Arsenal Banter Archive June 14 2017

 

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14 Jun 2017 19:12:56
Liverpools net spend last season was half a million quid, quite impressive management by Klopp both on and off the field in his first full season.

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14 Jun 2017 20:15:36
Utd and City spent 300 x Liverpools spend, while Arsenal and Chelsea both x 160 and Spurs x 120.
£s spent to premier league points achieved it's arguably who got the best return Chelsea Spurs or Liverpool but there's little question Utds premier points were by far the most expensive closely followed by City.

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14 Jun 2017 22:26:41
It's funny G62 because we have had a few seasons like that and the credit appears to have gone missing when Wenger has done it before. Well done klopp lol.

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14 Jun 2017 23:34:45
I hate to mention the Spuds - but their next spend over 5 years is 1m! Clearly helped by Bale sale but impressive stuff.

I think spend over 3 to 5 years is a better reflection than 1 low spending year or a few sales

Man City spend is crazy.

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15 Jun 2017 08:02:48
Fair point Sanogo mate but it was Klopps first full season, it won't look quite as impressive if he repeats the same for the next 10 seasons :-) I think the Liverpool fans would be screaming for what could have been if he'd spent a bit more, the 4th place trophy does seem to have have a shelf life when it comes to pleasing fans repeatedly ;-)
What Makes Poch more impressive is the first 2 seasons weren't down to him SY mate, AVB had first go with all that Bale and Modric money.
All eyes on both Klopp and Poch to see what they do whether they can continue to improve thier teams and show a healthy bank balance at the same time.

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15 Jun 2017 08:11:41
Mrs Dags nett spend will put all of the above to shame, trust.

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15 Jun 2017 08:02:48
Fair point Sanogo mate but it was Klopps first full season, it won't look quite as impressive if he repeats the same for the next 10 seasons :-) I think the Liverpool fans would be screaming for what could have been if he'd spent a bit more, the 4th place trophy does seem to have have a shelf life when it comes to pleasing fans repeatedly ;-)
What Makes Poch more impressive is the first 2 seasons weren't down to him SY mate, AVB had first go with all that Bale and Modric money.
All eyes on both Klopp and Poch to see what they do whether they can continue to improve thier teams and show a healthy bank balance at the same time.

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15 Jun 2017 13:27:07
That reminds me Dags of when my missus had her credit card stolen. She asked why i hadn't bothered to get it cancelled and i said well the thief is spending less on it than you.

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14 Jun 2017 19:08:40
As if I needed another reason to dislike Spurs fans, now they've only gone and made Rachel Riley quit Sky Sports.

Guess I'm going to have to watch repeats of Countdown to get my weekly fix.

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14 Jun 2017 20:13:53
She was only telling the truth too, they bottled it against the 'ammers. Any way mate she's a Man Utd fan so she's dead to me! 😂😂.

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14 Jun 2017 21:02:01
The fans who abused her should be ashamed of themselves, I fully agreed with her comments about spurs being bottle jobs. She is more than welcome to spend her Friday nights in the ravers Subaru instead of wasting her time with Paul merson.

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15 Jun 2017 06:31:20
Yet again I have to disagree with raver. I don't belive the toot bottled it, when in fact for a smaller club, with barely a trophy for over 30 years, they actually overachieved by finishing 2nd. As raver well knows, the pain at the lane and Wembley just goes on.1961 over 56 years of abject failure. Arsenal, 3 trophies in 4 seasons, the toot zero trophies in 4 seasons.

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15 Jun 2017 13:44:27
What are you going to do on Thursday nights R. G. next season, hug up to that beautiful wife of yours watching east enders or popping over to the library to watch spurs day night football lol .

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14 Jun 2017 17:11:26
I've been doing some research on the new boy Dead Kolasinac. The guy is top class, an improvement to the mediocrity we have in his position.

What I love most about him is his attitude, he is bossy and a go getter. He is forceful in his challenges (don't think of Gabriel or xhaka) , his tackles are amazingly timed, he is strong especially in the air, he tracks back well and is surprisingly fast for his big physic (look for videos of the Bosnia vs Spain game, the guy outplayed, outrun, out muscled Bellerin again and again.

He has something we currently don't have in our defence, the guy is a bully, he bullies attackers with the ball and uses his strength quite well.
I also love his anticipation for the ball and on tackles. He attacks quite well, knows how to bomb toward and puts in quite good low crosses, the high crosses he delivers into the box aren't that good though (sorry Giroud) .

