So we're linked with one of the Southampton nobodies as a replacement for Sagna. Fantastic news.
So we're linked with one of the Southampton nobodies as a replacement for Sagna. Fantastic news.
He's not a nobody - he's actually quite a good player and is highly rated by the Southampton staff. He just hasn't been exposed to the same level of media wank as Shaw and Lallana because he hasn't been as flashy as them .... which is quite a good thing as they can't exploit that to inflate his price.
On him or Aurier .... Aurier should definitely be the better option to go for right now. Club captain, better physical presence, more experienced and generally a better Sagna replacement. And he'll be the same price if not cheaper than Chambers as he isn't subject to the English tax levy. It's not like we should have any problems fulfilling or homegrown quota either so it'll be quite a bizarre move if it occurs (paper talk at the moment).
Only thing I can speculate on is that Wenger is not keen on losing an important defender for a month every two years for the ACON or that he thinks that Chambers will go on to become the significantly better player.
I don't know if it's specifically the African thing, but Wenger definitely seems to be more in favour of establishing a British core these days...
This guy is well known to be full of shit, and said we were going to re-sign RVC, but:
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You're right and I'm wrong Shit!. I swear I've never heard of him. I still prefer Aurier. Cant see how he is going to be better and they are both still kids. AFCON is 6 weeks every 2 years. If Jenks cant fill in for that gap, then we should dump him ASAPOriginally Posted by I am invisible
I hadn't heard of him either until we started getting linked with him, so I don't really have any strong opinions on him one way or the other really.
And the same goes for Aurier, if I'm being honest - I like what I've read about him so far, but I've seen about as much of him with my own eyes as I have of Chambers.
Purely on price though, I just can't see a player from Ligue 1 costing more than a promising young English player from a PL side (especially after we've all just had that massive bump in TV revenue)? It's not about what the player's actually worth - it's about what it will cost to persuade the selling club to sell, if they don't want to or have to. If we're going on cost, then I'd say Aurier would probably be the more attractive, easily attainable buy, so if Chambers turns out to be the more expensive of the two then you'd like to think there must be something decent about him for us to pass up on a cheaper option who sounds more than good enough?
Last edited by I am invisible; 09-06-2014 at 03:26 PM.
Nothing to say Draxler will player in central midfield or the hole. He is equally likely to play wide as is the now a familiar development paradigm for young players coming here in any part of the attacking department.
Wasn't Chamberlain pretty much in that position?
A very reasonable counter argument to the anti-African player mantra continuously spouted.
We've been kind of taking it as all signed, sealed and delivered that Sagna plays for City, Aurier now plays for Arsenal etc etc.....and it all may well happen like that but nothing has been done yet even though we all speak as if it has.
It is important to mention that whoever Wenger brings in has it to prove. Even Aurier hasn't proven he is at the top level yet.
Last edited by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice; 09-06-2014 at 07:15 PM.
That's exactly the problem. We don't NEED another ineffective CAM on the wing. We need some variety.
I could actually see it working pretty well? We currently have two central play-makers in Ozil and Cazorla who can (and have) both played wide before (down either flank), and I think they'd be a great foil for wide players who can come central - stick a couple of decent wing-backs behind the wide guys too, and there's the makings of quite a fluid formation there...
We've been doing it for years but has it ever been effective? It was at its best for the invincibles, with Pires playing on the left. But one of the main reasons for its success was that he had Henry in front of him playing a pseudo wide-left forward role and basically providing the width and pace for us. None of our other forwards since have given us that, and it has affected our ability to break down teams.
It's an ongoing problem. We tend to pass too slow and predictably against organised teams who sit deep and keep their shape. We lumber our way through the game without seriously looking like scoring until the last 15 minutes when the opponent's tire (Wenger even suggested that this is actual one of our strategies...). Of course the risk here is that we don't miraculously find a way through right at the end, or that they counter us and nick a win cause we're pushing everyone forward. Which has happened time and time again.
The pundits kind of had it right when they said we don't have a 'plan B'. But really, the top teams have a plan C and a plan D as well. We need more variety on the pitch so we can mix it up. Don't forget that having more direct players and runners in the team would get more out of the likes of Ozil and Cazorla too as it would give them something to aim at, rather than having another similar player who occupies the same spaces as them.
I'm not saying that signing a winger like Griezmann would fix all that but it would be a step in the right direction.
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