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re: Arsenal 2013/2014 Season Long Thread
Posted on 3/23/14 at 1:39 pm to BleedPurpleGold
Posted on 3/23/14 at 1:39 pm to BleedPurpleGold
this season has been such a rollercoaster. i don't even know how to evaluate it. clearly, as it has been all year, our squad isn't good enough but it kinda pisses me off to read shite yesterday saying they didn't play with any effort or that they played with a sense of entitlement. that's bogus. the way we were set up yesterday was suicidal. if there was lack of effort, it was on AW's part.
even when we were doing well, his insistence (largely due to injuries, but some of his own choosing as well) on playing so many midfielders really inhibited us. that and not finding another striker these past few windows has hampered us. what somewhat worries me about all these contract extensions is that this glut of CAMs is going to remain and that Arsene isn't going to switch things up. we need different types of attackers. if he, who hasn't really done much of anything the last three transfer windows outside an obviously huge signing in Ozil, thinks we only need three additions in the offseason, the maybe it is time for him to go. that said, as shown by SAF leaving, there is a lot to be said about continuity. the players clearly love him, but we need to freshen things up our tactics and our roster.
even when we were doing well, his insistence (largely due to injuries, but some of his own choosing as well) on playing so many midfielders really inhibited us. that and not finding another striker these past few windows has hampered us. what somewhat worries me about all these contract extensions is that this glut of CAMs is going to remain and that Arsene isn't going to switch things up. we need different types of attackers. if he, who hasn't really done much of anything the last three transfer windows outside an obviously huge signing in Ozil, thinks we only need three additions in the offseason, the maybe it is time for him to go. that said, as shown by SAF leaving, there is a lot to be said about continuity. the players clearly love him, but we need to freshen things up our tactics and our roster.
3
Posted on 3/23/14 at 1:49 pm to Friend of OBUDan
Aston Villa beat Chelsea. Chelsea, despite being league leaders, honestly aren't as good as league leaders have been in the past. Losing 6-0 is just embarrassing, sendoff or not.
And wtf was Chamberlain thinking with that handball anyway?
And wtf was Chamberlain thinking with that handball anyway?
Posted on 3/23/14 at 4:14 pm to cwil177
akpom recalled from his loan. decent chance he gets a shot Tuesday. looks like AW may be shaking things up.
Posted on 3/23/14 at 4:58 pm to Friend of OBUDan
If the fact that we've shipped 17 goals to the three other top sides doesn't compel Wenger to buy, then I don't know what will. If we play with Mertesacker, then we need to have a mobile DM in front of him to close down the ball carrier. If we are ever going to play a high line, we need to drop Meretesacker and play TV5. Our defensive positioning in our final block is good, but good lord is it awful in transition. Arteta is clearly limited by his mobility, and thus is left alone to cover 20 yards, and without Ramsey we have no one to help shuttle that space.
Wenger has to realize that maybe the injury problems we've had are his fault with his training methods. We have way too many injuries to key players every fricking season.
We need to buy at least five players, but I would be happy with 3 depending on who they are. It is absolutely paramount we get our targets and get them early.
Wenger has to realize that maybe the injury problems we've had are his fault with his training methods. We have way too many injuries to key players every fricking season.
We need to buy at least five players, but I would be happy with 3 depending on who they are. It is absolutely paramount we get our targets and get them early.
Posted on 3/23/14 at 5:05 pm to crazy4lsu
I'm not sure why AW thinks we can play a high line. We get burned every time... yet we walk into the Bridge and play it again. And get burned... again.
Posted on 3/23/14 at 7:27 pm to cwil177
This has been a confusing season and AW is directly to blame for a lot of these horrendous losses. Koscielny and Mertesacker are an interesting case, I think Mert truly is a great CB but Koscielny really seems so hot or cold. Mert's pace kills him and really negates the ability to have a high line especially with no real ability for any DMs on the squad to also cover.
