re: 2013 Summer Transfer Thread

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unless it's a personal thing trying not to give it to Jose because they could have hired him instead of Moyes

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Not true.

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yeah good point. we're the same team as we were then

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Are you trying to say you're better now?

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Are you trying to say you're better now?

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They are

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Are you trying to say you're better now?

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Than RvP's last season with us? Way better. More depth, a more cohesive defensive system, and an attacking philosophy that still scores a lot of goals in the EPL. RvP and Song were great that year, but god damn was Song undisciplined defensively. He literally did whatever the frick he wanted.

We got better because we bought experienced players. We aren't as good as the 2010 team, but we could be if we got a striker who can help us break down teams that put 10 behind the ball.

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Plus I think Vermaelen then was better than mertesacker now.

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I don't know about that. TV5 was great in his first year because Gallas was disciplined, but when TV5 got forward he lost all sense of where he was supposed to be. Mertesacker is terrible passing the ball, but he's much more consistent than TV5 ever could have been.

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but god damn was Song undisciplined defensively

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No wonder Barca wanted him.

Well if by depth you mean y'all have lots of overpaid squad players now who aren't good enough to start, I agree. For instance, y'all now have 4 serviceable fullbacks. Two years ago, a healthy sagna and clichy were much better than any combination of the 4 y'all currently have. There is certainly something to be said for depth, but IMO y'all's best eleven is not as impressive as it was a few years ago. Keep in mind, y'all only lost Cesc one year before the specific season you're now talking about.

Eta: it's pretty clear what y'all's balanced wage structure does. Top players have to go elsewhere while squad players are vastly overpaid. What's happens? You end up with a lot of meh along with theo and Jack.

lol. where to start...

defense - gibbs or monreal > clichy 2 years ago (or now). kos and per are much better than you give them credit for. check our defensive record after Wenger smartened up and benched our captain. last year was a blip for Sagna but he still wasn't bad. this is our best backline in years.

we lost nasri too, homey.

arteta's been one of the best midfielders in the league the past two years. santi is only behind mata in terms of creative forces in the league. rambo really stepped up in the deeper role at the end of last season and is poised to blow up this year. Jack isn't even a lock to be in our top XI this year.

Look I think y'all's defense is fine, I never have really liked Mertesacker but he proved himself last year. I was just trying to point out that while y'all have added depth, none of your starting XI could crack the starting XI of the teams who are competing for the title, with the exception of maybe Santi, Theo and Wilshere. Clichy had one bad season for y'all, not really worth arguing about. Gibbs is always injured, Monreal is a good backup.

I did forget about Nasri, who really only had one standout season for y'all when he was played through the center. Arteta has been a good signing, I also don't think he's at his best playing so deep (y'all need a DM) but he has been a stopgap signing and he is obviously getting pretty old. I love Santi, I have since watching him play at Villarreal for a year while I was hoping to see jozy come off the bench. If you think Ramsey is good, I don't know what to say to you.

Anyways, all I said in the first place is that it's debatable that y'all are a better team than y'all were two years ago, when you had the best player in the league. I forgot why I avoid the arsenal thread, you are such a homer and you enjoy arguing way too much.