Arsenal Banter Archive February 08 2013

08 Feb 2013 18:37:19
Anyone else think Jenkinson will make a good center back

Limerick Gunner

He hasn't mastered playing right back yet. Give him a chance to do that.

Paul - Rochester

08 Feb 2013 23:47:07
No

Why oh why do people insist that they know a players best position, better than the player, coaches and the manager.

Maybe play him at cb on fifa13

He was only asking a question.

I think Carl could play at cb, but he would be as effective at cb as ramsey was on the wing.

Daniel

He (or she) was asking a stupid question! We have other young players in our squad who are central defenders by trade, how do you think they would feel if you played our second choice right back in their position? Would be great for confidence would'nt it?

Its about playing the best player for the position. Wenger has probably spent far too much time thinking about the players feelings, when he should have already replaced 2-3 people who are injury ridden or lacking in quality. I am looking forward to seeing who does play at cb today. squillachi maybe?

Daniel

Love how offended some people get by simple hypothetical questions!

I don't think Jenko would make a good CB but I do think he could be a good DM. Don't ask me why because I don't know, it's just a vibe I get.

Metal Gooner

08 Feb 2013 17:43:57
1. Huge match. With Fa cup and CL matches in between now and another league match, it is imperative to get the points and maintain confidence in league play

2. If Kos is hurt, play Miquel. Shouldn't even be a question. Squid can NOT be an option, Miquel has played big games before for us.

3. Not sure how Rosicky played, but makes sense to give him a run about and Jack some rest. We need him fresh for Bayern.

Crucial string of matches. we have to treat every one like a knockout. time to build momentum

Coyfg!

US Gooner

08 Feb 2013 13:07:30
I want to see Angha vs a premier rival to see if he can play in The leftback vs Bayern

08 Feb 2013 11:49:59
Why I think we will finish fourth, possibly even third!

There are a few reasons and i'll try and rattle them off as quick as possible for you.

1. I am a positive Arsenal fan, by no means am I delusional, but I am bias towards our club.
(just getting this one out of the way)

2. Been there done it!
As much as none of us like being in the battle for fourth year after year as we should be aiming higher, perhaps though it is the best thing for us in the situation we are in.
This point of the season last year we were 10 points behind our enemy and we all know what happened don't we. This year we are, as of Friday 8th Feb, we are 4 points off Spurs and 5 off Chelsea. Not an easy gap to overhaul, but a lot less than what we achieved last year, and the experience of the player being involved in this battle before will hopefully benefit us.

3. Squads!
Again, being biased I like to think we have a stronger squad than at least Spurs and Everton if not Chelsea as well.
But trying to look objectively, we aren't exactly where we should be with regards to world beaters, although I am very much of the opinion that our squad is underperforming instead of not being good enough.
Look at Everton, and as much as I respect Everton and even like them to some extent, they do have the weakest squad out of the teams competing for Champions League. They do have players like Fellaini and Baines who can make a real difference to a match, but is that enough?
Tottenham are struggling themselves to some extent on the striking front which I think will be crucial come end of the season. They acquired the services of Holtby (and we will see in due course whether we should have gone for him) but generally speaking is their squad betting than ours? Looking at their players, there are only a couple I wouldn't mind having: Bale, Dembele, maybe Lloris, possibly Vertonghen. You get my point. When you see Dempsey playing lone striker, it gives you hope for sure.
I won't really go into the Chelsea squad as I believe they have some stellar quality with Mata, Lampard, Ba, Hazard etc but their defence is almost as leaky as ours despite the 'quality' they have.

4. Distractions!
Each team has some distractions going into the tail end of the season and I think this will be one of the more important factors in the race to next years Champions League.
Everton have the least, with just the FA Cup to ponder over. Not a big deal right? probably not but an extra couple games for an already stretched squad could be telling.
We come in second, with FA Cup and Champs League to worry about. These could hopefully equate to a few more games in our season, but realistically we won't get past Bayern so Champions League will soon be out of the reckoning.
Spurs are out of the FA Cup but have the Europa to deal with. I have a suspicion that AVB will actually really want to progress in that competition, which may sound silly because of course they want to win, but fielding a strong team on a Thursday ready for a weekend game can be tricky. They however only face a modest trip to France to start off with and I fancy them progressing at least past Lyon which would mean a few midweek European distractions could take its toll on their squad.
Chelsea have the most to contend with at the moment. FA Cup replay v Brentford which they are likely to win, but an extra game they shouldn't have had, a lengthy trip to to Sparta Prague in the Europa which again, I fancy them progressing through. On top of their football, they have the Benitez saga which is dragging on now and to some extent the Lampard saga as well. A lot for the mind and body to handle. Right?

5. Remaining Fixtures.
Now we all know how unpredictable the Premier League can be so we could lose to any team at any time, and that goes for the other teams in the race for fourth. Here are some noticeable fixtures for all the teams talked about so far, the so called 'tougher' fixtures against the top 7 or so.

Everton:
Away to Man U
Away to Arsenal
Home to Man C
Away to Spurs
Away to Liverpool
Away to Chelsea (last game of the season)

Spurs:
Home to Arsenal
Away to Liverpool
Home to Everton
Away to Chelsea
Home to Man C

Chelsea:
Away to Man C
Home to Spurs
Away to Liverpool
Away to Man U
Home to Everton

Arsenal:
Away to Spurs
Home to Everton
Home to Man U
Now there are no easy games in the Prem, but we have far less 'tougher' opposition than the others do but there is no underestimating the importance of the Spurs and Everton games, we win those and we will be fine, lose and we could be stuffed. Another 5-2 will do and Everton don't have the best record against us, so fingers crossed there.

Obviously nothing is guaranteed, and is much easier said than done, but hopefully a little food for thought in the coming weeks. let's be the best 12th man we can be and make it happen!

p. s. Congrats on reading this. here is 1000 cool points

noobGooner

Utd thought that last season when they were ahead in the league then they drew 4-4 with Everton and lost to Wigan towards the end of the season.

Tbh I think you deserve the cool points for the post, thanks a lot : )

Metal Gooner