Arsenal simply have too many 10s and the links to Draxler really confuse me. Did Arsene ever really come out and say they looked at him with a CF conversion in mind? If Arsenal do get Draxler that would mean Ozil, Cazorla, Draxler, Rosicky and Jack to an extent are all natural 10s. That's too many and that doesn't work. Santi is amazing at his best but I really think a true LW who can stretch the field would accentuate the abilities of Ozil along with a new ST and Walcott on the right. I would love to see a dual bid for Fernando and Mangala out of Porto but Porto love to squeeze every penny out of their players.
Arsenal simply have too many 10s and the links to Draxler really confuse me. Did Arsene ever really come out and say they looked at him with a CF conversion in mind? If Arsenal do get Draxler that would mean Ozil, Cazorla, Draxler, Rosicky and Jack to an extent are all natural 10s. That's too many and that doesn't work. Santi is amazing at his best but I really think a true LW who can stretch the field would accentuate the abilities of Ozil along with a new ST and Walcott on the right. I would love to see a dual bid for Fernando and Mangala out of Porto but Porto love to squeeze every penny out of their players.
This post was edited on 3/23/14 at 7:35 pm
Posted on 3/23/14 at 7:33 pm to Jabroni
those two are both City locks.
apparently we're no longer interested in drax. according to fjortoft, we don't think he can become a CF anymore.
apparently we're no longer interested in drax. according to fjortoft, we don't think he can become a CF anymore.
Posted on 3/23/14 at 7:36 pm to Friend of OBUDan
Yeah they both unfortunately are headed City's way, the rich just get sickeningly wealthier. Do any of us actually think Draxler is worth almost 40 million? Especially with no real experience up top? Aurier seems headed to Arsenal which is a great addition imo. Who would you like to see?
Posted on 3/23/14 at 9:11 pm to Jabroni
quote:
Who would you like to see?
Like most Arsenal fans, I've thought many times about this as the season has gone along. If you look at who might realistically be available out there, I would love to see us target the following 3 players immediately after the season is over.
1. To address the striker position, I would love for us to go after Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich. I think it's pretty common knowledge that he will be on the market in the summer since Robert Lewendoski has already signed a pre-contract with Bayern and will be their first choice. Mandzukic is the top goal scorer in the Bundesliga this year, so how would that not be an upgrade to what we currently have with Giroud's form seemingly hitting its lowest point of the season when we need him to play at his best the most?
Other realistic striker targets I wouldn't mind seeing us go after would be Mario Balotelli and Christian Benteke. With Balotelli, it's all a matter of his attitude. His talent cannot be questioned as he is the type of striker that can score any kind of goal you can think of and do it anywhere inside of 30 yards. Thierry Henry was the last striker we had that could literally create a goal out of nothing from anywhere on the pitch. I also like the way Benteke plays and think he could fit in with what we try to do. He provides a very physical presence up top, but also has pace and is able to score some great goals that we don't have in our team at the moment. Plus, he's now been 2 seasons in the Premier League, and is really starting to play well again in the second half of the season for Aston Villa. He will never progress anywhere beyond a mid-table team while there, so could this be the summer he might make a move?
2. If all the talk is true about Podolski being on his way out in the summer, I would love nothing more than for us to go out and get Antoine Griezmann from Real Sociedad to fill that void on the left wing. There are some great goal scorers in La Liga, and it would be a massive add to get Griezmann who is currently the 3rd leading scorer in La Liga, at least coming into this weekend. He is young and will most certainly move on to a bigger club this summer, so why not Arsenal? After all, we were linked to him in the January window I believe.
3. Finding a realistic target to fill that holding midfield role is a bit more difficult in my opinion. I would love to have someone of the caliber of Matic who was signed by Chelsea in the January window. I think he's had a big impact on their title chances since coming back to the Premier League. Perhaps making another run at Lars Bender will be in the cards this summer, and I think that would be a great addition as well. We made a concrete bid to Bayern Leverkusen of 19 million pounds last summer that was turned down. He's a player who is really starting to show his potential in the Bundesliga and with the German national team, and will undoubtedly be on Germany's World Cup squad this summer.
Of course other positions will need to be addressed with Sagna likely to leave, and finding other defensive cover if Vermaelen moves on, etc.
