Arsenal Banter Archive April 16 2014

16 Apr 2014 22:38:42
Could we actually catch City now. that would be funny

Everton must have had tonights game down as a banker 3 pts

{Ed025's Note - we never you know mate..

It does us a big favour Banbury, but to be fair to the Toffee's, they don't gloat about thing's. I have been on their forum past few day's, level headed bunch to be fair, even Daveyboyblue, lol.

That as well maybe Dags, but deep down they must have looked at the fixture list and 3pts against that one

Oh absolutely mate, totally agree.

I think they have Utd home, City home and Southampton away (not necessarily in that order). They would have looked at Palace at home as the odds on 3 pointer, I know I did.

I think Everton are in real trouble now, mainly as Manchester United are breathing down their neck and if they lose to Manchester United on sunday it brings united to a 3 point difference, albeit with a game in hand, but I don't expect man united to lose any other game until the end of the season, its everton or they are going to win all their games. and If everton then Slip up against city, its quite likely that Manchester United will take 5th from them. If we slip up more than a game, its very likely Manchester United will take 4th.

16 Apr 2014 22:25:29
Absolutely delighted. Well done Palace, fluking brilliant.

Where's our mate Ed025?

{Ed025's Note - im still here dags...adele is still only clearing her throat mate..long way to go yet fella..

Lol Ed,

You are having a right dig at the big girls tonight mate. First Bella Emberg and now Adele, lol.

ps, Love Adele. Amazing voice.

{Ed025's Note - she,s quality dags..if a litte rotund.. :)

Hence the voice Ed, hence the voice, lol.

16 Apr 2014 22:17:29
Best thing Crystal Palace have done for us since we bought Ian Wright of them.
Best thing Tony Pulis has done for us since. Well, ever.

With Manc city blowing it, I'm taking the ABC approach. Anyone But Chelsea. Which let's face it, is Liverpool. Who will win it?
Answer: Chelsea unfortunately.
Flybo

To be honest I don't care who wins it. I've lost the passion to care, I would if we were in it.

im only thinking FA cup and 4th spot and i'm off to bed

Pool all the way for me Flybo.

A victory for football, IMO.

{Ed025's Note - oh no!...were not going to get another love in are we?.. :)

Oh no not the ed25 stir up again haha dg knows we deserve it for the football played. Ed honestly on footie played who out of the 2 deserve it. Not judged on your feelings lol

{Ed025's Note - liverpool WR, although it pains me to say it, it will be a fitting tribute to the 96 if you do mate..

Yeah of the two much rather Liverpool win it as they kind of deserve it with the attacking play they have shown and have scored the most goals. Although they have been luckier than most with injuires which has been key with their main front players staying largely injury free.

Also it will prove that you can still win the league without a rich sugar daddy. Liverpool are a fantastic club like ours in terms of their history and 20 odd years since they last won it is too long for such a club.

I can only hope Arsenal can follow suit, but alias I still think Wenger would not be that man to take us to that extra consistent level to do it.

RE Eds reply to Walton,

Now you are talking sense Ed (smiley face)

Good response ed25 even if u cnt admit it for the footballing lol. u and other blues have are a honour to the 96 speeches were great this year but last years by bill was amazing, changed my view on him forever

{Ed025's Note - bill is a true gent walton, he may not be the richest in monetary terms, but is a wonderful human being and a great footballing man, we are lucky to have him mate..

You are mate, as I said touched us all last year. u may not have all money in the world but have some1 who can relate. makes u think when things go wrong and every1 calls for owners/chairmans heads it must hurt the true owners who care

{Ed025's Note - the trouble is most supporters dont get it mate..

Same at all clubs mate

16 Apr 2014 21:43:15
Now destiny is in our hands

What a match this one was. Wow

I will take it.

Now we get healthy, now we hit form.

Coyfg!

16 Apr 2014 21:41:55
It's back in our hands!

COYG

16 Apr 2014 21:27:16
"The title race will have a lot of twists and turns before the end." - Wenger.

You weren't wrong boss.

16 Apr 2014 20:58:06
Thank you Palace and Mr Tony I Hate you so much Pulis. Please another 4 more goals past Everton so we have a better goal difference

16 Apr 2014 19:13:26
I think last night was as tough as it gets for our remaining games, obviously there are no give me games in the premier league but after 120 mins on Saturday and given our injury list it won't get any harder between now and mid May.

Everton will drop points so now is the time to kick on, finish the season on a high and we can all dream again of a better season next year.

Spot on G62 - Arsenal Fa Cup winners, 4th in league and the Isle of Manchester United and Tottering Shotspurt fighting it out for 6, th and 7th place.

