re: Arsenal 2013/2014 Season Long Thread

I can't sleep so I watched the game.

Vietnam wasn't half bad a team. They were alright technically, but they lacked real athleticism. That said we were supremely poor defensively. Our defensive spacing, especially in midfield, was awful. Our whole midfield got turned a couple times this game, the most notable when Sagna had to make a tackle on a rather good through ball from Vietnam's number 11 (I think).

I hope it was just laziness or tired. On the Vietnamese goal, Mertesacker was lazy, and our midfield was pushed up the field too much, with Wilshere attempting to track back rather languidly . We will see how they do against the better Japanese teams and in the Emirates Cup.

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Giroud's hat trick, particularly the last two goals, were very nice. All three were confident, comfortable, and impressive first time efforts, though the first should have been saved. He struggled a bit throughout the half but we looked rather languid going forward.

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Giroud was good. His link up play was nice and he seems more confident this season. Hope that continues into the first game. He could lead the line rather well this season. If he improves his chance conversion %, he will reach 20 goals.

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I really like Gnabry. I think he could contribute for us this year, but it might be more beneficial if he goes on loan to another PL team or a Bundesliga squad. two-footed, fast, crosses well, has a good shot, very strong.

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I like him too, but he needs a bit of seasoning. I hope we can get a Bundesliga loan for him at a team like Freiburg or Frankfurt.

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Ox in the pivot beside Arteta was interesting. He's done it once before (vs. Milan in the second leg) and looked good then as well. Tough to make much of a judgment in this and that game though, considering they were very offensive contests. his burst from the midfield that led to the third goal was something we could really use. he's not a great tackler though and his positioning was a little suspect (again, tough to really judge based on this game). His athleticism next to Arteta is a nice combo though. If he doesn't show more creativity over the next couple of years in the attacking role, it could be interesting moving him into that slot.

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Ox can be real useful in the pivot. He's such a great athlete, strong, fast, and he's good enough on the ball to cause real problems. He played in the pivot a couple of times late in the season, against Norwich and Newcastle where he performed pretty well.

Rosicky in the hole is still so good at speeding up our tempo at a moments notice. I hope he is healthy this season as he can help us win things with the way he has played the last two years.

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Sagna at CB is another player playing in a position for the second time ever (for us). He looked very good. Best defender easily for us in this half. And Vietnam actually threatened a good bit. he's so short but damn, he gets up. i'm cool with him as our 4th CB if we can't find a young talent.

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Sagna has been supremely good in the air. I remember that game against Man City where he got the red card, in the first half Mancini matched up Jo, who has a good six inches on him, and targeted Sagna on balls off goal kicks. I remember Sagna won most of those headers over Jo. He's a tremendous athlete. I don't think he will be the fourth CB though. I think we will buy a CB. The season is too long to be short at CB. We will loan out Miquel and buy someone.

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I don't like watching Poldi. i don't love his name, but aesthetically it isn't very appealing to me. he sits there and doesn't make any runs when he's on the left. he only runs when someone finally plays a 1-2 with him. he gets into good positions though. should've scored 2 in the first.

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Yeah Poldi plays like a second striker who demands the ball to his feet when he should play like a wide forward and seek to be at the end of moves. If we could combine Gervinho's running with Poldi's prowess around the box, we would have the perfect wide player. Poldi annoys me so often by his insistence being static. He does what he does really well though. I wouldn't mind him leading the line if, and this is a big if, he can draw CB's up the field. Last season CB's were content to let him drop into midfield where he just congested things instead of opening things up.

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Zelalem...holy frick. this kid is something else. played in the hole today. he has field vision can't be taught. watch this pass which releases Ox to set up Akpom for the tap in. 8:35 mark. had at least 3 others (that i can remember) where he played people in with exquisite passes that deserved goals. turns so nonchalantly. feels pressure. doesn't force things. the kid is special. i know they're trying hard to temper expectations but it's going to be tough. he's had as good a claim as any for title of best player over the first two exhibition matches. he damn well might get PT in the Carling Cup this year.

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I agree. He had one one touch pass to Walcott that was completely ridiculous. His through ball to Ox was Pirloesque in that it was a no look slide rule diagonal. He's a better passer at 16 than Wilshere, but he doesn't have the drive. His game, I can already see, is languid, sort of lazy in that gifted playmaker sense. It might be the ease with which he controls the ball, and the effortlessness of his technical abilities, but he will be something special. In terms of physique, he actually isn't that far off. Ten to fifteen pounds of muscle, and he can probably compete.

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Ryo didn't really cover himself in glory out there. Wasn't awful, but lost the ball more than anyone else by trying to take people on. looked good when he kept it simple. Did have a few nice dribbles. Very fast. very good control. tough to really judge him though. only played ~20mins. would assume its because he'll feature heavily in our next two matches in Japan.

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Yeah didn't see too much out of him. I hope to see more in Japan.

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Olsson came in at right back around the 70th minute. actually didn't suck there but I wouldn't expect that will ever happen again.

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I like him because he is super comfortable on the ball, but I fear he might go the way of Seb Larsson, who was just not athletic enough to make it.

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Aneke is really slow. Like maybe just barely faster than Per slow.

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Yeah, he isn't as graceful when the game is moving faster than it did in the youth league. I'm hoping he makes it though.

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Ox's goal was spectacular. GOLAZO.

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Yes it was. Everything about the play was wonderful. From Ramsey's inch perfect pass to Theo's one touch take to Ox's finish. World class goal.

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Eisfeld played wide left. Only real involvement was cutting it back for Miquel's goal.

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He did have one very nice outside of the foot pass to Ramsey late in the game. I like the look of him. Hopefully he can get a good loan as well.

Arteta didn't have a great game. He looked sluggish, and got turned on some occasions. His passing was alright, but with Ox next to him, his energy was lacking.

I swear if we wanted to play a 4-4-2 again, we could with Ramsey and Ox at CM. Those two can run for days.

I'm so excited about Zelalem. His vision is only surpassed by Cesc, who was unreal at 16. Zelalem plays like someone who has no idea how deep his talent goes.

I'm excited by the look of this team. While we are lazy defensively, our offensive game has become rather natural. Hopefully the long stretches of boring play last season won't be seen this season.