Summer Transfer Speculation and Shit

[McNamara That Ghost...]

You are comparing Ramsey to the player Cesc was, not the player he became latterly for us and at Barcelona and for Spain. I thought we looked fairly fluent between September and December, which of course is when Ramsey got injured.

I don't want to spend too much time comparing us to how we were with Cesc as the main guy. Basically because within one season of Ramsey being our main guy we have won the same amount as we did with Cesc in seven years, plus as mentioned above I think his game has changed from what it was then.

[I am invisible]

The way Wenger plays a three man midfield has always frustrated me. When we signed Rosicky, I thought we’d finally play 4-3-3 with both Cesc and Rosicky in the midfield. Instead we stuck with 4-4-2/4-5-1 and switched to a 4-3-3 much later. I preferred to see Rosicky in the middle but that never happened. That was disappointing because I think they’d have been a dangerous duo. But Rosicky was injured a lot and Wenger did find a role for Hleb in the middle behind the striker during the 4-5-1 days.

When we finally switched to 4-3-3, Wenger decided to push Cesc further up the field and trusted Song and trash bag Denilson to set things up behind him. I could never understand why we had garbage like Denilson playing when we had talent like Nasri, Arshavin and Rosicky. He stuck with Denilson for far too long and pushed Cesc further up when he should have been the deep laying playmaker. Nasri or Arshavin could have played the attacking midfield role of the trio with Cesc operating behind. I have no idea why that didn’t happen. When Wilshere got his chance in the team, it looked like we were close to correcting the balance but Cesc left and Wilshere went all shit.

I think we’re a bit top heavy at the moment with the core trio because we have players that are probably best suited to playing the attacking midfield role. Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey even Wilshere all seem to look for space further up the field and drift too much. They leave Arteta exposed sometimes without a passing outlet so we’re forced to go to the wingbacks or back to Merts again. With the amount of open space we leave in the middle under the current set up, I think Cesc would naturally float to those vacant areas and giving us more of an outlet. That would make it easier to feed players further forward. I’m not sure where that leaves Wilshere but we can’t really worry about that.

Regarding Rosicky playing further back….I thought about it as well and it could work. He’s not soft in the tackle and has the intelligence to pick the correct passes. If Arteta can do it, Rosicky should be capable. I’ve seen him unleash some mean tackles and he’ll press an opponent hard when it’s needed.

Yeah, he's actually quite a ferocious tackler at times, and I think he'd certainly bring a bit more zip and urgency to the role than Arteta does (both in terms of defending and moving the ball around). Could we play him there every week? Probably not, but there's plenty of other players queuing up for games in CM who we could rotate him with (Arteta, Flamini, Wilshere, maybe even Diaby), so we might be able ensure he's available for the right games, if we manage the situation carefully (yeah, I'm laughing as I say it too)?

I do feel a bit sorry for Wilshere. As I was saying a couple of days ago, he was out of action arguably longer than Ramsey was, he's come back into a team that is completely different to the one he was playing in before he got injured, and he's largely been used all over the place, in different positions, and all the while he's been trying to get his match fitness and sharpness back - it's not really surprising that he hasn't been quite the same player! Personally speaking, I think he'll come good again, sooner rather than later - he'd shown more top-level consistency than Ramsey had before their respective injuries, and as I recall Ramsey was struggling just as much with his form when he first returned, as we did the same thing in playing him anywhere and everywhere to get his fitness up, and even farmed him out on loan. If Ramsey can do it, then there's every reason to believe that Wilshere can too - at this point, I think what he needs more than anything else is a regular, set position again to really make his own, and, for me, that would be one of those two deeper roles...

[Power n Glory]

You are comparing Ramsey to the player Cesc was, not the player he became latterly for us and at Barcelona and for Spain. I thought we looked fairly fluent between September and December, which of course is when Ramsey got injured.

I don't want to spend too much time comparing us to how we were with Cesc as the main guy. Basically because within one season of Ramsey being our main guy we have won the same amount as we did with Cesc in seven years, plus as mentioned above I think his game has changed from what it was then.

Cesc played as a second striker sometimes for Barca. If he's good enough and smart enough to adapt his game to what the team needs and still be effective, that should tell you something and answer all you need on where he'd fit in.

Also, I think you need to put things into context. If it wasn't for our dramatic improvement and attitude towards defending, we'd have won nothing. Ramsey is a talent but we've had players with more talent and in much better form but we couldn't win anything because our defending was really poor. The Almunia/Clichy/Gallas/Toure/Eboue was a complete shambles. Cesc had plenty of seasons like the one Ramsey has just had but the defending was terrible. Just think of the amount of last minute goals we'd let in when on the brink of victory because we couldn't defend a set piece.

[Marc Overmars]

Liverpool close to signing Emre Can.

[Power n Glory]

Yeah, he's actually quite a ferocious tackler at times, and I think he'd certainly bring a bit more zip and urgency to the role than Arteta does (both in terms of defending and moving the ball around). Could we play him there every week? Probably not, but there's plenty of other players queuing up for games in CM who we could rotate him with (Arteta, Flamini, Wilshere, maybe even Diaby), so we might be able ensure he's available for the right games, if we manage the situation carefully (yeah, I'm laughing as I say it too)?

I do feel a bit sorry for Wilshere. As I was saying a couple of days ago, he was out of action arguably longer than Ramsey was, he's come back into a team that is completely different to the one he was playing in before he got injured, and he's largely been used all over the place, in different positions, and all the while he's been trying to get his match fitness and sharpness back - it's not really surprising that he hasn't been quite the same player! Personally speaking, I think he'll come good again, sooner rather than later - he'd shown more top-level consistency than Ramsey had before their respective injuries, and as I recall Ramsey was struggling just as much with his form when he first returned, as we did the same thing in playing him anywhere and everywhere to get his fitness up, and even farmed him out on loan. If Ramsey can do it, then there's every reason to believe that Wilshere can too - at this point, I think what he needs more than anything else is a regular, set position again to really make his own, and, for me, that would be one of those two deeper roles...

Wilshere has a tough road back but he'll get better over time. At the moment, I think he's trying too hard. He needs to go back to the basics and he'll eventually get it back. He just needs to avoid picking up another injury. I really worry about how often he gets crunched for holding on to the ball too long.

[Munchies]

Liverpool close to signing Emre Can.

Top player on Football Manager

[I am invisible]

We're "deep in conversations" to bring in new players, according to Ivan. Deep.

[Munchies]

@GeoffArsenal ·

Cesc is NOT joining Arsenal. Can we move on now.

[I am invisible]

We're "deep in conversations" to bring in new players, according to Ivan. Deep.

Plus, the guy on Le-grove reckons he's heard things that we should be excited about? Apparently we'll forget all about Cesc if whatever it is happens!

[I am invisible]

We're "deep in conversations" to bring in new players, according to Ivan. Deep.

Plus, the guy on Le-grove reckons he's heard things that we should be excited about! Apparently we'll forget all about Cesc if whatever it is happens!

Sorry - this is what passes for Arsenal rumours these days... *sigh*