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.
For a brief moment at the start of the 2nd half I thought we'd actually gone 4-4-2 with Cazorla on the left & Pod joining Giroud up front. Quickly came back to my senses as 4-5-1 reared its ugly head again a few minutes later like the floater that just wont flush.
Thing is as much as you'd be loathe to lose Cazorla's influence in the middle, in games like yesterday when he's already being crowded out there anyway (& when Jack's still there to ensure we don't lose too much guile centrally) it might actually also benefit Santi to exploit the extra space out wide too. Inevitably he'd still cut inside rather than be totally peripheral, and if Pod was to drift out left from the middle (rather than vice versa) in theory it could work a bit like Bobby & Henry (albeit a poor man's version!). Wouldn't want him playing wide every week by any means but when he's being smothered to the point of being ineffectual by all the bodies in the middle what is there to lose?
SteveO 35 wrote:Now that we don't have one of the individually great strikers in world football at the club, surely he needs to see that he needs to get Podolski playing closer to a front man. Fuck me he is even starting to make him look shit, as he's now almost a deep defensive midfielder given that Santos is incapable of playing left back (anyone noticed how Podolski was fine with Gibbs there but now looks crap with Fatty behind him)
A good manager would line up the formation to suit the players, not the other way round. And if this 4-5-1 formation really is the way you want to play regardless of the oppo, then for fuck sake spend £25m on a guy that might have half a chance of playing that role effectively
He's stopped even doing that since Sandross came in. If 2 up front is such a no-go for Wenger at least play the man seemingly most suited to playing that lone striker role. In games like yesterday I'd say that's Podolski. Still a long way from ideal but the best of a bad situation. He's at least got some semblance of pace to be played in behind or into the channels & he seems far more clinical in front of goal than any of the others combined.
Fair enough in some games we may need his defensive work on the left but I've always thought in this "system" we play that the protection for the full-backs should come from one of the 2 deeper lying midfielder's tracking laterally rather than one of the alleged "front 3." Granted Wenger seems to think the traditional defensive midfield role is obsolete but even then I'd say Chamberlain would be willing & able to provide the defensive discipline combined with attacking threat out wide when necessary, whereas we don't have any such alternative options up front.
For a brief moment at the start of the 2nd half I thought we'd actually gone 4-4-2 with Cazorla on the left & Pod joining Giroud up front. Quickly came back to my senses as 4-5-1 reared its ugly head again a few minutes later like the floater that just wont flush.
Thing is as much as you'd be loathe to lose Cazorla's influence in the middle, in games like yesterday when he's already being crowded out there anyway (& when Jack's still there to ensure we don't lose too much guile centrally) it might actually also benefit Santi to exploit the extra space out wide too. Inevitably he'd still cut inside rather than be totally peripheral, and if Pod was to drift out left from the middle (rather than vice versa) in theory it could work a bit like Bobby & Henry (albeit a poor man's version!). Wouldn't want him playing wide every week by any means but when he's being smothered to the point of being ineffectual by all the bodies in the middle what is there to lose?
Playing Ramsey as a right winger hardly gives us any width anyway so you can hardly say we'd lose much by replacing him with a striker. Might not have been fit yesterday but Walcott should have started ahead of Ramsey with either him or Pod going up top.
Really good performance today imo, aside from the two goals he was a real pain in the arse for the defenders all game and his link up player was much improved.
One thing you will get is 100% from him every game. He desperately wants to succeed and runs his bollocks off for 90 minutes every chance he gets. If we had a squad full of players with his attitude we wouldn't be in the sorry state we are now.
Clearly not suited to playing on his own up front, only a fool would sign a player like Giroud to play as an isolated striker. It's sheer madness. In a 4-4-2 he could really show what he can do and it would benefit the team in so many other ways.
With his physicality he would have an absolute field day against our defenders that's for sure, exactly the kind of striker that would rape us.
Girouds finally found his scoring touch,thank fuck,hes actually looking a half decent buy, unfortunately at the same time he looks like he cant actually believe his luck that hes playing for Arsenal,almost like a supporter thats jumped onto the pitch and nobodys noticed.also im feeling sorry for Poldolski right now,such a great finisher,wtf is he doing having to track back and defend,i know its part of the modern game but he wouldnt have signed for us if he knew he was gonna be a left winger/ box to box player,just stick him in goal Wenker and have done with it
Hmmm.... sorry to be a negative bastard here, but I'm still not totally convinced, 2 goals v Fulham is hardly groundbreaking stuff, he still struggles to control the ball properly and also misses easy one on ones (prior to his 2nd goal), and ''fanastic in the air'' so was Douglas Bader...
Clever movement at times, was bullying their centre halves all afternoon and has a decent left peg. I'd certainly back him to score more with his feet then Chamakh will ever manage.
He will never be as good as RvP so until we sign a real world class striker Giroud will always be a symbol of our continued decline. But conisdering the bloke was taken to a big club in a new country and thrown in as the only valid centre forward at said club I think he's giving a good account of himself.
I think Giroud is looking great - 10 goals for the season and his positional play and intelligence do make him lethal in the air IMHO.
Given the slating he's got on here and in the press, he's shown a lot of graft and character.
He wasn't bought to replace rvp so there's no point slamming him on that front. Our summer buys we're bought to spread the goals around and despite our problems at the back, that is happening.
Giroud will be all over the spuds next week, mark my words
with Cazorla on the left & Pod joining Giroud up front. Quickly came back to my senses as 4-5-1 reared its ugly head again a few minutes later like the floater that just wont flush. 
