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.
1989 wrote:I think Per will be the captain next season. He was given the armband when Vermaelen and Arteta were missing against Brighton & Hove Albion.
I hope he does, Adams wasn't the greatest at his age, and turned out to be superb as we all know.
I love Merts attitude, typical German.
You do realise that Per Mertesacker is 28 years old don't you?
Of course, Adams just got better and better, he wasn't called the donkey for no reason. Wenger turned Adams into the player he turned out to be, when George was the manager, all he did was lump it up field.
If we punt Vermaelen out I think it will be a kneejerk reaction to what has admittedly been one poor season. Since he arrived his commitment has been faultless and he has produced mostly decent performances surrounded by wanky defenders, as well as weighing in with the odd goal or two. No sooner was he made captain, he was also asked to deputise for that fucking useless lump of Brazilian shirt-swapping lard at LB.....something I'd love to see everyone's little darlings "Ambitious" Koscielny and the big German paperweight cope with.
People are quick to forget years of decent contribution and equally quick to get orgasmic about a few months of half decent performances
Not disagreeing with your defence of tv5 steve but suggesting "years of decent service" might be stretching the truth somewhat. Personally I like the passion he plays with and he certainly wont allow himself to be bullied by the opposition but sadly his positioning and defensive discipline leaves him exposed too much imo and the saddest thing for me is that he would not be the type of player that would allow himself to be guided by the more experienced BFG - I have no doubt playing alongside and listening to mert has been the reason for kos's improved performances.
Overall I hope that he does stay
topcat wrote:Capatin next season for me should be...
JACK WILSHERE
Please, forget his age and his temper...you can clearly see he is the most passionate arsenal player in the current team! thats enough for me.
Passion is one thing and Jack is undoubtedly a potential leader but with his injury problems and the weight of the Ing-er-lund expectation, I'd spare him the added burden for a couple more years yet, but definitely one day
SteveO 35 wrote:If we punt Vermaelen out I think it will be a kneejerk reaction to what has admittedly been one poor season. Since he arrived his commitment has been faultless and he has produced mostly decent performances surrounded by wanky defenders, as well as weighing in with the odd goal or two. No sooner was he made captain, he was also asked to deputise for that fucking useless lump of Brazilian shirt-swapping lard at LB.....something I'd love to see everyone's little darlings "Ambitious" Koscielny and the big German paperweight cope with.
People are quick to forget years of decent contribution and equally quick to get orgasmic about a few months of half decent performances
He was our best defender for a large chunk of his career at Arsenal but imo he wouldn't perform noticeably better in a better unit - whereas Koscielny and Mertesacker may have been dreadful at various times in their career but have undeniably benefited significantly from recent increased stability. Not saying Vermaelen should be bombed out completely but imo he's not the future for us.
Koscileny and the BUG enjoyed a decent run against non-physical also rans in the end of season wankathon run to the virtual trophy
I look forward to the comments about their wonderful, all conquering partnership in October once we've played Chelsea, Man U, City and whoever the only decent team in our NonChampionsWe'llLetYouInIfYouFinish4th League group are, plus anyone prepared to field Jason Roberts in the League Cup
1989 wrote:I think Per will be the captain next season. He was given the armband when Vermaelen and Arteta were missing against Brighton & Hove Albion.
I hope he does, Adams wasn't the greatest at his age, and turned out to be superb as we all know.
I love Merts attitude, typical German.
You do realise that Per Mertesacker is 28 years old don't you?
Of course, Adams just got better and better, he wasn't called the donkey for no reason. Wenger turned Adams into the player he turned out to be, when George was the manager, all he did was lump it up field.
Arsenal fans baffle me at times, perfectly demonstrated by the current debate over our club captain.
On this forum and over various social media, I've read Arsenal 'fans' writing him off as 'finished', 'useless' etc. and are encouraging his immediate sale. What short memories some have. It was only 3 years ago that Vermaelen was being heralded as the new Tony Adams, and whilst this comparison is hardly accurate, I am absolutely certain that he will return to being one of the best defenders in the league.
For many years we lacked organisation and aggression at the back and Vemaelen offers this. Irrespective of his merits as a captain, he is by far our most vocal centre half and plays with a desire and passion that helps drive the team forward. Yes his standards slipped last year, yes there remains question marks over his suitability as club captain but if we were playing in the Champions League final tomorrow night, Vemaelen would be the first name on my team sheet.
I don't think he was ever one of the best defenders in the league. He stood out massively above our other defenders (well, centre-backs really) when our defence and team shape was a complete shambles. During this time he was forgiven the odd reckless charge or lunge because more often than not it paid dividends, and in any event it hardly looked out of place amongst the farce. His positioning wasn't really questioned much because everyone else's was all over the shop.
Since we have made some improvements to our defending, most significantly our team shape with a defensive-minded midfielder who doesn't think he's playing in the hole, his positioning and rash judgement have stood out like a sore thumb.
Yes some of the criticism has been a bit harsh, and yes he's still a better player than his form has showed, but I'm not convinced he has the attributes to be a reliable and consistent first-choice centre-back in a team that wants to win the league.
Yes. Personally I think the performances of them as a pairing has been over-hyped. Look at the games during the run in - these were teams we probably would have kept clean sheets against even if we had Squil at the back!
I'm not denying that we appeared more solid, but sadly I believe that's all it was. We relied heavily on a number of last ditch Kos challenges, whilst Chesney was called upon a number of times to save the day. I'm not suggesting that this is proof of a weak partnership, only that I think it's wrong to suggest we're suddenly unpenetrable with them at the back.
Personally I still think Mert is a liability. Clearly he has a number of attributes linked to positioning and organisation, but he gets caught out far too often for me. Kos too is by no means perfect. He often struggles physically and his distribution is often wayward.
My point with all of this is that Thomas Vemaelen isn't finished. He offers something unique to our team in terms of sheer determination and that's certainly something I'd like to see more of in our team.
goonerk wrote:Arsenal fans baffle me at times, perfectly demonstrated by the current debate over our club captain.
I've read Arsenal 'fans' writing him off as 'finished', 'useless' etc. and are encouraging his immediate sale. What short memories some have. It was only 3 years ago that Vermaelen was being heralded as the new Tony Adams, and whilst this comparison is hardly accurate, I am absolutely certain that he will return to being one of the best defenders in the league.
Some people like talking in extremes (especially on the internet where any fool has an audience) so it doesn't surprise me that a small minority hold those views; however, they're clearly not representative of your average Arsenal fan, so don't let it get to you... and ffs don't tar all Arsenal fans with the same brush just because some idiots have extreme views!
fucking quality
