Arsenal Banter Archive August 22 2015

22 Aug 2015 18:08:32
Sorry I haven't posted today.

I'm a bit slow 😁

{Ed025's Note - its been a pleasure dags.. :)

22 Aug 2015 19:08:30
You need to raise your game mate.

22 Aug 2015 19:41:18
Lol, you boys.

What are you's like? :-)

22 Aug 2015 19:43:37
Faster Mr dags even I posted before you

22 Aug 2015 20:33:56
Sorry, i'm in Mertesacker mode :-)

22 Aug 2015 21:05:06
Don't open old wounds dags

22 Aug 2015 21:27:31
No wonder you feel low then Dags, stand up man :-)

22 Aug 2015 22:04:37
Lol, soz just trying to stir things up a bit 😂

22 Aug 2015 22:11:27
Noticed today the sole had worn on the local priest shoes.So I turned to my mate and said look his sole had gone to hell

22 Aug 2015 22:17:38
One mans mert is another mans poison

22 Aug 2015 22:24:04
The entire squad have reported cold symptoms apart from Mertesacker, wonder why :-)

22 Aug 2015 22:36:45
Fools rush in where Merts fears to go

22 Aug 2015 15:38:06
I still don't understand how we lost that first game to west ham, Bourn literally battering them.

22 Aug 2015 16:46:11
Pacey striker? Wilson is a great talent. Iv said it before but let's get che Adams and loan him back to sheff utd.

Off topic. Anyone followed andre Gray's rise back from non league?

22 Aug 2015 17:02:40
Pacey striker helped, no doubt, but also worth remembering every time Arsenal came close to scoring against the hammers, Adrian's stellar performance kept any of our goal threats at bay. His suspension could be what cost them the match today. Nice that Bournemouth can reap the rewards of that stroke of luck after suffering Monday night's misfortune...

22 Aug 2015 18:10:58
Can't say in have Derby is he in the 300? Or you just scouting him at the moment :-)

22 Aug 2015 19:54:04
Mentioned him a while back last year. Use the search button for wilson. :)

A fair amount of them 300 have been signed up now :( bony. Benteke raheem.

22 Aug 2015 10:27:53
Is there a certain reason we leave our transfers until the last min when all the other teams do there's early

{Ed025's Note - the players arsene wants are top draw cry baby, and are usually triggered by one star leaving a top club then taking advantage of the domino effect that that creates..the guy knows what hes doing mate..

22 Aug 2015 10:51:07
It's a drawback of gunning for the top mate.
Look at Özil, the chant 'you sold Bale, we signed Mesut Özil' has some truth to it!

In reality, Gervinho to Roma allowed Lamela to Spurs which allowed Bale to Madrid and that got us Özil.

We were lucky to get Alexis wrapped up so quickly last season (I mean quickly for us, not in normal terms) because Barcelona wrapped up Suarez pretty swiftly too.
I mean, Suarez would of gone to Barca regardless of any Sanchez deal, but it just hurries things along.

If we truly are after Benzema. I'd expect Madrid to be working on a forward as we speak!
As would be the same for any top player, big clubs don't sell unless they want too or they have a replacement....or in PSG's (apparent) case, they need to shift some players due to having an inflated squad and breaching FFP(?) rules.

22 Aug 2015 08:30:27
DAVROS

You couldn't have picked three worse players to comapre him against, that's even more of an insult that they are the three names you have picked.

Per has attributes without a doubt but I'm afraid pace isn't one of them and unfortunately that is a key ingredient needed when playing in the EPL

22 Aug 2015 08:53:25
Seriously what are his attributes?
1 his timing in a tackle is excellent no question, he waits and if the player get close to him usually gets his timing spot on.
Now I'm stuck!
He's not good in the air he's tall but he can't jump
I've heard it said he reads the game well :-) no he doesn't if he did he wouldn't get by passed by the game so often and against Southampton when Szczesney goes walkabout he would naturally cover the line as the nearest player to goal but he as so often was spectator once the balls gone past him.
He's a leader :-) Stoke/Liverpool some leader that.
He had a go at Ozil and he loves Arsenal football club, well there's plenty with those qualifications too.
Sorry but what is it about him that people rate, well apart from the obviously he's good in the dressing room thing :-)

22 Aug 2015 09:07:20
That's right G62. Watch him closely when we are in possession and the ball gets passed back to him it takes him 4-5 touches in space and with no pressure and he can only touch the ball with his right foot . He's not bad in the air but only in the opposition box. He's a worse player by far

{Ed025's Note - i think your picking on him now brow, hes not half as bad as you are making out mate, get off his case..

