re: Arsenal 2012/2013 Season Long Thread

I really think the fluid front three we saw during our really good run of form (last fall) would be ideal. But we might sacrifice defensive stability, which I think we are valuing more now. We need better movement. Podolski loves the ball to feet, so he can dribble. But he rarely makes the runs we need him to make. He needs to be a forward and let Cazorla be the creator. I really like him when he is dribbling, but we need him to be at the end of moves rather than at the beginning.

Love the avatar. The hurricane metaphors were nice. I'm evacuating NOLA tomorrow

Dembele is one of the best dribblers in the PL. I would take him and Cabaye in a second. I'm skeptical that we would actually buy anyone else. I'm much more interested in getting rid of Chamakh, Squillaci, Bendtner, and Denilson.

Dembele isn't a great finisher (maybe an understatement although he did have a nice strike Saturday) but moving him deeper in central midfield made this less of an issue. His defensive game is actually pretty good, I'm sure he could improve his positioning but he won I think 7 tackles against United, he's just so strong (one of the few central midfielders in the EPL that could really match up physically with Toure), Kagawa and Cleverly just bounced off him time after time.

He's absurdly good with the ball at his feet, and a good but not by any means great passer.

I'd prefer that everyone just leaves him alone personally. Fulham could be a bit of a mess in about a week.

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If anyone can teach him to have more end product, it would be Wenger. I'd imagine if we do get him, we will move him wide.

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Hope not. Would rather see him get a chance in the middle with Arteta.

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Hope not. Would rather see him get a chance in the middle with Arteta.

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If he came to us, he'd basically be a redux of Samir Nasri, a central attacking player who would be moved out wide to mitigate his defensive responsibilities as well as to take advantage of dribbling ability. In wide areas, chances of an overload are more likely, with the overlap, which gives dribblers that much more space to operate. He's not a good enough passer to play centrally for us. Cabaye is a much better option. More Spanish in style then French, he's a player that truly loves the ball and wants to use it. I don't think either are really likely though.

I just really want us to get rid of the dead weight. I don't care if we bring anyone else in.

Yeah he has the makings of a captain. Cazorla is creative enough, but we have to start finishing better and improving our decision-making in the final third. I don't necessarily think we need any more creativity, but the decision to play so few pre-season games this year (partly enforced by the Olympics) is biting us in the arse right now.

Diaby is clearly far away from being able to contribute, but he does provide some physicality. He won a lot of headers against Stoke. Ramsey isn't a bad option, but his confidence is tender and a sub role suits him best at the moment. He has vision, which you can't teach, but he needs more seasoning. We can't let him go the way of Denilson by relying on him too much. Ox could play a deeper role, but I don't know how well he does as a tackler. Ramsey mostly gets in the way, Diaby tries to tackle, but doesn't do all that well with it, and Arteta is a superb tackler. If we could have Ox just get in the way like Ramsey, that might work. Also we haven't gotten a look at his passing. It's difficult to say. He has the physique to destroy people in the center of the park, but he's still only 19, so he has a long way to go in terms of development. We might as well play Coquelin there to see how he does, but I have a feeling that Wenger isn't completely convinced by him, hence the links to M'vila, Capoue, etc. We need more productivity from that position, but if we can last til Rosicky and Wilshere are back, we should be alright.