Squad Analysis 2015/2016

[Godwin1]

Yeah are ye the same person?

Because you joined today and his other persona(Jokeforum) says he's 28 and your 28.

It must be confusing having multiple personalities.Dennis probably doesn't know who he's talking to from one week to another.Perhaps that's why he's reconsidering the season ticket(I jest)

Welcome back.

Who is Dennis?

 

[HolyArsenalEmpire]

I'm not sure why you think I'm the same guy but from what I gather He created 'jokerform' because he was blocked.

 

[Ramsey_22]

It really isn't anything like last year is it though.

Last year we didnt have a proper DM and 99% of us agreed it was a mistake not to address this before the season kicked off, it finally got addressed by force rather than intention and we brought in Coquelin who excelled.

So here we are now with a proper DM that we all wanted and if we don't sign another backup DM its classed as mismanagement? Role back the calendar 1 year and we would have been happy to enter the season with 1 proper DM and Arteta as backup........now we have that its not good enough......never ending!

Since Özil our transfer dealings have been pretty good imo, we had a deficiency in CB, we addressed it in January, we had an issue in GK, we addressed it, we lost Sagna to ****ty city we purchased Debuchy, we sold a broken Vermaelen and purchased a young english talent, we lacked depth at CF so we purchase another english player.....NOW we have good depth and are in a position to wait for top quality people get throw their toys out of the pram because we aren't snapping up the Benteke's and Schneiderlin's of the world.

Chill out, we will add, maybe not in this window but when we do it will be top level

Look, i wasn't one of the "99%" on here posting last year, so i'm not in that. To me, it's common knowledge you need two good players per position. So last year was a disgrace in that regard, and this year it is indeed mismanagement not to fix it.

That's my opinion, and it'll stay that way. I don't know why people have a problem with negative opinions here when it's about voicing how you feel on various topics, do others here go knocking out people on the street when they think something can be done better?

Arteta was not good enough last year (to me, and many i know), so that simply hasn't changed. I want to compete at the top legitimately, i want to go into the season knowing well we can challenge with little weaknesses. This is one that should have been addressed to me.

Am i throwing my toys out the pram for that? Not to me.

Oh, and Paulista isn't an all out "fix" for CB, depth yes. But how much? Well only time will tell, you're going on Wenger for that one. I'm not criticising, but it's true.

Welbeck has also not been good enough, hence we all want another striker. So fairly pointless bringing him up also..

Özil/Debuchy/GK i didn't even bring up so don't know why you did. But yes in my opinion we should have signed Schneiderlin to fill that hole for sure instead of giving Arteta a new deal. Benteke? Couldn't care less.

 

[TheLawOfDiQ]

I have to strongly disagree with you. This is the deepest squad that Arsenal have ever had (at least in the Wenger years). We have starter quality backup at most positions. Of course it is not our best squad ever, but we will be genuine title contenders with our current composition.

Are there strikers that I would prefer to Giroud? Most certainly there are. But his hold up/lay off play is as good as any striker in the league and he scores at the rate of a top 5 striker. How much more than that does one need to be truly effective in that position. Those two attributes together mean that there is no doubt in my mind that a team with Giroud as its main target man can win the league. I think I am realistic in my belief that Costa would only be a slight upgrade (on the other hand, Aguero is in a completely different class). I am far more concerned that a substantial injury to Coq would harm us irreparably. The drop-off in energy and tenacity in midfield when he is not there is palpable. Maybe one of the youngsters could provide it, but Arteta cannot and I believe that Wenger is somewhat blind to this.

Of all the contenders we are the deepest squad and are also the most stable. Would we have been better with the purchase of DiMaria and Falcao last year? Maybe, but ManU certainly wasn't any better because of those two. I think many forget how much of a team sport football is. One of the great talents of the last 20 years, Ibra, didn't mesh in an unbelievable Barca team. Better than a big name signing, is an upgrade in personnel to support an important tactical shift, or a tactical shift to take advantage of personnel, or a tactical shift that counters a previous weakness. We can now compete in multiple styles of game as we finally have our counter-attacking abilities restored. Ox, Theo, Ramsey and Alexis give us probably the most dangerous counterattack in the league. Cech provides the final piece to our high defensive line which, in effect, allows for a pressing game in midfield and upfront.

