Arsenal Banter Archive February 23 2018

23 Feb 2018 20:37:45
AC Milan? Not the force they once were but neither are we, the europa league just moved up a gear and we are moving away from the nursery slopes and onto the main event now.
Should be an interesting tie from two snozing if not quite sleeping giants of the game.

23 Feb 2018 22:08:45
If you look at Serie A, AC Milan are 7th, quite a few points off top 4 and nowhere near the league leaders.

Sound familiar?

24 Feb 2018 07:58:36
Difficult, but exiting tie. If we can escape defeat in Milan, we can win at home in the second leg.

24 Feb 2018 09:08:55
Perfectly matched, like two former heavy weight champions who are now in there 40s and no threat to the current crop of title contenders but still big names in the sport.
Because of our famous pasts interest will be high and ticket sales fast.

23 Feb 2018 15:08:37
It's not even surprising anymore, I expected that performance. Woeful players, woeful mentality. Sell Giroud, keep Welbeck.

As someone said below, would anyone be surprised if we beat city 1-0 or fell to pieces from the whistle and lost 8-0? Probably not.
Would anyone call winning the league cup a successful season? Definitely not.
Can we win the europa and qualify for champions league? Of course. Will we? Improbable.
Will we catch 4th place? Improbable.
So there's no pressure really, just like in last nights game, yet they don't even turn up to play football. No passion, enjoyment, desire. We are flat, we'll probably go smash city now just to further confuse the mess.

23 Feb 2018 09:37:59
Yesterday was a shambles. You would think all our 11 players on the pitch would be fighting for a place in the final. This shows wengers lack of winning mentality and sending out his players to do a job no matter what the opposition. There is a difference in arrogance and confidence in your own ability and professionalism. its a shame our players didn't show the latter.
Also can someone explain why wenger keeps players like elneny iwobi welbeck as regulars but decides to sell gnabry ox theo giroud etc. Elneny is a mistake waiting to happen a defensive mid who spends more time attacking iwobi is pants and welbeck needs a 100 attempts before he scores. Its disgraceful they get regular play. we can do much better than that.

23 Feb 2018 10:32:34
Only Olly of the players you mentioned got a decent run the Arsenal and even he was never given the partner he needed to shine with, Olly is not a solo 25 goals a season striker he's an old fashioned number 10 not suited to Arsene's style.
All the players you mentioned left for better options at big clubs Liverpool Chelsea Bayern Everton where could Iwobi and Co go from Arsenal? They tow the Arsene line simply because it's their best option in both wages and club stature, those who demand to play in their best position and ask questions don't thrive well under Arsene only those who tow the party line are get the opportunity to show what they can do or in many cases show what they can't do time and time again.

23 Feb 2018 12:14:43
G62 mate, you were saying the very same things about Theo until recently. "He's no good but how will we shift him on these wages" etc.

Now all of a sudden he's left for a better option at a big club? Mate, he's moved to Everton! No offence Ed025.

23 Feb 2018 12:36:16
I know we probably took our foot of the gas last night and the performance shouldn't bother me, but it does. let's be clear, the performance cannot be classed as either poor or disappointing IMO, as it was disgusting, simple as. How any professional can put in that performance in front of their own paying fans is beyond me, and anyone who defends it is simply an idiot. Absolutely no skill, guile or most importantly structure. We were thoroughly outplayed by a team that included a player who recently came from non-league. They were dissapointed at the final whistle last night as i think they realized they could have progressed. To sum up how bad we were i think Xhaka actually was our best player, and he only came on at half time! Him or perhaps Willock gets our MoM as he only played for about 5 mins. Wilshire was an absolute shambles, gave the ball away every time, mostly because the ball was bouncing off him, nothing to do with actually making a pass. Someone has clearly forgot to tell Miki he plays for Arsenal now, as he was clearly passing to the team in white last night, so i can only think he thought he was still playing for Man Utd in the away strip. The rest were just as much as a shambles. We let them play from their own half through to our penalty box time and time again without a single tackle being made, and yet we barely made their keeper break sweat. I just don't understand why you don't press these teams, as as soon as you do, their true class shows, and they can't cope. Yet we prefer to sit back and let them play, giving them maximum confidence, which is perhaps why we now have a terrible recent home record in europe. We push our fullbacks right up the pitch yet they never make runs in behind, they just stand there until we lose the ball trying to play through the middle and then become exposed and out of position. So much was wrong last night, and am still so angry, but let's hope it was a blip due to the circumstances and team put out. Rant over, for now.

