Up the Arse! Goons Thread

[Cruyff14]

I said most competitive. There's a difference. The rest of the leagues have 3 or Four teams that can actually have a realistic chance of winning the domestic league, some have less than that. Sure the EPL also has around four or 5 but the rest of the teams in the league have a good chance of beating the top sides hence why it's so unpredictable.

Why do you bother with Pessimistic Paul? Won't win. Has his mind made up and never removes his grumpy pants.

 

[bok_party]

Why do you bother with Pessimistic Paul? Won't win. Has his mind made up and never removes his grumpy pants.

Haha I don't know. I guess I hope he'll come around one day but should probably take your advice!

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Anyways now that the Title is gone we can all enjoy this little run we are going to go on now the pressure is off, then we can watch Wenger use it as an excuse not to sign in the Summer. Amazing how he can suddenly pick the right team and motivate our players when 4th place becomes under threat.

 

[Cruyff14]

Yawn.

 

[Shoei]

The EPL is ******* bang average, Leicester City is on top of it FFS, I hate this its a strong league crap.

Lets have a whip around Europe hey

Italy - Juventus are 3 points ahead of 2nd place Napoli and are going for their 5th straight title
Spain - Barcelona are 8 points ahead of 2nd place Aletico, 12 points ahead of 3rd place Madrid and 25 points ahead of 4th place (with a game in hand) going for their 3rd title in 4 years.
Germany - Bayern are 8 points ahead of 2nd place Dortmund (who have a game in hand) and 21 points ahead of 3rd place going for their 4th straight title
France - PSG are 25 points ahead of 2nd place Monaco, having just won their 4th Straight title.

England - Leicester are 8 points above 2nd place Tottenham and 12 points above 3rd place Arsenal (both with a game in hand). Leicester have never won the league, Tottenham haven't won the league in 50+ years and Arsenal haven't won the league in 12 years.

Hmmm......

 

[glenferry23]

Giroud and Alexis have never played well together. I think they have combined for 1 assist.

Is that just this season Lats? Or last year too?

 

[Latro]

Is that just this season Lats? Or last year too?

Since Alexis arrived.

 

[bok_party]

 

[glenferry23]

Since Alexis arrived.

That's a terrible stat, thought it'd be much higher than that. For some reason I thought Alexis gave a few assists to Giroud last year, but I must be wrong.

 

[Latro]

That's a terrible stat, thought it'd be much higher than that. For some reason I thought Alexis gave a few assists to Giroud last year, but I must be wrong.

Giroud was injured when Alexis was at his best last season.

It is 2 assists for Alexis to Giroud going off an article from September 2015. One was a corner. No assists from Giroud to Alexis.

 

[glenferry23]

Giroud was injured when Alexis was at his best last season.

It is 2 assists for Alexis to Giroud going off an article from September 2015. One was a corner. No assists from Giroud to Alexis.

Yep that's right, Giroud missed 3 months early last season. Which led us to buy Welbeck.

In another random stat, Bellerin now has as many league assists this season as Fabregas (4).

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Lets have a whip around Europe hey

Italy - Juventus are 3 points ahead of 2nd place Napoli and are going for their 5th straight title
Spain - Barcelona are 8 points ahead of 2nd place Aletico, 12 points ahead of 3rd place Madrid and 25 points ahead of 4th place (with a game in hand) going for their 3rd title in 4 years.
Germany - Bayern are 8 points ahead of 2nd place Dortmund (who have a game in hand) and 21 points ahead of 3rd place going for their 4th straight title
France - PSG are 25 points ahead of 2nd place Monaco, having just won their 4th Straight title.

England - Leicester are 8 points above 2nd place Tottenham and 12 points above 3rd place Arsenal (both with a game in hand). Leicester have never won the league, Tottenham haven't won the league in 50+ years and Arsenal haven't won the league in 12 years.

Hmmm......

Everyone says La Liga is a 2 team league, explain how they still have 6 sides left in european competitions ? What your saying explains that the premier league is the most interesting and I agree, thats what happens when no one is much good.

 

[Cruyff14]

So if England had 6 sides left it would be OK where we are in the league? Seems to the logic you're adopting.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

So if England had 6 sides left it would be OK where we are in the league? Seems to the logic you're adopting.

