As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Cusamano, Diaby is quite a good player. Djourou could turn out to be alright but I would prefer to see Wenger sdpend 30 million on another defender, a goalkeeper and a replacement for Denilson!
DB10GOONER wrote:Agree to a certain extent with BDB (I know, I feel dirty too ) it takes more than individual errors to fuck a season, it is a combination of errors, bad luck, physical elements (like injuries and loss of form) but for me these things only go further to questioning Wenger's lack of proper investment in a decent squad. A decent squad can cope with most of the aforementioned problems by replacing individuals with equal quality when need be. It takes out those elements we can control.
Look at the 01-02 season. Injury problems at EVERY position lly even in goal the we lose Super Robert Pires too and still win the Premiership by seven points and the Double to boot. That's ALL down to that extra investment we were making ahead of the Highbury re-development skewing things as it did. Weon the Premiership at Old Trafford WITHOUT Thierry Henry Pires, Tony Adams and Denis Bergkamp.
Think about that. More than a THIRD of possibly our best team ever were MISSING from the side that went to the home of the three-time defending Champions with the Premiership title still on the line and had one of the most comfortable 1-0 victories I have ever seen in a match of that magnitude. And at the same ground where we lost quite badly a year earlier.
And we were missing key players all year long. Three different goalkeepers won Champions Medals that year. Our fifth choice central defender Stepanovs who endured one of the worst single performances I have ever seen at Old Trafford a year earlier featured in central defence during five straight crtiical wins in March and April. How many times did Sylvain Wiltord get us out of jail as sub or appearing in the first 11 in place of Henry Pires or Ljungberg. Bergkamp was at times a supersub in the Solskajer mold. Kanu was massive at Anfield after we went a man down and excellent again at Old Trafford.
merson_is_god wrote:Cusamano, Diaby is quite a good player. Djourou could turn out to be alright but I would prefer to see Wenger sdpend 30 million on another defender, a goalkeeper and a replacement for Denilson!
I can imagine some people on this board exploding on that statement.
But I do agree with you that until the last month of the season Diaby was very good. Djorou is a decent back-up defender and needs game time and experience
merson_is_god wrote:Cusamano, Diaby is quite a good player. Djourou could turn out to be alright but I would prefer to see Wenger sdpend 30 million on another defender, a goalkeeper and a replacement for Denilson!
Diaby is utter utter utter shite and is sooo brainless that he makes theo look like einstein
I absolutely absolutely hate almunia as a keeper and of that there is no doubt but there is nobody, and I mean nobody, that I would prefer to see sold ahead of diaby.......the man has to go before I have a nervous breakdown looking at the lethargic brainless *word censored*
With Djorou coming back from injury and the new Polench guy coming in then maybe we could get away with one defender....and maybe we've written off Gallas and Sol too soon?
But even the ever loyal (stubborn?) Wenger must realise that we need another keeper....even if it's just to take the pressure off Flappy while we get used to him and grow to love him in the same way he obviously does....
As for Diaby....I love his close control of the ball. And, in my humble opinion, he was France's man of the match in their opening game (although that may not be a complement). But there is more to the game than having good control of your balls (or being a very fast runner....). And I'm still not convinced that Diaby has a football brain. For one thing I don't think he is very good at passing....which is a bit of a weakness.....
MK Gould wrote:With Djorou coming back from injury and the new Polench guy coming in then maybe we could get away with one defender....and maybe we've written off Gallas and Sol too soon?
Finally! A solution to Koscielny's nationality problem
DB10GOONER wrote:Agree to a certain extent with BDB (I know, I feel dirty too ) it takes more than individual errors to fuck a season, it is a combination of errors, bad luck, physical elements (like injuries and loss of form) but for me these things only go further to questioning Wenger's lack of proper investment in a decent squad. A decent squad can cope with most of the aforementioned problems by replacing individuals with equal quality when need be. It takes out those elements we can control.
Look at the 01-02 season. Injury problems at EVERY position lly even in goal the we lose Super Robert Pires too and still win the Premiership by seven points and the Double to boot. That's ALL down to that extra investment we were making ahead of the Highbury re-development skewing things as it did. Weon the Premiership at Old Trafford WITHOUT Thierry Henry Pires, Tony Adams and Denis Bergkamp.
Think about that. More than a THIRD of possibly our best team ever were MISSING from the side that went to the home of the three-time defending Champions with the Premiership title still on the line and had one of the most comfortable 1-0 victories I have ever seen in a match of that magnitude. And at the same ground where we lost quite badly a year earlier.
And we were missing key players all year long. Three different goalkeepers won Champions Medals that year. Our fifth choice central defender Stepanovs who endured one of the worst single performances I have ever seen at Old Trafford a year earlier featured in central defence during five straight crtiical wins in March and April. How many times did Sylvain Wiltord get us out of jail as sub or appearing in the first 11 in place of Henry Pires or Ljungberg. Bergkamp was at times a supersub in the Solskajer mold. Kanu was massive at Anfield after we went a man down and excellent again at Old Trafford.
He are the raw numbers to back my point justr above.
Martin, a very good post but I don't know what your point was?!
You seem to echo what DB10 had already said.
I was providing a specific example of what DB was saying, as too many Gooners would forget that actually was the case as they bemoan ouir rotten rotten luck with injuries as if this isome new phenomena related to climate change or something.
BTW I disagree with DB10 leaving the lack of investment at the manager's door. If that was so and the Board felt differently I would reckon Mr. Wenger would have moved on or been sacked by now and the Board have no desire whatsoever to do that. I suspect the Board is behind the lack of investment by cutting the wgae structure or tightening as Dan Fiszman basically acknowledged has occurred at Arsenal to eliminate the ppossibility of signing the kind of players we easily sitgned and kept from 1998-2005.
Keeping Mr. Wenger allows the Board to let hiom take the heat for them while in return they protect him from the sack, and keep the supporters guessing as to what is truly available to spend and to who is truly decisding how its spent.
) it takes more than individual errors to fuck a season, it is a combination of errors, bad luck, physical elements (like injuries and loss of form) but for me these things only go further to questioning Wenger's lack of proper investment in a decent squad. A decent squad can cope with most of the aforementioned problems by replacing individuals with equal quality when need be. It takes out those elements we can control.