But you can't tell me we wouldn't have the squad necessary to challenge for any and all trophies starting next year with a first-choice starting 11 that looks like this below. We would continue to improve defensively, and then have natural pace on the wings that Ozil needs to run the show.
Szczesny
New RB, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs
Bender, Ramsey
Walcott, Ozil, Griezmann
Mandzukic
Bench options: Giroud, Sanogo, Cazorla, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Arteta, Flamini, Gnabry, Monreal.
This is the quality and depth of a team we need to be able to contend for everything!
This post was edited on 3/23/14 at 9:14 pm
Posted on 3/23/14 at 9:11 pm to Jabroni
I'm not sure drax is worth that right now, but I'd be perfectly fine adding him at that price. incredible potential.
I'm not the best to ask because I haven't gotten to watch too much non-arsenal action this year, but as for names that have been mentioned as potential transfers, I'd target lars bender,drax, jung or aurier, shaw (gibbs is too injury prone and not great enough to rely on), mangala, griezmann, Pedro. hell, they'd never come here, but if cavani and falcao really are "available" I'd be cool with blowing nearly our entire transfer wad on one of them. that's how badly we need a striker. balotelli seems potentially feasible and while I'd have my doubts, maybe the risk we need to take at this point.
I'm not the best to ask because I haven't gotten to watch too much non-arsenal action this year, but as for names that have been mentioned as potential transfers, I'd target lars bender,drax, jung or aurier, shaw (gibbs is too injury prone and not great enough to rely on), mangala, griezmann, Pedro. hell, they'd never come here, but if cavani and falcao really are "available" I'd be cool with blowing nearly our entire transfer wad on one of them. that's how badly we need a striker. balotelli seems potentially feasible and while I'd have my doubts, maybe the risk we need to take at this point.
Posted on 3/23/14 at 9:15 pm to Friend of OBUDan
quote:
I'm not sure drax is worth that right now, but I'd be perfectly fine adding him at that price. incredible potential.
I'm not the best to ask because I haven't gotten to watch too much non-arsenal action this year, but as for names that have been mentioned as potential transfers, I'd target lars bender,drax, jung or aurier, shaw (gibbs is too injury prone and not great enough to rely on), mangala, griezmann, Pedro. hell, they'd never come here, but if cavani and falcao really are "available" I'd be cool with blowing nearly our entire transfer wad on one of them. that's how badly we need a striker. balotelli seems potentially feasible and while I'd have my doubts, maybe the risk we need to take at this point.
Seems like we are on the same wavelength on a few names. What do you think of my previous post? You were probably typing yours when I posted mine.
Posted on 3/23/14 at 9:19 pm to Friend of OBUDan
at this point, we need to take at least one risk. drax may be overpriced right and balo may be a hothead, but both have the potential to be the best at their position in the world. maybe AW, or his successor, can't harness that, but we need to do something because even if we can technically compete with the top clubs spending wise, success-wise, we still aren't get top, top guys over barca, real, bayern, city, chelsea, et al until we win more.
Posted on 3/23/14 at 9:22 pm to FirstRoundPick
totally forgot about mario m! we should strongly pursue him. a better version of giroud. seems most realistic to me, though if chelsea miss out on their big targets, they could nab him.
bender, griezmann, mandzukic, and jung/aurier would be a very nice summer (though i'd like more
)
bender, griezmann, mandzukic, and jung/aurier would be a very nice summer (though i'd like more
)Posted on 3/23/14 at 10:01 pm to Friend of OBUDan
quote:
this season has been such a rollercoaster. i don't even know how to evaluate it.
I also think this is tough to do because if you take this season just on face value, you'd have to say that it is as good a season as we've had in quite a number of years. However, it feels like such a missed opportunity, in my opinion, to really make a run at the Premier League title with all of the turnover last summer for the top teams.
Our inability to address our biggest needs over the last 3 transfer windows since losing RVP has really left our squad depleted to its bare bones at this stage thanks to the injuries we've suffered. You just can't expect to stay in the title race over a 38-game season with the type of inactivity we've shown in the transfer market, no matter what level of turnover there is for other top teams also vying for that title.
