Topic: Arsenal

[PaulF]

I'm not sure about not even having him on the bench. But I can see that their best team built around him maybe isn't as good as their best team without him. I presume they are expecting to move him on in the summer, even if the deal means paying a whack of his wage.

[Kopenhagen]

Was a proper arsehole against us in the Europa League semi final a few years back. He also properly shit the bed at Anfield.

Yup. But he's nothing special really. Hardly moves the needle for them. He's the kind of player we would have signed 4 years ago...

Maybe they can go after Luis Alberto next?

[Skeeve]

In a lot of ways Ozil is still one of their best players.  If they need a goal, like they did vs. West Ham last weekend, then bringing on Ozil is probably the best thing they actually could do.  Odds are he'll create one for you.  Having teenagers with 1 PL appearance on the bench instead of Ozil seems less than ideal?  I don't know.

While he might be one of their best players, throwing him on when they were trying to fight their way back into a game could very easily backfire if he then proceeds to dawdle through that game and you either had to put up with that or compound the error by having to sub off a sub.

[BrandoLFC]

While he might be one of their best players, throwing him on when they were trying to fight their way back into a game could very easily backfire if he then proceeds to dawdle through that game and you either had to put up with that or compound the error by having to sub off a sub.

I'm not following.  Arsenal were losing and were creating nothing in the game.  If they throw on Ozil and he doesn't create anything then their in the same spot, losing.  If he's responsible for them giving up another goal their still losing.  I don't really see the downside.

[Advil]

Watching that guy with all those Arsenal merchandise being criticized, got me thinking. What would have happen to our club if our supporters, did not do anything when we were being shit on by the cancers. I still have that Standard Corrupted jersey. RAWK really played a big part. And the emails to all the banks to ensure that they will be blacklisted.

We have come a long way from that. I was a big critic of the current owner previously but the stadium upgrade plus the VDV, Keita and Becker signing show that they mean business.

I seriously wish Arsenal fans will get better from their owner. Emery coming out with, we can only get loan signings. Come on, why do owners do this type of shit.

[lobsterboy]

Playing devils advocate here but I don't think Arsenals owners are on par with the tumours we had.
But the TV, sponsorship etc. deals simply cannot keep increasing especially as we, the fans, eventually pay for it all.
Even those who don't follow football end up paying for it with increased subscription fees and stuff.
The amount paid for players and spent on their wages is absolutely obscene, especially in days when nurses are using food banks and a million kiddies live in abject poverty.
I think fans need to start taking a stand against the amount of money lavished on blokes who kick a bit of artificial leather about on some grass twice a week.

[royhendo]

D'you know, I think maybe Kroenke is more insidious, as have been the Glazers. When you have no financial distress, you have a permanent succubis. We were lucky there was financial distress and then some. And then we got lucky.

We really were lucky.

The Mislintat business highlights how you can't just turn the key on a new setup and expect it to run swimmingly. We had issues for a long time and while Ayre was there the cracks were papered over... it's a fine art.

[Hij]

D'you know, I think maybe Kroenke is more insidious, as have been the Glazers. When you have no financial distress, you have a permanent succubis. We were lucky there was financial distress and then some. And then we got lucky.

We really were lucky.

The Mislintat business highlights how you can't just turn the key on a new setup and expect it to run swimmingly. We had issues for a long time and while Ayre was there the cracks were papered over... it's a fine art.

This is definitely a valid point.

[RyanBabel19]

Doesn't seem to get much praise but I still think Lacazette is sublime, beautifully taken goal tonight

[PoetryInMotion]

Doesn't seem to get much praise but I still think Lacazette is sublime, beautifully taken goal tonight

He is. And plenty of people thought he wasn't good because he only scored in Ligue 1 while he was signing for Arsenal, & I was having a difficult conversation with them. He's now scored against all big sides in the PL since he joined last season. Maybe he has stamina issues, so he's being played less & started less - only had 20 odd starts last season & he has just around 14 starts so far this season, that's skewing his scoring record a bit in the PL, but he's very good.

Same reason they used to argue him and Cavani were shite - only from French League, for which I had to give a context about how consistent their scoring has been over the years. You can see a class player and know one from a not so good one, it's not rocket science.

[FlashGordon]

He is. And plenty of people thought he wasn't good because he only scored in Ligue 1 while he was signing for Arsenal, & I was having a difficult conversation with them. He's now scored against all big sides in the PL since he joined last season. Maybe he has stamina issues, so he's being played less & started less - only had 20 odd starts last season & he has just around 14 starts so far this season, that's skewing his scoring record a bit in the PL, but he's very good.

Same reason they used to argue him and Cavani were shite - only from French League, for which I had to give a context about how consistent their scoring has been over the years. You can see a class player and know one from a not so good one, it's not rocket science.

