The Arsenal Thread XXII

In all honesty don't think Chelsea's aim was to not let you play us off the park.

He's better than Allen and Gerrard there I guess.

He's a very fine midfielder. Just lost physicality and pace because of successive knee injuries.

I'm just saying we've seen it all before, all we've done is managed to mix together our 2013 and 2014 campaign into 1 season. Sometimes I feel there's progress then others like the last week where I've looked back at the stays and all they show is that there hasn't been any.

Cazorla wasn't anywhere near the player he is today 2 season ago when Wenger signed Ozil and we didn't have an out and out LW so you can't use Walcott as a counterexample to the Sanchez transfer. I'm just being realistic, we won't sign a cb, we probably won't sign a keeper, wengs will risk coq over signing back up so the only marquee signing we're likely to get is a striker, of which there are very few on the market which are worth £40mil price tag.

I don't want Walcott sold, the fact that people have forgotten how good he was a few years ago just because he hasn't banged in 1 a game since his return is laughable (especially seeing as he scored a fair few straight after his return). I have faith he'll be a 15 goal winger next season and would fit in with our style provided we play Jenko at rb over bellerin or debuchy.

Welbeck is a flop, he was signed as a striker and has played on the wing to accommodate him, and he isn't good enough in either position. If we wanted a new rw, we should have signed a winger, not a striker who is know to dislike playing on wing. Tbh I get the feeling he was only signed as a stand in for this season whilst Walcott gets back to fitness and can now still be sold while retaining value (probs why we wanted a loan).

Well can you afford a guy who's lost his physicality but is good technically? He's not got enough technical ability to make up for that even if he is good technically?

Obviously he shouldn't be first out of the door(that belongs to Joe Allen) but he's not good enough to start for a title winning team.

Welbeck is certainly not a flop just because he's a donkey infront of goal though

Welbeck is a flop, he was signed as a striker and has played on the wing to accommodate him, and he isn't good enough in either position. If we wanted a new rw, we should have signed a winger, not a striker who is know to dislike playing on wing.

BIG BIG place to fill when terry leaves though. You're right they are in their prime and will be for another year or two, but they're a 14 man squad realistically, a few injuries and they're ****ed.

He's a DM. His technical ability is more than adequate for his role. He's not Pablo Aimar but he doesn't need to be. He needs to shadow players, cover space, intercept, tackle, win headers and shield his CBs. And he does that as good as any DM in the league. He also needs to prevent people dribbling past him, and be quick horizontally, and there he's not so brilliant. On the whole, more than adequate.

He's not good enough for a title winning team, but I never claimed he was. He'll probably leave this summer and we're fools for letting it happen.

0 trophies in 9 years to 1 in 10, 2 in 11, 3 in 12 etc. Only stops looking bad once it's 9 in 18.

Fair enough with the first bit

In all honesty a top 4 chasing team should be synonymous with winning the title anyway.

We have a real shot at 2nd place and retaining the FA Cup, how is this not progress? Also, last week we drew 0-0 against the run-away league leaders, compared to the 6-0 dicking we took last season, this was promising. Cazorla was rated something like 10th best player in the world when he joined us, he is showing the form he had right before we signed him, it's just his 2014 dip that exaggerates this and makes it seem like he has advanced massively. We may not sign a CB, although I think we might sign a versatile defender who can play across the back line. We won't sign a keeper because Szczesny is honestly a good keeper who could turn out world class, and in the meantime we have Ospina, a more than competent keeper, to cover for him. I think we might sign a DM/Arteta style deep-lying playmaker, and a forward player like Dybala, a role I think Wenger wanted Welbeck to make his own (and he has been effective in that role, if not having the stats to back him up).

I agree with you on the Walcott situation, which is nice I guess

Lol Cazorla along with Walcott were the only reasons why we got through that season, the latter being one of the best CAMs in the premier league at that point. Again all speculation, being obtuse for no reason by suggesting he wont be looking to improve the current squad.

No ones forgotten how good he was or his talent but with the current system we are playing, Welbeck still offers more on the wing as a complete player than Walcott has shown to be capable. Sure Walcott could improve to fit better with our team and don't explicitly want him to be sold with any urgency or anything (great option to have off the bench in certain games) but if he wants to leave because we aren't putting him in our first 11 all the time then i'm indifferent and he'd be stupid to be asking for a significant bump in his wages too. Not all about goals btw, which is why people seem to shun Welbeck in favour of Walcott constantly even though the former is much more involved in games, but if Walcott was to add more to his game (defensively and link up mainly) which is entirely possible (becoming less likely though) then he could quite easily reclaim Welbecks spot. Welbeck is certainly not a flop just because he's a donkey infront of goal though. People seem to be calling for Walcotts inclusion in games i.e Chelsea where he was ineffective, I know he was only on for a few minutes but if he wants a starting spot he deffo needs to become more involved in team play.

Still not rating Bellerin ey? wonder if the boy will have to pocket Messi on top of having succesfully dealt with the likes of Cout, Sterling, Hazard, Silva before getting an honourable mention in our squad next year. Him and Jenko are our best RBs in all honesty, the only thing Debuchy has on both is experience but ability wise they have/will be above him by the end of next season anyway.

Lol he clearly is a flop. Guy was brought in as a striker otherwise he could've played as our bitch on the wing but Wenger realised he's **** up front so he does dog work for you lot now. Good squad player though. In all honesty we should've kept him as he's quite a good winger in some regards.

and retain a major trophy?

Progress made by Arsenal this season in terms of performance is marginal at best, mere fluctuation quite possibly.

I rate Bellerin, but he only works when there's a defensive minded winger in front of him. Him and Walcott on right flank would be ideal if you're a 12 year old on Fifa, but I. Real life you're ****ed defensively

Which side was it that won it the year before you? Who played you in the final last year, who are you playing this year? Its a nice trophy to win, particularly in combination with a league title, but its hardly the CL. Getting to the final is quite clearly on the basis of previous finalists of poor indicator of quality, and beating a team escaping relegation doesn't add much more to that.

The fact remains, as in previous years you where a considerable margin off the title (a slightly better also ran), and in Europe you messed up the group stage (again) and exited at the R16 (again). Progress made by Arsenal this season in terms of performance is marginal at best, mere fluctuation quite possibly.

The dog work he does is pretty valuable to our team regardless. Stopping counters and tactical nous (i.e knowing when to narrow play/hug the touch line or stay deep etc. etc.) are his biggest strengths over Walcott and while he can stretch play and get behind defences like Walcott he hasn't got that clinical edge to him, but its not much of a problem (still frustrating) because we have goalscorers all over the pitch. Agree that Welbeck is **** up front as a lone striker, he doesn't possess any of the required qualities to a high enough level to do it but as a Winger he's a good enough player. Would buy him again if offered in the same circumstances which is why I don't see him as a flop.