BostonJack42 said:I saw a tweet which stated:
"Arsenal to qualify need to: 1. Beat Dinamo Zagreb. 2. Bayern Munich to beat Olympiakos. 3. Beat Olympiakos by 2 goals."
Is that accurate?
Were Ozil & Mertesacker not there?Wonder what state of mind Wenger, Koscielny, and Giroud are going to be in following this past week. I know that Koscielny was stated as saying that Les Bleus' heads weren't in it for the friendly against England. Are they going to be mentally prepared for Tony Pulis' West Brom? Arsenal needs them, but I wouldn't blame them in the slightest if they weren't.
You mean for the Belgium friendly that got canceled?Were Ozil & Mertesacker not there?
This story is mindblowing on so many levels - what he is doing, the fact that he kept it secret from everybody around him, and that its Flamini, a man not exactly known for his football IQ and thoughtful approach to the game. Good on him.So Mathieu Flamini is a Biotech mogul, and his company is attempting to mass produce a replacement for petroleum. Yet another pro athlete frittering away his time and money on founding companies that try develop alternatives to fossil fuels. I assume Wilshere is spending his recent downtime in a similar way.
Well, we know Alexis isn't.I'm really interested to see who is actually healthy coming off of the break. Are Theo and Ox back?
No, I meant in the stadium with the German National Team when they were playing the French National Team, at the time of the attacks. Maybe those guys didn't get called up for the game?You mean for the Belgium friendly that got canceled?
I'm out of it.No, I meant in the stadium with the German National Team when they were playing the French National Team, at the time of the attacks. Maybe those guys didn't get called up for the game?
And it was the Netherlands friendly that got cancelled yesterday, right?
You would think that, but these guys are human. FWIW, Wenger is concerned:FWIW, I don't think professionals will have trouble putting on their game faces and getting through a league match, especially since they got the "heads weren't in it" thing out of the way in a friendly.
I hope that he's ready. One of the most important outfield players Arsenal has.Arsenal visit West Brom on Saturday (15:00 GMT), and Wenger said he will check that France international Laurent Koscielny is in the right frame of mind to play.
"You could see he was not himself on Tuesday," said Wenger. "It has affected him deeply. He wasn't the same player.
"I will talk with him to see if he is completely recovered and focused. It is a big game for us. If he is not completely committed or feels ready I will not play him."
Yes, that's an actual quote from the article linked in the previous post.He was struggling to run towards the end and stayed on only because Wenger had used his three substitutes. “The worrying thing was that it got worse,” Wenger said after the game.
The best of Ramsey can clearly be found in this role. But the problems with playing Ramsey and a DM like Flamini (or Coquelin) together were also evident. We struggled to control the match and committed too many bad turnovers because we didn't have a passer in the middle of the park.What did you guys think of Ramsey today? He was certainly careless in the defensive end a few times but he seems so much more engaged playing through the middle. I don't remember him having such a large influence (mostly positive) since his great start in '13. They'll likely need him to be creative and in form to have a strong December w/o Sanchez's creativity and Coquelin's injury. If he plays well, can he usurp Santi?
1 goal + 4 key passes according to Opta. Say he played pretty damn well. Santi is out for 3 months anyway, which knowing how Arsenal injury math works, probably means he wouldnt be back til basically the end of the year anyway. It's Rambo's spot to play if he can actually stay healthy.What did you guys think of Ramsey today? He was certainly careless in the defensive end a few times but he seems so much more engaged playing through the middle. I don't remember him having such a large influence (mostly positive) since his great start in '13. They'll likely need him to be creative and in form to have a strong December w/o Sanchez's creativity and Coquelin's injury. If he plays well, can he usurp Santi?
Yup, it will be interesting to see what happens when Arteta returns. As you say, we had a really good run with the Ramsey-Arteta pivot a few years ago. I'm not sure whether Arteta is even capable of playing every week at this stage in his career though.Great post MMS. Until Cazorla returns (which might not be this season) the starting spot is Ramsey's to lose.
