Winter Transfer Despair and Bafflement.

[Niall_Quinn]

He is average. But we're seeing exactly what happens when we don't use a DM in this squad. What have we sacrificed him for? The criticism has been that he doesn't offer much going forward but we still have that problem without him in the team along with no protection for our defence.

He's an average no frills player but we're watching Wenger try to bypass the need of a defensive minded midfielder and we're getting killed. He's the only DM we have and there seems to be no sign of a replacement on the way.

I don't disagree. but it's kind of, meh. what difference does it really make? Could be him, could be Ramsey, could be Elneny, who cares? Wenger won't put a system in place that focuses on the strength of our players anyway. Coquelin has regularly put in a shift and he has more discipline than most of the rest, but he gets thrown under the bus in the stupid system we play where his midfield partner is permitted to saunter around without responsibility. Vieira would have struggled in this system. Wenger's just a crackpot that is too big a handicap for any squad to overcome. He'd fuck Barca down the table. He'd take the current gypos to the runner-up spot this season. Coquelin is better off heading out, it'll give him a few more effective years on his career and he won't have to put up with Wenger's shit.

We've reached the stage where it's all about Wenger. Exactly where Wenger wants it to be. Arsene FC.

[Globalgunner]

I think the reason for the low transfer fees is simply the players wages. I wouldn't be surprised if Coq is on 60-70k. Socialism Which team outside the top 6 will pay that?. Hence the low transfer fee to compensate the player for a drop in salary and maybe a 10m signing bonus ffrom the new club.

[Power n Glory]

I don't disagree. but it's kind of, meh. what difference does it really make? Could be him, could be Ramsey, could be Elneny, who cares? Wenger won't put a system in place that focuses on the strength of our players anyway. Coquelin has regularly put in a shift and he has more discipline than most of the rest, but he gets thrown under the bus in the stupid system we play where his midfield partner is permitted to saunter around without responsibility. Vieira would have struggled in this system. Wenger's just a crackpot that is too big a handicap for any squad to overcome. He'd fuck Barca down the table. He'd take the current gypos to the runner-up spot this season. Coquelin is better off heading out, it'll give him a few more effective years on his career and he won't have to put up with Wenger's shit.

We've reached the stage where it's all about Wenger. Exactly where Wenger wants it to be. Arsene FC.

True. It makes no difference if he doesn’t play the right system. He doesn’t want to play with a defensive midfielder and his deamination to see that through is what made him switch to playing three at the back.

Delusion, arrogance, stupidity…I don’t know what it is, but he seems hell bent on freeing up our midfield from defensive duties. So much so, that he’d rather dump Coquelin out of the squad and go full Kamikaze with Rambo and Xhaka in the middle. He thinks this third CB is the solution to the extra security we need. It’s a blurred line for him. So much so, he’d go as far as playing Elneny as CB. His thinking behind this formation change is way off.

[selassie]

Agreed. We have some awful negotiators in place. Didn't Spurs get £19m for bentaleb? We constantly have our pants pulled down.

Yep, they also got something like 18million for Wimmer and both he and Bentaleb were pretty much bound to their reserves when they were sold!

I think part of the problem is we go around lowballing clubs so clubs are pretty much doing the same to us now.

Obviously our ludicrous wage structure doesn't help either where we are paying average and poor players crazy wages, this is now a major issue for us as we spent the best part of last summer struggling to give players away!!!

[Cripps]

True. It makes no difference if he doesn’t play the right system. He doesn’t want to play with a defensive midfielder and his deamination to see that through is what made him switch to playing three at the back.

Delusion, arrogance, stupidity…I don’t know what it is, but he seems hell bent on freeing up our midfield from defensive duties. So much so, that he’d rather dump Coquelin out of the squad and go full Kamikaze with Rambo and Xhaka in the middle. He thinks this third CB is the solution to the extra security we need. It’s a blurred line for him. So much so, he’d go as far as playing Elneny as CB. His thinking behind this formation change is way off.

There's just no real planning and vision at the club. We had the choice of Kante or Xhaka that summer. Eh?! They are completely different players. How can your vision be so unfocused? Kante is a destroyer and Xhaka is a deep lying playmaker. They can be played together but how does he think he can choose between one or the other? Their purpose is different and they do completely different things.

