Arsenal Banter Archive November 25 2015

 

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25 Nov 2015 22:39:29
Wonder if I can get a refund from BT Sport for the Manchester United match tonight.

Jeez, they were pants. Boring.

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{Ed025's Note - i hear they are being sponsored by horlcks next year dags.. :)

25 Nov 2015 22:49:55
I'm not surprised Ed,

Total bore.

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25 Nov 2015 23:03:56
When I put the Telly on it was on the utd game 1 minute in luckily I managed to switch to the city game before dropping off, they might be the worst champions since the Leeds side that won the last ever old first division title come next May, they make Chelsea look like Barcelona.

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25 Nov 2015 23:24:56
G62,
Don't upset Chris :-)

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25 Nov 2015 23:36:38
Seriously Dags they might well be champions come May if not I think they'll be top 2 for sure dividing us and city one way or the other at worst for them but I think CTR Honey Rosie and all would admit they make us under George look devestatingly entertaining.
1 0 to the Arsenal has been replaced by 40 winks to utd.

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25 Nov 2015 23:58:18
I agree mate.

I just posted on Utd site.

They are terrible to watch but, as you say, are right near top of table.

I bet old red nose is laughing in his sleep.

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26 Nov 2015 11:48:40
I still feel itl be there next manager who gets a team back to the top. Van gaal will be thankes for rebuilding. But say 5years after fergie left is perfect time to take that job. As posted before I see then making bale the highest paid player in prem history.

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25 Nov 2015 21:22:27
If Joe hart is out for awhile then city will stuggle.

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{Ed025's Note - yeah mate...hes head and shoulders above the other keepers.. :)

25 Nov 2015 21:48:59
Ed,
Bog off back to Toffee page, lol.

Ps, that was so bad it's actually really funny :-)

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25 Nov 2015 22:08:04
Eds seriously. Your jokes are flakey.

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{Ed025's Note - its not a joke derby, i heard it from his agent..dan druff..

25 Nov 2015 22:36:57
Now that's funny Ed :-)

Mrs Dags made a snide comment to me today, telling me I had dandruff.
I just brushed it off.

I have just invented a shampoo that gets rid off dandruff, eases arthritis and athletes foot.
It's called "head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes".

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{Ed025's Note - and you call my jokes bad!!!..

25 Nov 2015 22:50:41
Worryingly, they were 2 of my best :-)

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{Ed025's Note - i think you may be the love child of john bishop dags.. :)

25 Nov 2015 23:25:45
You could be right Ed :-)

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26 Nov 2015 00:12:05
That brilliants I must say.

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25 Nov 2015 21:20:00
In terms of the modern game. Tony Adams etc even said when the French boys came in. Rarely drank and worked in the gym a lot the game changed. There diets were so strict. The money involved now means it your life now.

Ronaldo loved the gym. Rooney hated it. Can't believe he didn't shadow ronaldo around the clock. But he didn't and look how they turned out.

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25 Nov 2015 21:35:19
Equally I would imagine there's lot of top players around the world who aren't training fanatics but turn up on the pitch and deliver week after week.
Ranaldo has an ego the size of Canada and needs constant recognition of his ability which drives him on, not all players and people have that need.

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25 Nov 2015 21:51:23
Ronaldo is quality.
Best player in the world (arguably) , yet he gets into training an hour before anybody else and leaves an hour later.

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{Ed025's Note - he needs to buy a new watch by the sounds of it dags.. :)

25 Nov 2015 22:09:30
If I looked like him and had his cash I'd have his ego. He's a nice guy I'm told. They way his dad went. Fair play for turning it into a positive

The guys a grade A winner in life.

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25 Nov 2015 22:22:41
I'm not saying he's not Derby the bloke works super hard and is very driven much like Richard Branson, but you can't compare all other business men to him.
Some people are the exception not the rule by which you can measure others by.

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25 Nov 2015 22:40:22
You clearly didn't watch him at the weekend then Dags, he's not a patch on Messi.