It's doubtful that Arteta can still play at his level from 2 years ago, but reforming the Ramsey-Arteta pivot might be the best case midfield scenario until Coq/Santi return. They certainly complement each other. Yes, fast counters will be an issue but the team's defensive record from say April-December 2013 was pretty strong despite that (although Bellerin instead of Sagna does make me question if there's enough positional responsibility to pull it off).
Buying in January will likely happen, but the last mid-season Arsenal signing to really have an effect was Arshavin. Seems like a difficult time to shop.
I heard Benzema might be available.Yup, it will be interesting to see what happens when Arteta returns. As you say, we had a really good run with the Ramsey-Arteta pivot a few years ago. I'm not sure whether Arteta is even capable of playing every week at this stage in his career though.
January is just hard. Clubs don't want to sell when they are in the thick of the race for silverware or Champions League positions, so you either need to blow somebody away with a massive offer - not Wenger's style, to say the least - or find buy players from clubs that are out of the race or that otherwise won't be missed, which generally means players without a lot of quality. The hot names the media has been speculating most about - like Ruben Neves of Porto (also a Mendes client), William Carvalho of Sporting, or Granit Xhaka of Gladbach - are all going to be very difficult to buy and very expensive if you can buy them. One player that is pretty intriguing as a "young Arteta" type that may be actually transferable is Sergi Samper from Barcelona. But he is more of an interesting option for the future and in select league and cup matches than a guy that could be expected to help immediately in the Premier League every week.
But..I assume you've played? There's a totally different mentality/edge/set of skills needed to play on the wing vs. playing in the middle. For me when I've played I want to be in the middle... You see the ball far more often..more touches..more passes = more potential goals. If you're on the wing you're more likely a facilitator. I realize this isn't always true... but if you can imagine it in baseball it may be like playing second vs. short or right field vs left. You can dot it possibly, but it takes getting used to.It's weird to me that players are so affected by their position. Arsenal has a very liberated attack that is predicated on movement. You may start somewhere but you should end up somewhere else moving for the ball or dragging a defender.
It's weird to see how different Ramsey's game is when he plays through the center. It kind of sucks that he doesn't have the same enthusiasm on the wing. He could definitely impact the game through his movement and his desire to get through the lines, even out there, coming in, whatever. The main thing is staying involved. It's especially worrisome when the reason he's out there is because he is a really good player that Wenger feels he has to be on the pitch, even without positional fit.
It's a mentality thing, but I don't think that it's something that should really affect his game. I'm strictly addressing the "in possession" part of the game. I don't think that there's really a difference for him defensively besides where he is. He should be tracking back and defending regardless in some form.
So yeah, he is better through the middle, but I don't think the things he's doing are things he can't do from the wing. It's just the mentality he has when he plays through the middle that gives him the confidence to do those things. If that makes sense.
Didn't mean to be contentious or snarky. Just wondering if you'd played up front because I can totally understand how Ramsey doesn't feel comfortable playing anywhere other than the middle. Ozil seems to be half the player he is when placed on the wing as well.Yes, I've played.
You're not going to see the ball as much on the wings, but that doesn't change the fact that the things that Ramsey does well through the middle are things that can also be effective on the wing. Arsenal still needs him to get between the lines and making runs through the channels regardless of where he is playing, the left, the right, through the middle. The best attackers in the world don't care what side they play to be the type of player they are, though moving them to the side can reduce their effectiveness, by reducing their touches. Ramsey is different in that his game is so affected by where he plays. That's the only point I am getting at. He plays like he's totally neutered on the wing, and I attribute it more to his mentality than the mentality of playing on the wing, which may be our point of contention(?).
On this point, I just noted this:Is anyone in England playing better than Ozil this year?
Maybe you could say Vardy because of the goal scoring streak but does he contribute elsewhere on the pitch?