Vs Blue Scouse

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Arsene Wenger is set to be given an early reward for leading Arsenal to the top of the Premier League after it emerged that he will be handed another contract extension to keep him at the club until 2019.

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Premature and unnecessary if true. He's here until 2017 anyway so why not wait until the end of the season to talk about contract extensions, based on where we finish? Seems to me the board is striking while the iron is hot, getting their guy secured for all the wrong reasons - money, money and money. They want him to stay forever because he makes them money. I doubt they give a shit about the football, beyond the necessity of at least the minimum level of performance to keep the cash flowing. Premature. Unnecessary. Could have waited to see how we do this season, there was no rush.

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Originally Posted by mastermind84

Oxlade-Chamberlain problem is that he is not a smart player.

Ramsey, for his flaws a few years ago, ended up in goal scoring situations where his finishing let him down. He also was sound tactically. He had his stupid back heels but he would press to win the ball back.

We all watch Oxlade-Chamberlain and we don't see any of that. He dribbles with his head down as well and runs into blind alleys. He also restricts the space Bellerin can run into.

Hope he turns it around but I don't believe in his talent.

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What’s your example of a smart winger? How are you able to recognise their level of intelligence? I think you’re reaching. The same was being said about Theo by fans regurgitating that rubbish from Chris Waddle and now you’ll hear pundits praise Theo’s intelligent off the ball movement.

I think Ox just needs a run of games. To say Ramsey is the smarter player is a far stretch. You mention the silly backheels but do you remember when Ramsey was really having a bad run of form and his silly back heels and blind passes almost lead to goals? I can’t say one player is smarter than the other from what I see of them but I know they both make bad decisions when low on confidence.

You know who'd be good for us?

Griezmann.

Ox needs to stop trying to do it all himself and integrate himself better with the team. Find the understanding with Santi and Ozil, learn how to exploit space as well as take men on directly. It's fabulous to have a player who isn't scared to run at defenders and even better as he has the talent to beat them - it's getting rarer in the game. He's not afraid to shoot, but again overdoes it. He needs to find a bit of balance. Liverpool were devastating when they had Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling firing at the spearhead of their counter game. We can end up with Alexis, Walcott and Ox who would be every bit as lethal. Would be great to see that in full flow but for now Theo and Ox have issues in their games that need to be fixed. Theo is ahead of Ox right now in terms of development, as expected. But I'm confident Ox will progress and start translating that talent to performances on the pitch. For us hopefully. It was interesting his name cropped up when Maureen was trying to insert himself into the Cech deal. The talent is there, the experience will come with game time but he has to put a lid on the mistakes that are costing us.

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Originally Posted by Douglas Reynholm

You know who'd be good for us?

Griezmann.

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Apparently van Genius is going to apply more of his endless genius by getting his chequebook out for Griezmann in the summer.

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Originally Posted by The Emirates Gallactico

Considering we also hit the woodwork twice ourselves and had a host of other closes attempts I think Everton would have been much more lucky to come away with something than us getting the three points. That Lukaku crossbar header and the Cech save at the end were the only clear cut chances they created all match.

It was a fully deserved win on balance, just not a comfortable one.


By the way, did anyone catch Gabriel's fantastic tackle near the end and his reaction to it? Celebrated like he'd scored a goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Wd8knQEQU

I fucking love Gabriel's passion and attitude. Quickly becoming one of my favourite players in the squad.

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Me too, he's a warrior, a fighter, he absolutely loves to win!

He really does remind me of a young Keown in that he's a bit of a hot head but still a very good player. We geniunely have a really good CB in Gabriel and I applaud Wenger and the scouts for making this signing because at 11million this boy was a steal!

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Originally Posted by LDG

The problem with Ox is the same problem Ramsey had four years ago.

It's about decision making. He just needs experience, and to curb the urge to do everything pounding forward directly towards goal (though it's nice to have someone who, at last, wants to be direct).

He needs to learn that sometimes, ball retention is the best option.

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This

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Originally Posted by Letters

Arsenal :bow:

Only saw the highlights but it looked like a more comfortable win than the scoreline suggests, Everton's goal was a lucky deflection, we hit the bar at least twice and had other chances. Everton scraped the bar once too and they had a late chance but Cech did his job - he's increasingly looking like a very important signing, one could argue he got us another 2 points yesterday and things like that add up over a season.

Looking like genuine challengers right now, long may it continue.
:patrice:

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Aye, I saw the first half and was impressed with us, we looked solid all over the pitch and we were unlucky with the Barkley goal. I didn't see the 2nd half so can't comment on the performance but what impressed me about the first half were the concentration levels and desire. I am getting the feeling this team is now starting to believe they can geniunely challenge for the title and so they should.

It's still early days but things are starting to take shape and we are in a good position at the moment.

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

What’s your example of a smart winger? How are you able to recognise their level of intelligence? I think you’re reaching. The same was being said about Theo by fans regurgitating that rubbish from Chris Waddle and now you’ll hear pundits praise Theo’s intelligent off the ball movement.

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Oxlade's makes the wrong runs a lot. Its why he and Ozil/Santi have never connected.

Chris Waddle was full of it because we saw Theo make brilliant runs to free space for himself and teammates. We saw this when he was a teenager. Oxlade doesnt show that.

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

I think Ox just needs a run of games. To say Ramsey is the smarter player is a far stretch. You mention the silly backheels but do you remember when Ramsey was really having a bad run of form and his silly back heels and blind passes almost lead to goals? I can’t say one player is smarter than the other from what I see of them but I know they both make bad decisions when low on confidence.

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Im taking all of that into account with Ramsey so long as you take into account that even in that bad run he found himself in goal scoring positions and stayed true to the tactical shape of the team. THats intelligence. These are things Ox doesnt do.

Ox has a lot of individual talent but he doesnt seem to fit into the team.

Been away for a few weeks, but we've had some cracking results in that time, Man U and Bayern being the highlights, so far so good after a sticky start but there's a long way to go a lot of games to play and we're certainly still up against it in the CL with some tough matches ahead and perhaps the need to have a result go our way.

In the league we seem to be doing well but when we get into good situations we've been known to falter so there's a long way to go before this team is to be considered the real deal and we will need some signings to improve for sure (someone in January wouldn't go amiss).