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25 Nov 2015 22:55:01
1404,
No, no, no and no again.

The Messi v Ronaldo debate will rumble for many more years to come.

For me, Messi is of course brilliant, but would love to see him ply his trade away from the comfort zone of Barca, like Ronaldo did at Utd.

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26 Nov 2015 00:14:29
When ronaldo goes to PSG itl change so much. Messi out for Barcelona barca are still fine. Ronaldo will leave a big hole. Bale will come back soon. Replacements won't get the goals ronaldo did.

A big change is coming for real Madrid and I think itl be for the worst.

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25 Nov 2015 19:20:21
How much stronger would our squad be and how much more credible would our title bid be if we'd signed Spyder and Jackson Martinez last summer?
OK it would have cost us £50 million financially but what's it going to cost us in terms of success not signing them?

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25 Nov 2015 20:22:52
I think Jackson Martinez would always be a difficult signing. He is nearly 30 and will take time to adjust to a new league system. Not sure how Spanish league compares to Portuguese league, but in 9 games he has scored a mere 2 games for Atletico Madrid.

I'm a big fan of Spyder, but again he hasn't exactly set the prem alight, although you could argue that a DM quitly goes about his business.
Tbh, not sure if its the personell around him, but I prefer the Spyder that was at Southampton rather than the Spyder that's at Utd.

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25 Nov 2015 21:14:54
Griezmann in Jan. Make it happen.

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25 Nov 2015 21:46:53
To be fair Dags a lot of players have made wrong moves that's seen them struggle at clubs that weren't right for them, I think both would have flourished at Arsenal.
Funny enough many moons ago I was on a course with Ox's dad Mark and I asked him what happened as he was so close to going to Mexico 86 with England, his answer was Howard Wilkinson.
He could have gone to Liverpool but chose Sheffield Wednesday instead and his career never recovered.

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25 Nov 2015 22:04:24
G62, totally agree.
I think a player has to suit a club, but the club must suit the player too.

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25 Nov 2015 22:10:47
Dads if I player suits a club then the arguemtns over what ties and shirts are used are bound to happen. Thank God for track suits.

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25 Nov 2015 23:27:13
Jeez Derby,
That's terrible :-)

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26 Nov 2015 09:03:10
I went to a councilor about your jokes. He said you won't stop so fight fire with fire.

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25 Nov 2015 16:02:25
I'm all for playing Chambers at DM against weaker opposition to see how he fares, but if I had to make a makeshift DM out of one of our defenders, I'd go for Nacho: he's adapted his position before, covers a lot of miles every game, has more height to offer than any of our other full-backs, looks to run forward but knows when to track back and can actually play a good pass - IE a forward ball to launch an attack. A few games there to experiment shouldn't knock his confidence at his age and at least we'd know what to expect with Gibbs coming in to replace him.

Any takers?

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25 Nov 2015 16:54:40
Hi LB. Don't mean this unkindly but something about your name and avatar always makes me think of the guy from The Inbetweeners firat film who is on his own and keeps trying to toe along with the four lads. Like I say, no offence intended although I accept it isn't very complimentary!

Anyway, what about trying Beilik alongside Ramsey or Cazorla or even Monreal. He is young, raw, inexperienced, yes, no doubt, but what are squad players for if not for filling in when needed?
Barely ideal, I accept but that is the folly of not buying the polish Sevilla DM whose name I can't spell, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Victor Wanyama or William Carvalho. Or Kim Kallstrom for that matter.
Max Farnham.

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25 Nov 2015 20:43:55
Not a bad shout to be honest.

Nacho or Gibbs.

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25 Nov 2015 22:05:01
Gibbs would be a very last resort for me, he can't be a disappointed Lb let alone DM. He's aa ball cheer and is better suited to an attacking roll.

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25 Nov 2015 14:08:30
Question.
What has happened to English football's decline in Champs League?

Cast your memory back a few years.
2006/7 season.3 English teams in Semi Finals, Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea.

2007/8 season. Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea.

2008/9 season. Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd.

