Summer Transfer Misery and Recriminations.

[Marc Overmars]

In other news, Flamini is off to Palace and Bendtner has signed for Notts Forest.

Makes the squad we have now look pretty awesome when you consider some of the chumps we've relied on in the past.

[Kano]

Agent Flamini securing us 6 points.

We're effectively top of the league now.

Wenger

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Kano makes a good point on other teams splashing money around. Wilshere managed a loan deal to Bournemouth and he's on £90k-£100k.

Though I do think Walcott has been retained to be persevered with by Wenger (in my view one of his most infuriating qualities that players get too many chances). Isn't Walcott on something silly like 140k?

But again hypothetical as I don't think Wenger ever considered letting Walcott go out on loan, which is probably prudent as we don't exactly have loads of depth in terms of wide players.

I am led to believe that there was a plan to bring in Mikhytarian contingent on getting rid of Walcott (and I'm not just saying that because that's what I said we should do months ago) but even if not on loan his contract would make it very difficult to get rid of him permenantly

My understanding is that he also wanted to get rid of Gibbs, bring in Rodriguez from Wolfsburg and make Monreal the second choice left back.

Monreal is for me another player we should be looking to get rid of, his lack of pace is a liability at times and allows far more crosses into the box than Bellerin does.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Agent Flamini securing us 6 points.

We're effectively top of the league now.

Wenger

I love Flamini, he actually enjoys inflicting pain on people

Can you imagine how disappointed he got if he went though an entire game without picking up a single yellow card....distraught I imagine.

You can imagine him as being a violent rapist in a Gaspar Noe film

[Kano]

Palace will soon realise this move is Irreversible.

[fakeyank]

Again an attempt to deflect, look man we get it....you want to be able to acknowledge the love you and your boy toy share, but presumably both because of the caste system and the fact that its illegal you can't.

Have your family tried to pressure you into marrying a girl?.....is that it?. Because if it is, it's not her fault so whilst on honeymoon in South Africa don't have her bumped off and attempt to make it look like a robbery....that poor girl can't help it that you were made the way you are

Yup, they got me 'arranged married' to a white girl. First time that ever happened in a brown man's life!

And we were in South Africa for our honeymoon.. how did you know, you creep?

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Yup, they got me 'arranged married' to a white girl. First time that ever happened in a brown man's life!

And we were in South Africa for our honeymoon.. how did you know, you creep?

Just a guess, historically it seems to be a top destination spot for Indian Homos to take their new brides

[I am invisible]

What's Wilshere's best position?

He isn't a playmaker because he holds it too long. Can't play him deep because he can't sense danger. He doesn't have great vision. Not that good off the ball.

Jack has great technique and control but I don't know how good he actually is as a complete footballer.

Positionally speaking, I'd put him where Cazorla is (although I'd obviously expect him to put his own stamp on the role): a slightly deeper role, where he can see the game in front of him, and has licence to drive forward when it's on. As you say, he has a natural tendency to hold on to the ball, and when you combine that with a more advanced role, where he's receiveing the ball with his back to opponents, then you've pretty much got a perfect recipe for being hit hard by big, burly defenders and defensive midfielders (which could partly explain why he's been picking up so many injuries in recent years?). Move him further back though, and he'll be receiving the ball with opponents in front of him, and he'll be directly up against lighter weight attacking midfielders instead - might not be a cureall for all his woes, but I think it would drastically cut down on the impact injuries.

In terms of what he'd bring to the role, I think he shares a lot of the same attributes as Rosicky (who I also thought would be a perfect fit for that deeper, central role) - a spiky character, who's at his best when he's in the thick of it, turning over opposition atatcks, and then suddenly accelerating our play. I think that kind of player would make a great counterfoil to the calmer influence of a holding midlfielder like Xhaka: one slows the play down when we need to, and the other speeds it up; one can hit it direct and long, and the other can jink his way through shorter, tighter spaces; one is more of a careful orchestrator, and the other more reactive.

I keep thinking back to that 2010/11 seaspn when he really broke into the first team - that's the Wilshere that I want to see, if / when he returns. He played that same, deeper role in the same formation that season (playing 49 games, for what it's worth), and I thought he was carrying our midfield by the end (i.e. after Fabregas and Nasri had mentally fucked off to their new clubs, and Song had decided that he wwould rather be a forward). But he was a humbler, younger man back then though, and he kept his game a lot simpler - I think a lot will depend on whether he can regain that humility and focus on this loan...

[fakeyank]

Just a guess, historically it seems to be a top destination spot for Indian Homos to take their new brides

Do you happen to know where people whose panties are in a bunch go to? You need to look that place up. I'll start a GoFundMe page for you to get there because I am sure you probably dont have a job (probably an Indian has taken it)! Is that the reason for being so butthurt all the time?

[Gooner23]

Positionally speaking, I'd put him where Cazorla is (although I'd obviously expect him to put his own stamp on the role): a slightly deeper role, where he can see the game in front of him, and has licence to drive forward when it's on. As you say, he has a natural tendency to hold on to the ball, and when you combine that with a more advanced role, where he's receiveing the ball with his back to opponents, then you've pretty much got a perfect recipe for being hit hard by big, burly defenders and defensive midfielders (which could partly explain why he's been picking up so many injuries in recent years?). Move him further back though, and he'll be receiving the ball with opponents in front of him, and he'll be directly up against lighter weight attacking midfielders instead - might not be a cureall for all his woes, but I think it would drastically cut down on the impact injuries.

In terms of what he'd bring to the role, I think he shares a lot of the same attributes as Rosicky (who I also thought would be a perfect fit for that deeper, central role) - a spiky character, who's at his best when he's in the thick of it, turning over opposition atatcks, and then suddenly accelerating our play. I think that kind of player would make a great counterfoil to the calmer influence of a holding midlfielder like Xhaka: one slows the play down when we need to, and the other speeds it up; one can hit it direct and long, and the other can jink his way through shorter, tighter spaces; one is more of a careful orchestrator, and the other more reactive.

I keep thinking back to that 2010/11 seaspn when he really broke into the first team - that's the Wilshere that I want to see, if / when he returns. He played that same, deeper role in the same formation that season (playing 49 games, for what it's worth), and I thought he was carrying our midfield by the end (i.e. after Fabregas and Nasri had mentally fucked off to their new clubs, and Song had decided that he wwould rather be a forward). But he was a humbler, younger man back then though, and he kept his game a lot simpler - I think a lot will depend on whether he can regain that humility and focus on this loan...

That's his best position as I see it as well. I haven't given up hope of him coming back and establishing himself, but he has it all to do this season.