GK: Schezney: Upper Premier league keeper already. COuld be world class if he proves himself consistant. Verdict = good enough to win stuff. RB: Sagna: World class right back - good enough to win stuff with. LB: Gibbs: Mid level premier league left back. Always injured. Even when fit not very good. Made of glass, cant pass, cant cross, bad positioning. Its like our left backs are degrading. He is worse than clichy, and like clichy the only thing he can do is run fast. Verdict - never be good enough. Belongs at Blackburn rovers. CB: Vermalen: World class centre back. Questions over fitness with long injury last year. Verdict - good enough to win things with. CB: Kolsienly: Good potential. Decent centre back. Upper level premier league centre back. Verdict - ideally need to upgrade but based on his age and the fact he is decent then shouldnt be the first place wenger needs to upgrade. DFM: Alex Song: Terrible. Already peaked and is probably good enough to play for bolton but not the arsenal. Slow, bad positioning, no idea how to shield a back line, clumsy tackler. Badly need an upgrade in this position which is crucial for an attacking side like the arsenal. CM: Ramsey: Lower/mid level premier league standard. Maybe has the potential to go on and become a decent player but will never be world class. Badly need an upgrade here. ATM: Wilshire: I think he will play here this year. Top level premier league player already with the potential to become truely world class. DOnt need an upgrade in this position unless it allows jack to move back into CM. Right wing: Walcrap: truely awful football player. WOuld be fine to have on the bench where he can come on and run fast for 20 minutes. But as a starter every week is simply not good enough. Belongs at Stoke city with jermaine pennant. He cant pass at all, and spends most games doing nothing at all. Badly need a replacement. Left wing: Gervinho: bad start to arsenal career but I havent seen enough of this player to pass judgement on him. The bits I have seen of him out of france and for the ivory coast he looks like a decent player but, at present, a long way from world class. I think wenger could turn him into a top player though. Striker: RVP: Generally overrated by us arsenal fans but still a world class striker. ust about world class. I wouldnt put him in the same league as Eto for example. But he is still good. I dont like his lack of pace, it never seems to fit with how we play. Conclusion: We need to buy some world class players. Not squad players. Only way to do this is to up the wage cap. Arsenal board = joke. In 4 positions we need an upgrade for the first team.
i don't see how a player who scored almost 20 goals in almost as many games last season can be overrated (v. Persie) and i would say he is definitely better than Eto'o, who has fallen away since leaving Barca. about ramsey, is this season your first as an arsenal fan? because pre-injury he was much better and i back him to find and surpass that form. ur very harsh on song, who was one of our best players last season. the only thing i agree on about his is that he has peaked. u obviously didn't watch pre-season regarding gervinho. the only bad start was the red card, which shoudln't have been. apart from that i would say he has been one of our best players. walcott, when in a fine run of form, is a match for some of the best wingers in the world. i read an analysis about him recently about the liverpool match, and he had to make up 80 yards each time we attacked on the counter to go from defending with an inexperienced right back to attacking with van persie. but yes, up against a decent left back, he usually is silent (except chelsea last season).
GK: Schezney: Totally unproven, decent prospect no more. RB: Sagna: Good Player, World Class my arse. LB: Gibbs: Fair Assessment by OP CB: Vermalen: Decent Ball Playing Defender/Potential Holding Midfielder - World Class My Arse Again CB: Kolsienly: Piss Poor DFM: Alex Song: Not a Defensive Midfielder, no discipline whatsoever, but could ba good Box-to-Boxer, being used badly and therefore hard to judge him fairly CM: Ramsey: Fair Assessment by OP ATM: Wilshire: Not an attacking midfielder, CM, and very good too, but in terms of creativity not in the same class as Fabregas and never will be. Right wing: Walcrap: Beep! Beep! Left wing: Gervinho: Good work ethic, lacks composure but too early to judge fairly. Striker: RVP: World Class, too much demand on fragile body/mind at Arsenal currently though as no obvious replacement/competition. Conclusion: You need Goalkeeper, 2x Centre Halves, 1 x DMF, 1 x AMF, 1 x LMF, 1 x Striker ALL READY MADE PROVEN PREMIER LEAGUE QUALITY
Koscielney - Good on the ball. Far too lightweight to play alongside Vermaelen. Djourou - No positional awareness. Like a headless chicken at times. Gibbs- A poor mans Clichy, who in turn was a poor mans Ashley Cole. We need a New Left back sharpish. Song - Great whenever he's played in the 'Makelele' role. He's been given liscence to go forward by Wenger since we changed to a 4-2-3-1. HE HAS'NT JUST DECIDED TO GO BOMBING FORWARD. Its beeen a tactical change made by Wenger. In 2009-2010 Season Song was our best player.
