I'm just going to throw some of my thoughts out there and see what happens. Lets look at some likely formations for next season: ____________Szczesny______________ Sagna____Djourou__Vermaelen___Clichy _______________Song________________ ________Fabregas___Wilshere_________ Walcott________________________Nasri _____________Van Persie____________ That's assuming we buy nobody and sell nobody. Unlikely. But this would be a good formation, with Wilshere moving forward alongside Fabregas. After all it's a line up (more or less) that beat Barcelona and Chelsea. Personally, I want to buy Falcao. I think that he would give us more flexibility than any other buy. For starters you could have the aforementioned line up, and replace VP with him when VP is injured. You could also have (standard back 5) _______________Song_____________ ________Fabregas____Wilshere_____ Walcott_______________________RVP _______________Falcao____________ Which would also be good as it allows the midfield to sit further back, which has been a problem in terms of a crowded final third, and gives one hell of a counter attacking force. Nasri has been excluded, but that brings in more squad depth. Standard back 5 Walcott___Fabregas___Song___Nasri __________________RVP__________ __________Falcao________________ 4-4-2. And a deadly one at that. The strength in signing Falcao is the flexibility it gives the line up of our midfield. Assuming we keep Fabregas and Nasri, our squad would perhaps be the strongest in the prem. In our 4-1-2-3 our midfield 2 could be any of: Fabregas, Wilshere, Ramsey, Nasri, Lansbury(hopefully he will be promoted), Arshavin (he can fill that role) or Diaby. So that leaves us with a hell of a bench and a strong ability to rotate our line up. Our two wingers could be any of: Walcott, Nasri, Miyaichi (if we get the visa and decide to bring him into the squad), Arshavin or Van Persie. Our lone striker could be: Falcao, RVP, Bendtner or Chamakh. In the 4-4-2 the flexibility is fairly obvious. So therefore I won't talk about it. as The other signings I want include Vertonghen, who can play as both a CB and DM. If you consider that Frimpong will be promoted next season that gives us Song, Vertonghen and Frimpong who can play the DM role. At centre back that gives us: Vermaelen, Djourou, Vertonghen, Koscielny and Squillaci. The big problem with Arsenal is not that we don't sign enough players, but that we don't keep them. If you take the collective squad between 07-11 and cherry pick the players, you'll see what I mean. Ramsey, as highly as I rate him, is not ready to fill Fabregas' boots. Furthermore, Wilshere should not have been played as often as he has been. Arsene seemed to abandon squad rotation this year, and I think it's shown. When was the last time Wilshere or Nasri managed to do something really impressive? Players like Van Persie and Walcott, who've had a break due to injury, have been far better in the latter stages. Now that's me talking as though we can keep all our players. The ones likely to leave are: Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Denilson, Rosicky, Bendtner, Almunia, Clichy and Eboue. I personally think that Nasri and Clichy definitely won't leave but that still leaves us with a huge problem. We should keep all of them but Denilson, Rosicky(as much as I like him), Almunia and perhaps Bendtner. Next season our squad could be: GK: Szczesny, Fabianski, Manonne LB: Clichy, Gibbs CB: Vermaelen(LB), Djourou, Vertonghen(DM), Koscielny, Squillaci RB: Sagna, Eboue, Jenkinson DM: Song, Frimpong CM: Fabregas, Wilshere, Ramsey, Diaby, Lansbury RM: Walcott(2nd ST), A new winger LM: Nasri(CM/RM), Miyaichi(RM), Arshavin(CM/2ndST) ST: Van Persie(LM), Falcao, Bendtner, Chamakh I feel that squad would be fantastic. That's achievable by buying 2 or 3 players and simply holding onto what we have. We've spent several years nurturing young players like Fabregas, Nasri and Bendtner. Why sell them on just as they're looking like fulfilling their potential? Fabregas will be better next season, he's always rubbish after international cups. That squad+some new tactical ideas would deliver more than one trophy. But if we go on a selling spree then we'll be in the battle for 4th place. It's that simple.
Very good article I've heard lots of good things about Vertonghen and Falcao would also fit us well in my opinion. Signings like that would give us great squad depth too. I think that a few more players would have to be released however I agree with pretty much all that you are saying.
