re: Arsenal 2014/15 Season Long Thread

I'm like most in believing that this is going to be a great Champions League group to watch, but one I think we have a great chance to win this year. No Lewendowski, no Drogba, etc.

But this will be the year we win the group but still draw Bayern Munich in the Round of 16 anyway after Manchester City wins Group E!

Son of a b**** I am already preparing for it now ...

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Juventus.

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I'll take Juventas. Theo will be back.

So is it looking unlikely at this point that we get a striker to replace Giroud before the transfer window closes? Seems like there's been little to no news on it.

Looks like we pick up no one before the window closes. Hope I am wrong

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We seemed to pick up Ozil out of nowhere, so hopefully another surprise will come about :fingerscrossed:

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Agreed. We will sign a player we need. Like Bayern did with the cover that Alonso does for cover for Jesus.

Just watched. Thought Jack had a great game. I hope we can figure out how to get the most out of he and Ramsey.

Thought Mesut was much more involved. I like him on the left when Monreal gets forward. He can slide balls through and cut in. He and Santi interchanged well. I thought it was the best we've looked offensively all year and could've scored more.

Also, Flamini was really good, disrupted plenty of counters that could've been deadly.

Honestly, I hate saying this, because I love the guy, but Per limits us so much. He's just so goddamn slow. We got the clean sheet, and he and Kosc understand how to play together, but he and Debuchy haven't quite figured it out. Hopefully they develop and understanding.

The way Alexis presses up top, and with Ox and Theo's speed, and with Ramsey's hounding in midfield, we could be such a good high line pressing and possession team, if not for Per. I'm not talking Barca esque high lines, but because we have to sit so deep, there's tons of space for guys like Ozyakup who like to drift into space to find pockets and play dangerous balls through/over/behind our defense. I'm really skeptical we can play 4-1-4-1 if we don't get an elite, mobile DM.

What's more important than getting a mobile DM is to understand when to go forward and when to stay back. Offensively there are times when both wingbacks are pushed against the opposition wide midfielders, and the DM, whoever it is, is not splitting the difference between the CB's like Busquets does but participates in the build-up of play. Our CB's will always be exposed as long as that happens.

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i thought flamini was ok, but not very good. we still need someone with better passing ability back there.

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I thought Flamini played well, but I agree we need someone who can start an attack from deep with a decent forward pass (I would love to see Jack in this role), is mobile, and as crazy stated is intelligent in his positioning. That's probably the most important part.

Chambers looks good everywhere. I want to see what he can do at DM.

Arsenal set to sign Sokratis Papastathopoulos after making new £15.8m transfer offer

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Arsenal are close to signing Borussia Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos after upping their offer for the player to £15.8million.

Sokratis emerged as a top transfer target for the Gunners this week with Arsene Wenger making a £10.9million bid to try and lure him to the Emirates Stadium.

It was turned down, with Dortmund demanding closer to £20million, and now reports in Greece say a compromise is close with a new bid going in.

It’s thought the offer is worth £15.8million and the player has made it clear to Dortmund that he wants to make the move.

Arsenal are still waiting for the bid to be formally accepted but it’s thought to be a formality, while talks are already ongoing with Sokratis’ agent over personal terms.

He currently earns about £30,000-a-week at Dortmund but can expect a pay rise of about £15,000-a-week if he moves to north London.

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