22 Aug 2015 10:22:11
Well you know how it is you get frustrated and I clearly see him as our weakest link. Fair enough probably gone over the top

22 Aug 2015 10:32:21
Srsly u people call urself fans lol, get over yourselfs merts is a proff and doing a decent job, why nobody talks abt kompanys form passing him since 2 seasons? Lol u people are funny and pace needed in the pl when u have kosc to cover that?

22 Aug 2015 10:42:15
I'm with Mystifier, some of this way over the top. He's done nothing wrong this season. If he has some bad games then by all means call for the manager to put Gabriel in if that is your opinion. But some of this laying into him for the sake of it is ridiculous, get behind your team.

22 Aug 2015 10:45:49
Mystifier

So you pick a player to cover for someone's weaknesses

Yep, you'd be a top manager lol

22 Aug 2015 11:24:17
Why not its just who compliments the other, i feel its as simple as that, merts has a great reading of the game and a great reach what he lacks in aggression and speed is made by Kosc, and Kosc lacks height and aerial ability which Merts makes up. what's the point of having the same type of players they will be found out 1 way or the other. I have no idea why does he need to make 40 yard passes being a CB, the one time JT was left on his backside, he has never moved up field so much ever since then.

I have an idea Benzema for merts. He has pace, good header of the ball, and can score and can pass.

Quite nonsensical converstations go on here, and people defend it calling it banter. Sheesh

22 Aug 2015 12:06:32
Players are picked all the time to counter each other's weaknesses. An attacking full back who's not great defensively will often have a disciplined player in front of him to give him cover. A striker who is slow but good in the air is often partnered with a small quick striker. Unless you are Messi, you have a weakness, so it's common place to pick other players who make sure those weaknesses are not exploited. That's part of the manager's job in picking a team with the right balance.

22 Aug 2015 13:14:10
With Mertersaackers great reading of the game how come he gets by passed so easily and is so often a spectator! Bobby more read the game like a book and as age caught up with his head more than made up for his legs.

22 Aug 2015 14:59:58
Once again tell me g62 how many games in a season does his happen? Its few and far my friend, and ALL def get found out my friend in games if it happens often then its the case was he found out when we won 8 or 10 on a trot? Or was he at fault for the swansea winner? No my friend sometimes the attack is to blame and not the defense. We had the most no of clean sheets 2 seasons back, what did benteke do to merts who has pace skill and header? Nothing. Learn g62 to supplement and backup what u say, not something just in the air. Once again this isn't banter

22 Aug 2015 15:56:33
Funny that Merts and Arteta come under constant fire on this board by blokes not in the locker room. I think they are both class and Arsene and the team ( we have great togetherness) see it far differently.

For the most part the two partnerships that have given us consistent results are coq/cazoral and Koa/merts and when you pull them apart you don't know what you have but its usually worse - they do a great job IMO.

Gabriel will get his chance because injuries happen - we would all be happy if takes it and becomes the next Kos, so farI have seen a raw tal as polished as Metrts.to the yellow card and not as polished as Metrts.

22 Aug 2015 16:05:00
Mystifier you can't pick players to get people out of trouble, at this level pace is needed in abundance in the PL, does Mert give KOS some of his dosh then?

Why are you looking at something that happened two seasons ago, then does that mean we are getting worse with age?

