Up the Arse! Goons Thread

[glenferry23]

Good signing.
His ugliness will distract teams from Giroud's hotness.
Good work Wenger.
Did Bendtner actually leave?

Nah I think his deal with Palace fell through, probably due to his wages again.

Giroud as striker with Sanogo/Bendtner as back up options is a major concern, although I had similar worries 2 years ago when RvP was backed up by Park/Chamakh. Thankfully he stayed fit the campaign and it never became an issue.

 

[GordonBlue]

Nah I think his deal with Palace fell through, probably due to his wages again.

Giroud as striker with Sanogo/Bendtner as back up options is a major concern, although I had similar worries 2 years ago when RvP was backed up by Park/Chamakh. Thankfully he stayed fit the campaign and it never became an issue.

Nah, Arsenal pulled the pin when the Ba deal fell.

I am not too fussed about not picking up a striker... only because I finally see that the club has got intent. That is all any of us wanted.

We might drop points due to our lack of strikers... however a January signing would attract high quality strikers to join us...

 

[Tomnat Tigers]

Mrs. Ozil

 

[Juggs Magnetic]

Nice, but she's no Giroud

 

[Benno_900]

Yossi Benayoun is still a free agent - worth signing him up?

 

[glenferry23]

He's decent cover Benno. Surprised he hasn't been able to find another club. Wage demands too high maybe?

 

[glenferry23]

Nah, Arsenal pulled the pin when the Ba deal fell.

I am not too fussed about not picking up a striker... only because I finally see that the club has got intent. That is all any of us wanted.

We might drop points due to our lack of strikers... however a January signing would attract high quality strikers to join us...

Wenger quite often talks down the January window and lack of genuine quality available mid season, and history shows there aren't too many world class players being bought in January. Our best laid plans would be to keep theo and giroud fit and healthy until at least Podolksi returns. Sanogo will obviously need to be called upon for cup games etc.

 

[Benno_900]

So how does our front six lineup?

Ramsey - Wilshere
Walcott - Ozil - Cazorla
Giroud

The midfield 5 is so good that Wilshere is the one in danger of losing his spot to Arteta when he comes back (considering Ramsey's form). Maybe Arteta is not first choice anymore. Rosicky and Flamini offer quality and experienced depth.

The wide players and striker depth is the worry. I guess Rosicky can play there but I don't want to see Ramsey or the fullbacks starting there ever. I'd rather we go with Miyaichi and Gnabry.

Demba Ba would've been so awesome as backup. **** Chelsea - I'm sure they'd have let him go before we looked like signing Ozil.

 

[mad_monkey_j]

Still can't quite believe we signed Ozil, well I can't believe we actually signed a quality player after the last few months of rubbish. A striker would have really topped it off, but what can you do? Hopefully Giroud remain injury free, well at least in time for Poldi to come back...

 

[glenferry23]

 

[Latro]

Where is his left arm

 

[glenferry23]

So how does our front six lineup?

Ramsey - Wilshere
Walcott - Ozil - Cazorla
Giroud

The midfield 5 is so good that Wilshere is the one in danger of losing his spot to Arteta when he comes back (considering Ramsey's form). Maybe Arteta is not first choice anymore. Rosicky and Flamini offer quality and experienced depth.

The wide players and striker depth is the worry. I guess Rosicky can play there but I don't want to see Ramsey or the fullbacks starting there ever. I'd rather we go with Miyaichi and Gnabry.

Demba Ba would've been so awesome as backup. **** Chelsea - I'm sure they'd have let him go before we looked like signing Ozil.

Yes Arteta will have some work to do to recapture his starting position. Rosicky can play wide as well although it wouldn't be plan A obviously. Theo will need a rest at some point and Gnabry is probably just slightly ahead of Ryo in the pecking order.

Ba would've capped off an excellent few days on and off the pitch.

 

[glenferry23]

Where is his left arm

He possibly never had one? Anyone can pass a medical at Arsenal remember.

 

[Shoei]

Honestly, I would rather start against Sunderland with -

--------------------Wojo----------------------
------Nacho - Mert- Kos - Sanga
---------------------------------------------------------
-------------Rambo - Flamini---------------
---------------------------------------------------------
Walcott-----------Ozil---------Cazorla
---------------------------------------------------------
--------------Handsome Bloke---------------------------

Bench - Viviano, Gibbs, Jenkison, Rosicky, Wilshire, Sango, Ryo

Wilshire needs to get fit and find form before he starts

 

[glenferry23]

Swap the fullbacks and that's a decent starting XI.

 

[glenferry23]

Fair points from Cross.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=arsenal&id=2232

All that waiting, pain, torture and it comes down to the last half an hour. But in one swoop, Arsene Wenger's stunning £42 million deadline deal for Mesut Ozil transformed Arsenal's transfer window.

Weeks of frustration forgotten as Arsenal blew their rivals away with confirmation that, at 10.30pm and with the clock ticking, they had signed a genuine world class player.

It is a statement of intent, proof of ambition and is such a typical Wenger signing. The fans started the window dreaming of huge deals, a prolific striker and midfield general.

- Limbert: The Ozil deal

They ended up with a Fancy Dan midfielder and no striker. Proof if ever you needed it that it's all about the pretty patterns for Wenger as he likes his players to pass rather than shoot.

But this is one hell of a Fancy Dan. His German Under-21 boss Horst Hrubesch dubbed him the German Lionel Messi. Jose Mourinho, while in charge of Real Madrid, hailed him as the best No.10 in the world.

