Our lack of quality in central midfield

[LDG]

He may well be able to do more going forward, but it's obvious to me that we needed far more dicipline in midfield than the gung ho set up of last year. When song goes forward arteta sits, and the other way around. We needed it. It may not be pretty, but where denilson and to a certain extent, jack and cesc failed, has been bettered from a team point of view. When you play with attacking fullbacks, you need your midfield to be clever enough, and that's what we have. That said, all three look knackered from playing every sodding match. Agree arshavin would be good in the hole role. We don't need to replace anyone though. Which was the OP's point. A point which i think is as devoid of intellegence as, for instance, selling RVP for being useless.

[Dennis Bendtner]

No, the argument about his role being underrated is comparable. He's not as lazy as Denilson and better at defending. He at least tracks his man. If Wilshere is to play the Fabs role, then Arteta was bought to stand in for Wilshere because Wenger said we bought because we knew the kid would be out for most of the season. As for us knowing what we were buying...not so sure about that.

Underrated? Ok that's different. I don't think many have called him that. You've acknowledged exactly what most people think he does. On that basis he can't really be underrated. I don't think Arteta really was a 'playmaker' in any mould in recent years at Everton. He was played across midfield and - certainly when his abilities waned - he wasn't the main man a la Fabregas. I think Wenger knew what he was getting, as a steady eddie type who's economical in possession and experienced. If he didn't know that of a guy having played 6-7 years in this league I'd be concerned. Arteta is a rare stop-gap signing.

[Power n Glory]

Underrated? Ok that's different. I don't think many have called him that. You've acknowledged exactly what most people think he does. On that basis he can't really be underrated. I don't think Arteta really was a 'playmaker' in any mould in recent years at Everton. He was played across midfield and - certainly when his abilities waned - he wasn't the main man a la Fabregas. I think Wenger knew what he was getting, as a steady eddie type who's economical in possession and experienced. If he didn't know that of a guy having played 6-7 years in this league I'd be concerned. Arteta is a rare stop-gap signing.

Check the post above yours and it's the sort of argument being made for Denilson years back as if his role was essential to defensive stability. If that's what we needed, we'd be better off playing Coquelin and Song. That's more pace and power. Last season, JW player where Arteta played and was our stand out player. Never neglected his defensive duties but very good at keeping the ball moving. Great ball retention skills and distribution. Never took a back seat in games. Just saying it's possible to have a someone playing inbetween the DM and attacking midfield player and yet still stamp his authority in a game and be influential.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

if we've got arteta sitting deep then fine, im all for it.

but then to have someone like ramsey playing the playmaker role is suicidal. the lad is no natural playmaker.

just imagine if we had goetze/ozil/someone in that calibre who could actually unlock opposition in the final third.

we'd be so much more dangerous in attack.

ramsey is a deep-lying midfielder. not an attacking midfielder.

[Power n Glory]

if we've got arteta sitting deep then fine, im all for it.

but then to have someone like ramsey playing the playmaker role is suicidal. the lad is no natural playmaker.

just imagine if we had goetze/ozil/someone in that calibre who could actually unlock opposition in the final third.

we'd be so much more dangerous in attack.

ramsey is a deep-lying midfielder. not an attacking midfielder.

Yep, agree with that also. I think Arshavin should get a shot there for a few games. He hasn't the legs for the wings and can't beat his man on the flanks that easily but his passing ability and eye for goal should serve better in the role Ramsey currently play.

[Marc Overmars]

Our midfield is more about the industry these days, which to be fair has contributed to better defensive displays.

We do miss a creative guy in there though, someone who has a free role to link the midfield and attack. Ramsey has been good and provided a few key passes in the build up to goals, however I don't think he's consistent enough, which is understandable given his age.

I can't see us buying here though, as it would mean big bucks and a luxury signing. One for the summer maybe.

