Match Reaction Bournemouth 0-2 Arsenal

[Globalgunner]

Gabriel hasn't be good and pretty sure you'd pounce on the sort of mistakes he's made so far if it Merts playing instead. Failed miserably to deal with a ball over the top but lucikly bailed out by Bellerin and was lucky not to give away a pen against Southampton.

I'm not convinced and so far we haven't played teams that have really put the pressure on us so he needs to sharpen up.

The above is not exactly praise of Gabriel if you read it closely. We have essentially 4 CBs only 2 of them are good enough to play Barca. What in your mind are Mertesackers attributes and how do they play against Barcas attack? The question yop have to ask yourself is. How do you like your spankings. Mild, Bruising or Bloody?.

[Niall_Quinn]

What in your mind are Mertesackers attributes and how do they play against Barcas attack?

That's got to be a trick question.

[Power n Glory]

The above is not exactly praise of Gabriel if you read it closely. We have essentially 4 CBs only 2 of them are good enough to play Barca. What in your mind are Mertesackers attributes and how do they play against Barcas attack? The question yop have to ask yourself is. How do you like your spankings. Mild, Bruising or Bloody?.

GW has gone gay! What is this?

No seriously, I think Merts and Kos have a good balance. Merts is more calm and composed. Reads the game well, often snuffs out danger and clears a lot of dangerous balls. When we sit deep he's fine. Him and Kos kept Bayern quiet in the first leg of the Barca game even though we had a lot of pressure. In fact, in the big games against City, Utd, CL games like our Bayern win away some seasons back or Dortmund, he's been solid along with Kos. Since he's arrived in our team, we've looked more stable on defence, Kos especially and we finally have a dependable CB partnership that. I wouldn't be so quick to write him off. I remember Kos before he arrived and what we were like when it was Gallas and Toure, or when Verm was paired with Kos. Pace and over aggressive defenders are overrated because both feel they can just dive into tackles without the over one covering.

[selassie]

The only positive i see is that even Wenger has sussed that playing Mertesacker is suicidal in this tie. My guess is that is why gabriel has been playing since the lanky one got sent off. Gabriel has his faults, mostly due to being rusted over from sitting on the bench watching Merts sideways passes, but at least he can run and wont fall like a totem pole while trying to turn quickly as Neymar sprints around him.
We have no hope against Barca, but it shouldnt be that way. Not 10 years after we were told moving into a new stadium would put us amongst Europes elites.

Aye, Merts should be kept well away from the Barca ties, like you say Gabriel isn't perfect but he'll be able to deal with the Messi & Co. a lot better than Merts would IMO.

As P'n'G has pointed out Gabriel has been making some quite "high profile" errors since his promotion to the first team but I'm happy to give him the benefit of the doubt as like you say he's rusty etc, I do like Gabriel, think he has a lot of potential.

I partly put us having no hope down to the way we are tactically setup or not setup, but I do think Messi, Neymar & Suarez will just be too much for us, I also think their Midfield will toy with ours, the saving grace is we have Cech, that won't be enough to get us through.

I do agree, we should be much further ahead in CL, we are quite clearly a 2nd tier CL team now and it's quite comical TBH.

[Globalgunner]

GW has gone gay! What is this?

No seriously, I think Merts and Kos have a good balance. Merts is more calm and composed. Reads the game well, often snuffs out danger and clears a lot of dangerous balls. When we sit deep he's fine. Him and Kos kept Bayern quiet in the first leg of the Barca game even though we had a lot of pressure. In fact, in the big games against City, Utd, CL games like our Bayern win away some seasons back or Dortmund, he's been solid along with Kos. Since he's arrived in our team, we've looked more stable on defence, Kos especially and we finally have a dependable CB partnership that. I wouldn't be so quick to write him off. I remember Kos before he arrived and what we were like when it was Gallas and Toure, or when Verm was paired with Kos. Pace and over aggressive defenders are overrated because both feel they can just dive into tackles without the over one covering.

Okay we differ, I have seen Merts over 5 seasons now and he is going nowhere. He is good for some types of games where the play is all in front of him and he does not face pacy attackers harrying him from the whistle. His nemesis is the ball over the top. This led to his last red card. An astute manager will not have him so high up the field, but alas we do not have an astute manager. I dont mind him coming back against other PL teams in the run in, but against Barca I would prefer Gabriel. If anything Gabriel is not aggressive enough, he needs to hold his own against the brutes in the EPL. In his favour however, he can keep pace with the best of strikers. He will need it against Barca.
(BTW: Have double checked this time. No double entendres or Homo terms included this time)

[Power n Glory]

Okay we differ, I have seen Merts over 5 seasons now and he is going nowhere. He is good for some types of games where the play is all in front of him and he does not face pacy attackers harrying him from the whistle. His nemesis is the ball over the top. This led to his last red card. An astute manager will not have him so high up the field, but alas we do not have an astute manager. I dont mind him coming back against other PL teams in the run in, but against Barca I would prefer Gabriel. If anything Gabriel is not aggressive enough, he needs to hold his own against the brutes in the EPL. In his favour however, he can keep pace with the best of strikers. He will need it against Barca.
(BTW: Have double checked this time. No double entendres or Homo terms included this time)

And against Barca, that's where the game will be. Right in front of us. We'll need to be organised for that game with plenty of communication and understanding. I'm not sure if Gabriel is the man for that just yet. He has the physical attributes but the understanding between him and Kos just isn't there yet.

As for Merts getting ripped against faster opponents...that's predicted and he's coped. Just don't play a highline.

[Globalgunner]

And against Barca, that's where the game will be. Right in front of us. We'll need to be organised for that game with plenty of communication and understanding. I'm not sure if Gabriel is the man for that just yet. He has the physical attributes but the understanding between him and Kos just isn't there yet.

As for Merts getting ripped against faster opponents...that's predicted and he's coped. Just don't play a highline.

Youre forgetting who our manager is. Game against Chelsea was his last game. Up at the middle of his own half , ball over the top, Costa clear, Merts doing his Mr Fantastic impersonation. Leg stretch, Costa tumbles 10 yards clutching his face. If you think Barca are going to play in front of us you have not been watching them at all. Neymar will be in behind us unless Merts and Bellerin are parked on top of Cechs bib.

[Power n Glory]

Youre forgetting who our manager is. Game against Chelsea was his last game. Up at the middle of his own half , ball over the top, Costa clear, Merts doing his Mr Fantastic impersonation. Leg stretch, Costa tumbles 10 yards clutching his face. If you think Barca are going to play in front of us you have not been watching them at all. Neymar will be in behind us unless Merts and Bellerin are parked on top of Cechs bib.

We won't play a highline against Barca. Chelsea are a struggling team so the circumstances were different.

[Globalgunner]

You really think Wenger has learnt his lesson. What about the 2006 final, Ball over the top.....Brings back memories eh?

Chelsea only struggle against other teams. They wish they could play us every day.

[Power n Glory]

2006? Come on you don't even have to go that far back. We've played Barca many times since and have sat deep. Against Bayern we sat deep too. Whether it will work is a different story but regardless of how we're set up play, even if Wenger is foolish enough to try and play a highline, we'll naturally get pinned back into our box.