Didier Zakora

[green_revolution]

i realy would like to see an new midfielder, but not a defensive one, i believe now pires is as not as big goal threat, so as freddie, i think we need one that scores goals. look at chelsea they have lamps, liverpool have gerrard, and manutd have got ronaldo- but when they where successful they had scholes.

We need a player to take the pressure from henry, what happends if he leaves, van persie will score for us, but can he fill the gap in time, gilberto at the moment is becoming our anchor man, in the last few matches he's showed his potential, i just think we need more goal threats

Hleb- brilliant player, cant see him scoring many

pires- not the force he used to be

freddie- hes coming back but will the goals come back with him

reyes- hes got no confidence inf front of goal at the current moment, never looks like scoring in the prem, if he does he boots it wide.

gilberto- has scored vital goals, but hes not consistent.

im not saying these players arent good, cus i love all our players, but i believe we need a new goal threat from the midfield!

 

[longrufus]

You seem to be confusing 2 independant issues.
You are quite right in saying that we do need more goals from midfield and the team in general aside from henry.

However the possible signing of Zokora is a different issue entirely. We have been bullied out of games far too often this season. And if we are to mount a serious title challenge next season, we need to remidy this. Diaby has done nothing but impress me since he has come in, but is not a natural holding player.

Gilberto has not performed to his usual high standards this season, and we have suffered for it. We had no other option but to play him, as we have had no back up. Recently he has got his game back together and we have benefited for it.

Zokora is one of the best defensive midfielders around, who is available, and would add so much to the squad in an area we are thin. He would be a better option that yaya as he is more of an attacking player, so unless you want to drop cesc and hold diaby back, he is out of the question.

And if you want to prioritise, goalscoring or defensive midfielder. I always believed in building from the back, and considering we have already lost 10games in the league this season, i think its the place to start. We have plenty of attacking talent in the squad.

 

[siddharth]

However the possible signing of Zokora is a different issue entirely. We have been bullied out of games far too often this season. And if we are to mount a serious title challenge next season, we need to remidy this. Diaby has done nothing but impress me since he has come in, but is not a natural holding player.

I think the term Arsenal can be bullied has been exaggerated. Sure physical teams have caused us problems but the real reason we have suffered away is due to lack of goals. Not a single person would be complaining about our midfield had we scored enough goals away and won most of the matches despite conceding a goal or two.

And if you want to prioritise, goalscoring or defensive midfielder. I always believed in building from the back, and considering we have already lost 10games in the league this season, i think its the place to start.We have plenty of attacking talent in the squad.

Do you want to say that Gilberto is the reason for our away defeats :!:

Midfield muscle is very much important but it never guarantees 3 points. To win you have to score goals it's simple. Also if you check you'd see that most of the away matches we have lost by an odd goal. You are wrongly blaming Gilberto OR the defence ( makeshift one ) for our away losses when it's our attack which has let us down.

If we were creating chances and scoring goals away from home but conceding goals and dropping points then you do have a case but in our situation it's clearly not. I just fail to see how getting Zokora would solve our problems.

 

[longrufus]

Refreshing theory, score more goals than the opponent, who cares about conceding a goal or two.
You seem to be looking at the two things (scoring and conceding) individually which is a mistake.
When the opposing team score first, we always struggle. For the simple reason, that teams sit back and defend for the rest of the game. And in saying this, as a team, we are easy to defend against as we are too predictable.
When we score first (especially early), the game changes, and you see a different arsenal. Teams can no longer sit back and defend, they know they are going to have to come out and play. Which is when we are usually at our most dangerous.
Gilberto had an awful start to the season, to say anything otherwise, and im not even going to bother. Is it not strange that his return to form coincides with the teams return to form? However good he plays, he still has one major flaw, his passing. You ask do i blame Gilberto for the defeats, no, but he is a major factor.
To sum up you blame our away defeats to not scoring goals? Well if you dont concede any goals i wonder what would happen. Every time we have done well in the league, we had an awesome defensive record. So to think score more than the opponents is a great idea, support the great real madrid who havnt won anything for 3years.

 

[South_London_SW2]

to be honest with you i think he is overrated.
because of all the "essien" replacement in france and his style was most similar to essien and his physique. and the "VIEIRA" type player every club looks to have.

id prefer a boateng or dacourt.

 

[longrufus]

Boateng or Dacourt, please, there best years are behind them, far better talent out there.

 

[Legend#1]

Would be a brilliant signing imo.

People say Yaya, but Yaya is box to box, Zakora is purely defensive, so he'd be a better replacement for Gilberto.

 

[>YounGunner<]

Sell Gilberto and Buy Zakora he plays the same role.
Then we can buy Yaya Toure as a Vieira type player.


----------------------Zakora-------------------


-------------Yaya Toure------Fabregas



------Van Persie--------Torres----------Henry



Yes Please!!!

 

[South_London_SW2]

what years that on your football manager game ?

 

[longrufus]

I dont see the point in buying Yaya, he is too similar to Diaby, half the fascination is that he is kolo's brother, if it wernt for this no one would care. And why bother look for a Vieira replacement, when we are building a team around cesc.

 

[Saville]

Sell Gilberto and Buy Zakora he plays the same role.
Then we can buy Yaya Toure as a Vieira type player.


----------------------Zakora-------------------


-------------Yaya Toure------Fabregas



------Van Persie--------Torres----------Henry



Yes Please!!!

only that we wouldnt have the money to get all three and pay £140,000 a week to keep henry, were not chelsea

 

[>YounGunner<]

I dont see the point in buying Yaya, he is too similar to Diaby, half the fascination is that he is kolo's brother, if it wernt for this no one would care. And why bother look for a Vieira replacement, when we are building a team around cesc.

