The whatever footie that's going on (with actual fans) thread

pinno

Unzipped BR's questionable 3-1-4-2 away from home formation.

Do we (The Gunners) have to beat the big boys to win the league?

Chelski* are not firing on all cyclinders, Mu are out of the running, City are dubious away from home. A draw away with Spurs, MU, City, Chelski and the Pool, wins at home and we would be in the running.




*Copyright Stevo 666

sloppyschleckonds

The answer is in one of 3 envelopes

Stevo_666

pinarello001 wrote:

*Copyright Stevo 666

I guess the royalty cheque is in the post?

Here's how I see it from a fairly impartial view point (and before MOTD starts):
- The Ars* (coyright Stavros) are in with a good chance, esp if Wenger buys big again in January. Weakeness is a squad thinner than Chelski or City, watch out come injury jinx time.
- Chelski have the Mourinho factor and strength in depth. Plus very strong at home - never seen them lose and only concede 2 goals at the Bridge.
- City are a threat with a decent goalie and have a huge squad.
- Spurs need longer to get their shyte together: too many changes at once.
- The Scousers are the 'dark horse' threat.
- I'd love to write off Man U but they've started winning again and they've got more jam than Hartleys.

joelsim

Would love to see The Arse win. But not holding my breath.

tim_wand

Its all about Confidence, Especially with players like Ramsey and Giroud.

We need a good result against Dortmund (I know this doesn't reflect on the league) and Man U . Get through those two games with some points and we will be looking good.

The only problem is , that doing well to date is a problem in itself , because it will bring out Wengers, reticence to buy in January, which is what we need to do.

As others have said , our first 11 can win the Prem, but we cant/ wont always be able to rely on it. Hence the need for a Centre forward and Centre back in Jan.

If we are still riding high though. I think Wenger will role out the old excuse of who's available that's better than what we have? and he will probably be right. But missing the point! We need squad players to give us the depth that Man City and Chelski have.

I would move for Benteke (Villa will be mid table mediocre by then and hes not Champs league cup tied) and possibly Jagelika, but Everton will probably be pressing on for a UEFA spot.

We need to add to the squad. I was really fearful this weekend that we would miss Flamini against the Mug-Mashers but Arteta was Immense and Sagna was unbelievable.

meursault

My lot are the ars* of league one



As a follower of many years, I have no idea what is going on, and still hope to avoid relegation.

Pross

Stevo 666 wrote:

- I'd love to write off Man U but they've started winning again and they've got more jam than Hartleys.

This. I reckon United will win the league, they've had their worst start in decades and yet are only 3 points of second place. I don't think Arsenal have the strength in depth and will drop points when the games start coming thick and fast (same with Liverpool who are even more lacking in quality in depth).

John Clark1

Although I am a Chelsea fan I actually don't mind the Gooners winning stuff - they play really nice footy which is a joy to watch. And they don't seem to be a bunch of tools a la Terry. And they aren't Manure who are scum.

Thinking about it I just want Chelsea to win everything except the Carling Cup or whatever its called and for Man City to win that just to annoy the Manure fans. The Arseee can have the Inter Toto or whatever that second rate rubbish we won last year is called.

Stevo_666

Don't write off Tottenham. If rumours are right, Spurs may become a lot more dangerous in front of goal in the second half of the season; I've heard AVB wants to sign Begovic

John Clark1

Has AVB got any Bale money left? He can want to sign the world but if he hasn't got the Franklins (or in this case the Merkels) to back it up he's going nowhere.......

the playing mantis

John Clark1 wrote:

Has AVB got any Bale money left? He can want to sign the world but if he hasn't got the Franklins (or in this case the Merkels) to back it up he's going nowhere.......

no but joe lewis the sugar daddy has deep pockets when he wants.

the playing mantis

Pross wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

- I'd love to write off Man U but they've started winning again and they've got more jam than Hartleys.

This. I reckon United will win the league, they've had their worst start in decades and yet are only 3 points of second place. I don't think Arsenal have the strength in depth and will drop points when the games start coming thick and fast (same with Liverpool who are even more lacking in quality in depth).

correct we fooked unless we sign a quality striker and flam cover in jan.

the prince of denmark has proven once and for all he is not good enough.

we have looked vulnerable since flam was injured. the mousers had a fair few chances that wouldnt have happened had the flamster been bawling at people.

cant see utd getting near. looked good the other day but think an rvp injury and thats that

the playing mantis

tim wand wrote:

Its all about Confidence, Especially with players like Ramsey and Giroud.

We need a good result against Dortmund (I know this doesn't reflect on the league) and Man U . Get through those two games with some points and we will be looking good.

The only problem is , that doing well to date is a problem in itself , because it will bring out Wengers, reticence to buy in January, which is what we need to do.

As others have said , our first 11 can win the Prem, but we cant/ wont always be able to rely on it. Hence the need for a Centre forward and Centre back in Jan.

If we are still riding high though. I think Wenger will role out the old excuse of who's available that's better than what we have? and he will probably be right. But missing the point! We need squad players to give us the depth that Man City and Chelski have.

I would move for Benteke (Villa will be mid table mediocre by then and hes not Champs league cup tied) and possibly Jagelika, but Everton will probably be pressing on for a UEFA spot.