That wouldn't be, IMO, a bad season at all.

Good post G62,

Nice to see you back to your normal up-beat self mate.

16 Apr 2014 10:48:07
Massive two results for us. I'm confident we can go on to win all of our remaining games now. We're getting the players back, and we're playing only once in a week from now on so let's finish the season with style.

Wherever we end up in the league will feel like a disappointment to me. But that's only because the team raised my expectations so much. We've progressed since last season which is important. Hopefully we can finish the job in the FA cup as well to end the trophy drought -jokes.

Totally agree Iceman. I never imagined we would fight for 4th with so much difficulty. Especially considering that Manchester United are not in the top 4 :(

16 Apr 2014 09:50:22
There seems to be a lot of negativity around certain players at the moment. Sanago and Kallstrom seem to be the ones being slagged off.

As much as we're frustrated with Sanago not being a Costa, Higuian or even a Lukaku, it's not HIS fault he's are only plan b option to Giroud. It's Wengers. The kid is 21, he's come back from a horrific long term injury and he came on a free.

Kallstrom came with no fee and his parent club are covering a high percentage of his wages. Yes, he's still getting used to the game but as I said before, him playing 90minutes last night enabled Wenger to completely rest The Ox and only give Ramsey 20mins. Kallstrom played, did alright and we WON 3-1. A result that has been lost on some of you.

Don't forget that Flamini served his suspension last night and Wilshere is back running in training. Our midfield is pretty much full strength for Sunday.

Just want to end by saying, stop slagging off your own. Get behind the lads and cheer them onto to four more league wins and an FA cup win!

I was at the game last night and being a sad casewatched it again on TV this morning. I don't think the TV coverage done justice to Kallstrom he was by far one of our best players on the pitch watching it live at the ground .Hopefully he can kick on from this start. If Wenger doesn't start him in the next game after what I saw of him last night then Wenger will seriously needs re- assessing in my book.

I too was sad enough to rewatch the game this morning. Always easier to watch knowing you win!

I thought Kallstrom played some nice passes. He dinked a lovely 30yd pass over the top for Vermaelen to run onto a few minutes before the goal.

Yes he definitely tired but that's to be expected. I thought he did ok.

He could prove a shrewd piece of business in the last few games. I'm excited that by the FA Cup final we should have Ozil and Wilshere back to a full strength midfield. Gibbs will be back Sunday and all being well, apart from Walcott, we'l be at full strength.

Greeny and Golds

at the game also and totally agree Kallstrum played well in my opinion.

What also was so obvious is that when Podolski moves off the wing into the centre, defenders cack themselves because of his goal scoring reputation. His two goals reminded me of Wrighty.

Open your eyes AW we can all see what is needed up front till the end of the season.

Be lucky.

Old Ignation. Well that's a relief we are all in agreement. LOL . But in all seriousness I thought Kallstrom played really well I wasn't expecting what I saw from him. Pleasantly surprised to be honest.

Have to agree with most of the above, was starting to question the way I see the game after some of the crap levelled at KK, thought he was great last night and had a really good, comfortable game but some off the pundits were slating him badly, would be nice to see Podolski play upfront with Ozil, Ramsey, Wilshere or the Ox around him for a few games.

16 Apr 2014 06:51:15
Did anybody else see Podolski's body language after scoring the first goal? More like saying "hey Wenger, you see what I can do?" I hope he stays. I really love the guy plus he is a really good finisher no doubt.

Hi. agreed.

I was surprised/ sad:( looks like he may possibly be going. I hope not.

hopefully as you say, he was making some statement. he's the only one who can kick the ball towards the goal:) at the moment:)

on another issue:) WD TR7! wow, energy energy:)we could do with all 11 with his attitude:) nice result:) wd to all the lads:)

COYG andi:)

To be fair I agreed with the post match assessment from gary neville and paul merson.

he just does not show enough urgency to want that position. yes he has scored, but I have seen him play many times at a similar level to giroud.

the worst bit being, Giroud may be at his actual best while poldi maybe half trying, that to any manager or supporter is beyond infuriating.

much like ozil has been coasting or Santi cazorla until yesterdays game.

Yes we can make the top 4, but once again these players are the ones who let us down the most, because their capabilities were proven to us in the first half of the season. its wengers fault for not strengthning but make no mistake, Cazorla, giroud and poldi along with Arteta were a major let down when the chips were down, the only players who showed up or wanted a fight were the Ox and Rosicky.