It would be a hell of a lot better to be 3rd if the big clubs were performing yeah, Im more about points tally as an indication of a sides season and 55 from 30 is pretty poor. We all know the top end of the Premier league isn't were it used to be and if you can't see the from watching the sides on the European stage then something is wrong. Eg if we got 82 points this season and missed out because one of the big boys got 86 Id be a lot less critical.

 

[Shoei]

Everyone says La Liga is a 2 team league, explain how they still have 6 sides left in european competitions ? What your saying explains that the premier league is the most interesting and I agree, thats what happens when no one is much good.

And what was your complaint when England had 7 Champions League finalists out of 8 seasons from 2004-05 to 2011-12? Only Real Madrid/Barcelona/Bayern have recently stopped the Premier League clubs from dominating that competition.

English clubs traditionally don't give a **** about the UEFA Cup/Europa League as the prize money isn't worth the bother for most of the teams in it. They get much more money for their final position in the Premier league but it shows the quality when such footballing heavyweights as Rangers, Fulham and Middlesbrough can make the final.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

And what was your complaint when England had 7 Champions League finalists out of 8 seasons from 2004-05 to 2011-12? Only Real Madrid/Barcelona/Bayern have recently stopped the Premier League clubs from dominating that competition.

English clubs traditionally don't give a **** about the UEFA Cup/Europa League as the prize money isn't worth the bother for most of the teams in it. They get much more money for their final position in the Premier league but it shows the quality when such footballing heavyweights as Rangers, Fulham and Middlesbrough can make the final.

I was less critical of us then as the Premier league was tough and we had the financial restrictions of a move to the new stadium. But in the current climate of the Premier League and supposedly no more financial restrictions, the way we handled the summer window was unacceptable and our performances have also been piss poor for the most part this season. ( From 2005-2011 the premier league was clearly the best league in the World I agree)

 

[PendlePie]

No assists from Giroud to Alexis.

This is extremely concerning, and highlights that failing to sign a striker in summer would be inexcusable.

 

[bok_party]

I was less critical of us then as the Premier league was tough and we had the financial restrictions of a move to the new stadium. But in the current climate of the Premier League and supposedly no more financial restrictions, the way we handled the summer window was unacceptable and our performances have also been piss poor for the most part this season. ( From 2005-2011 the premier league was clearly the best league in the World I agree)

The premier league is tougher now though....

 

[HODGEYROAD]

The premier league is tougher now though....

Come up with all the excuses you like but what excuse do you have for being 11 points behind Leicester ? Would Leicester be 8 points clear of La Liga ? would they be 8 points clear in serie A ? Germany ? France ? Even Portugal & Holland FFS? Basically change is needed at this club.

 

[NTRabbit]

As of February 12, Giroud and Alexis had only been on the pitch together 2757 minutes, which is 30 games worth, though I don't know exactly how many games that was spread across; probably not many more than that. At that stage Alexis had played roughly 80 games since arriving, so not really a lot of time together.

 

[PendlePie]

Not sure I understand what's being argued exactly. Giroud and Alexis have played enough football together for it not to be an excuse. The fact they haven't gelled is on both of them equally as well as the manager for persisting with Alexis on the left and running him into the ground too often.

I think that regardless of how strong or weak the EPL is in comparison to other leagues (and how much teams prioritise league form over Europe) we're all in agreement that the club has lapsed back into its usual "boom > bust > push for top 4" routine and there's really no excuses for what's been dished up to supporters in 2016. Despite it being a more even league than we've probably ever seen, we had a huge head start over our traditional rivals and were top of the table at the turn of the year. It's inexcusable to crumble so hard from that position.

Hodgey is perhaps guilty of being a little pessimistic at times but he's really not saying anything too wide of the mark. All we can do is enjoy a solid (and rare) win, hope we see a lot of the same from ElCoqy and Iwobi, and hope we mount some sort of winning run. I'm as frustrated with yesterday's game (and the club in general) as I am happy, but we owe it to ourselves as fans to just enjoy it and resume the criticism after the next calamitous **** up.

 

[Latro]

Well my point on Alexis and Giroud is they do not combine well together. Alexis and Welbeck combine very well together and can interchange easily.

 

[PendlePie]

That's legitness

 

[_DBF_]

I'd be keeping Campbell, Iwobi, Welbeck and pissing of Ox and Theo and maybe Giroud.

A ST is a must.
We have 4 capable CBs.
Elneny looks the goods, but wouldn't mind another DM.

 

[Benno_900]

Elneny is not a DM.

We need two new DMs.