OT: Futbol II

Ajax1995

Registered User
Dec 9, 2002
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Nice performance by the Gunners yesterday. Well at least that European distraction is out of the way...
 

CapitalsCupReality

It’s Go Time!!
Feb 27, 2002
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Rewatched Arsenal vs. AC Milan....beatdown.

Arsenal literally had 2 chances all game. Terrible lineup/selection by Wenger.
 

Ajax1995

Registered User
Dec 9, 2002
8,809
867
Rewatched Arsenal vs. AC Milan....beatdown.

Arsenal literally had 2 chances all game. Terrible lineup/selection by Wenger.

Well for better or worse Wenger isn't going to send a team out there to park the bus too often and I wouldn't have expected him to have done that against Milan.

I don't have a problem with his selection outside of putting Gibbs in the starting lineup after being out for almost 4 months with injury. But starting him on the bench would have meant start Djourou in the center and he had been out for almost a month with an injury also. So my guess is they felt Gibbs had a better chance of lasting 90 minutes than Djourou.

The Gunners just got thoroughly thrashed and I don't think given who was available any second guessing would have changed that much if at all, IMO anyway.
 

TheGoldenJet

Registered User
Apr 2, 2008
9,485
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Coquitlam, BC
I bet Arsenal sure are wishing they had brought in Podolski now. :naughty:

7 years trophyless, now that they are out of the FA cup and all but done in the CL. And they only have about a 50% chance of remaining in the top 4 as it is.

Looks like they may try to get him this summer after all.
 

CapitalsCupReality

It’s Go Time!!
Feb 27, 2002
64,729
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Arsenal will just finally be forced to spend. They're just not talented or deep enough. Keep Wenger and buy some players. Easy enough.


I don't see how RVP doesn't leave though...unless there are a few significant additions....like big ones.
 

Ajax1995

Registered User
Dec 9, 2002
8,809
867
Arsenal will just finally be forced to spend. They're just not talented or deep enough. Keep Wenger and buy some players. Easy enough.


I don't see how RVP doesn't leave though...unless there are a few significant additions....like big ones.

Yeah thinking back over the Wenger years at Highbury and now the Emirates the quality of this team doesn't come close to what had been out there in the past.

I get that given the cost of the new stadium they wanted to focus on their youth scheme and grabbing good young players from somewhere else and turning them into excellent players at Arsenal to try to create a self sustaining conveyor belt of players but you really need experienced quality to help that along.

Wenger always had that spine of quality in Adams, Viera, and Bergkamp. And when other top experienced players like Petit and Overmars were sold he brought in experienced quality like Gilberto Silva and Pires. When Adams and Keown were getting too old Campbell was brought in. And those experienced players helped the younger guys like Anelka, Cole, Clichy, Fabregas, and especially Henry blossom into great players. Plus there was quality throughout the squad in the likes of Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Bould, Wright, Parlour, Ljundberg, Wiltord, Lauren, and Lehmann.

Selling Viera was a huge mistake. I understand their one year contracts only for 30+ year old players but for a player like Viera you make an exception. When he was sold and Bergkamp retired there was no experience left to lead the club on the field.

On the current team only van Persie, Sagna, and Vermaelen (as a left back not in the center) are up to the standards of the Wenger's past great teams. Wilshere can likely get there and Mertesacker might also as he gets used to the EPL but that is about it. I guess Song could be a squad player on those teams.

Wenger needs to bring in more quality but equally important is bringing in some experienced serious on field leadership.
 

CapitalsCupReality

It’s Go Time!!
Feb 27, 2002
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David Luiz looking like a fool on the pitch...Chelsea done.


AVB has got to go. Holding out Lampard again....what a fool this guy is turning out to be.
 

Chimaera

same ol' Caps
Feb 4, 2004
31,027
1,754
La Plata, Maryland
Yeah, that's also a major factor.

Here's the issue. Lampard has never been that mobile. As he's aged, he's slower, and doesn't track back much at all. While I think he could be useful for many clubs, he's not a feature player. He can't go more than 70 minutes without needing to come off, and in that time he's a severe defensive liability.

If Gerrard's healthy, he's still quick enough to drive the ball into the box and cross it in (something Lampard never was good at) even if he's not that great at out distancing his man. Gerrard's issue is health, not decline. If the two are both healthy, they play the same role and Gerrard is better.
 

CapitalsCupReality

It’s Go Time!!
Feb 27, 2002
64,729
19,597
9g 14pts, 21 appearances, mostly part time. You find a spot unless you've got better that are producing because he is on a team struggling to score.
 

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