His passing skills are great and he seems like he enjoys quick passing and counter attacks.
Kolasinac (yes, I can spell his name correctly) is a great signing and will fit in.

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14 Jun 2017 17:44:50
This is a new low for Arsenal. We're well famous for our injured players but for the first time, we've managed to sign a Dead one!

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15 Jun 2017 09:29:48
Im happy with the defense. gabriel, kos, mustafi, rob, per, bellerin, chambers, monreal, kolasinac.

hope we raise some funds from gibbs and debuchy.

the midfield is all up in the air with 3 contract renewals not done yet. are they waiting to see what the club has in store before they resign? or just more money? who knows?

i do like giroud, but as an option off the bench and i think he won't want that. Welbeck is an option and i hope he can have a cracking injury free season, i guess we really need a striker this year with perez and possibly giroud leaving if we buy one.

im not counting on the mbappe basket but i do hope we can get lacazette. just entering his peak and perhaps just what we need, however i don't think he is title winning material from what i have seen of him in big games. then again what do i know.

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15 Jun 2017 10:25:57
Sead Kolasinac football play compilation

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14 Jun 2017 14:25:45
A case for Squad depth:

Europa league effectively needs a "second XI"

Barring a few unhappy players, I would prefer most stay:
Chambers
Gibbs
Perez

All will get more games next season.

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14 Jun 2017 16:31:48
The Europa offers us our best chance of progression and improvement next season imo, good enough for the likes of Chelsea and Utd but not the far superior Arsenal? :-)
We are not to good for the Europa its the champions league QF that has proven to be way to good for us this past 7 0r 8 seasons.
The Europa league, league and Fa cups are by far our best chance of glory next season and we should treat all 3 with respect in my opinion.
We are not title contenders and that's a fact but we might be one day if we get over ourselves a bit first.

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14 Jun 2017 16:57:28
I think we will end up taking the cup seriously after the group stages.

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14 Jun 2017 18:16:44
I agree we need a second XI to utilise. It's no coincidence that the last two PL winners had no european games. Fatigue is a big part of a season and we're famous for soing well until we get to November when we crumble.

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14 Jun 2017 11:44:18
with toliso and gnabry signing for bayern i think alexis sanchez won't be moving there. or that's what i assume. unless they do manage to sell douglas costa and renato sanchez i would assume.

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14 Jun 2017 12:36:23
Even with Douglas Costa going (likely to Juve) , I think Sanchez will still be unlikely, as they have lots of attackers.

Robben
Coman
Thiago
Kimmich
Gnarby
Muller
Ribery.

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14 Jun 2017 14:04:38
I believe Sanchez wishes to stay with us but that depends on the players we sign. He wants to win trophies and if another club is likely to give him that chance, he might join them. So why don't we make it right as a club this time by bringing in few quality signings and secondly play as though it were our last chance to win the league. Our new system makes us play better and it reminds me of the old arsenal side that used to create chances for fun. Coming season, we have to be more clinical with every chance we create if we want to win the league because it's going to be tougher as Pep and Mourinho are in their second year as manager of their club. Other teams are getting better and better.

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14 Jun 2017 14:28:02
Willy - I hope you are right, but we have seen this too many times.

Our best players having bigger ambitions than the club.

RVP
Cesc
Henry
Cole
Clichy
Nasri (for the best)
the list goes on and on.

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14 Jun 2017 18:23:27
Not all of that list had 'bigger ambitions than the club'. Cashley Cole's departure was 100% down to his desire to be paid more rather than anything else I'm sure, Henry loved Arsenal and was an invincible when we were a tophy winning team - he has said his decision to leave was largely because of David Dein leaving (Wenger also offered to leave the club at the same time but Dein insisted he stay for the good of AFC) . Also, can't blame someone for moving to the two big Spanish clubs especially once they've already had a great career and probed themselves in a league for so long. Cesc was tempted by his boyhood club etc etc.

Basically, my point is that I don't think the clubs ambition has been an issue until the recent (cough Kroenke) years.

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14 Jun 2017 10:46:30
I'm sunbathing in Hyde park with a massive Jamaican cigarette right now thinking 18 th November will be a very good day for the raver as it will be our usual 3 points yet again. I can't wait for the next 8 weeks as I'm going crazy and I'm sick of doing DIY around the garden and dusting of the tennis rackets lol.

