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

[ZM Punk]

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

Clichy may be available for the Bolton game this weekend.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2807154/Gael-is-forcing-his-way-back.html

Thats great news if he can pass his fitness test. I'm really sick of seeing Traore as the first team LB. I think he could do alright providing cover every once and a while but thats it.

[rsnomar05]

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

Clichy may be available for the Bolton game this weekend.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2807154/Gael-is-forcing-his-way-back.html

Thats great news if he can pass his fitness test. I'm really sick of seeing Traore as the first team LB. I think he could do alright providing cover every once and a while but thats it.

This would be the best news ever. Traore, in my mind, hasn't even shown he's capable of providing cover.

[goonertaff]

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

This would be the best news ever. Traore, in my mind, hasn't even shown he's capable of providing cover.

yea but he is third or possibly 4th choice at left back assuming you'd play gibbs clichy and even gallas (if you have cover at CB -hello Sol) ahead of him

players dont pop out of the reserves and play like established stars instantly it takes 2 seasons at least(more like 3 or 4)

which is why Wengers youth policy is the way it is

Simply put we cant afford to buy finished players for 1st team places we have to buy up and comers and allow them time to develope

Bear in mind the ideal(or a successfull) situation for developement is 1 player a season to move from the reserves/youth team to a first team regular( thats Liam Brady's opinion not mine)

consider song denilson Diaby and Bendtner all first team regulars all from the reserves all came through last year/ or this year if you prefer

Traore is about 3 years away from being ready to play a long stretch of first team football just cut the kid a break

[Perceptor]

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

Traore has had a stretch of games and he's still struggling and he was on loan at Pompey last season....I hope he turns out well, but if watched him today, he was giving the ball away and out of position again and again. Inexperience is one thing, but he's not showing improvement at all....That's worrisome

Having said that, I'm glad we took the 3 points today. Bolton played well and should have scored at least one, but Cesc coming back was great. Scored a nice goal and it was also good to see Merida score

Speaking of Fran, he's told the media he hasn't signed any deal and is still negotiating with Arsenal.

[rsnomar05]

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

Traore has had a stretch of games and he's still struggling and he was on loan at Pompey last season....I hope he turns out well, but if watched him today, he was giving the ball away and out of position again and again. Inexperience is one thing, but he's not showing improvement at all....That's worrisome

Having said that, I'm glad we took the 3 points today. Bolton played well and should have scored at least one, but Cesc coming back was great. Scored a nice goal and it was also good to see Merida score

Speaking of Fran, he's told the media he hasn't signed any deal and is still negotiating with Arsenal.

I hope Fran stays, but I won't hold my breath. He wants first team football, and he is not at the top of the pecking order at the midfield position. Which is a shame, because he has great potential.

I'd add three more terribles to Traore's performance. Until Clichy is ready for the starting lineup, I think I'd rather see Silvestre out there. Traore has looked dreadful and, as Perceptor said, has shown no signs of improvement.

If the team plays like this in the upcoming big four matches, they won't come away with many points. But they are getting players back, and that leaves me optimistic. Now we just have to hope they can stay relatively injury free.

[southernbelle]

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

any decent transfer rumours out there?

[goonertaff]

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

do you guys want to scroll baqck and look at the posts from last season referrence Denilson Song and Diaby' complete inability to pass to a team mate

the difference between last season and this is truely impressive
however it took 3 or 4 seasons to get them to that point

a long loan spell appearances in the League cup/early FA cup and once qualified in the Champions league

Put it this way if we played Ramsey for 10 games straight his performances would start to decline rapidly as he does nt have the experience and i cant think of another sport which is so reliant on stamina to execute well let alone shine

Traore is crapping himself every game he knows he isnt playing well he's starting to hide from the ball, but its 2 seasons too early to judge him - he does not belong in the first team but there are no other options

as to Silvestre give me a break he's athleticaly challenged and would get roasted at LB

of greater concern is upfront where eduardo looks shockingly short of fitness and confidence

[rsnomar05]

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

do you guys want to scroll baqck and look at the posts from last season referrence Denilson Song and Diaby' complete inability to pass to a team mate

the difference between last season and this is truely impressive
however it took 3 or 4 seasons to get them to that point

a long loan spell appearances in the League cup/early FA cup and once qualified in the Champions league