Sorry but eto has got better since he left barca. Last year for inter the guy was simply amazing. I have never seen a striker play as well as eto did last year. Except Messi of course
GK Schezney: Obvious talent, potentially one of the best keepers in the league. Only kicking lets him down but minor gripe. RB Sagna: Defensively sound, offensively kack, but there to defend primarily, good choice. LB Gibbs: Defensive positioning suspect, one of best crossers in team. Bad luck (with slipping) and awful injury record. Cannot be relied upon. CB Vermaelen: solid defender, comfortably our best CB, needs someone reliable next to him. CB Koscielny: A bit weak and makes a few mistakes, too eager to win the ball when he cannot so gives away stupid free kicks. DFM Song: Slow, clumsy, technically poor. I am not a fan of Song, anybody can do what he does. CM Ramsey: not ready to run the midfield, got a great engine and 2 great feet, needs a steadying influence for him to shine. ATM Wilshere: Needs help offensively, cannot do it all himself. A midfield of Ramsey Song and Wilshere will get annihilated. Good defensively and offensively. Right wing Walcott: Inconsistent and NOT a winger .. cannot cross for toffee. Played as a striker I can see him shine .. given games. Left Wing Gervinho: Cannot shoot with his left foot, looks to be creative enough to get loads of assists, might plunder a few goals too .. if he stays on the pitch long enough. Striker RVP: Best player in the team, nuff said.
so in conclusion Chesney might be OK Sagna isn't world class Gibbs is completely useless Vermaelen is alright Koscielny is poor Song is rubbish Ramsey is past it Wilshere is Acceptable Theo is useless RvP is good, but not great Gervinho you're undecided on, but will probably let you down like everyone else? Way to go guys, gime a "Whoo!!" with all that optimism there.
Eugh no! Song was cr*p last season. The season before he was a great player and played the DM role brilliantly. Quite why he spent last season (and the first game this year) bombing forward like a tard is beyond me. Here's how I view what I believe to be our best starting 11: GK: Chesney Hawkes - Like a lot and think he will be very good. I even like the cover we have in Fabianski. RB: Sagna - Good player, 'nuff said. CB: TV - Good player, 'nuff said. CB: Koscielny - Very promising start to his Premier league career. Hampered by interchanging CB partners and a lazy midfield. Like a lot but would think we can get better. Would be a superb 3rd choice player. LB: Gibbs - Has it in him to be very good but is so injury prone I doubt he'll ever reach that potential. Very much need back-up RM: Walcott - Really promising if he can gain confidence and stay fit. Would rather utilise him as a striker so would like a quality replacement for the wing *cough* Hazard *cough* CM: Wilshere - Good, but needs nurturing. Would like experience alongside him to both protect and keep him level headed. CM: Ramsey - Promising but not recovered from his injury. Like Jack I believe he needs support in the form of an older player. Ideally get a new CM in and get Aaron back to his best over time, rather than throwing him in the deep end. LM: Gervinho - I think the early signs are promising I really do. DM: Song - Poor last season but if he can recapture his old form can be what we need to protect the defence. CF: RVP - Love him but so injury prone. Need a quality back-up for when the inevitable injury kicks in. To surmise I think he have a decent but threadbare squad. Just to get our starting 11 up to scratch I believe we need a minimum of 3 players but I can see us getting one if we're lucky. My somewhat gloomy prediction, 5th or 6th based on things as they currently are.
JJSB: A far more balanced and in my opinion much more accurate assessment than the previous ones. The major problem I have is that there is a definitive "first team" and then a "backup team." There should be strength in depth so that the team can be picked for the opposition. Players should be continually pushing for a starting spot. Having a "first team" means players are overplayed, and burn out. Injuries happen, and the backup squad simply aren't up to the task. Man Utd don't have this definitive "first team" - they rotate depending on the opposition, and they win things by negating the attacking prowess of their opponents. Arsenal don't do this, they set up to play the Arsenal way, which is very predictable, and challenge their opponents to beat them at it, which they do. Last year it was "Stop Theo getting in behind, stop Fabregas passing, wind up Wilshere so he gets carded, get in behind Clichy and buy cheap fouls from Koscielny." A few clear and easy steps to beating Arsenal. This year will be very much the same because the squad strength simply isn't sufficient to allow rotation based on the needs of each game.
RB: Sagna - Good defensively, terrible going forward. CB: TV - Good CB, not world class and makes a few errors. CB: Koscielny - Tries hard, could do better. LB: Gibbs - Always injured, can't defend, not good enough for Arsenal. RM: Walcott - Fast but with no end product. Played out of position IMO. CM: Wilshere - Decent CM but would benefit from having someone more experienced alongside him. CM: Ramsey - Not really match fit from what I've witnessed, the injury may have something to do with it. LM: Gervinho - Decent but inconsistent. Reminds me of Walcott. DM: Song - Doesn't do much apart from foul, give away dangerous free kicks and get in the way. CF: RVP - Fantastic on his day. One of Arsenal's best players.
