re: Arsenal 2014/15 Season Long Thread

The game is for 4. You rotating at the same hospital as Russ?

Eta: thanks for clearing that up.

Sadly, no. We only rotate with one other person at a time, or at least that's the way it is on surgery, so it seems like the chances of us rotating together is pretty small. But 4 is a decent time. I might actually be able to make that.

Have you guys seen this? Its about Barcelona's demise trying to fit Fabregas. Long but fantastic article.

LINK

It sucks that he ended up at Chelsea but Arsene did the right thing in not re-signing him.

yeah i read that a week or so ago. seemed unnecessarily harsh/scapegoat-y.

quote:

---

Henry is the reason I started following Arsenal

---

Ditto. I was in France for the 2006 World Cup, and while Zidane was my favorite player, he ended up retiring so the next best team to start following was Arsenal since that team had Henry, Vieira, and Gallas, who were all cornerstones of that France team. It really started with me picking Arsenal as my FIFA 2007 team, and a few years later it turned into a full on love affair.

Good fit for him. Hope he helps get them back up to the Prem.

Really critical article of Jack on ESPNFC today.

LINK

Some excerpts:

quote:

---

His statement hints at a player who has been lavished with praise from an early age and who -- whatever his public pronouncements -- has taken that acclaim to heart, who has decided that he does not need to improve, that he is worth the hype. It is true that Wenger has told him not to lose the bite in his game, but Wenger has also told him to be more careful with when he uses that bite. That part of the lesson does not seem to have sunk in yet.

---

quote:

---

It was telling that Arsenal produced the finest 45 minutes of their campaign -- the first half against Napoli in the Champions League group stage -- with Wilshere on the bench.

That night, Mesut Ozil was deployed as a central playmaker -- where he will, no doubt, continue to be used this season -- with Mathieu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey occupying the deeper roles. That was the lineup that seemed to give Arsenal the best balance of any that Wenger selected last season.

---

quote:

---

It seemed insulting, three years ago, when Pep Guardiola suggested that Barcelona's reserve sides were full of players just like Wilshere. He was wrong. Those Catalan teenagers will instinctively understand the need to continue to evolve. It is hard to escape the impression that Wilshere does not.

---

Thoughts?

I freely admit I look at our players through rose-colored glasses at times. I did figure Jack would develop into one of the top MF's in the world.


I have been disenchanted by his seeming lack of progress, but I felt the same way about Aaron Ramsey also,and would have been fine had Arsene given up on him.

Rambo proved me wrong. I hope JW will too.

quote:

---

Really critical article of Jack on ESPNFC today.

---

What a thoroughly shitty article about Jack. He's wrong about the lineup for the Napoli game. Ramsey was on the right.

Jack isn't near the finished article, and has played pretty well, all things considered. The fact he was out for such a lengthy spell, and only came back in October of 2012 leads me to believe that it will take another couple of months before he reaches his best.

Ramsey was out for about a year, and had the benefit of loan spells to work out some kinks, and even then, he struggled for a year and a half before things clicked for him. Why do people seem to forget that he was absolutely hated by some very vocal Arsenal fans before his breakthrough season?

Hell, when Rosicky got back from his injury, he sucked for a full 18 months before he started playing well, displacing Ramsey as the CAM, and helping us secure fourth place in the 2011-2012.

It takes a long time to come back and play at a high level after a lengthy injury spell. You would think people would understand based on Ramsey and Rosicky's recoveries, and have some god damn patience before saying Jack has to push on.

Also that article makes it seem like everything Jack does is wrong. He's done plenty right, and has had some fantastic games, like Swansea in the FA Cup replay, the Marseille game, and the Aston Villa game. He does the mature thing and asks Scholes specifically about what he can improve on. He goes in for a tackle, and somehow is to blame because he gets injured? It's not accurate criticism. If you said to me that Jack often dribbles too much, or he chooses the wrong option, or he draws too much contact before going down, or that his style of play, due to his dribbling ability and quickness, as well as desire to drive with the ball from deep, will inevitably lead to injuries, then those are accurate criticisms. The article chooses idiotic examples, and tries to make idiotic claims based on those examples. It's annoying and stupid.

New Arsenal fan here. Usually watch soccer during the WC but have never followed a team. Decided to pick an EPL team and since I've spent considerable time in London i decided to narrow it down to Chelsea or Arsenal. I read how Chelsea is considered the "Yankees" of soccer with some Russian billionaire owner so I picked Arsenal. Plus the logo is fantastic, the name is sweet and the Queen is a fan. Unfortunately the only player i recognize is Ozul but I look forward to following them and learning more throughout the year (starting with this sat). Anyways, cheers and go Arsenal!