The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - - - - - - - - - - - Part 20

[Hunter Rider]

I agree. Tbh, although Giroud has been fantastic and has contributed a lot to our build up play, I still wouldn't put him in the WC bracket as he's just not clinical enough for me. If we could've manged to get Ozil and Suarez in the summer we could possibly be quite ahead right now. I'm not at all bothered by Giroud's nose being put out of joint by the arrival of another (hopefully WC) option.

I wonder if you had gotten Suarez whether Wenger would have went for Ozil, Suarez is not a #9, he plays in a free role behind the striker and would occupy one of the 3 positions behind Giroud IMO. Obviously if you can get a world class striker and Giroud is happy to play a bench role then it would be fine, I just wonder if he'd be keen on that given he's coming into his peak years and has now nabbed the main Center Forward role for France.

 

[Iceman]

Utd beat Norwich 4-0 in the league Cup & Arsenal go out 2-0 to Chelsea (although I think it was a 2nd team playing).

Funny thing is, he doesn't seem phased by the potential arrival of a WC attacking option, and rathered welcomed the possibility. He himself stated during the summer that he wished Suarez could have joined us.

Maybe he might have changed his mind since doing so well and becoming undisputed no.1 for a while. Might be difficult going back to the bench long term now lol. When the hell is Podolski due back and does he have a chance of displacing him?

 

[Van Petrol]

I wonder if you had gotten Suarez whether Wenger would have went for Ozil, Suarez is not a #9, he plays in a free role behind the striker and would occupy one of the 3 positions behind Giroud IMO. Obviously if you can get a world class striker and Giroud is happy to play a bench role then it would be fine, I just wonder if he'd be keen on that given he's coming into his peak years and has now nabbed the main Center Forward role for France.

If we'd have nabbed Suarez before we knew Ozil was possible, I could've still seen Wenger going for both. He's acknowledged how much he regards Ozil, has tried for him before and even said the opportunity when it arose was too good to miss. Yeah, those would be factors, but another top option is desperately needed either way. I don't want the Floater anywhere near the pitch for us.

As for the game tonight, it was a case of same old, same old. Pretty much as I expected. I'm starting to think Wenger is never going to get one over on ol' Jose. Bendtner was not only a floater tonight, but an anchor to our attack, and not in a good way.

 

[Van Petrol]

Maybe he might have changed his mind since doing so well and becoming undisputed no.1 for a while. Might be difficult going back to the bench long term now lol. When the hell is Podolski due back and does he have a chance of displacing him?

If we brought in a quality option and he got the hump over it, then he can board the bus with Lolcott and the Floater and I'll gladly drive them out of the club. I've had enough of the players we've had over the years dictating to us what to do to suit themselves, when none have had the bottle to win anything with us before getting the over-inflated egos and arrogance.

 

[Iceman]

If we brought in a quality option and he got the hump over it, then he can board the bus with Lolcott and the Floater and I'll gladly drive them out of the club. I've had enough of the players we've had over the years dictating to us what to do to suit themselves, when none have had the bottle to win anything with us before getting the over-inflated egos and arrogance.

Haha. I really think Bendtner should be kept separate when throwing out negatives to any other Arsenal players. Many have egos when they've not done very much to justify them but Bendtner, Bendtner has actually done nothing at all full stop. Bendtner's contribution to the cause is like air. Bendtner is like air. But air that has been tainted by a foul smelling substance. So worse than air in fact. Probably part of why "The Floater" has become such an appropriate name!

 

[Hunter Rider]

If we'd have nabbed Suarez before we knew Ozil was possible, I could've still seen Wenger going for both. He's acknowledged how much he regards Ozil, has tried for him before and even said the opportunity when it arose was too good to miss. Yeah, those would be factors, but another top option is desperately needed either way. I don't want the Floater anywhere near the pitch for us.

I'm just not sure Wenger would drop £90M in one summer on two players that fill in the same roles to a large degree, I think the attempt to sign Higuain was him wanting competition for Giroud and he would have been ideal. I agree you need another option without a doubt, I said tonight during the game that Bendtners embarrassingly inept performance should surely be confirmation for Wenger that he needs another top striker in January if he wants to truly challenge for the PL.

As for the game tonight, it was a case of same old, same old. Pretty much as I expected. I'm starting to think Wenger is never going to get one over on ol' Jose. Bendtner was not only a floater tonight, but an anchor to our attack, and not in a good way.

He was so bad and I think a lot of it came from him not caring as well as his mediocrity, either he thought he was above playing in that game or he knows he has no future at Arsenal and decided not to event try despite that being his best chance of getting in the shop window. Chelsea are looking ominously similar to the mid 2000's Chelsea under Jose, a composed and ruthless machine that don't give much away and punish any mistake.

 

[Iceman]

What teams were playing yesterday? 2nd string both Arsenal & Chelsea?

 

[Hunter Rider]

What teams were playing yesterday? 2nd string both Arsenal & Chelsea?

Arsenal started with Konscielny, Ramsey, Cazorla, Rosicky and Wilshire all on the pitch at the start and later Ozil and Giroud. Chelsea had Mata, Eto'o, Willian, Cahill and Luiz on.

 

[Iceman]

Sounds like a good win for Chelsea then. I think they've edged towards the title favourites position after City's recent performances.

 

[Iceman]

We lost to City tonight and Spurs went through on pens against Hull 8-7. Never understood how we do so consistently **** in Cups after all these years. Thought there would be at least one freak year, at least back when we were half decent.

