Random Arsenal Shit (When it's not worth starting a thread)

[Syn]

This is all horseshit. He talks in such generic terms. 2 games - which were anything but mistake free - is no sample to conclude anything. Might as well call it a time-lag for the Bould effect.

[Niall_Quinn]

is this guy admitting to relying on gary neville on the telly? Scary.

I guess you just haven't been watching Walcott play (or not play), instead you scan the stats columns. But if we're going to rely purely on stats then let's take it all the way and look at the games won and points columns and the league table. That's what we need more of, wins, points. You get those by outscoring the other teams and you outscore the other teams by playing more effectively than them during matches (bar the odd fluke). Judged by what actually matters Walcott and Giroud son't look so hot now. And the main objection is the club had to fork £100K and unbalance the team just to keep this kid who isn't delivering. I urge you to watch him play. The laziness, the lack of coverage, the stupid positions he takes up, the inability to pass a ball, the inability to complete more than 1 in 20 (I'd estimate) crosses, the inability to influence important games except once in a blue moon (Reading doesn't count).

Stick a proper player up there and he'd have at least what Walcott has, plus a lot more because that useless midfield of ours has provided enough opportunities. It's the lumps up front who can't convert them. All you have to do is watch. In the last game you could have watched as Theo stood still while the opposition ran straight past him, he didn't bat an eyelid. Can we be effective with players like that in the team? Not really, I wouldn't have said so.

The answer therefore is to ignore Walcott's inadequacies and pin the on Wilshere instead. Even then, I don't think that will help us with the stats that really count.

The Merts thing is the newspapers being shit as always. I figure the guy knew a bit about defending before Neville piped up.

[Niall_Quinn]

It’s funny because it seems like a complete revelation for Merts. Did they think they were doing what gave them that impression? I hope some staff members put together a tape of the bad defending and what was in the media rather than the players discovering it for themselves. Frightening stuff. Were they totally oblivious to the lack of pressure they’d put on opposing teams? I thought it was an intentional flawed strategy because we used to see the same thing week in week out.

It's just the BS PR that goes along with football these days. Something for the players to say (heaven forbid they say nothing) and something for the hacks to write about. Keeps the sewage flowing along. The changes we have seen can only have come from one place (or else the guy is not the dictator he's made out to be and people can't have it both ways). Wenger rang the changes. Is he admitting he was wrong? I hope so. Do I think he's admitting he was wrong? No. I think this is more of the same, having to hit the bottom before action is taken even though the trip to the bottom is tiresomely predictable. The manager places a lot of faith in sub-standard players and then he eventually gets the hump when those sub-standard players fuck up once too many times. A big push is organised and it works for a few games before the drift into complacency begins again. We've seen it for years, same shit. Even if this is the start of a run that sees us grab the coveted 4th place trophy it won't be built on come the transfer window and it won't be built on next season.

[Power n Glory]

How many times have the midfield put Walcott or Giroud clean through where they've fluffed their lines?

[Kano]

giroud is only rated 80 in fifa, so he ain't so good.

[Power n Glory]

It's a simple question. I can't remember the last time we've opened a team open for a clear goal scoring opportunity only for Giroud or Walcott to miss. Not the greatest up front but they're feeding off scraps.

[Niall_Quinn]

How many times have the midfield put Walcott or Giroud clean through where they've fluffed their lines?

How many times do players ever get clean through on goal? It's a rarity. However it does happen and you'd put money on Giroud missing and go evens on Walcott. Nobody says he isn't quick, nobody says he occasionally has a competent finish on him. Whether those rare moments compensate for all the other shit, that's the question. Ramsey, Walcott and Giroud, guilty of the most destructive mistake in football, turning possession and attack into defence. Walcott's first touch is comical, it lets him down so many times. His decision making even worse. If you look at players like Cazorla and Wilshere and even Rosicky, Gibbs and Sagna to a lesser degree, they know what to do with the ball when they have it, they are aware, they hang onto possession even if they have to lay it off. Walcott doesn't do that, he loses the ball. It's a sin. We'd be so much more comfortable in games if we didn't have players like Ramsey, Diaby and Walcott on the pitch.

[Niall_Quinn]

It's a simple question. I can't remember the last time we've opened a team open for a clear goal scoring opportunity only for Giroud or Walcott to miss. Not the greatest up front but they're feeding off scraps.

I see what you are saying. Those opportunities come one of two ways, either by luck or by design. When it's design it comes from control. You have to get all the basics of football right before you can exploit the other team in the way you are talking about. Passing, movement, awareness, intelligent decision making and also trust that the guys you are playing with are capable of playing at a certain level. That's where we break down. We have some players who can do it, and it breaks down around the players who can't.

On the other hand, how many times have we seen Theo with the chance to take his man on and beat him, only for him to check and lay it back or square? If he's the 100K player the club has invested in and changed the style of play to accommodate, where's his confidence and belief?

