saying....there was absolutely no reason for us to get rid of some players we got rid of and not replacing them like for like after what we went through last season. Would it have really made much of a difference if we'd gotten rid of Balogun and Tierney in January instead? I don't think so.
So yeah in fairness I spoke about the quality over quantity issue specifically in relation to Sunday and on top
Of that I already stated that I think instead of buying Havertz we needed a striker, something on which there was actually broad consensus on, on this site over the summer.
However at the same time, I can absolutely see why we sold Balogun. That one good season in French football clearly increased his transfer value and it’s clear given our net spend in the last few years we do need to recoup some of our transfer outlays given that we aren’t Chelsea tying players don’t to eight year contracts as a con trick form of amortisation.
There is this frustration that we aren’t getting enough for the players we sell, and yeah ultimately I do think Arteta is somewhat responsible for that by not giving these players more game time. However with some of the loans it does appear like there is an obligation to buy (I don’t know about Lokonga but there definitely is with Tavares)
But whoever is responsible for that, the fact is that we don’t have endless resources (in truth because of FFP no one does) and my mind is more towards buying smart than spending more.
Selling on a player like Balogun now can honestly be the difference between being FFP compliant or not, no sense in having a squad that will bare minimum get us top four if we can’t even play in the sodding competition afterwards
Tierney? I like you question the wisdom of that, but given he’s a left back again not sure what difference he’d have made on Sunday…which is in reality what the thrust of this topic is about.
I can only say that I do hope we buy a striker in January.
My thoughts on the game?
Expectations are causing so much angst among supporters that weren't there last season with a 'free hit'. This game couldn't really have tapped into that disenchantment much more. If we are objective, then a draw against a Spurs team that are chalk and cheese to that of last season isn't the end of the world - particularly when their second goal was gifted to them. Our second half was rubbish, but we had lost one of lost our most important players in Rice, and in an already disrupted team Arteta subbed on Havertz - a player who must sums up our lack of confidence and form this season. Missing so many key players and struggling for form, a draw against a team that has been above us all season is no disaster.
My take is that we are pretty much where City were at around this stage of last season. Stuttering by their standards and trying to perfect a new way of setting up/playing, with new players in key positions on the pitch. We don't know yet whether we will find a way to click, but if we take the need for absolute perfection necessary to beat City out of the equation we have 14 points out of 18. I think Gooners need to find a little perspective.
The problem is that I think we will always be a season behind Citeh.
That said, I feel deflated about our team so far this season. The players do not look like they are enjoying EPL games, and (while injuries have played a part) Arteta looks to me like being too galaxy brained ATM. Our subs were very strange and completely ineffective. We saw how the manager's tendency to expect back up players like Jorginho and Riess Nelson to be able to fire from cold - in an already seriously disrupted team can come back to bite him.
For all my attempts at objectivity, the way things are looking right now - it is more likely than not that we will go backwards this season - notwithstanding (and maybe in part because of) our Summer signings.
Your last 2 paragraphs is pretty much it.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
No matter how much we try to look at things objectively or maybe even scientifically, this sport has always been about that 'gut feeling', and IMO that voice tends to call it right 9 out of 10 times.
I get your point on FFP but it seems only losers take it seriously ( and I honestly mean this in a nice way) seeing that no big club has been punished for it ( think Citeh and the point deduction, think Madrid being bailed out by their government, think Chelsea countless times etc).Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
Anyway despite that, we both agree another striker is needed, which is the only thing that is important ATM.
I’m getting the impression city are going to be compelled to take it seriously. It’s also as much about wages as transfer fees, and they got Gundogan and Mahrez off their books over the summer