Wasn't his conversion rate abnormally high for a few seasons? Think that was what most people had an issue with? He's obviously just proved by now that he's a very good finisher. I agree on him being a great player, think he'd fit in well here actually.  Would've been ok with us taking a punt on him.

[Barneylfc∗]

Ballerin is going to be out for a while by the looks of that injury

[The North Bank]

A lot of people on here laughed at how we replaced giroud with a player he kept out of the World Cup squad. And that deschamp knows better. Our front 2 are what’s really going for us now, we’d be mid table if we still had giroud and Sanchez up there.
I like Emery ‘s philosophy, including getting rid of Ozil , his game is clearly based on maximum effort all over the pitch, but at the moment he hasn’t got the tools to work with, we are about 4 players short, and that’s just in the first 11. Kroenke was always the problem, for the last few years and now.

[PoetryInMotion]

Wasn't his conversion rate abnormally high for a few seasons? Think that was what most people had an issue with? He's obviously just proved by now that he's a very good finisher. I agree on him being a great player, think he'd fit in well here actually.  Would've been ok with us taking a punt on him.

When a forward has a high rate of conversion for 'seasons', it just means he's a good finisher. Some people see xG blindly & without understanding what it means, they assume it can't be sustained. But that's the whole point of conversion. You score a lot of goals, either by having only 'average' conversion but taking lot more shots than average (& sustaining that shot count over seasons) or by having good conversion & taking average number of shots (& sustaining that conversion over seasons). These are what separate the good finishers from the average ones. If you manage both high volume of shots & good conversion, you get in history books with insane number of goals (Messi/Ronaldo/Suarez for a few seasons/last season's Salah etc.).

You can't find a good finisher from a handful of games - by data or by viewing (see Benteke and his purple patches), but if he's able to do it consistently over a season or two (the further he manages, the better), then he can definitely sustain it and he's obviously a good player to have managed it.

He also works hard & helps out defensively. The only problem I would have with us getting him is probably his stamina? Need to look at his injury record, but I have no idea why Emery is very cautious with him. 

[Welshred]

Ballerin is going to be out for a while by the looks of that injury

Looking at the video there's a definite pivot shift with anterior translation of the tibia which then quickly pops back after the ACL ruptures, its the exact mechanism you'd expect from an ACL injury.

[El Lobo]

Looking at the video there's a definite pivot shift with anterior translation of the tibia which then quickly pops back after the ACL ruptures, its the exact mechanism you'd expect from an ACL injury.

Exactly what I was thinking

[Henry Kissinger]

Exactly what I was thinking

Yeah, me too. So obvious really.

[FlashGordon]

When a forward has a high rate of conversion for 'seasons', it just means he's a good finisher. Some people see xG blindly & without understanding what it means, they assume it can't be sustained. But that's the whole point of conversion. You score a lot of goals, either by having only 'average' conversion but taking lot more shots than average (& sustaining that shot count over seasons) or by having good conversion & taking average number of shots (& sustaining that conversion over seasons). These are what separate the good finishers from the average ones. If you manage both high volume of shots & good conversion, you get in history books with insane number of goals (Messi/Ronaldo/Suarez for a few seasons/last season's Salah etc.).

You can't find a good finisher from a handful of games - by data or by viewing (see Benteke and his purple patches), but if he's able to do it consistently over a season or two (the further he manages, the better), then he can definitely sustain it and he's obviously a good player to have managed it.

He also works hard & helps out defensively. The only problem I would have with us getting him is probably his stamina? Need to look at his injury record, but I have no idea why Emery is very cautious with him.

Err isn't that what I said in my post? Albeit in a few less words 

[ScottishGoon]

Finally get to play what is just about our first choice defence, finally get another clean sheet*, and then it looks like we lose Bellerin for the season. 

*(of course it helps Chelsea play with no strikers).

Think we showed we're not as bad as has been made out the past couple of weeks, still lots of work to go though. Hope we burst Utds bubble next!

[MerseysideBrum]

Hope we burst Utds bubble next!

Then City's

[ScottishGoon]

Then City's

Would be very happy with that as well but unfortunately I don't think we're good enough defensively away from home in these big games. At home we can give anyone a game, but we still concede far too many away from home to keep us in the game.

[Skeeve]

Would be very happy with that as well but unfortunately I don't think we're good enough defensively away from home in these big games. At home we can give anyone a game, but we still concede far too many away from home to keep us in the game.

To be fair, City are not going to have an oppressive or intimidating atmosphere for your team, unless they get easily scared by the sight of empty blue plastic seats. 

[gazzalfc]

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Sven Mislintat will be leaving us on February 8, 2019

Least they were smart enough to keep him at the club until after the transfer window closed.

[Dim Glas]

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Sven Mislintat will be leaving us on February 8, 2019

Least they were smart enough to keep him at the club until after the transfer window closed.

