Match reacton thread Vs Swansea

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The defence is decimated by injuries. Whether this is a legitimate excuse or not is debatable. Should we really have three lefts backs and three right backs in the squad? Can we afford that in terms of a limited number of places on the roster?

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i don't think there is much of a debate to be had really, we can't overload the squad with 6 full backs leaving only 19 other spots for the rest, that would be insane.

we can bemoan our injury problems over the years but to lose all of your full backs is completely unheard of. in the mean time that means our team is being pulled all over the place, all organisation is lost trying to compensate for our significant weaknesses at the back, which of course has a double fold effect on our attack capabilities.

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Originally Posted by Terry Tuffnutz

i don't think there is much of a debate to be had really, we can't overload the squad with 6 full backs leaving only 19 other spots for the rest, that would be insane.

we can bemoan our injury problems over the years but to lose all of your full backs is completely unheard of. in the mean time that means our team is being pulled all over the place, all organisation is lost trying to compensate for our significant weaknesses at the back, which of course has a double fold effect on our attack capabilities.

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Exactly. So I reckon we should be signing that player or players, who are gonna convert the chances we create in order to just try and outscore the opposition while our defenders await the return of our fullbacks.

I don't think we need to be signing fullbacks. On loan, maybe, but for all our injury issues (which can't solely be down to bad luck, it's happening too often now) the number of injuries to fullbacks this year is ridiculous and not something anyone at Arsenal could have predicted or accounted for.
A for example is the City game in the CC where Santos was just about the only first choice player out there and guess who got the serious injury :doh:
You can't do anything about that.
IMO the bigger issue this season has been putting the ball in the net. Syn wrote a post a while back in which he listed all the attacking talent we have and I agree in theory we've got enough players who should be able to but for whatever reason only one of them is. That needs addressing urgently.

As a fellow internet twat™, I'd just like to say that if Wenger doesn't play Wilshere in Gervinho's position (wide on the left...or right, I suppose) then he has WUM of the Year sewn up for 2012. You can pretty much point the finger at any position and say they should be doing better. As a team we are very tired and demoralised. I would also say that Theo, Arshavin and Gervinho are the biggest let-downs at the moment. If you look at players like Bale or those Dyer/Sinclair guys at Swansea...why the fuck can't we have some poncy dickhead taking on a couple of players and doing something useful? We need Wilshere out wide to be that poncy dickhead. Or failing that, play him as a second striker and turn him into Rooney.

I still think Ramsey and Walcott will make it for some reason. Surprisingly, I'm less confident about Ramsey because I think he might just have been Eduardo'd/Diaby'd out of a promising career. A year out of his development has fucked him in the arse and he hasn't returned as light on his feet as he was at 17. Walcott has had 6 years of PL experience and should be doing a lot better but somehow I still think he'll become a prolific goalscorer. Just needs a new manager. And he'll probably get one after a couple of years (and no, he won't move clubs).

Believe.

Theo can finish, the problem with him is that he's limited, getting himself into scoring positions is the hardest part because not every defence will allow him the space to score the type of goal he scored on the weekend.

We just need to man up and buy a proper striker. None of this second striker/winger bullshit, a real striker who has a track record of goals. Even that guy Newcastle signed has a 1 in 2 Bundesliga record, something like that for us is ideal.

Pretty tough on Ramsey having to come back from that injury and immediately assume the role of leader in the midfield, playing every game until he's worn out. As for Theo, he's possibly the most frustrating player I've seen. The talent is there but I'm not sure his brain can unlock or control it. It's like a brain fart when he does something useful, the exception rather than the rule. I'd say it was a confidence thing but why? The crowd has been unbelievably patient with him, willing him on to deliver on his potential. With Cesc gone, Nasri gone, this should be his moment to step up. Capello had the same problems with him so I'm not convinced he'll thrive under a different manager, especially if he decides to slag that manager in a book at the first sign of incoming criticism. He's fucking up his career as far as I can see.

Djourou is in the papers today talking about getting revenge on Utd. We do it to ourselves.

i have no doubt at all that ramsey will become a great player, he gets into fantastic positions, can pick a pass and runs his socks off. unfortunately, it's his first season proper in a team trying to reform themselves and with no one else to take his place atm.

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Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn

As for Theo, he's possibly the most frustrating player I've seen. The talent is there but I'm not sure his brain can unlock or control it. It's like a brain fart when he does something useful, the exception rather than the rule. I'd say it was a confidence thing but why? The crowd has been unbelievably patient with him, willing him on to deliver on his potential. With Cesc gone, Nasri gone, this should be his moment to step up. Capello had the same problems with him so I'm not convinced he'll thrive under a different manager, especially if he decides to slag that manager in a book at the first sign of incoming criticism. He's fucking up his career as far as I can see.

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It's bad management. Theo knows he's guaranteed to start every game. He knows he's one of the senior people in the team (experience wise). And he is allowed to make the same mistakes over and over again. As far as I see, Theo makes 2 big mistakes: 1) He isn't composed when finishing...he hesitates too much and almost apologises for having the ball in such positions and exploiting his pace. 2) He runs into defenders because he doesn't go full-pelt...he is trying to out-smart them instead shamelessly putting them on the backfoot by scaring them. I've seen him do it right a couple of times - notably the 2-2 draw against Barcelona a couple of years ago. He basically needs to realise he only has 2 things: pace and the ability to finish. And that's all you need. You don't need to be Messi and do little flicks and turns and shit. Just kick the ball towards the corner flag, chase it down and smash the ball across the 6 yard box....and when through on goal, don't hesitate - even if you think you're picking the wrong option (e.g. going for a lob) go through with it.

Every time Theo wastes the ball by hesitating and basically being a fanny, Wenger should sub him off at HT and put Oxlade on. But Wenger keeps tolerating it and Theo has been allowed to grow into this annoying muppet.

Theo has rushes of blood to the head, where he doesn't have time to think, and just does it naturally.

It's when he has to think about it he's fucked, because it means he has to decide for himself. He's best when he's firing from the hip, like Chelsea....he didn't have time to think, he just ploughed through everyone and whacked it one. He's deadly accurate when he's like that. It also happens when he get's the red mist. If he get's angry, he'll just get the rage on and smash a shot goalwards out of nowhere, and it's usually very close to netting.

Best thing for him would be for everyone to slap him about in the dressing room and tell him he's shit. Wind him up and let him go.

Even Capello got fed up of him and left him out of the World Cup squad, for the same reasons we're discussing now.

It's too late to change him, he's a pub team player who happens to be very fast, so we need to play to his strengths if we're ever going to see the best of him.