[Power n Glory]

How many times do players ever get clean through on goal? It's a rarity. However it does happen and you'd put money on Giroud missing and go evens on Walcott. Nobody says he isn't quick, nobody says he occasionally has a competent finish on him. Whether those rare moments compensate for all the other shit, that's the question. Ramsey, Walcott and Giroud, guilty of the most destructive mistake in football, turning possession and attack into defence. Walcott's first touch is comical, it lets him down so many times. His decision making even worse. If you look at players like Cazorla and Wilshere and even Rosicky, Gibbs and Sagna to a lesser degree, they know what to do with the ball when they have it, they are aware, they hang onto possession even if they have to lay it off. Walcott doesn't do that, he loses the ball. It's a sin. We'd be so much more comfortable in games if we didn't have players like Ramsey, Diaby and Walcott on the pitch.

Once again you're lumping too much of the blame on the strikers and ignoring a lot of key factors. They're part of the problem but we lack zip and temp in our play because Cazorla, Arteta and Wilshere aren't working well together. Hansen did a good job on highlighting the amount of good forward runs are strikers made without receiving a good pass. That can't be ignored and they're part of the reason why we're not a threat in the final third. In fairness, Giroud and Walcott have chipped in with a fair amount of goals and assists. 2 goals and 5 assists from Wilshere isn't anything to shout about. It's not just the stats I'm going on either. The general play from our midfield has been poor. Arteta isn’t protecting the back four or distributing the ball well. In one game Merts made more passes than him in a game. That isn’t right and he’s really struggled this season to help dictate the tempo of the game. Cazorla has too many games where he plays for 10 minutes then takes 30 minutes off. He’s had a host of anonymous games which hasn’t helped. I’m not denying that these guys are good players but there has to be some sort of accountability and acknowledgment that they haven’t been up to par. That’s what you’re ignoring.

[Niall_Quinn]

Once again you're lumping too much of the blame on the strikers and ignoring a lot of key factors. They're part of the problem but we lack zip and temp in our play because Cazorla, Arteta and Wilshere aren't working well together. Hansen did a good job on highlighting the amount of good forward runs are strikers made without receiving a good pass. That can't be ignored and they're part of the reason why we're not a threat in the final third. In fairness, Giroud and Walcott have chipped in with a fair amount of goals and assists. 2 goals and 5 assists from Wilshere isn't anything to shout about. It's not just the stats I'm going on either. The general play from our midfield has been poor. Arteta isn’t protecting the back four or distributing the ball well. In one game Merts made more passes than him in a game. That isn’t right and he’s really struggled this season to help dictate the tempo of the game. Cazorla has too many games where he plays for 10 minutes then takes 30 minutes off. He’s had a host of anonymous games which hasn’t helped. I’m not denying that these guys are good players but there has to be some sort of accountability and acknowledgment that they haven’t been up to par. That’s what you’re ignoring.

If you mean I ignore the inadequacies of the team as a whole by slaughtering them after each inadequate performance then fair enough. In fact I probably go overboard with the criticism because it pisses me off so much when we play badly. Yes, everyone wants the team to play better, and the manager to manage better too of course. Surely a good place to start would be to find the biggest problems and correct those. In terms of players Wenger has already acted by replacing our biggest liability Santos. But he seems blind when it comes to certain other players.

If you at least get rid of the weakest links and replace with better and stronger options it gives a good base on which to address the other problem you have highlighted. Arteta hasn't been great this year but at least he can pass a ball, albeit negatively and too slowly of late. Put better players around him and maybe he'll improve. Cazorla may drift out of games, again put better players around him. Look for the improvement and replace him too if it doesn't come. Replace them all if need be but start with the players who actually cause damage rather than advantage when they are on the pitch.

For me the prime suspects are Ramsey, Diaby and Walcott. I know they can sometimes do positive things but I want to see players who have a better first touch, who can pass consistently and who don't lack some of the fundamental skills that are essential at the level we want to play at (allegedly). Others will disagree of course but you can't ignore the number of times the play breaks down around these players. And when the play breaks down everything else goes to hell too. Just by doing the simple stuff to a competent level we could take some of the strain off that creaky defence. Or link the midfield, particularly in dangerous situations. But watching the ball bounce off Giroud or Walcott when the simple pass and move is open, watching Diaby and Ramsey slow it all down to then give the ball away or sent it back into defence, it's infuriating and it disrupts our game.

You look at other teams, shit teams like Wigan yesterday. They are very, very ordinary but at least their players can pass five yards without giving it away. Why can very ordinary players do these simple things while superstars (in their own minds) on 80K or 100K fuck it up week after week? That can't be allowed in a serious football team surely? We missed a big chance to be shot of Walcott (although it doesn't seem anyone wanted him) and we should have been rid of Diaby years ago. We could have had better players in on the money we would have saved. We went through the whole saga with Chamakh too. The unrealistic hopes that flew in the face of the reality. We're now in the even more ludicrous situation of having a wandering winger/ striker who can't control a ball. Regardless of the runs the kid makes the chances of him actually doing something with the ball if it reached him are negligible. We see it every week and frankly this silliness about him playing in the centre needs to be knocked on the head fast and we need to get a real striker on the books this summer. Okay keep Walcott but get him back to school where he can learn the basics. Get rid of Ramsey and Diaby though.