The Kieran Gibbs Thread

[SteveO 35]

Isn't it amazing how all of our full backs are awful at crossing. Nothing to do with having no bodies in the box and having to thread the ball through the eye of a needle of course. Would love to see how many assists Baines gets at Arsenal. Don't get me wrong he is a decent player but taking dead balls and whipping in crosses for the likes of Fellaini and Jelavic is one thing. Try whipping them into Le Chapman and a collection of midfield midgets and we'll see how his assist record bears up

[EC3]

Bit unfair comparing Gibbs to Bains, as Bains is vastly more experience, played over 300 games.

[flash gunner]

Decent player and with any luck he'll become a good premier league player but worlds best? He's got a long long long way to go yet

[DB10GOONER]

Isn't it amazing how all of our full backs are awful at crossing. Nothing to do with having no bodies in the box and having to thread the ball through the eye of a needle of course. Would love to see how many assists Baines gets at Arsenal. Don't get me wrong he is a decent player but taking dead balls and whipping in crosses for the likes of Fellaini and Jelavic is one thing. Try whipping them into Le Chapman and a collection of midfield midgets and we'll see how his assist record bears up

"threading the ball through the eye of a needle"?! SteveO, I'm not talking about who gets on the end of them, I'm talking about the fact most of our wide players cannot even get the ball into the general area of the box! "Through the eye of needle"? Gibbs and Walcott and Sagna can't even thread the ball through the Mersey Tunnel from ten yards, mate! Jenko is a far superior crosser of the ball than anyone else at the club and he's not a world beater by any means.

TBH I think that cuts both ways. Giroud has shown he can finish with his head. So if we had anyone at the club capable of lifting a ball over the first defender, then who knows what way Giroud's goal record might be affected...

[northbank123]

I do agree with you about Giroud's aerial ability DB10 but I think SteveO's point about having nobody to aim for is valid. Look at Young, Valencia and Nani. They're held in high esteem as fantastic crossers but if you look at their job it's far easier: often they're crossing the ball in from the corner of the 18-yard box with a great angle and 3 players to aim for in the box. When Rooney went on that great run of scoring headers a few years ago if you actually look at it he was basically just standing in the box and waiting for somebody to stick the ball on his head because the other players were good enough to create space to get a good cross away from a dangerous position and defenders would actually be occupied by other strikers and runners. Our full-backs normally get the ball in a cramped area on the touchline and are asked to pick out our one striker who is being marked by two lumps of centre-halves.

Not that they'd necessarily be good crossers anyway. But Clichy still takes the prize for being the worst crosser I've seen. By a distance.

[SteveO 35]

Isn't it amazing how all of our full backs are awful at crossing. Nothing to do with having no bodies in the box and having to thread the ball through the eye of a needle of course. Would love to see how many assists Baines gets at Arsenal. Don't get me wrong he is a decent player but taking dead balls and whipping in crosses for the likes of Fellaini and Jelavic is one thing. Try whipping them into Le Chapman and a collection of midfield midgets and we'll see how his assist record bears up

"threading the ball through the eye of a needle"?! SteveO, I'm not talking about who gets on the end of them, I'm talking about the fact most of our wide players cannot even get the ball into the general area of the box! "Through the eye of needle"? Gibbs and Walcott and Sagna can't even thread the ball through the Mersey Tunnel from ten yards, mate! Jenko is a far superior crosser of the ball than anyone else at the club and he's not a world beater by any means.

TBH I think that cuts both ways. Giroud has shown he can finish with his head. So if we had anyone at the club capable of lifting a ball over the first defender, then who knows what way Giroud's goal record might be affected...

Giroud is normally tucked in between about 4 or 5 players, where as teams like Everton frequently have players busting a gut from midfield to get on the end of crosses. What's the point of dinking up a cross to be headed straight back out. Honestly, it is something that has affected all of our wide players since we started with this gormless 4-5-1 a few seasons back and I can't believe they are all shit at crossing the thing. I've seen Osman score headed goals for Everton (including against us !) and he's five foot nothing.