If Coq stays fit and Wenger rotates better than in years past I believe that it will be us and Chelsea well ahead of the others. Stability and structure matter and I don't believe that ManU will be in the race in 15/16. City is a question mark and barring a huge bounce-back season from Kompany along with a full 38 games from Aguero I don't see them competing either. They seem to be a team without leaders. When times are bad I think that players like Nasri and Yaya will bring them down further. Losing James Milner is actually a pretty big deal.

This year is the first since 2009 that I enter the season with any real confidence. And I finally get to put some money down. I'm placing a fairly substantial bet on us winning the league before the odds drop any further. I'm hoping to find a place where I can hedge that bet with a Chelsea-Arsenal 1-2 finish. I would consider any other result a pretty big shock.

We'll have to agree to disagree then. An injury to one of Coq, Giroud or Kos and the quality of our team drops dramatically. We are also heavily reliant on Monreal replicating his form from last year, which I trust he will barring any injuries. I'm predicting the PL will be harder to win this year as our rivals are spending heaps and seem to be finding stablility, although man city appear to have regressed. Can we win the league? Of course we can. Are we favorites? Far from it IMO. However, I do feel like this is the best chance we've had in recent times.

 

[HolyArsenalEmpire]

We'll have to agree to disagree then. An injury to one of Coq, Giroud or Kos and the quality of our team drops dramatically. We are also heavily reliant on Monreal replicating his form from last year, which I trust he will barring any injuries. I'm predicting the PL will be harder to win this year as our rivals are spending heaps and seem to be finding stablility, although man city appear to have regressed. Can we win the league? Of course we can. Are we favorites? Far from it IMO. However, I do feel like this is the best chance we've had in recent times.

An injury to either Costa, Matic or Terry and Chelsea improve then. Yes?
RE Monreal, yes I would assume most teams rely on the fact their players don't turn shyt over night

 

[TheLawOfDiQ]

I'm also in favour of strengthening the squad with at least 1 top attacking player (Wide/CF) and Coq back up.

Not sure what you man by genuine. Think we're already able to win the league if things go our way. Think we've somewhere between a 10 and 20% chance now. Further strengthening would dramatically increase those chances and therefore justify the investment.

The team as it stands IMO just falls short of competing Chelsea for the title, but as you said, indeed if things go our way such as long term injuries to key Chelsea players then we definately have a shot. Conversely, we can cop some big injuries ourselves and not have a chance at all. History shows that we get the short end of the stick in that regard, which is why I think we're close, but not quite good enough to win the PL. FWIW, I think we actually had a good run of avoiding injuries last year compared to former years, and we didn't come close to a title challenge.

 

[TheLawOfDiQ]

An injury to either Costa, Matic or Terry and Chelsea improve then. Yes?
RE Monreal, yes I would assume most teams rely on the fact their players don't turn shyt over night

Chelsea get mad lucky when it comes to injuries. When we the last time they actually had an injury crisis? I honestly can't even think of one.

 

[HolyArsenalEmpire]

True, but they're due man. That old racist bastard Terry + his bad back, Costa's hamstring, Courtois non existent forehead, Cesc's twitch....Could all happen at once

 

[Penn_]

Maybe Ramsey-Wilshere will be the surprise package, knock Cazorla-Coq out the park and take over the league.

 

[GDeep™]

That old racist bastard Terry

Woah, no need for that, Johnny was found not guilty in court man.

 

[US_Gooner]

So was OJ.

 

[Plutarch]

I don't honestly see why very talented footballers like Wilshere and Ramsey can't play the Coquelin role if necessary. OK, it's not their preferred position, but if we need one of them to do it while Coquelin is out, shouldn't they be able to show the correct defensive discipline for the sake of the team?

 

[GDeep™]

So was OJ.

Them gloves man, they saved him.

I like OJ.

