Dr LBC Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 10 hours ago, lomaxgrUK said: Regardless of where you play him, Mustafi isn't good enough for a top 4 team. I fail to see how Mertesacker was a good buy. He was the constant bull boy against all of the top teams, and once again - how many top 4 sides would Mertesacker have gotten into when he was at his best at Arsenal? Holding is still to be determined, I agree. Chambers isn't good enough. Why is this still a debate? He's 24 and has played over 100 games now. He's been below average in that midfield role for a pretty awful Fulham side. You could make an argument to say he was the worst player on the pitch against United (him or Seri). Jenkinson isn't good enough. I think if anything, all of these names pretty much backup my original point - Arsenal's defensive purchases over the last 15 years have been historically bad. If they are to make any significant progress as a squad then this needs to change. It's crazy because there is sooooooo much talent that comes out of North London. You would've thought in that time at least one local kid would've been good enough to give them some rotational ability at CB. The hyperbole isn't necessary and it doesn't help your argument. They're bad, yes. Historically bad? No. Not even historically bad for a Top 4 club. The effect has been amplified by the fact that they can't spunk money away at 41m a pop on failed defenders and then loan them out while eating the majority of the wages they gave them like some in the Top 4. Now if you want to go back further in history to the lean years and include the likes of Squillacci, Eboue, Traore, etc. Then there's more of a case. There was always a disconnect in terms of Wenger being able to identify the kind of defender (particularly CB in the post Sol Campbell era) he wanted and actually translating that to the pitch. Chambers isn't good enough. That wasn't what I was debating. I was debating that he wasn't developed properly and that that was a contributing factor to why he's not good enough. I'm still of the opinion that Bellerin never should have been brought up as a RB - he was played as a RW in the U-21's and it has always been his more natural position. But Wenger committed himself to contracts on strikers (and Theo Walcott who insisted on being a striker) who weren't good enough that he then turned around and deployed as wingers because "it's what Wenger do." So with his predilection for smaller squads and minimal rotation there were no minutes on the wing for Bellerin, the same thing (and injuries) happened with Serge Gnabry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightmare Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Watched the Liverpool-Bayern game tonight, and man, that was dreadful. Bayern got what they came for, and Hummels in particular was like a wall, but it was awfully boring stuff. Fair play to the Bayern fans for continuing their protest against ticket prices, although I do kinda question them taking this sort of moral high-ground on the issue of finances in football, when they're happy to support a team who use their financial clout to bully other Bundesliga and take their best players for free all the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr LBC Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Nightmare said: Watched the Liverpool-Bayern game tonight, and man, that was dreadful. Bayern got what they came for, and Hummels in particular was like a wall, but it was awfully boring stuff. Fair play to the Bayern fans for continuing their protest against ticket prices, although I do kinda question them taking this sort of moral high-ground on the issue of finances in football, when they're happy to support a team who use their financial clout to bully other Bundesliga and take their best players for free all the time. I mean, most football fans are hypocrites. It's just that some of us are self-aware enough to admit it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roysmyboy31 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Would have preferred to get an away goal, but am quite pleased with Bayern's result tonight. Never thought we could keep a clean sheet against Liverpool, let alone at Anfield. That was the best defense I have seen from our side all year. Javi Martinez and Hummels had strong games. Should have a solid chance to take the tie at home where we traditionally have been very good (and Liverpool has lost all their away CL matches this year). Obviously, we are still underdogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 17 minutes ago, roysmyboy31 said: Would have preferred to get an away goal, but am quite pleased with Bayern's result tonight. Never thought we could keep a clean sheet against Liverpool, let alone at Anfield. That was the best defense I have seen from our side all year. Javi Martinez and Hummels had strong games. Should have a solid chance to take the tie at home where we traditionally have been very good (and Liverpool has lost all their away CL matches this year). Obviously, we are still underdogs. Very good result for Bayern. They're imperious at home in Europe. Only lost 2 of their past 26 CL home.games. Winning 22 of them. Tie is still pretty balanced, but advantage Bayern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomaxgrUK Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 11 hours ago, The LBC said: The hyperbole isn't necessary and it doesn't help your argument. They're bad, yes. Historically bad? No. Not even historically bad for a Top 4 club. The effect has been amplified by the fact that they can't spunk money away at 41m a pop on failed defenders and then loan them out while eating the majority of the wages they gave them like some in the Top 4. Now if you want to go back further in history to the lean years and include the likes of Squillacci, Eboue, Traore, etc. Then there's more of a case. There was always a disconnect in terms of Wenger being able to identify the kind of defender (particularly CB in the post Sol Campbell era) he wanted and actually translating that to the pitch. Chambers isn't good enough. That wasn't what I was debating. I was debating that he wasn't developed properly and that that was a contributing factor to why he's not good enough. I'm still of the