The things that will immediately stick out to any Arsenal fan that must be addressed going forward is what in the world is going on with our team when it comes to facing the top teams, and what in the hell is going on in training, preparation, etc., that leads to so many injuries. I think those two things are overriding storylines for our season, no matter what happens the rest of the way. It is simply inexcusable to lost 6-3, 5-1 and now 6-0 away to the teams you're trying to beat for the league title.
But I honestly choose to evaluate this season on the positive, and my evaluation is solely based on whether or not we win the FA Cup.
If we do win the FA Cup like we really should do, then that is a big monkey off the back of Wenger and the players and should give us great momentum heading into the summer transfer window and into the start of next season. Ending that 9-year trophy drought should be top priority, and we have a golden opportunity to do that.
And I for one would savor that FA Cup win as it would be my first trophy as a Gooner! I started following Arsenal in 2006 during their run to the Champions League final. I loved the way they played, and I loved watching Thierry Henry. Unfortunately for me, I never got to watch Henry in an Arsenal shirt for very long, and we've never enjoyed that level of success since The Invincibles era that I missed.
Of course, even if we win the FA Cup, we might still finish in 4th place in the league standings, which is a position we've grown all too familiar with over the past several seasons. However, in my opinion, what 4th place might look like this year is not like any 4th place we've taken in recent seasons. It's conceivable that by finishing 4th this year, we could be closer points wise to 1st place than 5th place, which shows just how tight it is in the Premier League in 2013-14.
We are currently sitting on 62 points through 30 games this season, which is 9 points ahead of last year's pace when we were at 53 points at the same stage. If you look at our remaining 8 league games, we will probably be the favorite to win outright in 6 of those games, with Everton being a toss up and then being underdogs against Manchester City next weekend. If we do add 18 points to our total, then we finish at 80 points. That is good progress from the 73 points we took a year ago to also finish in 4th place.
Just for reference sake, below are the places 80 points would have earned in the last few seasons, which puts into a much different perspective what this kind of season could have earned our club in that time. Arsenal's actual season finish is in parentheses.
2012-13: 2nd (4th)
2011-12: 3rd (3rd)
2010-11: 1st (4th)
2009-10: 3rd (3rd)
Long story short, that's how I choose to evaluate this season. Just ask yourself whether or not we have made progress from exactly 1 year ago after we lost 2-1 at Spurs and seemed hopelessly out of the Top 4 race.
I truly believe we have progressed as a club since that time. Spending big money on a player like Ozil is a glimpse of what I think could be in store for us again this summer, especially since we keeping hearing all the public statements from Wenger, Gazidis, etc., about how we're finally now positioned to compete financially with most all of the other top clubs around Europe. The new Puma kit deal and other new revenue streams coming into the club might provide us the kind of funds needed to strengthen the squad in a profound way.
This summer will tell us a lot about how much we will have progressed again when we are sitting here 1 year from now and evaluating 2014-15. Will we still be in the race for all of the competitions (Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup)?
This post was edited on 3/23/14 at 10:05 pm
Posted on 3/24/14 at 9:18 am to FirstRoundPick
guess the akpom recall rumors were a bit overboard. he was recalled to play for our u21s today (and scored in under 10 minutes)
Posted on 3/24/14 at 9:57 am to Friend of OBUDan
kos is out, not sure how long. bellerin replaces him in the squad. guess we'll find out today if Ox is suspended. not sure who we'd put in the squad to replace him since zelalem, olsson, akpom, eisfeld et al are playing right now for the U21s.
Posted on 3/24/14 at 11:09 am to Friend of OBUDan
akpom with a hat trick for our u21s today. apparently he was ballin'.
Posted on 3/24/14 at 11:11 am to Friend of OBUDan
quote:
akpom with a hat trick for our u21s today. apparently he was ballin'.
Sounds like it.
I like him a lot.
Posted on 3/24/14 at 1:05 pm to FirstRoundPick
quote:
The Ox also avoids transferred suspension because FA accepts Arsenal's appeal that it was not a clear goal scoring opportunity.
This is stupid. AOC thought it was a clear goal scoring opportunity or he wouldn't have tried to become a keeper.
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