First time poster, long time lurker - full disclosure, I'm also an american who has followed Arsenal as close as geographically possible since 2002. Firstly, I am not as pessimistic as I may appear to be. Despite our poor performances of late, I see a lot of positives in our (relatively) young squad. Cazorla, Poldi, Arteta, Metersaker, Walcott (needs to sign), and Giroud - have impressed me a great deal this season. But last night I was cleaning out my DVR and came across a number of older matches and was struck by a particular incident between Toure and Mikel in 2007. And what struck me is this: Where is our fight? And dare I say, where is the thuggishness? Fabregas, for all his continental sophistication, had a passion and a mean streak. Vieira - enough said. Keown - same as above. Lehmann - psychopath Nasri - clipping Barton seconds following a foul in his first season. ps I believe Wilshere to be the exception. Am I wrong? Are out players too docile? What do you think?
We need a big strong "I will **** you up" DM or Box to Box midfielder. Also Podolski is like thisnattimes, but not enough for my liking. Vermalean has amen streak as well as Chez. We need more aggressiveness though. Btw welcome to the forum
Agree. We need some players with some bite. I think Wilshere has got it. I'm hoping Frimpong makes it at Arsenal, because he is just the type of player we need at the moment in my opinion.
Welcome to the forum. I think you are right about the aggression, as well as the attitude, I do not think we are aggressive enough off the ball. They need that fight and show the will to try and get ball back, asap.
Agree 100% with the guys above. We need a bully, someone like Tiote from Newcastle. Plus signing him weakens a rival, which is always a good thing.
Thanks for the replies. I just don't see any nastiness in our squad right now. And of course I don't mean the nastiness employed by cheats like Barton, etc. Is Wenger unwilling to sign the players we need to fill this role? And I agree OxCube, we need a "big strong "I will **** you up" DM or Box to Box midfielder" - Who is out there though? M'villa Toulalan etc.
We did that well in the first half tonight. Chamakh, Oxo and Gervinho pressed from the front and made Olympiacos rush their passes, we picked off a few and made some good counters. We need to do this in every game, for the whole game.
Thanks for the welcome guys. The need for the DM or box to box MF reminds me of when Wenger let Flamini and Diarra leave in the same season. I remember thinking it was going to come back and bite us in the ass. Also, a player like Lorik Cana went up for sale not long after than. He certainly wasn't great but would of at least added some much needed aggression and leadership to our midfield. Like piskie said, I also hope Frimpong is up for it. 'nite fellas.
