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2005/06 In Review: On and up, down, and then up again...

Hi Asa,

Knew something was missing !......................

Yes, thats it. You said a bit more about Kolo Toure! :lol:

Seriously, enjoyed the read.
 

Feanor

Established Member
Must be nice to have that kind of time...that was very long and took me almost 30 mins to read.

Since everyone is doing their best to fawn all over your lengthy post, I'll bring the points I don't agree with or have a different view of because let's face no one on this forum is really right or wrong, we just have different views:

Points in no particular order:

1) Jens has been immense but not sure if he will be the same next year without the world place to fight for.
2) Pires has been a waste of space for most of the season but his passing is still sublime, I don't think he offers enough to give him a 2 year contract.
3) Gilberto Silva is a very important part of our turn around, he is limited in what he does but man is he good at it. Asking for Gil to leave is like those ignorant Real Madrid people not thinking Makelele was worth keeping, not a coincidence they haven't won **** since he left.
4) Not giving Wenger enough credit for his vision and the way he has assembled this team. I think too many people still think that everything good that happens to this team is a fluke.

That's it for now, I can't spend that much time typing, particularly since I have to bail around 1PM tomorrow to go watch the game tomorrow (2:30PM kick-off here).

BTW, nice post. This forum has been very boring lately.
 

Canuck

Established Member
Yours is a bit more manageable so I'll try and liven things up a bit.

feanor said:
1) Jens has been immense but not sure if he will be the same next year without the world place to fight for.

Alot of people mention the "World Cup Carrot" that has been dangling in front of Jens. While I do believe it has been a factor, I think it is really doing him a disservice to think that he'll not give 100% next season. That said, he's going to be replaced...if not this summer then definitely next.

2) Pires has been a waste of space for most of the season but his passing is still sublime, I don't think he offers enough to give him a 2 year contract.

While I'd like it if Bobby stays, he's got to accept that his role in the team is diminishing. 1 year take it or leave it. He does have something to offer still though it's not 10+ goals per season any more.
As I mentioned in another thread. I think that whatever Wenger spends this summer. I hope the bulk of it will be on a Pires replacement.

3) Gilberto Silva is a very important part of our turn around, he is limited in what he does but man is he good at it. Asking for Gil to leave is like those ignorant Real Madrid people not thinking Makelele was worth keeping, not a coincidence they haven't won s**t since he left.

While not wanting to open up the Gilberto vs. Makelele can of worms...
I do agree that Gilberto is going to be a MF anchor for us next season. Love him or hate him, he's staying put.

4) Not giving Wenger enough credit for his vision and the way he has assembled this team. I think too many people still think that everything good that happens to this team is a fluke.

I wouldn't say that it's a fluke, though Wenger himself has certainly shown suprise that this team has performed so well. I think his 'plan' is just a bit ahead of schedule is all.

BTW, nice post. This forum has been very boring lately.
It has been a bit dull lately. Well, lots of excitment tomorrow I reckon.
:wink:
 

asajoseph

Established Member
Feanor,

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond. Not quite sure where we disagree though - I agree with about 90% of what you wrote!

1) Jens has been immense but not sure if he will be the same next year without the world place to fight for.

I agree with this, although my emphasis would be on the uncertainty - as Canuck puts it, the World Cup Carrot might be massively important for him, and, coupled with him being a year older it might be prudent to make sure we aren't rogered if he does a Seaman next season and sign some quality young backup (like we almost did last summer with Seb Viera). On the other hand, his form might be more down to his improved professionalism, settling into the un-ending pressure of the English game (as he himself seems to think) and the sheer competitiveness and fierceness of his spirit. I don't know, but to be prudent, I think we should be prepared to react quickly if his form rapidly drops off, instead of being left with our thumb up our arse until Christmas. That said, Almunia's form when called upon this season has generally been very good (something he's not been given much credit for)- Wenger may feel that we're already suitably covered if the worst comes to the worst.

2) Pires has been a waste of space for most of the season but his passing is still sublime, I don't think he offers enough to give him a 2 year contract.

Again, generally agree, save for the part about his passing still being sublime - if you mean the quality of the ball (i.e. crisp and along the deck), he's still got that. But if we're talking about the actual quality of the pass, I don't think he's nearly up to the job any more - he tends to shuffle forwards these days, about 5-10 metres, then turn and pass it backwards or sideways. Maybe it's to do with the movement, but he very rarely does anything, with or without the ball, that will worry even the Premiership's worse defences. I'm not sure it's his vision that has gone - more his flair, and bottle.

3) Gilberto Silva is a very important part of our turn around, he is limited in what he does but man is he good at it. Asking for Gil to leave is like those ignorant Real Madrid people not thinking Makelele was worth keeping, not a coincidence they haven't won s**t since he left.

Agree here, but it's a fine point of semantics - I don't think 'we have to get rid of Gilberto', but I do think that it's possible to find a player who offers a comparable amount defensively, but has a more rounded general game. As I said above, Marcos Senna (whilst not the only defensive midfielder at Villareal) has both shielded the defence excellently as well as passed some sublime balls to the forwards and wingers, pretty much every time I've seen him. And, if I had a sizable transfer kitty, I'm sure I could think of someone even better.

Gilberto's a fine player, don't get me wrong, and I don't think we're desparate to offload him. But there are better players out there than him in that role.

4) Not giving Wenger enough credit for his vision and the way he has assembled this team. I think too many people still think that everything good that happens to this team is a fluke.

I certainly think Wenger deserves credit, and especially for the way he's turned the team around since the winter months, managed to give us several alternative styles of play (which we were all begging for last summer), and persisted with youngsters of genuine quality like Eboue, Fabregas, and Senderos.

But, on the other hand, he should also take the flack for how bad our league season has been - yes, we suffered injuries and bad luck, but we should never have had to rely on a final-day slice of good fortune just to finish in fourth place. Maybe this is a rebuilding season, but even so, Wenger cannot have possibly believed our league form would be so bad. Now, we got there in the end, and we've had a fantastic european campaign to boot, but mistakes were made and lessons have to be learnt.

Cheers,

Asa
 

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