I was about to post a similar article about Poldi's body language. For the last few weeks he has looked furious whenever he has played.
I think it odd that he can play so often for Germany and play well, score goals and contribute to the team - maybe Arsenal are not using him to his strengths? No doubt he is a clinical finisher when the chances fall at his feet, can we afford this to be his only contribution though. maybe the new manager will be able to motivate him further?

I know podolski has not given us 100% so far but when you look at it, its obvious top 9 is not his strength. he is better as a second striker so there is no need to clamour for him to lead the line. he can't do it but he operates better in the space created by the main striker just at the edge of the six yard.
it makes me wonder what Wenger had in mind when he signed |Podolski. what did he have in mind? to play him as the main striker? or as a second striker? or on the left side of midfield? did he not do his home work on poldi? knowing he would always go with a 4231 formation, where did he intend to fit poldi? these are questions I wish I could get answers to. though I know poldi also needs to up his game and work his socks off. over 100 international caps is not enough reason not to work hard when required. success doesn't come that cheap.

@dEllyOsh Good post, good perspective.

We've seen this before from Wenger. is Podolski the new Arshavin? Bought with high stock but never utilised properly so never reached potential? Lots of similarities between the two.

For those of us old enough to remember Jimmy Greaves in his prime. he didn't do a lot either oher than score goals, goals, goals. Bill Nick built the rest of the team to play to his stength. Podolski is head and shoulders the most clinical finisher we have got and if we give him the ball inside the box he will put it away. If he puts it away more often than the lot at the back are letting them in we win the game and get 3 points and win the league - simples!

Look I agree with the formation. we need that formation, as it enables us to use our midfield strength.

If our objective was to build around poldi's strengths we would not be going very far. He is but a Cog, some players have to adjust and fit in.

Do you see cesc fabregas complaining he is being played all over the pitch? what about iniesta? Or even mascherano. Yes they maybe having a terrible year even by our standards but atleast the players show desire to play when they are put on.

I do not believe that a player has to play to a specified location, that makes the player one dimensional, much like theo is.

Ox, ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla, do this better than most give them credit for, no matter where they play they make the best of it.

Poldi on the wing is not the end of the world. all he needs to do is track back and give the LB some help and put crosses in for the forward. However he has been lacking in those situations.

Ok so dribble past the opponent? No he wants to be in the box to take that shot.

Its true that he is our best finisher, but he generally does not make the runs or the movement required for that position, neither does giroud but that's because he is as good as he can be, poldi is another arshavin, talent is boundless the ambition is not.

I don't think we need 6-7 players to win things, we need depth obviously but we need 2-3 additions this summer of quality to push on further.

Im not sure how liverpool will do next year, I would be well impressed if they can put up a contest in 3-4 different competitions.

Man utd are due a bounce back with or without moyes, Everton will slide back unless they manage a top 4 this year, spurs will be spurs and chelsea and city will be the only two teams who improve in terms of personnel and ambitions.

{Ed025's Note - i agree with a lot of that lakerville, but how do you see everton sliding back?...i think thats more in hope my friend..

16 Apr 2014 13:35:33
I think when Wenger bought Podolski he meant to use him as LW with a front 3 of Podolski/Van Persie/Walcott. I think that's where he plays best for Germany. But at club level he has played as a CF or second striker.

Considering his crossing, speed, positioning and shooting, his best position should be LW. I think he'd play better with Gibbs behind him, Ozil in CAM and Ramsey to speed things up to siute his style of play. he's very direct.

On a side note. Why doesn't Santi shoot from range anymore? He has a great shot on him.

People say you need a big brute up top to play 4-3-3 but I think Suarez has proved that wrong this season! Pod could play up top for us and I think we would see a lot more of a pressing game getting in behind defenses with Giroud as a back up if we need to change tactics. At the moment we seem to just try and hoof it to Giroud as our plan A which is not the Arsenal way at all.

Ed its based on the quality of players everton will be able to land next season.

hypothesis from my end obviously.


If lukaku, deulofeu, are not replaced with similar level of talent then its only going to be harder, especially with Manchester United back in the frame.

If Everton land champions league the squad depth would not enable you guys to put on a fight on all fronts.

Depending on how the summer goes and the teams most likely to spend money to fix issues, Liverpool, Chelsea and City will make the cut and its between Arsenal, Everton and Man utd, and I just feel United will take that unfortunately.

We have not progressed and its only going to compound our situation.

16 Apr 2014 00:52:58
Great result tonight, not seen game yet, at work so will watch stress free tomorrow, no today now.

16 Apr 2014 00:09:26
Lovely result tonight. Good solid performance and good scoreline. (I'm going to be honest, expected 1-1).

Everton still in driving seat but it put's a little bit of pressure on them.