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14 Jun 2017 12:52:36
The raver must have ran his subaru into a wall and hit his head because his memory doesn't seem to be serving him very well. You haven't won at emirates in the league since 2010 and only one at Highbury in the early 90's so that is twice from 25 games during the entire premier league era, but sure usual.

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14 Jun 2017 14:01:22
You haven't been smashed out of your head and dabbed one of those funny fags out anywhere you shouldn't have you raver.

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14 Jun 2017 14:17:50
Dear raver, wait till we fry that bird on the ball this time around ;-) I predict you'll finish outside top four.

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14 Jun 2017 14:44:14
Swedish when was the last time you beat us, pochetinho has never lost to Arsenal lol. Don't worry Harry Kane will be doing his usual damage like he always does to you.

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14 Jun 2017 17:07:32
You all bite to every post he puts up, don't comment to anything he puts up simple.

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14 Jun 2017 21:46:30
Funnily enough jelfy. Most enjoy the daft little sods banter.

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15 Jun 2017 06:38:15
raver, remind us of all the trophies the toot have won in your lifetime, remind us of all the trophies Pochettino has won as a manager, remind us of what trophies the toot have won over the last 4 seasons whilst Arsenal were winning 3 FA Cups.
May I suggest that you cut back on the 'Jamaican cigarettes' and perhaps the delusions will subside.
Mum's rusty Subaru or RG61's Porsche 911?
Trophyless toot or 3 FA Cups in 4 seasons?
Trophyless Pochetinno or 3 PL, 7 FA Cup, 6 Community Shield Wenger?
1961 or 2004?
I'm so glad to have decided to have born a Gooner.
As you well know the pain at the lane and Wembley just goes on.1961, yes 1961!

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15 Jun 2017 09:32:41
the raver forgets we don't play the spurs away next season ;) we play them in our home where we have won quite a few trophies.

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15 Jun 2017 13:52:21
Rg your comments about signing Gareth bale this week made me chuckle, he won the champions league last week to sign for a club playing Thursday nights and have never done anything in Europe, even bales Tottenham have won more in Europe than your lot lol. I will definitely give up the Jamaican fags for what you are smoking.

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14 Jun 2017 10:37:30
The merry-go-round begins.

After Dembele's performance, pray Barcelona don't come knocking.

I don't see Dortmund letting go both Dembele and Aubameyang.

PSG are planning on Aubameyang, but Lacazette is equally likely.
----
As mentioned before, Wenger's best approach is to sign quality players from various mid-table teams.

*Think Everton / Southampton / Leicester equivalents.

Germany:
Wolfsburg
Bayer L.
Borussia M.

Spain:
Villareal
Malaga
Valencia

Italy:
Fiorentia
Lazio

France:
Marsielle
Bordeaux.

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14 Jun 2017 11:36:50
It's best we sit back and watch arsenal do their business and then judge them when the window is over.

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14 Jun 2017 17:08:36
Why on earth would we target mid table players when we are a top club 🙈🙈.

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14 Jun 2017 20:21:09
Billybob, to quote AD that's a total heads gone. Last season we finished outside the champion league qualifying positions for the first time in over 20 years, we are amongst the top 10 richest clubs in the world plying our trade in the most desirable league and arguably most desirable city in the world. I am not going to get drawn into who I want us to sign however we should be targeting the worlds elite.

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14 Jun 2017 08:48:41
Call me a sad old Ba---rd but I keep a list of all the Arsenal squad. And I find it really alarming that we have so many players that we have let their contracts run down. That's from the first team to our very young players. This is a very severe dereliction of duty on the part of the club in itself, but it obviously now impacts on our ability to sign new players as we don't know who we will keep from our existing squad. I except that we have Arsene Wenger for a couple more years but surly we have to change some of our backroom team and the way they approach their jobs. It's as if they think we can leave things to the last minute where our players are concerned. Whilst I would have paid to play for The Arsenal, (If I had a once of playing ability) to these players it is their means of earning a living and like all of us they want security. Come on Arsenal get contracts sorted and give us all a lift and sign some quality additions to our playing staff.

