Arsenal

[Meyyappan]

Are you certain,its Wenger coming out and saying he is a fan and that his main skills are dibbling,passing and technique and that he was not in form for the national team because he was played out of position.

What pains me now is that if we finish 3rd this season,we will have to get atleast 26pts from the remaining 10 games for it is unlikely that spurs slip up more than 2ice or 3ice otherwise it would be a complete meltdown by good ol'harry.

And if that happens if we do end up 3rd,3 easy wins that we had thrown away consecutively in the run of fixtures of Fulham,Swansea and Manchester United,those 9 points would have probably got us the title since the total will amount to around 88-90 pts.

Yes this worst squad in all of wengers time could have done it or neared a total of 90pts.So lets 1st see if we do indeed pick up 8 wins or more in the remaining fixtures atleast then we will be sure to be back to square one of needing 2-3 quality players to win something and this year it looks like we will definately be adding those 2-3 players.

[Ziss]

Originally Posted by Meyyappan

And if that happens if we do end up 3rd,3 easy wins that we had thrown away consecutively in the run of fixtures of Fulham,Swansea and Manchester United

I beg your fucking pardon?

[Cesc Fabregas]

Also, I'm just going off the little I've seen of him. He's not as exciting as you make him out to be.

[Haribo]

Never mind that Ziss, what about the rest of the sentence?

Originally Posted by Meyyappan

those 9 points would have probably got us the title since the total will amount to around 88-90 pts.

15 points off top currently, but sure, 9 extra ones would've won you it. And only dropping points in one of Chelsea away, City & Everton away.

[Lord TH]

To be fair, we could've beaten United or atleast drew were it not for Arshavin's mistake!

[Dragonfly]

Originally Posted by Haribo

15 points off top currently, but sure, 9 extra ones would've won you it. And only dropping points in one of Chelsea away, City & Everton away.

It's the kind of maths I like.

[Lord TH]

Arteta was my man of the match, and others it would seem.

Some numbers from last night...

83 – Completed passes by Mikel Arteta*
11 - Number of completed passes by which Mikel Arteta outpassed Newcastle’s two center mids

*Lead all players


Then again, Walcott, Arteta and Rosicky all had brilliant games.

[Bammers05]

For the Newcastle goal, Arteta was really lazy in getting back. The defence needed some help and he wasn't far away, but he just jogged back. If Denilson had done that, he'd be getting slaughtered. Aside from that, Arteta had a decent game, nothing special though. Walcott was my MOTM.

[Bish]

Originally Posted by Bammers05

For the Newcastle goal, Arteta was really lazy in getting back. The defence needed some help and he wasn't far away, but he just jogged back. If Denilson had done that, he'd be getting slaughtered. Aside from that, Arteta had a decent game, nothing special though. Walcott was my MOTM.

Can't believe you keep on bringing up Denilson. ''If Denilson had done that'', yes he did do that, countless times. Apart from that lapse, Arteta has been pretty solid from a defensive point of view. He offers much more than the sideways passes of Denilson, even if it's from a mental aspect rather than physical. He got 94% pass completion last night by the way, I know you love bringing up stats like that when Denilson's involved.

I agree, Theo deserved MOTM last night.

[Makavelian]

Originally Posted by thebishop

he got 94% pass completion last night by the way, i know you love bringing up stats like that when denilson's involved.

[Joel]

I thank God for a Bishop post, everytime I enter this thread.

[Bammers05]

Originally Posted by TheBishop

Can't believe you keep on bringing up Denilson. ''If Denilson had done that'', yes he did do that, countless times. Apart from that lapse, Arteta has been pretty solid from a defensive point of view. He offers much more than the sideways passes of Denilson, even if it's from a mental aspect rather than physical. He got 94% pass completion last night by the way, I know you love bringing up stats like that when Denilson's involved.

I agree, Theo deserved MOTM last night.

I know he got 94% pass completion yesterday - he's very good on that front. But that didn't seem to matter to people when it came to Denilson. Anyway, my point is a more general one - to do with how different players have similar incidents analysed differently, depending on their popularity. Denilson and Arteta play essentially the same role, so that's why I chose to compare them. Similarly, I could say that if Theo had produced the same performance that Ox did, Theo would be getting slaughtered for it. But because it's Ox, no-one bats an eyelid.

[Original?]

If Theo Walcott was a good footballer you'd have won that game easily, his passing and crossing is really poor. The ball into Van Persie for the first was made useful only by excellent control from RvP, the ball in for the second was an aimless no hope that was poorly defended by Newcastle. He got in behind the defence numerous time which is good but again did little with it. The ball to Rosicky was one of the worst passes I've seen in a long time, firstly it was to his wrong foot, both as Rosicky is right footed and in terms of the run and position, and secondly he drilled it at him more than passed it to him. Walcott could be a very, very good player, if only he had some footballing talent. Instead he's a very average footballer who benefits greatly from being a phenomenal sprinter. I'm sure people won't like hearing it but he simply is not good enough to be playing regularly for a club who hopes to be finishing in the top 3/4. He also has a tendency to think he's as good as people said he may become, he wouldn't be happy to be a squad player for Arsenal but he damn well ought to be.

[Meyyappan]

But Theo manages to do it everytime.[Poor performances in comparison to oX(who also seems to be far more dedicated and less confused than theo has been in the past 4 years)]

Rosicky was excellent,there was fight in him and he would aggressively battle in the midfield and try to escape with the ball forward,he was simply to put it energetic.He still has the pace as seen with his runs and the passing shows he opened up plays.He is still a dribbler which is always useful to have but he has not yet shown his attacking sense where he used to get into goalscoring positions,he has not yet put on his shooting boots and is not showing the 2 footedness of old either.

But even if he keeps up his current ability levels and is consistently not injured we will have a player who is good enough to play as a starter for Arsenal football club and believe it or not.

And Ziss over the past decade why lets even go back to 1998 when Wenger came in matches between Manchester United and Arsenal have been decided by weather can we string our passes and play our game:

If we do we win
If we dont you win
Only rarely has you guys playing your game affected us in terms of losses and victories(Not taking draws here)

Yes in that 2nd half we were on a stride and could have possibly won and definitely not lost had it not been for that arshavin sub/mistake.

Laugh your arse off but if we reach 80 points me and wenger know you will have egg on your face.

[Michu]

Walcott may suffer as he gets older in the way Wright-Phillips has now with his loss of pace, once you lose the basis of what your game it's a slippery slope to mediocrity. I would say in defence of Walcott that I think on occasions he does turn in some decent performances but he seems enigmatically inconsistent. The lad seems perennially waiting to fulfil some potential. I don't generally agree with Alan Hansen but he once noted of Walcott that he is a decent player on instinct rather than process of thought. As a final thought, surely though long term it would benefit him to be playing centrally as a striker.