PL: Arsenal vs Aston Villa | 15/11/08

[General]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa | EPL | 15/11/08 | 15:00

Diarra is an awesome little player. Shame he didn't have the patience. He would've made a huge difference.

 

[AFCFan4Ever]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa | EPL | 15/11/08 | 15:00

Diarra is an awesome little player. Shame he didn't have the patience. He would've made a huge difference.

Agreed by why Arsène gave in to him and sold him is beyond me. He HAD to know that there was a good chance Flamini was gone in the summer, Diarra was the perfect replacement and could've been slotted right in.

Again, I think it was another case of Wenger's ego in thinking he can slot anyone anywhere on the field and they'll be ok as long ad they play his football.

Selling Diarra and then allowing Flamini and Gilberto to leave without buying a replacement was criminal. Not ponying up for the perfect replacement in Xabi Alonso was just downright stupid.

 

[King Puck Paddy]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa | EPL | 15/11/08 | 15:00

Diarra is an awesome little player. Shame he didn't have the patience. He would've made a huge difference.

Agreed by why Arsène gave in to him and sold him is beyond me. He HAD to know that there was a good chance Flamini was gone in the summer, Diarra was the perfect replacement and could've been slotted right in.

Again, I think it was another case of Wenger's ego in thinking he can slot anyone anywhere on the field and they'll be ok as long ad they play his football.

Selling Diarra and then allowing Flamini and Gilberto to leave without buying a replacement was criminal. Not ponying up for the perfect replacement in Xabi Alonso was just downright stupid.

Some valid points but I think Diarra was a complete Idiot,he must have been thick as a plank not to see he would only need to wait a while for a central midfielders position to appear.I mean do you seriously want a player who won't even fight for his place in our team?

I think the Flamini saga has been done to death,we all agree that he should have got the contract he deserved and Wenger made a huge mistake letting him walk away.

Gilberto was always going to leave,he had one big payday in his sights and who could blame him.He had given us his best years as a footballer and will always be held in high regard.But he simply wasn't up to the pace of the Premiership anymore,It pained me to see him struggling in some of the games in the end.He was better off leaving a legend before poor performances tarnished that.

Alonso ? Agree with you on that one.

 

[_scorpion_]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa | EPL | 15/11/08 | 15:00

I think the Diarra decision is a little baffling to be honest.

Every person (including myself) has had a go at Diarra for being impatient. But maybe he was correct. Maybe, he was better than Denilson, Diaby & Flamini, but the coach felt as if he needed to be loyal to his ideals about promoting players from within.

Maybe Arsène has too much faith in his own players & their ability to slot into his system and win football matches.

In other words: Are Arsène's ideals now getting in the way of Arsenal gaining substance (I.e. Actually consistantly winning football matches).

Is his promise to young players that he will develop a career path for them at AFC more important than developing a football team that will win NOW?

I don't know.

You look at the types of players he used to purchase, versus the type we get linked to now and it's in no ways similar at all. Players like Lauren, Vieira, Henry, Pires, Ljunberg, Campbell & Gilberto had a decent amount of experience & played in other football systems before joining Arsenal.

It's pretty clear from commentary that Arsène believes it is better for young players to learn his system rather than 'teaching an old dog new tricks'.

I think this is part of the problem. Older players can bring a different edge to a team.

I'm really eager to see what kind of activity we will see in the transfer market in Jan....at this stage it can go either way.

On the point that someone made about our potential porblems acing Man City & Chelsea....these games don't worry me as much as the rest of the fixtures around them.

Our problem is 'getting up' for matches against teams were expected to beat. That is - DOING WHAT A TEAM ASPIRING TO BE CHAMPIONS OUGHT TO DO (See Chelsea for example).

This current 'mob' really do rate themselves almost as highly as Pro Evo / Fifa 09 rate them in thier video games.

Powder puff video game champions....

 

[bertlb2]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa | EPL | 15/11/08 | 15:00

Against Carew, I would have understood a Gallas/Silvestre partnership. But knowing their big man wasn't going to play, and that Agbonlahor and Young, the speediest duo in the Premiership, you still play Silvestre, who is super slow, and not Toure? Silvestre didn't play that badly, but he clearly shouldn't be a starter for us. He wouldn't start at Villa, Everton, Pompey. He wouldn't even start at West Ham.

Anyway. The best team won today, and I quite like what MON is building.

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa | EPL | 15/11/08 | 15:00

Against Carew, I would have understood a Gallas/Silvestre partnership. But knowing their big man wasn't going to play, and that Agbonlahor and Young, the speediest duo in the Premiership, you still play Silvestre, who is super slow, and not Touré? Silvestre didn't play that badly, but he clearly shouldn't be a starter for us. He wouldn't start at Villa, Everton, Pompey. He wouldn't even start at West Ham.

Anyway. The best team won today, and I quite like what MON is building.

You cant keep choppping and rearranging our defense..That has actually been our biggest problem..i dont think up to this point we have had two CBs playing together for more than 5 games. I dont think Sylvester is a better option to Toure but bottom but you cant put keep chaning our CBS. Of course with Wenger the changes have been a result also of injuries...but we need to have some solidity at the back. I dont care who and who..but they gotta have a good run.

 

[hackajack]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa | EPL | 15/11/08 | 15:00

Anyway. The best team won today, and I quite like what MON is building.

I though Villa were mediocre, that's the really depressing thing - watch ManU tear them a new arsehole next Saturday.

 

[hackajack]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa | EPL | 15/11/08 | 15:00

Diarra is an awesome little player. Shame he didn't have the patience. He would've made a huge difference.

He's nothing of the sort - he's OK PL CM - not good enough for a top 4 club and about the level of a Sidwell, Butt, Parker.

 

[Jkreffer]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa | EPL | 15/11/08 | 15:00

What can be no coincedence is that when are have played well this season, we have played at a high tempo. Against Manchester United, Bolton and Blackburn away and the two Carling Cup games, we have put in the required effort levels in making challenges, making runs off the ball and closing down space when defending. Offensively we have been proactive.

However, these performances have always come when questions have been asked about us or have been labelled as second favourites. Could we win away to our northern bogey teams? Could be beat United after losing to Stoke? Could a team of 17 year olds beat real, hard football sides? We have had real fire in our bellies for these games and it has shown on the pitch.

Unfortunately, in following games it seems that that fire is lost again and we become reactive to what the other team does, physically lethargic, lazy in posession and all senses of tempo are completely lost. The runs haven't been made, the challenges haven't been comitted and there just seems to be an air of us not giving the same respect to every opponent which in just about every sport in criminal.

Doesn't it annoy you when the papers say "Shock, Arsenal lose to Stoke" or something like that? Well it isn't a bloody shock to us is it? We all knew we would play at half pace, probably not be motivated and fail to impose ourselves. We know we can, we have done it to Blackburn and Bolton this year but somehow against Stoke you just knew that we would not have the same desire to dig in. Has it been a shock that after a week of lauding themselves after beating United we put in such an inept performance to Villa? Not to me or many of you I imagine.

There are areas of the team that need addressing in terms of personel, but the whole attitude of the team just seems to be wrong at the moment. Imagine Liverpool or Chelsea going away to Fulham, you would back them to the hills to do a real professional job and win comfortably 2-0 yet, with us we fear the worst. This isn't just from pessimistic Arsenal fans either the whole of the English football fan base know it.

We will probably whack Man City now and all the chat of us showing our mental strength and togetherness will come out. We do have mental strength, but only when it suits us.