23 Feb 2018 12:58:15
Fair point Sharpie your 100% right I never thought anyone else would match what we paid Theo and I obviously was less than correct about that ( to say I was wrong but be harsh:-) but less than 100% right sounds much nicer :-) .
But Everton are a huge club and make the premier league big 7 in my opinion so all 4 players got big moves to big clubs in my book.
Oh and the Ox 24 games so far for Liverpool all in midfield, he only ever got to 25 in a season 3 times for us and very few of those were in central midfield. The lad is doing very very much better under Klopp in a few months than he ever did under Arsene in how many years?
As for Gnarby :- ( all that ability let go and instead we retain Iwobi?
Not Iwobi fault of course but if only Gnarby had been given the as much opportunity as Iwobi has I'm pretty sure he would have stuck around much longer.

23 Feb 2018 13:36:47
62,

Sorry to disagree slightly but the Ox has probably had one good game for them and has not played the central midfield role he craves.

Still think he looks the same player that left us.

23 Feb 2018 13:53:11
Fair enough Stoner mate I've only seen him a couple of times for Liverpool and youve probably seen a lot more of him than me but from what I've read on their games peole seem to be saying he's been playing well and the Liverpool fans I've spoken to about him all seem really pleased with him so far. One thing is for certain is he's getting more game time under Klopp and isn't being used as right or even left wing back to my knowledge.

{Ed001's Note - he has played most of the time in central midfield, over half of his appearances have been in there. The rest of the time he has filled in as an attacking winger to cover for Mane or Salah being rested.}

23 Feb 2018 15:43:32
Cheers Ed001 mate, what's your opinion of The Ox so far in a Liverpool shirt?

{Ed001's Note - mixed mate, at times really promising, at other times he has struggled. He has been a bit in and out of the side though so it is no wonder he is struggling, none of the midfield are performing particularly well, which doesn't help him.}

23 Feb 2018 15:46:29
Is Ed001 a Liverpool fan?

{Ed001's Note - yes.}

23 Feb 2018 16:28:08
Cheers Ed001 mate really appreciate your input and from what you say the lad still has a lot to do to be considered a big success, early days at Liverpool yet but he is 24 now? And needs to be consistently showing what he can do at that age.
Personally I don't think he will ever have a better chance than at Liverpool under Klopp who obviously rates him highly but will also put high demands on him, he has the ability no question and the fact the manager rates him should give him some confidence he's looked well short of in the past at times and with Jurgen not known for accepting slackers in his squad he will never get a better opportunity than he has now in my opinion.

{Ed001's Note - Can will be gone next season and Milner and Lallana are not certain to still be there either, so next season should be his chance. It is up to him, he has shown he can do it, but he needs to play like that regularly rather than sporadically. His problem, imo, is that he gets swept up in the moment far too often and just runs, rather than waiting for the right moments and using his brain. He clearly is a very intelligent lad, his interviews in particular have been excellent, but on the pitch he just doesn't think enough. He should be perfect for the Klopp system though.

By the way, in most countries 24 is only seen as the age they should start becoming a regular, especially in Italy. In England we often discard players far too early, many players do not mature until mid-20s.}

23 Feb 2018 16:53:48
So no Liverpool jokes then, noted!

Ed001, you think there's a case for what the premier leagues takes out of players in comparison to, say Serie A?

{Ed001's Note - you mean in terms of it being harder so players are being pushed more than other leagues? I personally think that is an advantage, teams that dominate a league with no real competition tend to do worse in Europe than they do when they are pushed all season. It stops complacency. I am not convinced it is all that physically tiring compared to others either, it is no more taxing than it was in past years, less so in fact, as the pitches are much easier to play on and they play less games on average a season than in the past. I just think people look for excuses when there is a bad patch, when it simply comes down to quality of players and coaching more than anything else.}

23 Feb 2018 17:24:38
Fair comment on the age thing Ed, when I were a lad :-) 23 was young for an England player but in recent years we've become used to seeing teenagers by the dozen getting full caps and we also see a lot of young players consistently performing at a high level, how old is Sterling 23? He does seem to have done it for both Liverpool and City at an early age. I know he's no Messi but he is a top premier league player.