The fact is that its almost fucking impossible to pick out one geezer from a box crowded with defenders. Look at when Valencia is bombing forward for United and he has Van Savile, Rooney and Scholes all available in the box, or when Hazard has Torres and at least 2 midfielders breaking into the box. We don't have a single central midfielder that makes those runs. Baines would have to be a bloody genius to pick out our one lone striker every time.

Honestly, watch next time Sagna or Gibbs get to the line to see who is available in the box. Even the Forehead, who I detest, brought a bit of sympathy from me at the weekend when he made that cut back for Wilshere. He had to wait for an eternity to anyone to show up in the bloody box. Gone are the days when Ljungberg and the like would bust a gut to break beyond the opposition

[DB10GOONER]

I do agree with you about Giroud's aerial ability DB10 but I think SteveO's point about having nobody to aim for is valid. Look at Young, Valencia and Nani. They're held in high esteem as fantastic crossers but if you look at their job it's far easier: often they're crossing the ball in from the corner of the 18-yard box with a great angle and 3 players to aim for in the box. When Rooney went on that great run of scoring headers a few years ago if you actually look at it he was basically just standing in the box and waiting for somebody to stick the ball on his head because the other players were good enough to create space to get a good cross away from a dangerous position and defenders would actually be occupied by other strikers and runners. Our full-backs normally get the ball in a cramped area on the touchline and are asked to pick out our one striker who is being marked by two lumps of centre-halves.

Not that they'd necessarily be good crossers anyway. But Clichy still takes the prize for being the worst crosser I've seen. By a distance.

I agree with you (and SteveO) to a certain extent, NB123 - but the fact (for me anyway) is our wide men cannot get the ball into the danger area often enough even when we do manage to get someone into a good position in the box. Look at our corners and set pieces. We have Mert/Kos/TV5/Giroud all in there, so that rules out the height argument for me.

Of course those players have to make intelligent runs and get into good positions but equally the ball has to be delivered over the first defender, which it too often isn't. Hitting the first defender with a shit cross is not the fault of the players in the box, it's down to poor technique from the wide player.

I think the issue here is that our wide men and our target men don't actually practice set pieces either enough or possibly at all...

[northbank123]

I would argue that the only two of those that actually attack the ball off set pieces are TV5 and Giroud anyway. Mertesacker might be a giant but I can't remember him ever actually winning an attacking header convincingly (his only goal being a great header v the Scum but a free header nonetheless), and Koscielny has about as much hope of towering over his marker and knocking opposition players out the way as [insert appropriate forum banter here].

I think the reality is that the wide men have a bum deal when it comes to targets in the box, they get the ball in fairly poor positions and have next to nothing to aim for.

But on the flip side they haven't actually done anything to convince me that we would score loads of headed goals even if we played with four 7-foot tall strikers, and our perennially poor set piece delivery (struggling to think of somebody who has put consistently great balls in from free-kicks other than perhaps Fabregas) is embarrassing.

[DB10GOONER]

I would argue that the only two of those that actually attack the ball off set pieces are TV5 and Giroud anyway. Mertesacker might be a giant but I can't remember him ever actually winning an attacking header convincingly (his only goal being a great header v the Scum but a free header nonetheless), and Koscielny has about as much hope of towering over his marker and knocking opposition players out the way as [insert appropriate forum banter here].

I think the reality is that the wide men have a bum deal when it comes to targets in the box, they get the ball in fairly poor positions and have next to nothing to aim for.

But on the flip side they haven't actually done anything to convince me that we would score loads of headed goals even if we played with four 7-foot tall strikers, and our perennially poor set piece delivery (struggling to think of somebody who has put consistently great balls in from free-kicks other than perhaps Fabregas) is embarrassing.

I suppose my point would be that the first thing to get right is getting the actual football over the first defender. This is where our widemen fail so often. No matter who we have in the box, no matter their ability or lack thereof, they can't do anything if the ball doesn't actually get over that first defender. "Horse before cart", as the culchies over here say...

Or is it "goat before woman..." Something like that anyway.

[1989]

Gibbo is class but unfortunately made of glass. Otherwise he can be as good as Cashley imo. Hardly see any wingers beat him and is excellent going forward as well. His stamina is incredible. Needs to sort out the crossing though.