We need to add to the squad. I was really fearful this weekend that we would miss Flamini against the Mug-Mashers but Arteta was Immense and Sagna was unbelievable.

agree to a point, not sure on benteke though, not convinced, would love lukaku, an absolute beast and drogba mark 2. like jaglieka very close to signing a couple of years back, but we ddnt go high enough for everton. i liked the look of mulumbu at west bwom, but then again dont see him as a shouter.
still dont regret flogging the ST....yet!

nunowoolmez

Some interesting points there. If anything, this season is really reminding me a lot of the 07/08 season where we suffered the horrific Eduardo injury & the crazy Gallas strop. That game against Birmingham effectively ended our season. That season we had Adebayor & Eduardo scoring & a midfield of Fabregas, Flamini, Nasri, & Hleb. They tore a whole through everything in their path & we scored for fun.

This season we have Flamini back & have added Ozil too. The best bit of business of the summer right there. Add them to Cazorla, Rosicky, & Ramsey, we are running through teams once more, albeit in a different formation to 07/08. My only worry is if Giroud gets injured before January. I fully expect Wenger to get someone in on a 6 month loan to provide cover but an injury to Giroud will leave us in a sticky situation. Bendtner has hardly played football in the last 2 years & Podolsku is injured. Walcott can do a job but cannot do the Giroud role. I expect someone like Llorente from Juve to come in & then see us move for Atletico's Costa in the summer.

To answer the OP's question, yes, we do need to win against the big teams. We will drop points against lower teams along the way & the difference more than ever this year will be the results of the games between the top teams. This is where we have dropped far too many points for far too long now & it is these matches that sometimes decide a season. We must avoid defeat at the very least but need to win as many top table clashes as we can & extend the marginal lead we have at the top now. I think this year will be very close between 5 or 6 teams. Utd are too good to be out of it at this time.

These are exciting times for us Gooners & if we can just keep plugging away & getting the results we will definitely be in the mix come May. Nobody seems to accept we finished with the 2nd best defensive record in the league last season & have been beaten in the league just once since January. Thats fine tho, we don't want the added pressure of being favourites & I'm sure Wenger doesn't mind these facts not being given the recognition they deserve.

COYG!!!

the playing mantis

FOYS

MaxwellBygraves

I'm a Chelsea fan, but wouldn't mind seeing Arsenal win.

I still think United will sneak it though.

pinno

I think MU is looking like a tired bunch. Fulham played so badly, it made them look good. Vidic and Ferdinand have formed the backbone of the defence for years but I think the desire has gone. Fellany was an odd purchase and they have too much quality to be written off but not the cohesion required to win the title.
I don't know what is happening at Chelski. I like Morinho. I think he is the most tactically astute manager bar Guardiola in Europe. He still persist in playing narrow and lacks width. I also am quizzical about the rotation. They say rotate when things are good but not to rotate when things are not going so well.
City have yet to really click.
I am in two minds about Giroud. Not in the RVP, Rooney or world class striker we need. Too many nearly's. Yes he has scored a few this season but look at the service he has been getting. Cazorla is brilliant, Gnabry and Oxlade Chamberlain are the stars that need pitch time. We could do with the work rate of OxCh at the moment.
I wish he would play Ozul in a more central role.

Stevo_666

Looking good for The Ars*...

the playing mantis

dont fackin jinx it u end of a bell!

Stevo_666

the playing mantis wrote:

dont fackin jinx it u end of a bell!

Still looking good for The Ars*...

tim_wand

ONE NIL TO THE ARSENAL. TAKE THAT FRITZ!!!!!!

the playing mantis

up the a rse!!

what a result, dont think they ever lost to english club at home...hope it hasnt taken too much out of us for united though...shame marseille couldnt get a point.

foys

the playing mantis

Stevo 666 wrote:

the playing mantis wrote:

dont fackin jinx it u end of a bell!

Still looking good for The Ars*...

luckily for you the ref missed that BFG foul in the dying seconds...otherwise!

thank fook the cra ppy illegal stream i was forced to watch this on froze just before then and only came back when mr wenger was smiling

verylonglegs

I found the Rooney article on the BBC site baffling, apparently having beaten Arsenal in the past means things are ok. As a supporter of neither but a casual football follower in general I feel even I can recognise it might be rather different this season. Arsenal are by no means certs to win it but anyone associated with Man. Utd really needs to be thinking about their own team rather than expecting past results to continue.

nunowoolmez

Huge huge win tonight & I am one very happy gooner! Huge display of mental strength, focus & resolute defensive team work. Will boost the teams confidence even more now & a great way to go in to the Utd game, which should be a cracker I think!

On Utd. They have often taken a few months to properly get into their groove & until they do they di just enough to either be at the top, or near enough. They have a squad full of players who are used to long campaigns with many games & also used to winning lots of trophies. Even if Moyes finds it diffucult to adjust to his new club this season, the players will do what is required to be in the mix at the end. They always are!

It will be a very interesting & exciting season this one.

pinno

What a result. Did not expect that. If we hammer Marseille at the Emirates, then I don't think the last game will matter. Hopefully Napoli can get a draw at Dortmund, but it is unlikely.

nathancom

Can't wait for the wheels to fall off.

John Clark1

nathancom wrote:

Can't wait for the wheels to fall off.

Bitter. How sad.

Good result for the Gooners, great result for us, Manure deserve to get relegated, cheatin' lyin' bunch of cheaters and lyers.

the playing mantis

nathancom wrote:

Can't wait for the wheels to fall off.

Maybe but we will still be better than the scum regardless of what happens this season.

Such loathing. So small time.

#Foys
# forever in our shadow

cornerblock

the playing mantis wrote:

Maybe but we will still be better than the scum regardless of what happens this season.

Such loathing. So small time.

#Foys
# forever in our shadow

Such loathing. So small time.

Hmm yes.

the playing mantis

It's fact. If something is a fact it's not loathing to say as such.

Such semantics
So clever
Much hypocrisy