Tonight, we saw some excellent, excellent runs from Chamberlain, Gervinho and the like, but there was no one to pass to. Park and Chamakh were completely silent aside from one or two shots, and in all honesty we played twice as well as Man City did. We would certainly have won the game if Van Persie was on the pitch. The frustrating thing is you see the classic counter attack time and time again but as soon as we reach the final third it all just slows down - the killer pass to RVP can't be played, so instead we try a lucky cross, which never works anyway. All signs point to us needing to sign another striker in January. We should have played RVP tonight or at least had him on the bench.
The kid sitting next to me said after the game: "We played better than Man City, but we had Park and Chamakh and they had Dzeko and Aguero". Food for thought there.
The final third seems to have been our problem for some time now. In the past couple of years we had a number of players who could score. Today it's RvP way out ahead of anyone and in his absence, well, we have almost nothing. How did it ever get like that? Actually I know. We sell key players without replacing them. Our board prefers to have the money in the bank. Rather reminds me of the parable where the servant who was given the talons gives the same back to his master while the other two worked on what they were given and when their master came back, was able to give him more. We had better be ready to spend on a decent striker if come January neither Park, Gers or Chamakh begin scoring. I think Gers needs to find that missing piece of magic. Of the other two, I am not sure. I had hopes for Park but to date he's not done much. Wonder why we bought him in the first place especially as he was only going to be here for two years anyway. That theory about appealing to the Asian market seems to be gathering merit. I hope I'm wrong.
RvP is an ARSENAL PLAYER. Any goal he scores is a GOAL ARSENAL SCORES. You guys sound like you want him to stop scoring goals.
I think we need another striker. - What about using OXO on the right and giving Walcott a chance at CF ?
Yes you make an important point. Arsene keeps having players out of position. From what I gather through discussions here, he seems to concentrate more on all round ability than the player's own ability. From my humble point of view it surely doesn't work. Sometimes the man makes me cry!!!!
I have sort of given up on chamakh and i now realise that wenger didnt buy him as our next goal scoring hero but more like a replacement for the Zero, Adebandoor... Chamakh is more of a target man than a goal scorer, a player that holds up the ball for others around him,tactics we could make use of when plan A isnt working. Park on the other hand is a FW , although played out of position against city, he hasnt really shown what hes made off in games he has played which means we only have one functioning goal scorer in RVP. What makes RVP stand out from the rest is his natural technical ability and the ability to create space for himself. I dont see Chamakh to be that kind of a player , may be Park could grow into that given time and minutes on the pitch. Its all down to wenger to assess the over reliance on the injury prone RVP and may be would bring in an experienced goal scorer. Podolski would be nice considering his goal scoring record and value, but come summer we should be looking to sign a big player to improve the team, may be Benzema might change his mind.
I quite agree with you. Look at the mess he made when he decided to play Henry out of position. Wenger's a fool!
He was called Henry - but you're right, Wenger turned him from a winger into the best striker our club has ever had. I also believe that Kolo Toure was a midfielder when he first came to Arsenal. and Coquelin was a right back.
oi Rose, I'm on pain killers, whiskey and little sleep - forgive the odd typo. ...and I'm always right
Within half a season Henry adapted to the role. We are 5 years and counting with Theo ! We are 2 years and counting with Arshavin. A centre half playing as a DM is an easy transition, your natural instincts remain, Not easy for a midfielder to play in defence though. Also Petit was a composed technical player so he could handle playing in midfield whereas a non technical defender like Sol Campbell would have a nightmare. Remember Ledley King playing there for England and was the best player on the pitch !! Technical player.
