Match reaction v the orcs

[I am invisible]

Unfortunately the Diaby fitness issue is kind of a big one. I feel as sorry for him as the next guy for how his career has panned out, but we need to face facts here - he's never going to be an option that we can consistently count on, and he certainly isn't someone we should be thinking about building a team around. That's just asking for trouble...

[Özil's Panoramic View]

Arteta was a panic buy as a good Everton player. He only caught the eye at Everton as a poor man's Fabregas but Wumger has turned him into a modern day Ray Wilkins. You could teach a monkey to make 100 sideways passes of 10 yards in a game.
He is not what we need for the future, he is too slow in all aspects of the way we play & if people suggest he is a DM, please have a look at his tackling - its woeful & almost always end up giving away a free-kick in dangerous areas.
He did OK in a young, poor midfield last year but now that Rambo's found some bollocks, Jack's got undoubted quality & we have the beautiful sound of Cazorla & Ozil ( orgasmic ) - he's destined for the bench.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Diaby has bad habits but Wilshere and Ramsey are just as guilty. The Liverpool game was a reminder of his potential. He’s had the odd few games like that for France and when paired with Song in middle some years back. His fitness is the only issue for me. He’d have been perfect otherwise and just what we need.

There is probably too much of an emphasis on Arteta. His slow and cautious pace is one thing but I don’t the issue is resolved without him in the team, as seem this season. I’d like to see different combinations where we don’t have both Jack and Ramsey in the squad. A combination of Flamini/Arteta, Rosicky and Ozil would be dangerous.

I don't see how Wilshere or Ramsey are anywhere near as guilty of holding on to the ball, particularly Ramsey who has been the form player of the league so far. Maybe because Ramsey and Wilshere have played 100 times for Arsenal and you have just seen more of them than Diaby. Diaby is also 27 now so should be assessed differently to our younger two anyway. This is the age for him when childish mistakes should be behind him as a prominent player (ha ha I know) for a club like Arsenal. Diaby didn't show the link up play that Jack did consistently enough when he was fit or the industry, work rate and goals that Ramsey is now either.

Our last two games have not been brimming with the free and flowing, quick tippy tappy football you are alluding to. Maybe the euphoria from winning and being top of the league have masked that fact but the win against Stoke was anything but. We played it quicker on the counter against Spurs but that was way before Flamini had even come on to the pitch so whilst I can't credit Arteta with that it also wasn't exactly down to Flamini either.

And by the way people. One might argue Ozil was a panic buy, even if the greatest panic buy of all time. A world class player but let's not forget that he was neither a part of any summer 'plan' or done in anything like an expedient time frame for the blood pressure of Arsenal fans....

Mertesacker was a panic buy as was Arteta, but they both have proven their use to the squad. Even Benayoun was pivotal in securing 4th place that year.

[hobson's choice]

I don't understand what games some of you are watching, cause the over praise for Ramsey and Wilshere is getting a bit upsurd now.

Yes Ramsey is scoring goals, but lets not gloss over the fact, he still has a lot of work to do, to be a really good Central Midfielder on a consistent level, same goes for Wilshere, minus the goal part. When is the last time, we've seen an Arsenal midfield concede as much possession as this bunch does, on a game to game basis. The midfield play has not looked fluid, sharp, and crisp at all. They still got ways to go, and to me Jack in particular hasn't prove that he deserve to start, when everyone is fit.

I'm all for the team, and what not, but lets not ignore the problems, that are still there.

[Marc Overmars]

Theo out for a few weeks, likely to be back after the international break.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-arc...inal-procedure

[Power n Glory]

I don't see how Wilshere or Ramsey are anywhere near as guilty of holding on to the ball, particularly Ramsey who has been the form player of the league so far. Maybe because Ramsey and Wilshere have played 100 times for Arsenal and you have just seen more of them than Diaby. Diaby is also 27 now so should be assessed differently to our younger two anyway. This is the age for him when childish mistakes should be behind him as a prominent player (ha ha I know) for a club like Arsenal. Diaby didn't show the link up play that Jack did consistently enough when he was fit or the industry, work rate and goals that Ramsey is now either.

Our last two games have not been brimming with the free and flowing, quick tippy tappy football you are alluding to. Maybe the euphoria from winning and being top of the league have masked that fact but the win against Stoke was anything but. We played it quicker on the counter against Spurs but that was way before Flamini had even come on to the pitch so whilst I can't credit Arteta with that it also wasn't exactly down to Flamini either.

And by the way people. One might argue Ozil was a panic buy, even if the greatest panic buy of all time. A world class player but let's not forget that he was neither a part of any summer 'plan' or done in anything like an expedient time frame for the blood pressure of Arsenal fans....

Mertesacker was a panic buy as was Arteta, but they both have proven their use to the squad. Even Benayoun was pivotal in securing 4th place that year.

Have you not seen the amount of times Wilshere has ran himself into trouble or have you forgotten already how long it's taken Ramsey to get to this level? The amount of touches he'd take to only play a pointless pass or give it away?

Wilshere and Ramsey have been able to get over their injuries but Diaby hasn't. Experience and time is what irons out those sort of problems. If your always picking up injuries you won't have the chance. Imagine what Ramsey would be like if he'd picked up another injury last season and sat out the whole summer.

[Power n Glory]

I don't understand what games some of you are watching, cause the over praise for Ramsey and Wilshere is getting a bit upsurd now.

Yes Ramsey is scoring goals, but lets not gloss over the fact, he still has a lot of work to do, to be a really good Central Midfielder on a consistent level, same goes for Wilshere, minus the goal part. When is the last time, we've seen an Arsenal midfield concede as much possession as this bunch does, on a game to game basis. The midfield play has not looked fluid, sharp, and crisp at all. They still got ways to go, and to me Jack in particular hasn't prove that he deserve to start, when everyone is fit.

I'm all for the team, and what not, but lets not ignore the problems, that are still there.

[GP]

Arteta was a panic buy as a good Everton player. He only caught the eye at Everton as a poor man's Fabregas but Wumger has turned him into a modern day Ray Wilkins. You could teach a monkey to make 100 sideways passes of 10 yards in a game.
He is not what we need for the future, he is too slow in all aspects of the way we play & if people suggest he is a DM, please have a look at his tackling - its woeful & almost always end up giving away a free-kick in dangerous areas.
He did OK in a young, poor midfield last year but now that Rambo's found some bollocks, Jack's got undoubted quality & we have the beautiful sound of Cazorla & Ozil ( orgasmic ) - he's destined for the bench.

[I am invisible]

To be honest, I think we're just going to have to make our peace with conceding a bit more possession this season - that's just the nature of the beast when you're playing counter-attacking football. You want to create a situation where you're stretching your opponent's lines by coaxing them into your half, and then hitting them quickly while the space is there to exploit, and you can't really do that without a) letting you're opponent's having the ball (so they can actually mount an attack for you to counter), and b) playing quicker, more adventurous, forward passes that carry a greater risk of being misplaced or intercepted.

Just my opinion, but I actually prefer to see us playing this kind of fast, adventurous, slightly riskier football, than the high-possession, high-pressing game that we've played for the last few years, with it's slow build-up and careful probing around packed areas? For all the possession we've enjoyed, it's actually felt quite inefficient, and more than a little... safe? And it's quite often left us an easy target for other counter-attacking sides ourselves (how many times did Man U and Chelsea used to pick us off with ease when we were playing all that tippy-tappy football?)...

[Marc Overmars]

It's still possible to be effective even if you don't dominate possession, you just have to defend better.

To me it looks like we're more comfortable without the ball now, we don't see the same panic or lethargic attitude anymore when we don't have it.