Cup Draw

Leicester City v Manchester City
Stoke City v Manchester United
Sunderland or Southampton v Chelsea
Tottenham v West Ham

 

[Iceman]

Looks like Bale's finally arrived at Madrid. His full debut at the Bernabeu and he gets 2 goals and 2 assists! His 1st goal was a great strike too (2nd was a deflected free kick).

 

[Van Petrol]

Haha. I really think Bendtner should be kept separate when throwing out negatives to any other Arsenal players. Many have egos when they've not done very much to justify them but Bendtner, Bendtner has actually done nothing at all full stop. Bendtner's contribution to the cause is like air. Bendtner is like air. But air that has been tainted by a foul smelling substance. So worse than air in fact. Probably part of why "The Floater" has become such an appropriate name!

I agree. Him on the pitch is as good as us playing with a player less than the opposition.

I'm just not sure Wenger would drop £90M in one summer on two players that fill in the same roles to a large degree, I think the attempt to sign Higuain was him wanting competition for Giroud and he would have been ideal. I agree you need another option without a doubt, I said tonight during the game that Bendtners embarrassingly inept performance should surely be confirmation for Wenger that he needs another top striker in January if he wants to truly challenge for the PL.

Possibly, but he did drop interest in Higuain as soon as he thought Suarez could be attainable. Agreed, at this point, I'd rather try and coax David James out of retirement to be our back-up striker than see that turd on the pitch for us again.

He was so bad and I think a lot of it came from him not caring as well as his mediocrity, either he thought he was above playing in that game or he knows he has no future at Arsenal and decided not to event try despite that being his best chance of getting in the shop window.

Agreed, those two opportunites last night that he casually passed back were sickening to watch. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he's doing this on purpose to spite us either.

Chelsea are looking ominously similar to the mid 2000's Chelsea under Jose, a composed and ruthless machine that don't give much away and punish any mistake.

I agree.

 

[bapi]

Agree about Chelsea. Think they won't lose more than 5 EPL games this season.

 

[Iceman]

Wonder if any English teams will get into the CL semi-finals this season.

 

[Grommers]

Wonder if any English teams will get into the CL semi-finals this season.

It's a big ask for any team -

I can envision


Dortmund, Chelsea, Arsenal, Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, PSG, Athletico Madrid, Manchester City.


All reaching the semi-finals, and that's not even including upsets, or other teams that might surprise, e.g. Man Utd, Juventus, AC Milan.

Etc.

 

[Iceman]

It's a shame that money has played a big part but it's good that there are so many contenders. The CL seems more exciting this way. And must be terrible for Utd fans that they're not on your initial shortlist lol. I don't know much about PSG's potential as I haven't seen them play a full game since they got all their new players.

 

[bapi]

Wonder if any English teams will get into the CL semi-finals this season.

I can imagine that Arsenal could finish 3rd in their group and City will probably play against Barca, Real or PSG. So maybe Chelsea. However Bayern, Dortmund and Barca would beat any english side. PSG with Ibra... maybe. Real, Atletico... impossible to say how they'll perform in March.

 

[Darthphere]

I can imagine that Arsenal could finish 3rd in their group and City will probably play against Barca, Real or PSG. So maybe Chelsea. However Bayern, Dortmund and Barca would beat any english side. PSG with Ibra... maybe. Real, Atletico... impossible to say how they'll perform in March.

Yeah they said that when they played Chelsea.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Possibly, but he did drop interest in Higuain as soon as he thought Suarez could be attainable. Agreed, at this point, I'd rather try and coax David James out of retirement to be our back-up striker than see that turd on the pitch for us again.

He couldn't do any worse than Baby Zlatan! Do you think Wenger will attempt to go back for Suarez?

Agreed, those two opportunites last night that he casually passed back were sickening to watch. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he's doing this on purpose to spite us either.

It's certainly possible, he seems immature enough to react in that manner, too petulant to realize he's hurting himself as well when it comes to the caliber of club that might be interested in him.

Looks like Bale's finally arrived at Madrid. His full debut at the Bernabeu and he gets 2 goals and 2 assists! His 1st goal was a great strike too (2nd was a deflected free kick).

Cool, I think his price was ludicrously inflated but that's not his fault, that should relieve some of the pressure from the Spanish media, well at least a little bit lol.

 

[bapi]

AS Roma: 10 games 10 wins 1 goal conceded +34M from transfer market

Unbelievable!

 

[Hunter Rider]

I didn't realize that while Bale scored 2 Ronaldo scored another hat-trick, taking him to 157 league goals in 146 games. He's just 71 goals short of Raul's club record and has played 404 games less.

 

[Iceman]

I didn't realize that while Bale scored 2 Ronaldo scored another hat-trick, taking him to 157 league goals in 146 games. He's just 71 goals short of Raul's club record and has played 404 games less.

And he's not just an out and out striker. Ronaldo is a level up from Raul.

 

[BatmanBeyond]

And he's not just an out and out striker. Ronaldo is a level up from Raul.

Ronaldo is, quite simply, a beast of a player. And Sepp Blatter is a ****ing tit, for that matter.

 

[Iceman]

Joe Hart dropped for this weekend against Norwich after City's other keeper did well in midweek. Was a matter of time really. Good news for England going into World Cup year!

 

[Iceman]

Ronaldo is, quite simply, a beast of a player. And Sepp Blatter is a ****ing tit, for that matter.

Don't think anyone would argue with either of those. The real question is: Is Ronaldo more of a beast than Blatter is a ****ing tit? t: