So we've won the fa cup, the World Cup has been played and some big money moves have happened amongst the big European teams already. Our squad currently looks like this: --------------Szcz------------ Debuchy--mert--Kosc--Gibbs --------Arteta---Ramsey----- Walcott-------ozil----Sanchez -------------giroud------------ ---------------ospina----------- Jerks--chambers--verm--monreal ---------flamini--wilshere----- Oxocube-----Cazorla----podolski ------------Campbell---------- Extras: diaby, rosicky, gnabry, Sanogo, zelalem I appreciate we may play Sanchez down the middle or may play a different formation etc... But this gives a good look at the depth of our squad at the moment. Now I know we would all like a DM to come in and some people still think we need to add another striker. But if we start the season with this squad as it is, do you think it's good enough? Will we manage to compete for the big trophies? Personally I think we will be in amongst the top 3 but without adding some extra quality in the dm department we will still fall just short. What do you think? Also if rumours are to be believed and our German contingent won't be available for our charity shield game against city, what team would you play?
Still need a DM. Last season against the top sides showed us that, we got overrun in midfield and then torn apart at the back
Oh and my team for city if we don't have the Germans is: -------Szcz------- Debuchy--Kosc--verm--Gibbs ---------Arteta--Ramsey------ Oxocube----Cazorla--Sanchez --------------giroud-------- Subs: ospina, monreal, flamini, wilshere, rosicky, diaby, Campbell
To be fair we where missing multiple first team players when we got overrun including midfielders and pacey wide men so we didn't have an outlet to counter attack quickly and efficiently. So it'd be interesting to see if the result would have been the same if we where closer to full strength. But I agree we need to get in another dm. Whoever it is needs to be really top quality as both Arteta and flamini are good quality dm's. But we do need an upgrade on them.
I spent my spare time watching the highlights of the goals we conceded (more specifically against the 'big' sides) last season and quite frankly (watching Arteta's recovery on the counter), I cannot emphasize how extremely essential it is we get a mobile, physical and pacey DM. As much as I'm excited about Sanchez, I still feel getting THAT DM will get us well-equipped for the 'big' games. Arteta, Mertesacker & Giroud are my main worries in the first team (I naturally dislike slow players no matter how good they are) but a good, clever & tidy DM and possibly Sanchez can conceal Mertesacker's & Giroud's deficiencies respectively. Khedira due to his obvious quality & experience and/or Carvalho due to his physical stature (which we've lacked sorely over the years) & young age are my preferred candidates for the DM spot.
Ramsey gets about the pitch very well which is why he intercepts so much and gets so many tackles in. It's a quality I'd like to see in a dm alongside him. With two mobile cms we could control the middle a lot better. Flamini is able to get around the pitch quickly enough but doesn't have the passing ability of Arteta, whilst Arteta is good on the ball but not mobile enough. We need someone who has both attributes, the physical speed and power/grit while also being comfortable linking the back line with the attacking players. I want more a defensive box to box player than a traditional dm enforcer.
We have a good squad but we have two positions that need strengthening to be consistently up there with Man City and Chelsea. The obvious is a DM/CM replacement for Arteta and an upgrade on Giroud. Both are our weakest positions on the field, but as previously pointed out by dicco, their inadequacies will be masked by our better players Ramsey and Sanchez. Walcott's return will be a huge boost for us up front, and his goals and assists will help propel us forward. His link up with Sanchez and Ozil is a mouth watering prospect.
Its looking pretty good. Forwards - In attack we have added a World Class forward in Sanchez and brought in a good young talent in Joel Campbell. We certainly have more depth now in this area. Defence - We are probably stronger in defence too as I suppose Chambers and Debuchy offer us more than just Bakari Sagna. I'm still hopeful we can keep Vermaelen. Midfield - The extremely talented Zelalam has come into the team and About Diaby has returned from injury. Both could make an impact this Season. Will certainly be interesting to see if Diaby can stay fit. Goalkeeper - It remains to be seen wether Ospina will be better than Fabianski. Seems a decent signing though. Would like to see us add a physical midfielder (although Diaby is capable of taking up that mantle) preferably Lars Bender, Khedira or Vidal. This squad is certainly not far away. If we are to compete we need goals from Sanchez,Walcott and Giroud, while Ozil needs to step it up a level this term.
I still don't think that Giroud is a good enough finisher to play for a team that is supposedly challenging for the Premier League title. We still have not replaced RVP. The kind of striker we need is one that can win a game on his own. The kind of striker that gets you a goal with a half chance. Giroud, while competent, is not this kind of striker. We need a top striker and a DM.
I'm with you on this one. Although he will be good support for Sanchez, Walcott and Ozil, as a standalone player he isn't good enough to be our premier CF. The bulk of our threat against the top team will be carried by Sanchez and Walcott. Giroud will do a job against the lesser teams, that's why he makes a good squad player.
I might be wrong on this but I believe Giroud is every bit as good as Mandzukic and our current lineup is of a very similar balance/setup to that of Bayern (2 years ago - under Van Gaal). Under no circumstances do I think he's a 'World Beater' or even 'World Class' but depending on the injuries we get he could be the right kind of striker for this team. Consider Ozil. He's an elegant, technical player but needs space to play and is hardly the most robust or aggressive of individuals. This is where Giroud becomes useful, he's big powerful, hardworking and his hold up play is impeccable. Finishing.. well its below par but consider Sanchez scored 21 goals last Season from a wide position and Walcott scored 23 in the last Season he managed to stay fit. If Giroud can do the 'dirty' work against the oppositions DM's & CB's then Ozil will have the space to play in Walcott and Sanchez. This system ONLY works if you have pace out wide though. This is the main reason the injury to Walcott had such a big effect on our Season last year. Hopefully this term we can have Sanchez, Walcott, Oxo and Campbell all fit - which would give us more than enough pace to run beyond teams and allow Ozil to orchestrate. People are very old school when watching football and can't always except that the modern 'CF' may have more than one job. If we can get 20 goals from Giroud (he managed 22 last year), 20 from Walcott and 20 from Sanchez - I think we will win the league.
For me, Theo staying fit all season will be pivotal. I appreciate Sanchez and Debuchy are good additions but I still think we'd have had a very different season had Theo stayed healthy throughout the campaign. You can say the same for Ramsey too but Walcott was the one who added that much needed pace to open up teams. We'll get that with Sanchez too but I'm guessing he'll need time to adjust to the league. Either way, exciting times!
This exactly! I'm perplexed about how people still regard Giroud as the man to lead our line having watched our games last season. As much as I appreciate what the guy does for us, this is top level football we're talking about and with a side like ours with title aspirations, there's just no room for sentiments. Tbh, I'd rather Campbell lead the line (assuming Arsene is unwilling to get a striker in or play Alexis through the middle) from what I've seen from him during his Olympiakos loan spell and the world cup scoring big goals against Man Utd & Uruguay while Giroud goes into hiding whenever we face Chelsea, City or Utd (correct me if I'm wrong but he's never had an assist against these teams never mind a goal).....he's 21 now and has CL & world cup experience. Moreover he offers pace and finishing ability (which are Giroud's main weaknesses) and that upper-body strength a la Aguero or Suarez which make up for their lack of height. Anyway, like I said in an earlier post, that DM spot is vital, without someone with the necessary DM characteristics (we are far too lightweight for my liking, yes I'm looking at you Wilshere), I fear the title will be out of reach and we'll continue with our top4 struggles!
+1 While not brilliant Giroud creates a lot of chances for other players - and when Wenger replaced RVP with Giroud, Carzola and Walcott they actually scored a lot more goals than just RVP the previous season. Of course I'd love an upgrade on Giroud, but it's a bit harsh to say he's **** when he scored 20+ goals last season on top of everything else
When everyone rates players they always seem to assume that players can't get better. Giroud can get better. The players around him can get better. The other thing is that football is a game where one team can nullify a player easily if they want to. We play with one striker. If both CBs on the other team mark Giroud and he never touches the ball, he hasn't necessarily had a bad game. He may have created space for everyone else. He also does not participate in breaks out of defence because he always has to come back for defensive set-pieces. That cuts into his goal tally. I'm not saying that last season he was the perfect striker, or even that he is good enough to be our striker, but I don't see this certainty that he is NOT good enough. I think that is over-simplifying the game. I keep seeing this happen with our players where fans pick on one as "Not good enough" and just keep harping on in ridiculously simplistic terms. The game just isn't that easy. Drogba played for Chelsea and very rarely had huge numbers of goals, yet no one disputes that he was "Good enough". There is more depth to football than most fans see, and I think if you don't see it you are missing out on a lot of the beauty of the game.
I think the main points are that he does not compare well with other top PL teams' strikers, as well as missing a host of chances in his first two seasons that RVP and many others would have buried. He is our lone striker, our point man! Whoever is played in that position needs to be a top finisher, I'm not convinced he is.
True, nobody on this thread has - but I've seen it said on a lot of other threads and among Arsenal fans out and about. Apologies for insinuating that people on this thread said that. I didn't mean to dismiss the criticism of Giroud
I also feel that after RVP - where one of the main problems always levelled at the team was, stop out main man (RVP) and we won't score, Wenger changed the team so that Giroud isn't the main man, he's generally used to bring/make space for the 2nd wave of attack - ie Walcott, Ramsey, Cazorla, Podolski ect. One of the reasons why (IMO again) you see Giroud quite often on the edge of the box by the touchline, rather than by the penalty spot