It's like he just goes with the flow without having any real plan in place. 'Oh ok we'll get the deep lying playmaker and stick him in and see what happens'. It's a bit like me saying I want a family car so I'll either buy a car or a van.

He should be going into the summer saying 'I want a destroyer so either x, y or z'.

[selassie]

It would be a huge waste of money but it can’t get any worse than it already is at the back.

I am at a loss with the Jonny Evans rumours too. I kind of get why City want him as a backup but I have no idea why we want him and not at the quoted prices. He would be first choice here if the rumoured prices are to be believed....

[Niall_Quinn]

There's just no real planning and vision at the club. We had the choice of Kante or Xhaka that summer. Eh?! They are completely different players. How can your vision be so unfocused? Kante is a destroyer and Xhaka is a deep lying playmaker. They can be played together but how does he think he can choose between one or the other? Their purpose is different and they do completely different things.

It's like he just goes with the flow without having any real plan in place. 'Oh ok we'll get the deep lying playmaker and stick him in and see what happens'. It's a bit like me saying I want a family car so I'll either buy a car or a van.

He should be going into the summer saying 'I want a destroyer so either x, y or z'.

Because he would have converted Kante into a tip tap merchant thereby destroying his game. Kate's career would be over now if he'd come here. Instead it's Xhaka that's been reduced to pub status. Wenger doesn't select players based on their strengths. He selects them on their capability to fit into and adapt to whatever fucked up vision of "total football" is going on in his crazed mind. Everyone will play in every position and interchange and pass, pass, pass, and conserve energy while the opponent runs helplessly around until they are too fatigued to resist the tip, tap, tip, tap.

Backwards, sideways, sideways, back, sideways, forwards, back, sideways, endlessly until the opposition loses the will to live (the fans long since dead through boredom). The very opposite of what was successful for him in the early years. And so every player he touches will be destroyed, their reputation degraded and their effectiveness halved. Tip tap tip tap, that's his whole game. And the defenders are supposed to tip tap their way out of trouble too. And the defenders can be midfielders and the midfielders defenders and the strikers wide men and the wide men can come into the centre, move an inch, stand, tip, tap, move another inch, tap it around some more. Then strike like a deadly snail.

The guy's a lunatic.

[Power n Glory]

There's just no real planning and vision at the club. We had the choice of Kante or Xhaka that summer. Eh?! They are completely different players. How can your vision be so unfocused? Kante is a destroyer and Xhaka is a deep lying playmaker. They can be played together but how does he think he can choose between one or the other? Their purpose is different and they do completely different things.

It's like he just goes with the flow without having any real plan in place. 'Oh ok we'll get the deep lying playmaker and stick him in and see what happens'. It's a bit like me saying I want a family car so I'll either buy a car or a van.

He should be going into the summer saying 'I want a destroyer so either x, y or z'.

Agreed. There is no vision at all. It's worth remembering that Wenger thought Xhaka was a box to box player and not a deep laying playmaker. Heck, I'd say it's a far stretch even calling Xhaka a deep laying playmaker. He's a long ball merchant. That is all he has in his locker. I have no idea why they thought he'd be a good fit for us. What's worse, now that we have him and see his strengths and weakness, we've changed the system and emptied out the midfield to further expose his weakness.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

He is average. But we're seeing exactly what happens when we don't use a DM in this squad. What have we sacrificed him for? The criticism has been that he doesn't offer much going forward but we still have that problem without him in the team along with no protection for our defence.

He's an average no frills player but we're watching Wenger try to bypass the need of a defensive minded midfielder and we're getting killed. He's the only DM we have and there seems to be no sign of a replacement on the way.

Even he thinks he's Pirlo when he gets on the pitch. If he could get back to just being what is needed, like in 2015 happy days but I think he has had his mind altered in a way like Ramsey.

[Niall_Quinn]

Even he thinks he's Pirlo when he gets on the pitch. If he could get back to just being what is needed, like in 2015 happy days but I think he has had his mind altered in a way like Ramsey.

They laced his broccoli.