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14 Jun 2017 09:30:36
A few years back we had a length of time with the club reward policy of some kind we ended up with lots and lots of young players who just didn't make it but had 4 or 5 year deals on 15 - 30 grand a week, these young players hadn't come good as we'd hoped and were league 1 or 2 standard at best but they couldn't leave because financially it would have been madness for them to do so as they were set for life just seeing out thier contracts with us.
Now we seem reluctant to over commit ourselves even on proven players which I can understand but why not give a player a 4 best deal and at the end of year two if he doesn't want to extend the contract cash in while you have the upper hand, 2 years is a long time to run down your contract for a player who still wants to play.
Theo has twice gone into the last few months of his contract making him a free agent that summer and had the upper hand in negotiations which has lead to a half decent player being on top players wages, poor management that by anyone's standards.

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14 Jun 2017 03:00:07
Ok so have been looking at some stats on whoscored.com and these are the players I would like to see Arsenal go after to improve the team until next season. Maybe not the sexiest list in terms of household name, superstar, galacticos but I think reasonably realistic and who I genuinly believe would improve the squad. Also put in the players I think should move on.

Out: Ospina, Gibbs, Debuchy, Jenkinson, Wilshire, Elneny (basically a poor man's Xhaka) , Coquelin, Walcott, Campbell, Perez and either Giroud or Welbeck (Three players vying for one striker position is unrealistic, and we all want a new striker)

Players are ranked after my preference.

Goalie:
Keep Szczesny. If juve thinks he's a worthy successor to a legend like Buffon, that just says it all doesn't it.

Full backs:
- Benjamin Heinrichs - Bayer Leverkusen. He's young, can play on both sides, great tackler and interceptor
- Riccardo Pereira - Nice. Can also play on both sides, also good tackler and the best going forward of these three.
- Emerson - Roma. Plays on the left, very difficult to beat 1vs1; he gets dribbled past 0,3 times a game (compared to Monreals 1,4)

Centre halfs:
- Yeray Alvarez - Athletic Club. Outperforms or equals teammate Aymeric Laporte in every defensive stat except fouls given away.
- Fredrik Sörensen - FC Cologne. Quite similar stats to Alvarez, but just not quite as good.


DM:
- Idrissa Gueye - Everton. He's stats compared to Kanté during last season are better in terms of defense, their offensive contributions are basically identical, albeit Gueye's pass completion is ever so slightly worse but that could be explained by teams being more likely to press Everton higher up the pitch than Chelsea.
- Marcos Llorente - Real Madrid. Was loaned out to Alavés last season and helped the newly promoted side reach a ninth place finish. His stats are overall very close to those of Gueye. However he's young and unproven in the Premier League so wouldn't be a given that the performances would transfer.
- Dominik Kohr - Augsburg. Not as good on the ball but would also be a good defensive improvement compared to the current dm alternatives at the club.

Midfielder:
- Jean Michael Seri - Nice. I think he would be brilliant in terms of filling that midfield role next to the DM Cazorla does so well in.

AM:
- Kerem Demirbay - Hoffenheim. No Özil but if he leaves, and knowing Arsenal is unlikely to pay the money required for the likes of james rodriguez etc, I think this guy could do well.
- Nabil Fekir - Lyon. Same reason as above.
- Ross Barkley - Everton. Only last because it seems quite unrealistic.

Wingers:
- Emil Forsberg - RB Leipzig. I'm not partial because he's swedish, in fact I have always considered him way overrated but with 19 assists i Bundesliga I guess I owe due credit and Arsenal sorely need another pointscoring winger, especially if Sanchez do leave.
- Thomas Lemar - Monaco. 2nd choice since he'd probably be more expensive, but just like Forsberg he produces points whereas Walcott and the Ox often feel like dead weight when they play.

Striker:
Timo Werner - RB Leizig. Like everyone I'd ideally want Arsenal to sign someone like Aubameyang, Lacazette or Belotti etc but that just seems are unlikely (except maybe, perhaps, potentially Lacazette) . Werner is just 21 so will get better and did very well last season scoring 21 goals in the Bundesliga.

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14 Jun 2017 07:43:19
So basically you want to replace half of the squad. might work on XBox☺.

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14 Jun 2017 08:34:57
I see your attempt to pick players who are achievable but I think you've gone a bit OTT on stats as they are about as reliable as picking a horse by its name, if not Giroud would be worth 80 million.
Szczesney has said repeatedly he will not return to Arsenal under Arsene so that too is a no go.
Who would buy the Ox on stats? And who would play him at right wing back if they relied on stats?
Stats are like CVs and you wouldn't give someone a job based 100% on what you read about them.
A much more reliable guide is knowledge and forming an opinion of what a player can currently deliver and having the foresight to see what they might be capable of either in there current position or else where.

