Also if anyone can explain the fat white guy in the TMB/NBA logo TIA. Also, can I buy that t-shirt, because I would in a second?
at least we aren't missing anyone important... but seriously, glad we blocked Iwobi from going to the Olympics.
afcstuff @afcstuff 5h5 hours ago Ramsey: "I'm back 1st August. I know [Wenger likes to give players a long rest]. I feel I need a few weeks off now." first game is august 14 vs liverpool. i can see ramsey making the bench if he gets back by august 1.
If purchasing Morata helps fund RM's purchase of Pogba, keeping him out of Manchester... That's what I want.
Guglielmo Cannavale@GugliCannavale Lille's Sidibè is set to sign for Arsenal, he can play as RB and LB. He was close to As Monaco #afc
That was never going to happen. Nacho was arguably our best & most consistent player last season. Rodriguez wouldn't have been guaranteed 1st 11
consistently solid I guess, but that would have to be a hell of an argument for him being our best player. I like Nacho, but that position can be upgraded. no reason to not bring in guys who will push for starting spots.
Not gonna cry if Gibbs is the backup LB another year, I just never wanna see Debuchy again. Sounds like this guy plays both spots(if it's even true) Would like to see Chambers get into the mix more at CB, he's got flaws but Per is on his last legs and Gabriel was pretty awful at times. Shame with how athletic he is, maybe Xhaka can calm that dumb Brazilian down but not counting on it.
Gabriel is still rather young, I'm willing to give him a bit of time to grow and mature, although I'm not sure the Prem lends itself to OTJ training.
Agree with everything you said. Just wanted to add no more Flamteta. We actually have a real fucking DM, I still don't know if this is all just a dream. Regardless, he should severely limit any exposure. For fucks sake, a player from the Championship made us a new team when healthy compared to those old farts.
Have read Sidibe is much better as a RB & better in attack than defense. Seems we've found our Debuchy replacement & additional cover at LB. I'll allow the xfer
I'm not gonna say this in the euros thread as I'll be attacked but does anyone get more credit for doing little at times than Pogba. Kroos and Ozil ran circles around him and Matuidi in the first half, he has a couple nice moves in the 2nd half and now there's a ton of talk about how great he played. Griezmann is insanely good, top 5 player in the world.
Nah, you're right. Kroos and Özil put on a clinic in the midfield. In the first half Pogfam and Matuidi were invisible. His finest moments all came in the second half when he played an integral part for the second goal, the shot from 30 yards with the outside of his foot, and the long switch he played to Giroud. Even with that second half performance, I still think Kroos and Özil had a better second half. The two of them were pulling the strings all game and created so many more opportunities. It's not their fault they had nobody who could finish the chances they would create.
Really happy for Koscielny, been a rock all tournament. If only we could find a decent partner for him for his last couple good years.
Didn't we sign Campbell to an extension before sending him out on loan a few years ago? I get what you're saying, but I don't think this guarantees he is done at Arsenal. Seems odd that the guy with far and away the best season one of our loanees has had in a while would be allowed to leave for free.
I'd put Higuain at the top of my list because he's the best ready made option at striker, has played with Ozil previously at Madrid and has consistently put up very good goal tallys in two of Europe's top leagues. The biggest positives with most of the others mentioned is their potential. Higuain is the finished product. We already had a glaring lack of depth at striker last year and Welbeck pretty much being unavailable all of next season makes it hands down our biggest position of need, IMO. As much as I think our midfield and central defense (aside from Kos) wasn't good enough most of last year, our woeful strike conversion rate meant A LOT of those delicious scoring chances Ozil created went to waste. I do think we could also really use a winger (wanted Mkhtaryan), but it's not like we don't have guys that we can play on the wing (Theo, Campbell, Ox, Ramsey, Iwobi). We could certainly improve on those options, but we have warm bodies there and the potential for one of those 4 to really step up and nail down a spot in the first XI (I haven't given up on Ox/Joel, Iwobi is still young, Theo is dead to me). In terms of true strikers, we pretty much have Giroud and that's it. Iwobi or Alexis could play there, but neither is a true #9. Maybe Morata or Draxler make the most sense in the long run, but fuck the long run. The club has plenty of cash to spend if they chose to do so and we should be trying to win titles now, while Alexis and Ozil are in their primes and Cech is still a top level keeper. Don't they have something like £250M in cash in the bank? You could buy Higuain and Draxler and still have well over £100M leftover. Knowing Wenger, he'll say there are no top top level players available and continue to have us pay income taxes on profits instead of grabbing his balls and checkbook for a change and making a move. Xhaka was a great start, but the Vardy move was him being a cheap cunt given the low release clause and I think we were after Mkhtaryan til Man Utd offered more than Arsenal were willing to. Of the others (Lukaku, Morata, Lacazette, Draxler), I'd want the latter two the most. Best combos of being able to contribute immediately and versatility, but neither is a true striker. Lukaku is too similar to Giroud, IMO. It's nice that he's acclimated to the premier league, young (relatively) and faster than Giroud, but they put up nearly identical numbers, making it hard to consider him a big improvement over Giroud. My only concerns with Draxler are adapting to the premier league (though I think the style of play in the Bundesliga probably translates to England better than some of the other leagues) and his injury history. For Lacazette, it's realy a question of can he do it outside of Ligue 1, which is probably the 5th best league in Europe, top to bottom. I think Morata is too raw yet to make a big enough difference to help Arsenal win the league next year. Lots to agree or disagree with here, so curious what you chaps think.
Order of preference: Higuain, Lacazette, Draxler, Lukaku, Morata Based on: ability to play CF/ST, score goals and help club win this coming season
I don't disagree with that, but not converting on the opportunities that they created was a far bigger problem for Arsenal over the last season or two than being shaky at the back. http://news.arseblog.com/2016/04/arsenal-goals-from-distance-by-the-numbers/ This article starts off talking about shots from distance, but really gets to the heart of what I'm talking about at the end and underscores why I think a proven finisher replacing Giroud in the starting XI is our biggest opportunity for improvement. I'm not just cherry picking with that one, as there are plenty of similar ones to choose from, so here is another: http://indy100.independent.co.uk/ar...-league-at-converting-big-chances--bJHOD1nkRx
Same, unless we were then going to instantly sell him for 90m to Real and then buy Alexis back for 50m and have 40m spare to spend on a striker that doesn't exist. Wheeeeeee
I'm sure we're fucked Ramsey will probably come back in shit form too and Giroud will give up after the final
gonna be hilarious when we don't buy a 9 by the time we play liverpool opening day and theo starts. gonna be even more hilarious when theo plays well up top during giroud's absence and wenger talks himself into thinking we don't need a 9 anymore.
Sidibe turned us down to sign with Monaco. Are there any young, black Frenchmen left for us to offer?