For someone with PM's experience he should be bossing all around him, he whispers during games. I'm afraid he is the weak link in the back four, not his fault but for him not to get exposed maybe we shouldn't bomb on so much..........as you say sometimes it can be the forwards fault for us conceding a goal , but as a team we could bomb on if we had a tad more pace at the back

22 Aug 2015 16:16:51
Mystyfier good buddy let's use Monday's game to decide and if Mertesacker covers Kos Le Coq and Belerin mistakes by reading the game which enables him to react and snuff out the danger before anyone else gets chance just once, I will bow to your better judgement, plus if he goes 90 mins without being left for dead well ahead of the ball and without becoming a spectator I will join the Mertesacker appreciation club and never critise him again.
Shouldn't be a lot to ask of his reading ability :-)

22 Aug 2015 16:44:47
Ashley Cole read the game very well which enabled him to cover team mate's and repeatedly save Arsenal Chelsea and England goals with countless goal line clearances and blocks or just hold up the striker while others recovered. He was able to see danger before it happened which gave him the advantage over others who simply reacted to what was already happening. To me this is reading the game

22 Aug 2015 17:51:02
I really can't be naffed trying to convince people that mert is ham shank. If people are happy with him fine, I want bigger and better things and for me if we leave the cf issue aside for now the areas where we should next look at is merts position and then left back. I don't think it's the same with Gibbs and Monreal as they are both ok and sometimes good but I have never watched mert and thought what an amazing performance. That's just my opinion clearly some people are more than satisfied with mert oh well horses for courses I guess

{Ed025's Note - did per do something to you in a previous life brow?.. :)

22 Aug 2015 17:53:18
Banbury, your first sentence is not correct at all. JT is proof of that (just one example). And yes you can have players to cover the weaknesses of others, as I explained. It happens round every ground in the country week in and week out.

22 Aug 2015 18:59:30
Oops I've realised what I've done now ed25. I have got confused between mert and Jimmy savile. All apologies everyone

{Ed025's Note - he never got as much grief as per has from his own so called supporters brow, we are talking about a world cup winning player here..

22 Aug 2015 19:36:45
So was Poldolski Ed :-) lucky for the rest of the international football teams and certain individuals there's no international transfer window :-)

22 Aug 2015 20:29:44
There's obviously something that coaches see in him ed. but I'm baffled to be honest. I just feel on edge every time he gets the ball when we pass it back. Sorry that's just how I feel. Wenger must have bought gab for a reason

22 Aug 2015 23:17:08
You are absolutely right Brow, he did buy Gab for a reason. Backup for Merts. And thankyou Ed for bringing some sense of reality back to this utterly stupendous debate.

23 Aug 2015 00:44:43
First, great series of posts Mystifier - well played!

Second, why would we have to wait until Monday to decide if Merts is solid with his body of work, c'mon people, we have not had a solid tandem at CB since Campbell blew up and now we do, I feel fortunate!

23 Aug 2015 01:31:18
You say cb need pace well I can name 2 of the best cb in the premiership I seen and don't think they had much pace John terry and the God Tony Adams look how good they were and in terries case is still

23 Aug 2015 09:32:15
Like UG said its been an epic debate and pace is the tip of the ice berg Stephen I bet you have JT in mind but he has every other attribute bang on . It's not just the lack of pace with mert for me. And gab is a very expensive cover by wengers standard so I don't think that's what he had in mind for him

23 Aug 2015 12:46:04
I would like to see gab get his chance though

22 Aug 2015 07:37:46
I'm sorry if I missed G62's take on Kos showing his jersey number to the Palace player whilst he was about to shoot, which to me cost us the goal. Very similar to his fovorite duck by Mertaducker at Anfield.

22 Aug 2015 00:48:35
It's not just about our full backs bombing forward . We have a real naivety at times and terrible positioning . I bet as much as other teams don't like playing against us I fancy that every other manager in the league fancy they can get a goal against us.

The above is a post from Browngun82

100% spot on , we are far too cavalier at times. 1-0 up with a minute to go and we all bomb on to get number two.

22 Aug 2015 13:19:43
I actually disagree. Maybe it's just me but the last 2 seasons i feel we've really improved on protecting our leads

22 Aug 2015 13:36:34
I want to see these games where we are one nil up with a minute to go and we "all bomb on". Unless you are watching clips of games from 6 or 7 years ago, it doesn't happen.
Watch the closing minutes at Palace and show me where we were all bombing on.