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14 Jun 2017 10:36:58
I probably didn't make that clear but of course I know it's unrealistic all those players would leave but in terms of their contribution and the unbalanced and oversized nature of the squad. There's two pseudo-dm's that aren't dm's in Xhaka and Elneny and Coquelin who actually is a dm just not a good enough one, there's just too many players of somewhat too low quality.

Also aware Arsenal won't get more than two or a maximum three more signings bearing in mind Kolasinac has already been joined. Probably someone who can play as striker and/ or out wide, a midfielder but probably not the defensive one that is needed and perhaps a goalie if both Ospina and Szczesney leave; so I'm aware that me listing the DM's, fullbacks, centrehalves and attacking midfielders I'd hope to see at the club was almost certainly a waste of time. But it's not like I'm expecting anything to come out of doing it other than see who everyone else would like to see us try to get other than the likes of Lacazette etc that are all over the papers.

G62 - Giroud surely aren't worth anything near that statistically because statistically compared to Agüero, Kane and Costa (even checked 15/ 16 season when he started more games just to make a fair assessment) he is just less than. He takes less shots, is less involved in the game with fewer avg passes, of which he misses more than 30% despite making fewer key passes, ie those that are more likely to actually lead to a goal, he does get dispossessed less often but that is likely to be because he dribbles past very few opponents, and doesn't attempt to as much as the others.

Maybe you're thinking of his goals per min ratio, but that's just cherry picking.

Stats and CV's seems a poor comparison since the former is performance data whereas a CV in the end is someone's self-advertisement fashioned to get them a job and so can't e relied on to be as objective.

Naturally you need to complement with scouting and assessing the players character etc but overall I think football could get better at looking at stats, but then I don't know how much it's being used today so maybe I'm incorrect.

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14 Jun 2017 12:01:18
I like the thinking and agree.

We need to have a "money-ball" approach. Unfortunately, we need to not make the mistakes of Liverpool, where they were over paying for average household-ish names.

The biggest problem is, can Wenger act fast enough.

He did well with the LB. Now he needs to show intent (not wait on departures) .

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14 Jun 2017 14:11:37
Giroud is important to us as he can offer us another dimension in attack. If we play more directly rather than pass sideways, we might get more goal from him. Though he spurns chances, he is quality and an excellent player at times.

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14 Jun 2017 16:42:28
Hi Swedish mate you are right CV and statistics was a poor comparison.
But what were Harry kanes stats before Poch put him in the fist 11 starting line up?
He couldn't get in the Norwich team he season before his breakthrough but just a few months into the next season and, well as they say the rest is history :-)
Henry was a winger before joining us and Petit a centre back it was statics that got them the chance to play in a world cup final it was Arsene knowledge and foresight into what they could be not what they had been previously.

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14 Jun 2017 20:43:46
Great post Swedish.

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15 Jun 2017 01:32:15
Billy - agree about Kolasinac, looks like a fighter that might come in with some much needed winning mentality, hopefully won't put up with the rest putting in all those half hearted performances.

Cruzzz - agreed, personally I'd like him to stay but after what he's said it seems it wouldn't come as a surprise if he left in the case a striker is bought. I know I was hard on Giroud but he for sure has his qualities.

Thinking about it, the fact that he's so prolific when coming of the bench could perhaps be the result of the team playing differently when he comes on and really play to his strengths. Whereas when he starts it's the default Wenger mode of possession and just trying to wear the opposition down, and when that doesn't work Giroud has most likely not had a good game so he's subbed of when the game plan is adjusted.

g62 - No but I did get you, and I agree, you can't go by the stats exclusively because it's still people so you also have to factor in mentality and the dynamics of the group, style of play etc.

Harry Kane wasn't recruited by Poch so that's also quite different because when it comes to giving young players a chance you naturally don't have the same opportunity to assess previous performances. It's also a testament to the fact that a player needs to be in the right environment and in a team that plays in a way that let's them prosper. Look at Mahrez before Ranieri, basically a fringe player, Falcao when he was in England, Gnabry at West Brom.

I know, but if I'm not incorrect Henry wasn't bought specifically as a striker that came later and I'd assume the same goes for Petit. So of course you need a manager with the vision and instinct for seeing that players might do even better in another position. To me that just seems separate from the recruitment though.

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15 Jun 2017 01:38:26
Btw anyone see sky sports yesterday? "Tottenham considering Ricardo Pereira as potential replacement for Kyle Walker" Might have been on to something lol.

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