opinion that Bellerin never should have been brought up as a RB - he was played as a RW in the U-21's and it has always been his more natural position. But Wenger committed himself to contracts on strikers (and Theo Walcott who insisted on being a striker) who weren't good enough that he then turned around and deployed as wingers because "it's what Wenger do." So with his predilection for smaller squads and minimal rotation there were no minutes on the wing for Bellerin, the same thing (and injuries) happened with Serge Gnabry. I really don't think I am being hyperbolic, and you haven't given an example of another team who has purchased the amount of players in one unit that Arsenal have on their defense, with as little success. That, in my eyes, makes it historically bad. I said the last 15 years so clearly that would include a couple of those names. But we've got absolutely no way of proving whether a player was developed poorly or whether it was a lack of talent, so it seems a tad fruitless to debate that. What we do know, without any doubt, is that Chambers isn't good enough for a team with the aspirations that Arsenal have. That was my point. If you look into their history, most top full backs these days are failed wingers from some point in their career, whether it be as a youth player or as a pro. To play at a top club you have to have a base level of technical ability, so as a young player these top full backs would obviously be the best technical player in their team and thus wouldn't be playing a position like full back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1OlCq67Ab0 - That's a video of Jamie Carragher talking about how full backs are either failed wingers or failed CBs. The latter is rarer at top clubs now, given the attacking responsibilities of full backs. I personally don't feel Bellerin has the technical ability required of a winger for a top side, but maybe that is me. Back to my original point - if you go through the list of defenders purchased by Arsenal over the last 15 years, I believe that the list is historically bad in terms of the success to failure ratio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomaxgrUK Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I watched the Liverpool - Bayern match last night. I thought Bayern retained the ball well, without posing much threat. I know it's an obvious statement to make, but the downgrade of Robben and Ribery in their prime to Coman and Gnabry is astronomical. They just don't have the consistent creativity with correct decision making to be the level of player required to be a star at Bayern. I think the game highlighted the main deficiency in the Liverpool team - the ball retention ability of their midfielders. Klopp opts for athletic CMs with unbelievable engines and top athletic ability as a means to force the opposition to relinquish the ball. I felt they did that well at times last night, but eventually the time comes when you have to keep the ball yourself and the midfield 3 were so sloppy at times. That's an underrated aspect of both VVD and Gomez being out injured. They are obviously very good Defenders but they have the ability to step into the midfield line with the ball and distribute like very good midfielders as well. Fabinho is obviously comfortable in that area, but Matip is a poor technical player for a Champions League team. I think Liverpool are more suited to playing on the counter against top teams so the away leg, with VVD back, could suit them better against a team that can keep the ball well like Bayern. They will need more impact from Firmino and Salah though, who were both off their game last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Europa League round of 16 draw Chelsea v Dynamo Kiev Eintracht Frankfurt v Inter Milan Dinamo Zagreb v Benfica Napoli v Salzburg Valencia v Krasnodar Sevilla v Slavia Prague Arsenal v Rennes Zenit St Petersburg v Villarreal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr LBC Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 And they're now trying to switch around the home/away fixtures of Arsenal/Rennes because (I guess we're ignoring this past Thursday when it happened and they just staggered the kickoff times) they TV people are raising a stink over there being two matches going on in London at the same time. I'm not complaining, because, in all honesty, I'd rather have the home fixture between the Tottenham and United league matches than have to travel to France in the time between. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roysmyboy31 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 Ajax knocks out the defending champions in their own stadium with a convincing 4-1 victory. Can't say I saw that coming. There is a lot of good young talent on that Ajax team and they managed two draws with Bayern (though we are down from previous years) in the group stage. Erik ten Hag is a heck of a manager too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhunt2402 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Just stopping by to say... 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Big hand ball called. By rule I think it was right since he made himself bigger but I've never seen that called in that situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 VAR big today apparently. Questionable call in Roma-Porto. Definitely pulled him back but I don't think he was getting to it anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buc Ball Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 30 minutes ago, mse326 said: Big hand ball called. By rule I think it was right since he made himself bigger but I've never seen that called in that situation. That’s such a difficult call and I still can’t make my mind up either way. It’s arguable his arm was in an unnatural position and it looks like he might have left his arm out just a little bit. Thing is, that would never have been given before the introduction of VAR. Strictly speaking, it’s probably the right call, but it just doesn’t feel like football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedLavie Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 As someone who lives in Paris but hates PSG, I'm going to have so much fun tomorrow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.