Match Reaction vs The 'Ammers (away).

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Ironically Reus is probably the only player over Dortmund more unattainable than Lewandowski.....

To say he is a hell of a lot better than Cazorla, Ozil or Podolski on the left is a huge over statement imo.

[BOBN]

Nah, it is just people with opinions. Some of them I agree with some I don't. But there is one thing I've noticed on here for some time now. Most people can express themselves without sounding like superior self righteous cocks.

Whereas you can't.

It is what it is

[Underhill and over Grove]

Another good win against a struggling side, but what frustrates me is the feeling that no matter how well we do in these games, it does not matter, because we struggle to beat the best teams, in this and other leagues. What this has meant in past seasons is that we enter a two week period of doom at some point, where we exit the champions league, one or both of the cups, and suffer crippling defeats against one of the "big teams" in the Premier Division.

We have got a very technically gifted midfield, but our options further forward are not so promising, and this is especially frustrating given we seem to finally have sorted out our defensive/defensive midfield issues with Merts, Flamini and Arteta doing well, and Kos and Sir Ches suffering fewer brain farts.

Giroud is an effective forward player in terms of bringing others in to play, but as a striker he lacks that little bit of extra quality to win games, and often fluffs his lines at crucial moments. On the wings Podolski and Walcott are inconsistent and often injured, and this leaves us having to play players out of position to cover. Instead of wondering if we should sign a winger OR a striker, Wenger should be looking to bring in both. Too often in recent games the difference between us and other teams has been that they have a top class striker, and we do not.

I would like to see us sign Reus AND Costa, and for Wenger to play Gnabry and Akpom on the bench instead of Bendtner, who does not want to be here.

[Penguin]

Podolski has been poor to say the least the few times he played CF. Walcott has been good in some games and completely ineffective in others, which is what you would expect from a player of his skills in that position. I'm not even going to mention the Dane.

I would really like the stat on how many games Cazorla played wide left last season to be public knowledge. I don't have it unfortunately. I fundamentally disagree with your view on him and Ozil though as I've intimated.

I think if you go back to Narsi's purple patch and note down the number of good games he had from the left you will be surprised. It is a myth in my opinion that he played better in that period in midfield. I acutely remember his best games coming when he started left.

Messi is one of a kind. There is no precedent for what many are suggesting Reus could do simply because it doesn't work effectively in practice. People are using players completely unlike him to build a case and that is because players like him don't play CF in a 433 in the prem imo. The fact you have to mention Messi at all does not help your argument. Reus is certainly no Messi and if he was I would be totally with you.

I know height is not the ball all end all of having power, which is why I used the examples of Tevez and Aguero who both have power. It's not about being lightweight or a powerhouse. You can be somewhere in between, but if you are, you have to have enough to avoid being dominated against big burly CB's in the prem. I'm not convinced Reus does or that his skills and talents are best served trying to give it back to centre halves over 90 minutes.

As a short guy being hard to knock off the ball (which is what I was talking about rather than ability), Messi isn't a one of a kind. There are tons of them around including Gotze, Iniesta and Ribery. They're skinny midgets but they can make players like Essien look silly when they hold them off and shield the ball so effortlessly. Reus has that in his locker and has the ball control to boot.

Reus isn't even short at 5'11 and can handle the physical side of the game. Shorter strikers have succeeded in the Premier League like Owen, Defoe, Robbie Keane and even Wrighty. You dont have to be built like a tank.

Ironically Reus is probably the only player over Dortmund more unattainable than Lewandowski.....

To say he is a hell of a lot better than Cazorla, Ozil or Podolski on the left is a huge over statement imo.

He has a buy out clause so he is attainable, as long as he wants to leave.

[LDG]

Yesterday's game is a case in point that we need another striker who can consistently finish off the chances we create.

Against sides like West Ham, it's fine as we will (as a general rule) create enough chances to win the game. But our goals to chances ratio is horrendous (I have no idea of the actual stat, but I assume I'm correct).

In the big games vs Chelsea etc, you only get a couple of chances, and you have to bury them of drop points. Early season we had that knack, but the last 6 games or so, we have really suffered for not having more finishing ability.

Hopefully Theo and Pod can provide more support to the out of form (in the scoring department) Giroud, but a striker is an absolute must on 1st January.

[Grebbo]

I thought we played well yesterday, first time in a while that I thought we played good football. I guess playing against a shit team helps!

Created loads of chances with some great moves, could've scored 6 if we were more clinical up front.

[GP]

West Ham can't be that shit, they put 3 past Spurs...

[Power n Glory]

Giroud needs to be rested. You can see the frustration with all the misses. The first shot he hit well wide was telling and the look on Wenger's face says it all. He has decisions to make and he has to be ruthless with the team selection or we'll suffer. He doesn't want to shake up the core too much but we've had a few players underperforming for a while now. The timing of Pod and Walcott's return is perfect.

[BOBN]

We have got a very technically gifted midfield, but our options further forward are not so promising, and this is especially frustrating given we seem to finally have sorted out our defensive/defensive midfield issues with Merts, Flamini and Arteta doing well, and Kos and Sir Ches suffering fewer brain farts.

Giroud is an effective forward player in terms of bringing others in to play, but as a striker he lacks that little bit of extra quality to win games, and often fluffs his lines at crucial moments. On the wings Podolski and Walcott are inconsistent and often injured, and this leaves us having to play players out of position to cover. Instead of wondering if we should sign a winger OR a striker, Wenger should be looking to bring in both. Too often in recent games the difference between us and other teams has been that they have a top class striker, and we do not.

Thats on Wenger. Firstly he collects several similar types. Yes the midfielders are technically gifted to an extent (Wilshere and Ramsey struggle with basic technical things pretty often) but theres little balance. He could have added more athletic midfielders who could mix things up going foward let alone defensively but he has an obsession with a particular type.

Secondly, even when fit we know Wenger likes at least one "technical" player on one of the wings so I doubt Walcott and Podolski have had much chance to impress in tandem. Yesterday his hand was forced thats all.

Wenger needs to break free of his possession addiction if an additional winger would chance things. Right now another winger would probably leave Podolski and Walcott on the bench and we'll again be looking for one man to fix our ills.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

We had to do major restructuring over the summer. We let 20+ players go and had to reconfigure the dimensions of the squad. We bought in Ozil which elevated us back to the top, now is the time to sprinkle the squad with more top players, starting with a striker. This would make our options going forward more promising.

The first stage of restructuring is complete following the stadium move. We now move onto the second stage. Let's see what we do in the transfer window.