***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Admittedly, I haven't watched nearly enough to form a well-informed opinion. But the reason I pointed to the central defenders was that the mistakes seemed to be there even when Fabianksi and Szczesny were playing. If I am being honest, Squillaci and Koscielny don't really inspire confidence. And I think that's all you guys have left there, right?

Yes, no matter what keeper we have in there, we've had awful blunders. Fabianski seemed to take care of them by himself for the most part. Except he was doing pretty great when he injured himself.

Szczesny had his Carling Cup final howler, which I think was more of a freak accident for him, but otherwise he was great.

Almunia is a legend for ****ing up, though, as we all know.

As for the CB's, there are definitely issues with them as well. Squillaci and Koscielny are the two main options right now, and they're definitely just as mentally frail as Almunia at this point. The issue is even if we had Vermaelen and Djourou starting with Almunia in goal, Almunia would still make terrible errors. Would there be less, due to those in front of him? I think so, but he's still a massive weak link.

At this point, I think having a great keeper is key for us. I think we definitely would've been a different team defensively if Vermaelen was fit this season, as him out of our squad is like Vidic out of United's or Terry out of Chelsea. It's just a huge blow for the back four.

Now I've gone and lost myself in this, so I'll just conclude with a top keeper is essential, because no matter who we put in front of Almunia, we will make mistakes that others will not.

[misterbroom12]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Yeah, Almunia can make great reflex saves and be remarkable at blocking when people seem clean through (When he came on for Szczesny at Camp Nou) but he always makes mental errors that have nothing to do with who his back four are. (Barca at the Emirates 2 years ago when Ibra lobbed him, yesterday against WBA when Squillaci was covering) He will always make those mistakes because he isn't a mentally strong keeper, which is a shame because I believe he can be fantastic at other aspects of keeping. When Koscielny gets to play with Vermaelen I believe we could see him become a very strong player and sure up our back line, so I wouldn't be too disappointed if a CB wasn't purchased this summer. As for a keeper though, we need a new one and Almunia has to go. I think both Szczesny and Fabianski showed this season prior to injuries that they were ready to make the jump to full first team action but I think sitting behind a better keeper than Almunia on a winning team (hopefully) would do a lot more for their development. It's just a matter of whether or not Wenger realizes he won't find what we need using his normal spending policy.

[ZM Punk]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

I don't know why I let myself think we actually had a chance at the title this season when I knew good and well we weren't good enough.

[misterbroom12]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

I don't know why I let myself think we actually had a chance at the title this season when I knew good and well we weren't good enough.

I almost feel the same way, but it's not fully about us. Chelsea have been a shadow of themselves from the past 3-4 years, City are proving that all the money in the world can buy chemistry or the points that come along with it and Man U have been just short of perfect this year but that means it could be all the more likely they slip. We are not the cream of the crop team that all of us would dream of but neither are the teams we are competing for the title with.
We still have a chance because it isn't out of the question to say that Man U will lose 5 games this year (2 more over the course of the season) and that would leave a small enough gap for us to cover.

[ZM Punk]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

I almost feel the same way, but it's not fully about us. Chelsea have been a shadow of themselves from the past 3-4 years, City are proving that all the money in the world can buy chemistry or the points that come along with it and Man U have been just short of perfect this year but that means it could be all the more likely they slip. We are not the cream of the crop team that all of us would dream of but neither are the teams we are competing for the title with.
We still have a chance because it isn't out of the question to say that Man U will lose 5 games this year (2 more over the course of the season) and that would leave a small enough gap for us to cover.

I think United is probably likely to drop a few more games this season. But you just know that we would turn around and drop points ourselves.

Championship teams don't drop points to teams that we routinely drop them to. I see us dropping more points where that came from as well. We just don't have the mental toughness or the defense to overcome this gap against a team like United. Especially now that our confidence as a team is at an all time low after these last 2 weeks.

If this group of players do indeed bounce back it will be the first time they have.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Who is ready for the actual return of Jens Lehmann?

Arsene Wenger might be.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/21/west-bromwich-albion-arsenal-premier-league

This is going to get interesting.

[jesmith29]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

On FSC, Bobby McMahon said it best.

"What in the hell are you doing!"

Almunia has 3 defenders to take care of one West Brom player. I've seen this replay 6 times now and my mouth is open everytime.

The Gunners should have won this match.

[ZM Punk]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Who is ready for the actual return of Jens Lehmann?

Arsene Wenger might be.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/21/west-bromwich-albion-arsenal-premier-league

This is going to get interesting.

Jens has no business being on the pitch.

With that said, anybody is better than Almunia at this point...give the German a chance.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Jens has no business being on the pitch.

With that said, anybody is better than Almunia at this point...give the German a chance.

I have a feeling he'll just end up being sent off in his first game for tripping a defender.

Ugh. How fitting that the keeper position could end up costing us dearly, yet again. Time to spend some money.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

**** like this bothers me, because we're most likely not doing anything.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/21/manchester-united-goalkeeper-scouting-germany

United could possibly replace Van Der Sar with Neuer, which would be a pretty good replacement. He's young, and extremely talented.

I'm not expecting us to have these kind of things in the news, as we usually do not if we're doing them, but I just have a feeling we're not prepared to make an acquisition such as that.

[ZM Punk]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

I have a feeling he'll just end up being sent off in his first game for tripping a defender.

Ugh. How fitting that the keeper position could end up costing us dearly, yet again. We should have spent some money long ago.

Fixed your post.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Fixed your post.

So true.

[ZM Punk]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

So true.

What pisses me off the most is that it wouldn't even take that much to make this team really good. Its not like we need to spend Man City or Madrid money this Summer. 30 or 40 million would make this team very tough to handle.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

What pisses me off the most is that it wouldn't even take that much to make this team really good. Its not like we need to spend Man City or Madrid money this Summer. 30 or 40 million would make this team very tough to handle.

I agree. Definitely what upsets me when I sit and ponder it while watching games. With a few signings we would go from a team that pundits pick on, to a team that pundits pick to definitely challenge for the league, at least.

A keeper is a definite need, as I just don't think Szczesny is ready to fill the role we want him to and he shouldn't be. He's far too young for anyone to expect him to play at the caliber that this team should have a keeper playing at.

At least one central defender is a must as well. I think we absolutely need to bring one in from another top flight side. Cahill is an obvious choice from Bolton. Other than England, you and I would both agree that Subotic or Hummels from Dortmund would also work out, although I'd rather see them stay there.

A midfielder who can fill Song's role when he's out is also key.

I think those are absolute, must have's. On the attacking side, I think we're going to be alright...maybe.

[misterbroom12]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Lloris, Akinfeev or even Mandanda would be solid choices for GK. The 3 CB you mentioned are very good options for us and I wouldn't mind seeing Stephane M'Bia coming in as he may be able to fill both the back up CB void along with the substitute for Song. Especially if we are going to sell in the summer from up front, I would also like seeing another winger that brings a lot of speed and quickness like Theo does. It hurts us at times when all of our players fit the same mold. Maybe Eden Hazard?