Fast forward a few seasons and in the 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons, only one English team, Chelsea, have been in the Semi's.

To make matters worse, in the same seasons as the paragraph above, only 2 English teams, Manchester United and Chelsea, have been in the Quarter Final stage, out of a possible 24.

In terms of CL, are English teams in decline?

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25 Nov 2015 15:33:36
We should also acknowledge that in Bayern, Barcelona and Real, we currently have some of the finest teams in living memory playing. Given that they are so good and consistent, that's at least 3 of the 4 semi final births in the CL taken care of. Particularly when you think that in Ronaldo and Messi, you have 2 of the best players EVER.

It'll be interesting to do a World XI - just to see how many Premier League players would be in that team.

We also have the disadvantage that the Premier League is so competitive - other leagues not so and therefore the the toll it takes on the squad to play week-in and week-out in our league is a factor.

Now to the quality question. I would say that the best teams in England are not as strong as they once were. The Arsenal and Manchester United teams between 2000 to 2005 were better teams than ply their trade in the Premier league over the last 5 years.

But with the new deal kicking in next year, there will be more money in the PL. It'll be interesting to see what happens here - the mid-table teams in the PL become more competitive. But will the "big teams" improve yet more? There's only so many world class players, the top top top players out there - and can we lure they away from the other big continental teams? We saw an attempt that this with Manchester United being linked to Moeller, Ronaldo, Bale or Arsenal link to Benzema. Equally certain that Man City and Chelsea has "big" targets too. But how many came? None. Slightly off topic there with my thoughts - I just wonder if the potential riches of the PL next year will entice the best players or not (and therefore improve on the quality) .

Just one final thought on quality - at the big 4 clubs, who was the last player to come through the youth ranks to become an establish star? Sterling? Bellerin? So if we can't get them here, we need to produce them.

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25 Nov 2015 17:02:21
Dags just look at the uefa shortlist for team of the year.
Can you honestly say anyone from the pl would be in your final team? .

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25 Nov 2015 17:52:10
Good points belief.
MgM, Joe Hart, Aguero, De Bruyne, Hazard and Sanchez?

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{Ed001's Note - surely Butland would be ahead of Hart? For every good thing Hart has done, he has made a bad error.}

25 Nov 2015 18:22:28
Ed, I think Jack Butland is a fantastic keeper, fantastic shot stopper and amazing reflexes.

But, managers tend to keep faith in a regular keeper and Hart has been the No.1 since the 2012 Euro qualifiers.

Some good keepers have tried to take his gloves, Ben Foster and Fraser Forster to name a few, but Hart always remains in between the posts.

Butland? Yes, I would pick him in place of Hart, not sure Woy would agree though.

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{Ed001's Note - good point, you are right he won't.}

25 Nov 2015 18:49:10
Dags I've said before the best players, best team and best managers are outside the premier league. Its the most competitive league but not the best. We tend to think as brits we are better than we really are and accept losing easier, losing is bad for the big teams and accountable more.

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25 Nov 2015 21:52:47
Hard to disagree with that Steve.

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25 Nov 2015 13:39:06
What do you guys think of Joel Campbell, does he has any future with us.

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25 Nov 2015 13:47:09
no la liga bound.

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25 Nov 2015 14:09:51
Nice assist for Sanchez's goal, but if everybody is fully fit, can't see him getting near the starting 11.

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25 Nov 2015 16:14:00
dags he will be training with them so he will be near them i'm sure. unless they make him train with the u21s.

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25 Nov 2015 16:20:33
You know what I mean Derby, lol.

You haven't mentioned City or KDB lately.

You OK buddy?

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25 Nov 2015 17:19:50
Haha :)

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25 Nov 2015 11:18:05
{Ed's Note - We have posted a new article entitled, 10 Things I Learnt From The Weekend's Football

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25 Nov 2015 11:29:00
Impossible to argue with the Arsenal analysis, I wonder if Sanchez and Ozil will resist the offers that will surely be made to them this summer from more successful teams if we don't seriously challenge for this season tilte.
It must be as frustrating for the players as it is us to always go into a season just that couple of players short and continuously be top certainties without ever getting close to winning the premier league.

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25 Nov 2015 11:38:07
I think that's a very fair assessment of RM, Liverpool under Klopp and the fall from grace of Yaya.

I would argue (biased opinion of course) , that Arsenal are still in a favourable position.
If we can weather the storm of the Xmas schedule, be top or there abouts, than, based on last season, where our form from Jan until end of season was very good, than we have a very good chance of being champions.

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{Ed001's Note - is that chance because Arsenal are better this season, or because of the lack of quality of the Prem?}

25 Nov 2015 13:50:34
Ed,
Bit of both I think.

The league is very weird this season.
Leicester, top of table, and deservedly so, but this time last season were rock bottom.

Chelsea are a shadow of their normal selves.
JT has lost a yard and defensively, they are nowhere near as good.
Costa would rather punch you in the face than put the ball in the back of the net and Cesc doesn't seem interested anymore.
Hazard is nowhere near as influential as last season and Mourinho seems to have problems at the club.
That said, I would never write them off.

Man City are still the team to beat but, with Company and Aguero spending more time on the treatment table than the pitch, I have long term reservations about them.

Man Utd, whilst looking solid at the back, are too pedestrianised, lack flair and seem to bore the opposition to death.
But, they are still a threat.

Liverpool, disjointed under BR, are enjoying a renaissance under Klopp and look very solid, but I still have reservations about their goalscoring, however that will improve dramatically if, indeed when, Sturridge returns.

I still think, overall we have the best shout as we are the more settled team/squad out of everybody, but we have a tendency to self destruct under pressure.

Oh, forgot Spurs.
They look very impressive, but only to squeeze into top 4, at Chelsea's expense.

So, to answer your question, its a bit of both.
We are, in my opinion, good enough, but will need a bit of help from other teams imploding if we are to win the league.

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{Ed001's Note - good enough even without Coquelin?}

25 Nov 2015 14:15:53
Ed,
You are kicking the 'positivity' right out of me, lol.

Coquelin is possibly our most important player, even more so than Sanchez (arguably) , because we just don't have a powerhouse DM like him, but Flamini will have to suffice.

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{Ed001's Note - Sanchez is incredible! What a player! I do agree though, Coquelin's presence is essential, you need to buy Carvalho in January.}

25 Nov 2015 14:35:58
Would love Carvalho Ed, but would that be detrimental to Coquelin's Arsenal future?

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{Ed001's Note - why? It is clear you need two players for that position, not just to cover injuries, but to be able to adopt different tactics when you need to.}

25 Nov 2015 16:15:12
will monaco let him go though eds?

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{Ed001's Note - I wasn't necessarily meaning it had to be him, but yes, I am sure they would be willing to sell if only Arsenal were willing to pony up the dosh. That has been the sticking point.}

25 Nov 2015 16:25:16
I agree Ed, but 2 equal players of the same quality, playing in the same position is hard to sustain.
Agree its needed to cover injuries, suspension and loss off form, as well as change of format, but its always difficult to keep 2 players happy who are vying for the same position.

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{Ed001's Note - it may be difficult, but you need to do it if you are going to win trophies.}

25 Nov 2015 16:49:04
I totally agree,

Oh, to go back to the days when you could almost play the same 11, plus sub's, through the season.

I remember reading years ago, the great Liverpool team of the 80's playing the same 11 (almost) throughout an entire season, about 70 games in all comps.

They didn't complain of tiredness because the 'adrenaline' of each game kept them going.

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25 Nov 2015 17:23:16
The game is so much faster dags and demands on the players is huge. The standard is another level now.

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{Ed001's Note - I am not sure it is, the players just do not train the same way. Now they train like sprinters, whereas in the past they trained like endurance athletes. You only have to look at the fitness of Sanchez to see it is perfectly possible for a player to work hard and play every game. The rest are just not fit enough.}

25 Nov 2015 21:16:48
Not being racist but more African players and players of that desent they have speed and endurance. So the game is quicker. If either train for a quicker game or end up like merts etc. Pace is key now. City vs Liverpool showed that.