Problem is though, he's a slow burner is Sven, does research on prospective signings over years, not months. He maybe won't have left a whole lot of knowledge and full scouting appraisals!

[ScottishGoon]

Problem is though, he's a slow burner is Sven, does research on prospective signings over years, not months. He maybe won't have left a whole lot of knowledge and full scouting appraisals!

Can't deny its a bit of a blow. It seems the guy who made all these appointments leaving has created a bit of a power vacuum. Probably too many changes at the 1 time. Wonder how we will go from here. Its a shame because taking the ex Dortmund guys out the equation, the couple of signings he's built his reputation on, guys like Guendouzi & Mavropanos looked promising.

[Barneylfc∗]

Exactly what I was thinking

I was going to say it, but wasn't too sure if it was a rupture or a tear.

[Peabee]

Exactly what I was thinking

Yeah “he’s done his knee a mischief” is roughly the same observation. 

[TepidT2O]

Confirmed as an ACL....

Sad news. I think he’s a really good player... let’s hope he makes a great recovery.

[sinnermichael]

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Sven Mislintat will be leaving us on February 8, 2019

Least they were smart enough to keep him at the club until after the transfer window closed.

Talk of Marc Overmars replacing him.

[TepidT2O]

Talk of Marc Overmars replacing him.

Buy all the dodgy ACLs

[RedG13]

Confirmed as an ACL....

Sad news. I think he’s a really good player... let’s hope he makes a great recovery.

That sucks. Hopefully he makes full recovery.

[RyanBabel19]

Sad news for Bellerin, not nice to see players suffer that, it fucking hurts and recovery from it is gruelling

Still don't rate him highly as a fullback personally, his positioning is awful at times

[Flaccido Dongingo]

Arsenal are still a mess, they've two really good strikers, but if they slowly start to weed out the deadwood and replace them with quality, saying that takes 3 or 4 years, they'll be then needing to replace their ageing key players (Auba, Monreal), so they've a long long slog ahead of them.

[ScottishGoon]

Arsenal are still a mess, they've two really good strikers, but if they slowly start to weed out the deadwood and replace them with quality, saying that takes 3 or 4 years, they'll be then needing to replace their ageing key players (Auba, Monreal), so they've a long long slog ahead of them.

It's got to the stage now where Im not sure I would class anyone in the squad as a key player. There's been that much shuffling & rotation because of injuries, team rotation etc that it's hard to look as someone as key or irreplaceable. Only 12 months ago Sanchez & Ozil were our key players, now 1 has left & the other can't get a game.

Take the defence as well. Individualy I'm not sure if any of them are ultimately the necessary quality, but half the battle is being able to put out at least your best players in a settled structure. Think Saturday was the first time we've came close to our first choice all season, & now we've lost Bellerin.

[MerseysideBrum]

So they're going to have Lichenstenier or whatever up against Sane and Sterling? Great.

[rawcusk8]

So they're going to have Lichenstenier or whatever up against Sane and Sterling? Great.

Maitland Niles maybe? Whoever plays will find it tough, just hope Auba and Lacazette can trouble the City defence. That's if Count decides two upfront away to City is a good idea.

[PhilV]

Sad to hear about Bellerin, he can be caught out at times but I think he's a good player.

6-9 months must be killer for a pro footballer to just sit and wait and not be able to contribute.

[Yiannis]

Maitland Niles maybe? Whoever plays will find it tough, just hope Auba and Lacazette can trouble the City defence. That's if Count decides two upfront away to City is a good idea.

Yeah I would guess he will be who replaces Bellerin. Arsenal's two strikers will trouble City but at the back they are so bad and porous that I don't think there is any chance to even get a draw. Here is hoping though. Also if Emery gets cute and don't start Torreira from the start, then that's even worse.

[Linudden]

Doesn't seem to get much praise but I still think Lacazette is sublime, beautifully taken goal tonight

I was disappointed we never went for him. He's like a right-footed and fit Sturridge in his prime. His goal was something I've come to associate with Sturridge's better moments. Sheer power and flair. It remains to be seen whether they can keep hold of both him and Aubameyang in case they'll miss out on the Champions League though. With their away form being rather sketchy to say the least, I'd still expect them to finish 6th. If Neymar indeed does leave PSG; one of Aubameyang and Lacazette may well emerge as prime targets for them this summer. He has a 20-goal season in his locker had he been allowed to start every game.

As for Bellerín's injury, that's terrible for him and it really oozed an ACL when I first saw it. It's crazy how just one slip at high speed can have such drastic consequences.

[Groundskeeper Willie]

So they're going to have Lichenstenier or whatever up against Sane and Sterling? Great.

Whatever plays for them? And we have Hoever in our team. Would be funny if they matched up on one wing sometime.

"Whatever runs with the ball down the wing, but Hoever makes a great tackle to win the ball."