No you have clearly not seen much of Yaya Toure. He is a better player plus has more experience.

He can tackle, good in the air, fantastic vision, he can pick out players put them through on goal, he can score free kicks and take corners etc.


He is more of a Gerrard type all action midfielder. Interest from Ac Milan, Man Utd, Arsenal, Juventus and Lyon is truely earned by himself not for him being Kolo Toures brother.

 

[nidza7]

either Zokora or Yaya will do for me.

 

[siddharth]

Refreshing theory, score more goals than the opponent, who cares about conceding a goal or two.

Refreshing theory , don't concede any goals , who cares about scoring a goal or two.

You seem to be looking at the two things (scoring and conceding) individually which is a mistake.

It's you who is looking at the things individually.

When the opposing team score first, we always struggle. For the simple reason, that teams sit back and defend for the rest of the game. And in saying this, as a team, we are easy to defend against as we are too predictable.

So how exactly is that a fault of gilberto ?

When we score first (especially early), the game changes, and you see a different arsenal. Teams can no longer sit back and defend, they know they are going to have to come out and play. Which is when we are usually at our most dangerous.

Again how does replacing gilberto help us achieve that ?

Gilberto had an awful start to the season, to say anything otherwise, and im not even going to bother. Is it not strange that his return to form coincides with the teams return to form?

I find it strange that gilberto has a good game only when our whole team plays well.

However good he plays, he still has one major flaw, his passing. You ask do i blame Gilberto for the defeats, no, but he is a major factor.

That is the real problem.You are wrongly blaming gilberto for our away problems.

To sum up you blame our away defeats to not scoring goals? Well if you dont concede any goals i wonder what would happen. Every time we have done well in the league, we had an awesome defensive record.

I'm sure you don't have an idea that Arsenal still have the 3rd best defensive record in the league. Manure have conceded more goals than us but are 13 points ahed with a game in hand !!!

So to think score more than the opponents is a great idea, support the great real madrid who havnt won anything for 3years.

You think not conceding goals is a great idea then support the great juventus or chelsea if you are that desperate for trophies.

 

[longrufus]

Can i really be bothered, maybe. I see we will continue to diasagree however i will continue.
Do not treat me like an idiot, i did infact know we have the 3rd best defensive record.
And do you really think i have a personal vendetta to oust Gilberto? You seem to think i am blaming Gilberto for the away loses, which i am not. I really like him as a player, when he plays well he gives the team great balance and i for one have stuck up for him this season when others have been quick to complain. But when you look for weaknesses in the team, or to phrase better, where we could improve, Gilberto is a name which comes to mind. When comparing him to other players, such as Van Bommel or Zokora, who offer much more, he usually loses.
Refreshing theory, you seem to like putting words in my mouth. You did say in a post, it doesnt matter if we concede as long as we score. I however did not mention not caring about scoring. We have a lot of attacking talent in the squad and we will score goals, however to do so we need to keep clean sheets to stop other teams sitting back and defending.

 

[honkytonk]

gilberto

i think its time he went he is not the midfield player who is prepared to get stuck in when the going gets tough he goes missing far to many times

 

[siddharth]

I apologise for being harsh but your madrid comment pissed me off.

And do you really think i have a personal vendetta to oust Gilberto? You seem to think i am blaming Gilberto for the away loses, which i am not.

Well mate your earlier comments implied just that. ----->

You ask do i blame Gilberto for the defeats, no, but he is a major factor.

But when you look for weaknesses in the team, or to phrase better, where we could improve, Gilberto is a name which comes to mind. When comparing him to other players, such as Van Bommel or Zokora, who offer much more, he usually loses.

You see it's very easy to blame gilberto due to the way he plays. He has had bad games but the way he plays is unique which is the reason he looks awsome when we play our usual flowing football or looks 10 times bad when we struggle and hardly create any chances.

Again by pointing out gilberto as a weakness in our team you are indirectly holding him responsible for our away performances and the goals we conceded when it is our wingers and forwards who have let us down.

Had we been scoring goals away from home , gilberto wouldn't get this undeserved stick. Most of the fans expect gilberto to make a lot of tackles and win the ball but it's just not his game. So when our team plays bad all the eyes first fall on gilberto.

Talking about weakness you fail to mention our wingers and forwards who have failed to match up when playing away.

You did say in a post, it doesnt matter if we concede as long as we score. I however did not mention not caring about scoring. We have a lot of attacking talent in the squad and we will score goals, however to do so we need to keep clean sheets to stop other teams sitting back and defending.

You took my theory to a bit extreme !!! Conceding less than a goal a game is very impressive as the statistic suggests but you have to score goals to win matches.

Having clean sheets is excellent but our team is not suited to play that approach. It's too risky and requires considerable application and it's very difficult to get it right. When your priority is clean sheets the attack naturally suffers. It's risky in the sense that there is a danger of our attack getting a bit complacent when you know you are not going to concede. An example is last season's CL game between Juventus and Liverpool. Juve were so comfortable until the 85th min that is was shocking.

 

[longrufus]

Well i can see this will continue to go in swings and roundabouts, so lets just agree to disagree. I cannot say much more without repeating what i have aready said. Lost in translation, a phrase which comes to mind, as i am unable to articulate my views as clearly as i would like through text.
Just one thing, its nonsense to suggest i am blaming Gilberto for the defeats, as i am not, he is simply part of a defensive unit which has been inadequete at times this season. I think Gilberto is great, however i think other players could offer the team more.

 

[siddharth]

Well i can see this will continue to go in swings and roundabouts, so lets just agree to disagree.

Ok

 

[The_Godfather]

He's a good player, i've seen a lot matches of him when he played for Genk ( Belgium ), that was couple of years ago, but then he was already a great player, sow, I think Arsenal should go for him ......