With Cesc and co we actually made the semifinals twice in 3 years, in 2010 we faced one of the greatest Barca teams so no shame in dropping out of the top 8, 2011, same story. But currently, we look like we have no chance in hell of winning the thing.
Guess who was in attendance today? Yep, Silent Stan himself. One of his rare outings to the club he owns.
No I thought in 2008 Arsenal were brilliant, but players left. It will take more time. Some of the attack on players is wrong
Only because the NFL is in London on Sunday, and one of the teams playing is the St Louis Rams, which Kroenke owns, and are also a bit ****e themselves. EDIT: Beaten to it.
As **** as we were today, even with some of the half chances we had, you could see a world class striker like RVP converting 1 or 2 of them, being in the right position to slot it in, that's what we're missing.
I think Santos is a better winger than Gervino. The movement of the forwards is rubbish - no one runs to create space, they all run in lines easily covered by the defenders, making it difficult for the midfielders to play the killer pass. Or, the midlfeilders lack the guile and pacey alertness and enrgy to play the pass, which makes the forwards conservative in their runs. Or both. Oxo, Theo, Wilshere - unproven, all too mcuh like many young ENglish players full of early promise but never quite break into the mega super star league, or even plain super star league. Wenger certainly gives the average players ample opportunity to prove their .... average. Wenger's fault is his loyalty to his players and his cause, but his players seldom repay the loyalty, and this causes those sidelined to turn their backs. Gervinho and Ramsey have had over a season to prove themselves but have failed. Yet they still get picked. Meanwhile other players in the squad do not get a look in. Look at what SAF did with Berbatov, RVN, and what he'll prob to to RVP - put them in their place even though they were banging in the goals. I formed an impression of Gervinho and Ramsey around December last season, and have seen nothing but that which confirms what I thought then. It will be interesting to see how this seson pans out. Part of me wants to see wholesale changes in the squad but will only happen if we do really badly. Wenger has done a good job with the relatively meagre resources. If there is to be a revolution in terms of change of policy, I'd rather it ws Wenger who got the chance to do his job untethered rather than some untried dude like AVB who will probably blow £200m. Wenger's other fault is a stubborness in playing players out of position.
A small part wishes we could lose every game up until christmas, just to get the board to spend in january, but i doubt they even would then. We're doing a good job with (very) limited talent, and for that, Wenger should be praised, and the board punished.
Also our over-reliance on Cazorla is becoming a problem. In every match thread, I put him him as our key player that the opposition have to stop because I can't think of others. If the other team are paying close attention to Cazorla, then surely other players would have the space to take advantage? But these other players simply do not have the quality.
We should try a new strategy on Saturday. Play through someone else. Even though Cazorla is by a mile our best player, we should just let all the play go through someone inferior, just to take the heat off him. He's getting marked by 3 players a game now, and we still try and play through him. It's silly. We should start Giroud and just try route 1 hoofball for a few games, take the pressure off Cazorla.
on to another point, our chances of finishing top of the group are quite slim now, let's assume we somehow end on level points with Shalke, they go through, based on head to head, I highly doubt we will go to Shalke and get a better result than they did at the Emirates to give us the head-head advantage. And knowing Arsenal's luck, we will probably end up drawing Barca, or Madrid. So while some people may think this result isn't the end of the world, come February-March, it's this result that can come back and bite us in the ASS big time. Oh, and just to make you all feel better, we face Shalke away right after we play United at Old Trafford. Knowing Arsenal, we will probably lose to United as usual, and that loss will have a knock on effect on Arsenal causing us to perform badly at Shalke as well
The squad needs a TOP quality striker. An experienced keeper to challenge Scezney and better cover at left back. (I actually think Santos is a good player he's just not e left back - he's more like an oldschool winger from a 442 system) BENZEMA. He's powerful, very quick and is a typical 'Arsenal style' striker. I dont like the fact Wenger keeps trying to fit in a 'target man'. It does'nt suite our system. Giroud is a decent CF but he's a long way from being a TOP class one. Karim Benzema on the other hand has already proved he can score goals on a REGULAR basis (not just one decent Season). He fits our style of play, he's French and Real seem willing to let him go in order to pursue Falcao. --------------------Sczezney-------------------- Sagna----Mertesacker----Vermaelen-----Gibbs --------Diaby/Wilshere-----Arteta--------------- ---------------------Carzorla--------------------- Walcott-----------Benzema------------Podolski Suddernly the team HAS pace and looks like it would score alot of goals. Diaby & Wilshere are sorely missed.
So Arsenal87 - we have no chance of topping the group but you say we will end up facing Barca or Real. So presumably Real who are in the same potion as us on 6 points behind Dortmund on 7 points, will progress and we won't despite being in basically identical positions? I know your frustarted, but at least think before you talk! Also the groups are more interesting this year with there results. So it will be interesting to see the next rounds fixtures. Bare in mind last season we came top of our group and drew AC Milan and went out. Comming top doesnt always mena an easy game.
Also Chelsea are in second in there group, as are PSG and Milan. And all of those tems are in a worse position than us in there groups points wise. In fact as it stands, if the groups stay the same until game 6 - id rather finish second and hope not to draw Barca, than finish first and have a selection of the best teams to face!