{Ed001's Note - different people mature at different rates though mate, I know I was still a kid when I was 25 and still arsing about. Some people are adults at 15. I remember going to school with a kid who came in on the first day of secondary school with a full tash. His voice had broken during the summer hols apparently, so he avoided the embarrassment of the sudden squeaky voice moments the rest of us got to experience in later years. The problem is that academies are a production line treating them all the same, it should be all tailored to individuals.}

23 Feb 2018 17:57:08
Another fair point, 4 years ago Raheen Stirling Ox Ross Berkley all went to Brazil while Harry Kane was struggling to make the Norwich city bench, fast forward 4 years and Harry is the top boy whole Ross and Ox are still trying to establish themselves as premier league regulars, so I do take your point Ed001 mate.

{Ed001's Note - it is amazing how things change. Suso of AC Milan is a good case in point. Liverpool gave up on him and moved on to the next youngster in Jordon Ibe. Suso is now lighting up Serie A and is Milan's best player while Ibe is in Bournemouth already shunted out after Liverpool gave up on him too. There is not enough patience with young players.}

23 Feb 2018 18:03:11
I always hear people saying how this player or that player isn't suited to the EPL because it is so much more physical. I just assumed this was why players in the EPL burned out quicker. But if I think about it logically now, more physicality should make them stronger.

{Ed001's Note - I get that thinking but I think a good player can be good anywhere, it is up to the team around them to play to their strengths. Unfortunately very few in the EPL do so. They tend to stick with physicality over technique and then wonder why they are always struggling in the bottom reaches.}

23 Feb 2018 06:47:34
Despite last night's poor display, we are through to the last 16. Being 3-0 up and with an eye on Sunday's cup final it was a lacklustre performance.
From yesterday's starting line up, I would only consider starting 3 players; Bellerin, Wilshere and Welbeck. This was not that they played well last night, but we have limited options.
I would start our number one keeper, not Ospina.
Defensively, Mustafi, Koscielny and Monreal return. In midfield Xhakka, Ozil and possibly Ramsey can play and Aubameyang up top.

23 Feb 2018 08:19:28
Ospina will play in my opinion, Arsene is loyal to players and seldom breaks his word to them, plus it's not exactly as if Cech is the keeper he once was, both our keepers are as likely to have a good day as have a stinker, it's heads or tails which ever you pick so Arsene has nothing to lose by honouring his cup game commitment to Ospina.
Our players might just shock peole Sunday as they did v Chelsea in last seasons FA cup final, when they want to they seem capable of organising and motivating themselves and each other in one off big games, but then again they might not and a cricket scoreboard might need to be shipped in for the day :-)
I think the pressure is completely off us on Sunday with the whole world seeing the trophy as city's to lose, for Arsenal fans like any fans of the underdog team we all have hopes of an upset on the day but all the expectation is on City's shoulders in this one.

23 Feb 2018 08:44:14
Dag Spur, you lot are surely the favourites after Wigans result.

23 Feb 2018 09:35:03
Favourites for what exactly Nes :-)
Hey its a no loss situation for us if you think about it, if we get absolutely thrashed no one will be shocked and few Arsenal fans will be really devastated as we like all the rest of football half expect that to happen.
But should we put up a fight or even come out on top we will all be happy happy happy:-)
Now if it was Spurs playing City you'd be all excited about the huge occasion for you boys and quite rightly feel if you can get a result at Juventius and Real why not against City? Your potential would lead you into expectancy and excitement that could potentially leave you devastated at the final whistle.
We are lucky we don't have to worry about that :-)
We have the potential to edge out city and win the cup but we are all fully aware that losing 7 or 8 nil isn't unthinkable for us either and if it happend few would be crying themselves to sleep afterwards.

23 Feb 2018 11:41:56
G62 - I believe you are correct that Wenger will play Ospina. I still believe Cech is our first choice keeper and hence I would play him in the final. Whilst on keepers we need to bring in a new number one for next season, allow Ospina to leave and use Cech as back up until his contract expires.

23 Feb 2018 11:56:55
62 I actually think you will win fella. Of all the clubs in the league, you lot and Liverpool can get at their defence. any diagonal balls over Walkers shoulder and you lot will be in. but as is the case in these games, its all about who takes their chances and at what point in the game. and as a life long Spurs fan, that 'expectation and excitement' you raise, is historically very short lived on my behalf. :-)

23 Feb 2018 11:57:20
Agreed RG we do need to bring in a top keeper who's in his prime asap mate, in Arsenes time scale usually means about 3 years after the rest of the world, Arsene has never been known for his quick reactions to sort out problem positions.