Welbeck yes, Theo absolutely not. He may play wide but he doesn't offer width. He plays with his back to goal and taps it 5 yards backwards. Can't remember the last time I saw him take his opponent on. I'd rather see him as one of two strikers, he'd be more effective there if we just battered the ball at him and gave him no time to think.
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He'll make penetrative runs from a wide position if we're playing on the counter. Will give their wingback something to think about also. Besides Alexis, we don't have a player that's got the skills to beat their man on the flanks. If we try to play them on the counter or try to create overloads when in possession, we may get some use out of Theo.
I reckon we'll get a draw at best, a draw that will leave us a fair way from top four. Something to celebrate at least, Wenger failing to get anywhere near his precious top 4. Who cares about top 4 though, haven't missed getting hammered out of sight in the CL at all, nor our average performances winning a few games in the group stages.
In fairness to him, he does seem to pop up in these big games more than most.
Would be interesting if he did start because Chelsea wouldn't have prepared for it but I think Wenger has given up on him. This will be his last contract with us and I'm sure he'll be moved on soon.
Some of that footage is over 200 years old. It's been a long time since Theo last had a decent game. Partly his fault, mostly Wenger's fault. Our whole game has changed. When we got the ball forward quickly it naturally suited Theo's pace. With this plodding shit we now play the game doesn't move fast enough for him to be effective. That's why he's so static, that's why his back is to goal, that's why he lays the ball off so much. Horrible tactics based around possession we hardly ever do anything with. If you're hoping we go out and play a different game, that we up the tempo and try to hit the chavs hard and fast whenever the opportunity arises, rather than fucking around with the tippety tap, of course I'm with you. That's all I've ever wanted to see. How often do we see it?
What we'll most likely get is an even slower tempo with Wenger complaining post match about the fixture pile up. We can live in hope, in fact as Arsenal fans that's all we can do.
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The decline (as opposed to stagnation) is clear. We used to play shit but we all knew we'd scrape the world famous Top Four Trophy somehow. Now it's by no means clear we'll get there and it will rely far more on our opponents collapsing than anything we do. Liverpool and the spuds have been horribly inconsistent, Utd have their problems and the chavs aren't exactly dominant, but we are still languishing in 6th. Highest ticket prices, third highest wage bill and hundreds of millions splashed in the transfer windows. But we are worse than ever. It's inexcusable.
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Should have been moved on a long time ago, instead we offered him contract after contract with pay rises to boot, at any other top club he would have been sold years ago, to think he's been with us for over a decade and done next to nothing, this is what happens when Wenger identifies the next big thing.