[topgoon]

I do agree with you about Giroud's aerial ability DB10 but I think SteveO's point about having nobody to aim for is valid. Look at Young, Valencia and Nani. They're held in high esteem as fantastic crossers but if you look at their job it's far easier: often they're crossing the ball in from the corner of the 18-yard box with a great angle and 3 players to aim for in the box. When Rooney went on that great run of scoring headers a few years ago if you actually look at it he was basically just standing in the box and waiting for somebody to stick the ball on his head because the other players were good enough to create space to get a good cross away from a dangerous position and defenders would actually be occupied by other strikers and runners. Our full-backs normally get the ball in a cramped area on the touchline and are asked to pick out our one striker who is being marked by two lumps of centre-halves.

Not that they'd necessarily be good crossers anyway. But Clichy still takes the prize for being the worst crosser I've seen. By a distance.

Wholeheartedly agree with this.

I don't think Gibbs is that bad. I actually think given a run he is a decent left back not world class but then again neither was c**tley when he first started. He benfitted from getting quite a run in games and his loan period. Not to mention a more settled backline. If Gibbs can manage to get about 25-30 games then we can judge him properly.

[mcdowell42]

I do agree with you about Giroud's aerial ability DB10 but I think SteveO's point about having nobody to aim for is valid. Look at Young, Valencia and Nani. They're held in high esteem as fantastic crossers but if you look at their job it's far easier: often they're crossing the ball in from the corner of the 18-yard box with a great angle and 3 players to aim for in the box. When Rooney went on that great run of scoring headers a few years ago if you actually look at it he was basically just standing in the box and waiting for somebody to stick the ball on his head because the other players were good enough to create space to get a good cross away from a dangerous position and defenders would actually be occupied by other strikers and runners. Our full-backs normally get the ball in a cramped area on the touchline and are asked to pick out our one striker who is being marked by two lumps of centre-halves.

Not that they'd necessarily be good crossers anyway. But Clichy still takes the prize for being the worst crosser I've seen. By a distance.

Wholeheartedly agree with this.

I don't think Gibbs is that bad. I actually think given a run he is a decent left back not world class but then again neither was c**tley when he first started. He benfitted from getting quite a run in games and his loan period. Not to mention a more settled backline. If Gibbs can manage to get about 25-30 games then we can judge him properly.

As long as he doesnt get injured falling over a twig

[brazilianGOONER]

baines is twice the player gibbs is going forward imo. would surely buy him and let gibbs as second choice. baines creates a lot down that left hand side.

Agreed. Gibbs has been reasonably good this season, but Baines is more skillful and a far better crosser of the ball. But then, my dead grandmother is a better crosser of the ball than Gibbs.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but doesn't being a Catholic give her an unfair advantage when it comes to crosses?

[StuartL]

Isn't it amazing how all of our full backs are awful at crossing. Nothing to do with having no bodies in the box and having to thread the ball through the eye of a needle of course. Would love to see how many assists Baines gets at Arsenal. Don't get me wrong he is a decent player but taking dead balls and whipping in crosses for the likes of Fellaini and Jelavic is one thing. Try whipping them into Le Chapman and a collection of midfield midgets and we'll see how his assist record bears up

"threading the ball through the eye of a needle"?! SteveO, I'm not talking about who gets on the end of them, I'm talking about the fact most of our wide players cannot even get the ball into the general area of the box! "Through the eye of needle"? Gibbs and Walcott and Sagna can't even thread the ball through the Mersey Tunnel from ten yards, mate! Jenko is a far superior crosser of the ball than anyone else at the club and he's not a world beater by any means.

TBH I think that cuts both ways. Giroud has shown he can finish with his head. So if we had anyone at the club capable of lifting a ball over the first defender, then who knows what way Giroud's goal record might be affected...

Agree with a lot of that Jenkinson definately puts a decent ball in, wheras the rest are shite.
If we gave Giroud the right service he might flourish but as we all know, we cannot change our tactics to accomodate the actual players and play to their strengths.

[armchair]

Yes, young Jenko can hit a decent cross. The rest of our fullbacks are pretty poor at it imo.