Oh my mistake, thanks robin. It just annoys me when people say Ramsey and Wilshere are ready. They're not. I rate Ramsey higher than just about any other player. I think he'll be better than both Xavi and Fabregas easily. Wilshere, I don't rate AS highly but the fact is that they're kids still. Give them time to grow or burn them out.
Interesting thoughts. BUT.....your argument misses some obvious points.... There will be no Fabregas, Clichy, Arshavin and possibly Nasri next term. Diaby will probably be on his way out as well. Mannone will never make it to first choice or even second choice keeper. Song can be, at best, better than average. But most of the time he is just average. Bottom line is that the team is not a team but a collection of mis-placed individuals who couldn't fight their way out of a soggy paper bag. Sooooo....we need some serious signings. And your choice is....??
Yeah they are a long way of Fabregas's level at the moment, I think people got way too excited when we beat man u. Neither have the passing range and impact on games that Cesc has and I think it will take a few years for them to get to that stage. If Fabregas leaves I think we need a ready made replacement (although not necessarily of the same type player as him) so that we don't regress. By the way I know you think that we should return to the 433 as our main formation but wouldn't that return us to the problems we had last year? As our midfield was relatively undisciplined we kept on getting caught on the counter by Chelsea especially and so the switch to 4231 allowed us to screen the back 4 more effectively as well as putting Fabregas in his best position near the striker. Having a 433 formation again may bring back those problems even though it makes our midfield more attacking. True new signings like Vertonghen could prevent this weakness but its a bit of a risk no?
Clichy is replaceable, Fabregas may not leave but if he does we will get enough money to buy a good replacement for him probably, Arshavin can also be replaced by someone like N'zogbia and Nasri may not leave either. Diaby is too injury prone to count as a serious loss as well. I think Song is better than you give him credit for too and besides ranna has already said we should get Vertonghen as another DM.
I'm glad you raised that question. I feel Arsenal's vulnerability is due to the lone striker. We seem to place far too much emphasis on goalscoring midfielders. Even our DM's are expected to contribute. This creates a situation where the other team plays 10 men behind the ball and when that ball is in the final third we've got around seven players in the final third. That's an awful lot of congestion. Therefore our attack suffers so our defensive players come forwards too (Song etc) leaving us vulnerable on the counter. If our midfield were to sit deeper, it'd give our front 3 a lot more room to run into as well as providing defensive cover.
Don't agree other than Fabragas and Nasri. Would love to keep these two but..... Clichy could defend once upon a time but not now. Arshavin is a waste of space. Diaby is a liability. How many of your Arsenal do you want to hang onto whilst we continue to fall at the final hurdle?
I agree that Clichy is a weak point at the moment but I just don't see a good enough replacement right now. Diaby may be a liability but he'd be behind several players for a space so that's no issue. Arshavin has been played out of position since joining Arsenal. He's also had the fans on his back. He's also scored goals and gained assists. He's also scored the most meaningful goal of this season after being involved in the one before it against Barcelona. I don't see why you wouldn't want a guy like that on the bench.
How many players do you want sitting on the bench in the hope they might do something special? The Mighty Arsenal need top class players who perform week-in and week-out not some mediocre bloke warming the bench who "might" be able to make a difference.
Is this wummery? A shame because I spent a bit of time on this thread. I think Arshavin needs to be managed a bit better. He is certainly not mediocre. Name me 2 players at Arsenal who would have finished his Barca goal like that. He has got all the ability, and the rest is coaching.
Not wummery. I've tried to answer you arguments in a thoughtful manner. Discussion is king. Long live your thoughts. I just happen to think you're wrong on several points. But hey....that's what we're here for.
OK by me and thanks. PS: I don't know what trolling is...ergo I can't do it. Or can I? Err...............
Can a person die if they do not know what death is? But anyway, I think Arshavin is still worth something to us. He's just off form.
Im sure Clichy will be gone next season... Wether Wenger wants to sell Nasri, or let him go on a free is his choice, But both of them are goners. Fabregas is a completely different story.
I think Fabianski has proven his worth this season. His performances have been better than Szczesny's to be honest and he's always had that spark. He's made that double save that I feel is greater than Seaman's famous clutch off the goal line. As a back up, he could be brilliant. I don't know with Clichy. He's not bad except for his concentration lapses. And he is often left exposed on the left. It's a tough call.