Players now are stronger. Fitter. Faster. No question.

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25 Nov 2015 09:44:24
Keep hearing we need to win by two goals but would a 3-2 win in Greece be enough to get through? or even 4-3?

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25 Nov 2015 09:56:02
I'm not sure how it works but I'd have thought 3 2 would tie things meaning goal Ave against other teams would come into play.

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25 Nov 2015 10:04:25
3-2 would match the Emirates scoreline, which means we have to have a 'play-off' (I think) .
4-3 would better the Emirates scoreline, which means we qualify courtesy of scoring one more goal than Olympiakos did at Emirates.

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25 Nov 2015 10:13:18
Correction,
I think you are correct G62. A 3-2 win would mean we qualify as we have a better overall goal difference.

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25 Nov 2015 10:44:07
4-3 is in our favor yes dags.

3-2 would mean a tie as you said dags.

and anything below that we need a 2 goal margin.

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25 Nov 2015 11:02:46
Lakes,
If its 3-2 is it a one off play off or we go through on a better overall goal difference?

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25 Nov 2015 09:36:24
If reports are to be believed, Pep is being offered a £17m per year extension.
Need to do my FA coaching badges.

Ed's can you point me in the right direction please.

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{Ed001's Note - that us nearly as much as Ed025 earns!}

25 Nov 2015 10:01:41
001,
I hear you also give 025 unlimited Speedo's and a crate of Southern Comfort for Xmas.
Not sure if Bayern can compete with that mate.

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{Ed001's Note - I wasn't talking about from us! He volunteers for us as part of his community service. It is his Southern Comfort contract that guarantees him all the booze he can drink, and that adds up to over £25m a year.}

25 Nov 2015 10:17:53
Ah I see,
Bet he's as happy as a kid in a candy shop :-)

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{Ed001's Note - he is usually too drunk to care.....

25 Nov 2015 11:12:22
Funny enough, I was walking on the beach the other day, very drunk.
I saw a woman putting suncream on, she said, "Do you mind doing my back? ".
I said, "Let's pretend I'm your Butler, call me Dawes".
"OK", she giggled. "Can you do my back, Dawes".

I'm in court this Friday.

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{Ed001's Note - I don't know whether to laugh or cry.}

25 Nov 2015 11:39:19
My wife's sentiments exactly Ed :-)

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{Ed001's Note - she has my sympathies always!}

25 Nov 2015 06:48:18
Excellent performance last night, leaving our destiny in the CL in our own hands. Great to see Ramsey back and hopefully Ox will return at the weekend, followed shortly by Walcott. After Saturday's match at Norwich we have a clear week until we play Sunderland. With the exception of a difficult home tie against Man C, we have very winnable PL matches. I would love to see us make a top notch defensive mdifield signing in the window and welcome back Welbeck and Wilshere. At full strength, with the exception of at least one, if not two defensive midfield players we have a great squad, capable of comepting for the PL and CL.

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25 Nov 2015 09:34:05
Pretty much agree with all of that, good positive post, but wouldn't hold my breath for a top notch DM.
In good old fashioned time honoured Arsene/Arsenal tradition, we will shuffle the pack and fill the void until Coq is back.

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25 Nov 2015 15:08:40
I reckon we'll buy a DM this January. I would assume that the 3 month estimate for Le Coq is not right - I suspect he won't play again this season.

Arsene needs to play this cool - does he come out and state he'll buy a replacement. No, it would be foolish for him to make his intentions clear as (a) it reduces confidence in the group and (b) he'll pay top dollar for the player (but I think this will be unavoidable) .

We still have enough in the squad to remain competitive in December. Another positive, with all these players coming back from injuries mean we'll have a fresh squad towards the end of the season. I think that's one reason we finished strongly last year (and the year before and the year before that and that and that.! )

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