 

[RandyMarsh]

I don't honestly see why very talented footballers like Wilshere and Ramsey can't play the Coquelin role if necessary. OK, it's not their preferred position, but if we need one of them to do it while Coquelin is out, shouldn't they be able to show the correct defensive discipline for the sake of the team?

Wilshere probably can. Not sure about Ramsey. It would be risky. I doubt Ramsey could refrain from trying to make forward runs for 90 minutes lol. If Le Coq goes flaccid i'm not too sure who would be the 2nd best option tbh. Probably Wilshere or Caz. Nobody's ideal really though.

 

[cannonade]

I don't honestly see why very talented footballers like Wilshere and Ramsey can't play the Coquelin role if necessary. OK, it's not their preferred position, but if we need one of them to do it while Coquelin is out, shouldn't they be able to show the correct defensive discipline for the sake of the team?

You'd think so. Especially since they're both experienced players now. Maybe that's what Wenger has in mind for the upcoming season.

Side note: what about Hayden as a DMid?? He's mobile. physical, decent skills, and can play. He was hurt most of last season, but maybe he's in the mix as well??
Anybody got more info on him??

 

[Hegemony]

I don't honestly see why very talented footballers like Wilshere and Ramsey can't play the Coquelin role if necessary. OK, it's not their preferred position, but if we need one of them to do it while Coquelin is out, shouldn't they be able to show the correct defensive discipline for the sake of the team?

Yeah, you're right they should be able to cover for Coquelin if required. The problem is playing Wilshere and Ramsey deeper stifles there talent; both are better offensively than defensively. Perhaps Wilshere could play deeper occasionaly, like he does for England, but even then he is used as DLP. Plus Wenger see's him as an attacking player. IMO Ramsey works best as a B2B, he has tremendous stamina and an ability to get forward. His discipline is a bit shaky, though, making him susceptible to mistakes at DM.
If the team is to get to the next level I think we need legitimate competition for Coquelin. Would keep him on his toes too

 

[GunnerBP]

Arguably one of the best things that has come out of this pre-season is Wenger's usage of Santi as a DLP, and this kind of addresses the Coquelin backup situation.

Thus far when Coq and Santi are in the middle, Santi is the deepest of the two. Coq is in front of him and works to break up play higher up the pitch to keep pressure on the opposition and allow Santi to dictate play from deeper.

Coq isn't the ideal player for this position, Ramsey is better in this role, but it is good to know that Coq can play it too.

When Coq is paired with Ramsey in the middle, Coq plays as a traditional DM and Ramsey as a B2B.

Therefore, if Coq got injured we still could play with Ramsey and Santi in the middle and be solid defensively. Also, Jack could potentially play as a DLP too.

By adjusting out tactics we might not be as reliant on having a traditional DM, and that is good to know.

Ideally, better backups for Coq would be better, but we may have adequately addressed this problem internally.

 

[RandyMarsh]

You'd think so. Especially since they're both experienced players now. Maybe that's what Wenger has in mind for the upcoming season.

Side note: what about Hayden as a DMid?? He's mobile. physical, decent skills, and can play. He was hurt most of last season, but maybe he's in the mix as well??
Anybody got more info on him??

Rumours of Hayden going on loan

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/30/arsenal-isaac-hayden-hull-city-loan?CMP=share_btn_tw

 

[cannonade]

Rumours of Hayden going on loan

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/30/arsenal-isaac-hayden-hull-city-loan?CMP=share_btn_tw

Alright then. Loan to Hull sounds like a good move. Hope he does well.

 

[Godwin1]

Therefore, if Coq got injured we still could play with Ramsey and Santi in the middle and be solid defensively. Also, Jack could potentially play as a DLP too.

By adjusting out tactics we might not be as reliant on having a traditional DM, and that is good to know.

Ideally, better backups for Coq would be better, but we may have adequately addressed this problem internally.

Not sure I agree that we'd be solid, pre-Coquelin for example shows were aren't close to being solid without a real DM in our midfield. Quite simply he wouldn't be playing otherwise mate, and Ramsey has never shown an aptitude for this role.

But I agree with you about adjusting out tactics should the need arise. I'd hope Wenger will be pragmatic, which he was sometimes last season, when Coquelin is out.