For now we just have to get by until Wilshere is back to provide a new option.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Yep, agree with that also. I think Arshavin should get a shot there for a few games. He hasn't the legs for the wings and can't beat his man on the flanks that easily but his passing ability and eye for goal should serve better in the role Ramsey currently play.

as the poster above has said, we've got bulked up our midfield with experience and resilience which is perfectly fine. but without jack we are desperately lacking a playmaker.

i dont like the idea of frimpong leaving for wolves either, yes he needs games but we need a competitive squad. the reason we've pulled ourselves together from the horrible start to our season is because we added quality towards the end of the window and it increased our competition. arshavin who used to start last season, can barely get a game now. so it's improving. frimpong battling with song for that DM place would have been good, and ive got no doubt he would have got his opportunity towards the second half of the season.

but we NEED more additions. hopefully wengers pre season comments where he said its not long term anymore but short term means we will sign players. surely he can see we need quality players to push on.

but this also means selling players who clearly have no future at the club (squid, almunia, arshavin, chamakh). for someone who was so ruthless in dismantling the invincibles team, it really baffles me as to why he's showing so much loyalty to shit players like arshavin.

[Kano]

no way to arshavin in the middle. he clearly doesn't want to be here and has not showed the required level of skill or effort for a considerable amount of time, so to put him the engine room of our team in that knowledge, would be detrimental to the team. we need something else to freshen up the three guys we've been using for some time but arshavin is not that guy.

[LDG]

Check the post above yours and it's the sort of argument being made for Denilson years back as if his role was essential to defensive stability. If that's what we needed, we'd be better off playing Coquelin and Song. That's more pace and power. Last season, JW player where Arteta played and was our stand out player. Never neglected his defensive duties but very good at keeping the ball moving. Great ball retention skills and distribution. Never took a back seat in games. Just saying it's possible to have a someone playing inbetween the DM and attacking midfield player and yet still stamp his authority in a game and be influential.

Coquelin is a talent no doubt, but think of the outcry if he had been used from the off, and it had failed. Fans would be screaming blue murder at Wenger for not spending.

We've been berrating the bloke for years for not adding experience, premier league experience at that, and to stop trusting in youth coming good.

Arteta has bags of experience. Has helped steady the ship, and made us more of a team. Nobody is saying he's fucking mega. Nobody is giving him praise beyond that which is rightly deserved. Everyone is just saying that he is doing a job which no other cunt as been doing for us for a long time.

There is nothing wrong with what he is doing, or for that matter, anything wrong with the way we looked to plug gaps after leaking football diarrhea for 6 months.

People say Wenger is stupid. He's not. He's a stubborn old cunt, who rolls the dice too many times. This time he didn't. He bought experience we desperately needed. The sooner people stop looking to be spoiled rotten with megastar signings the better in my opinion.

I'm looking forward to Wilshere's return, to see what this midfield can do with someone more suited to the playmaker role than Ramsey, who will be better rotating with Arteta.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Coquelin is a talent no doubt, but think of the outcry if he had been used from the off, and it had failed. Fans would be screaming blue murder at Wenger for not spending.

We've been berrating the bloke for years for not adding experience, premier league experience at that, and to stop trusting in youth coming good.

Arteta has bags of experience. Has helped steady the ship, and made us more of a team. Nobody is saying he's fucking mega. Nobody is giving him praise beyond that which is rightly deserved. Everyone is just saying that he is doing a job which no other cunt as been doing for us for a long time.

There is nothing wrong with what he is doing, or for that matter, anything wrong with the way we looked to plug gaps after leaking football diarrhea for 6 months.

People say Wenger is stupid. He's not. He's a stubborn old cunt, who rolls the dice too many times. This time he didn't. He bought experience we desperately needed. The sooner people stop looking to be spoiled rotten with megastar signings the better in my opinion.

I'm looking forward to Wilshere's return, to see what this midfield can do with someone more suited to the playmaker role than Ramsey, who will be better rotating with Arteta.

Did Wenger get an ipad as well?