Ozil, 24, turned down a more lucrative offer to join Paris Saint Germain because Wenger made him believe in Arsenal's football philosophy, what they are trying to build and, of course, the growing German family with Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski helped.

If ever there was a match made in heaven then it's this one. Wenger has admired Ozil for years and tried to sign him before he went to Real Madrid. He is almost his prototype player. Small, technical, brilliant.

As I see it, Ozil will play in the number ten role in Arsenal's 4-2-3-1 system. Santi Cazorla will play wide left, a position he filled before joining Arsenal. Then the other two midfielders will come from Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky.

Arsenal have a midfield dream team. But Arsenal fans have every right to question why a striker was not signed. I still think they are light in numbers. But Ozil is possibly their most exciting signing since Dennis Bergkamp. Other players were brilliant. But when they actually joined few enjoyed superstar status.

It's a signing to blow people away.

Arsenal also went for Demba Ba but felt that Chelsea strung them along, kept them waiting, didn't want to loan to a rival but left it long enough so that it was too late for Wenger to go for anyone else. Arsenal are fuming. Jose Mourinho is probably smiling.

Now they are reliant on Olivier Giroud. Forget Nicklas Bendtner. He's so far out of the picture. Giroud has been superb, scoring four goals in five games, but he needs back-up. Their only reserve is Yaya Sanogo, who joined on a free transfer from Auxerre. Arsenal needed more.

The other deadline deal was a season-long loan for Emiliano Viviano, an Italy international from Palermo and a good back-up for Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski.

It's been a long and painful window. Wenger has had big money but refrained from spending it until the last minute, much to the frustration of Arsenal's fans.

They should have signed a striker. Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney and then Ba were all targets but none were signed.

Midfield was probably the one area where they looked strong. You can see why Wenger makes the fans pull their hair out at times. He was looking for perfection - and got it.

There is genuine excitement about Ozil. A brilliant signing. But will it be enough? I don't think you can win the title without more depth. But Ozil will delight the Arsenal fans.

 

[Crow-eater]

 

[Starlin Castro]

Was just thinking re: a proper CDM, something I'd like to see once he's fit is Vermaelen given a shot as a defensive mid. He's a defender, a leader but likes to get forward and be involved. By doing it we don't break up the BFG-Kos partnership, but also get our club captain back on the pitch.

Would be interesting:
---------Szcz
Bac-BFG-Kos-Gibbs
--------Verm
-----Ozil----Jack
Walcott------Santi
--------Ollie

 

[monty1104]

Was just thinking re: a proper CDM, something I'd like to see once he's fit is Vermaelen given a shot as a defensive mid. He's a defender, a leader but likes to get forward and be involved. By doing it we don't break up the BFG-Kos partnership, but also get our club captain back on the pitch.

Would be interesting:
---------Szcz
Bac-BFG-Kos-Gibbs
--------Verm
-----Ozil----Jack
Walcott------Santi
--------Ollie

Interesting is a good way of putting it.... With those 4 mids I see very little defensive accountability.

 

[glenferry23]

There's perhaps a little less emphasis placed on the importance of the captain in football compared to say what we associate with a captain in the AFL. Vermaelen simply isn't in our best XI anymore, unfortunate because I really like the bloke and loved his first season where he was scoring some blinders as well.

 

[Benno_900]

Vermaelen's positioning and awareness are his weaknesses.

Will make a terrible DM.

 

[Santoz]

Was just thinking re: a proper CDM, something I'd like to see once he's fit is Vermaelen given a shot as a defensive mid. He's a defender, a leader but likes to get forward and be involved. By doing it we don't break up the BFG-Kos partnership, but also get our club captain back on the pitch.

Would be interesting:
---------Szcz
Bac-BFG-Kos-Gibbs
--------Verm
-----Ozil----Jack
Walcott------Santi
--------Ollie

Vermaelen could be conditioned into that role I suppose with Flamini slowly relinquishing responsibility ...

 

[NTRabbit]

There's perhaps a little less emphasis placed on the importance of the captain in football compared to say what we associate with a captain in the AFL

That would be true of the rest of Europe, where the armband tends to hold little meaning, but in England it's still somewhat important.

 

[Shoei]

Yeah we should have signed a forward etc

But you know what, we've just made it into the champs league proper, just beaten Sp*rs and just signed one of the best players in the world.

So the negativity can **** off for the next 11 days.

 

[kreglze]

Would of loved a striker and another CB or DM, but we just have to make do with what we have. Giroud as the one out striker is a slight concern but he needs to hold it together until Podolski comes back into the fold.

Can someone tell me the timelines on the injuries of:

Arteta
Ox
Diaby

Any chance of Sagna becoming a possible CB role, did very well there the couple of times he was required last year, and Jenk is showing a bit, for what it is worth I am going to quickly put together a squad when we are FULLY FIT!

-----------Scz------------
Sagna---Kos---Mert---Gibbs
----Arteta----Wilshere----
Theo-----Ozil-----Carzorla
-----------Giroud----------

Subs/Res: Givi, Flamini, Podolski, Ox, Ramsey, Diaby, Jenk, Verm, Monreal, Rosiksy

Hard to know who to put in DM, Wilshere is probably not the best DM but I think he is too good to keep on the bench?

When we have no injuries that is a solid squad of 21, probably still needs a bit of fleshing out though especially in the CB's and ST?