Put it this way if we played Ramsey for 10 games straight his performances would start to decline rapidly as he does nt have the experience and i cant think of another sport which is so reliant on stamina to execute well let alone shine

Traore is crapping himself every game he knows he isnt playing well he's starting to hide from the ball, but its 2 seasons too early to judge him - he does not belong in the first team but there are no other options

as to Silvestre give me a break he's athleticaly challenged and would get roasted at LB

of greater concern is upfront where eduardo looks shockingly short of fitness and confidence

I'm not saying Silvestre would make a good LB, but he would be better than what we are currently getting.

And Denilson, Diaby, and Song were guys who showed many flashes of their potential last year and despite some of their struggles looked like they had the potential to improve, which Traore just isn't showing me. I would love it if Traore became a great or even solid left back, but I just don't see it right now. I hope I am proven wrong.

I also disagree about Ramsey. I'm not saying he would perform at a Fabregas level, but I think he would be a solid CM for us right now if injuries forced him to be our regular starter. And the difference between him and Traore is that Ramsey has actually shown something. He has had great games. I thought Traore was decent in his first game, but since then he has been a train-wreck who has looked to blame his teammates for his mistakes. Yes, he is still developing, buy when Silvestre looks like the better option at LB, that is a serious problem.

[rsnomar05]

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

So the prognosis on the injuries to Nasri and Ramsey is 21 days. Great, that's just what we need.

Even more reason for Wenger to open up that Checkbook.

[Perceptor]

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

do you guys want to scroll baqck and look at the posts from last season referrence Denilson Song and Diaby' complete inability to pass to a team mate

the difference between last season and this is truely impressive
however it took 3 or 4 seasons to get them to that point

a long loan spell appearances in the League cup/early FA cup and once qualified in the Champions league

Put it this way if we played Ramsey for 10 games straight his performances would start to decline rapidly as he does nt have the experience and i cant think of another sport which is so reliant on stamina to execute well let alone shine

Traore is crapping himself every game he knows he isnt playing well he's starting to hide from the ball, but its 2 seasons too early to judge him - he does not belong in the first team but there are no other options

as to Silvestre give me a break he's athleticaly challenged and would get roasted at LB

of greater concern is upfront where eduardo looks shockingly short of fitness and confidence

I expect mistakes to be made by youngsters, but steady improvement is what I look for. Traore isn't getting better at all. I actually think he's getting worse. You can see the improvements Song, Denilson, and Ramsey have made. I'm not saying Traore won't get better, but he's not looking good thus far. I hope he improves

Yeah, rsn - we need reinforcements and now.

[ZM Punk]

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

as to Silvestre give me a break he's athleticaly challenged and would get roasted at LB

I think its pretty easy to see that he would be a better option than Traore at this point.

I agree with you that in a couple of years he could be a pretty decent LB, right now, its just not working out. These last two games he has been far and away the worst player on the pitch for us and during the Everton game he was the worst player on the pitch, period.

[goonertaff]

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

well here my wenger impresssion

id rather play Traore over silvestre as one is fast and can recover from mistakes plus the formation played means there is no protection at all from Asharvin

so given a choice of an inexperienced kid whos fast and an experienced proffesional who's slow ill pick the kid

simply put our left flank is so exposed Wenger is trading positional awareness for speed

[ZM Punk]

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

well here my wenger impresssion

id rather play Traore over silvestre as one is fast and can recover from mistakes plus the formation played means there is no protection at all from Asharvin

so given a choice of an inexperienced kid whos fast and an experienced proffesional who's slow ill pick the kid

simply put our left flank is so exposed Wenger is trading positional awareness for speed

What really blows my mind is that Traore isn't out of position very often. He is just being beaten at will on the ball. I think Silvestre would be a lot better in that area, as I don't think you can do worse than Traore at that aspect.

Not to mention that we haven't attacked hardly at all through the left side since Traore has been in. 90% of the attack has gone through Sagna's side. So I don't think speed should be much of a factor as Silvestre won't be going forward that much.

[goonertaff]

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

well to be fair there both valid points
its not going to matter soon as it looks like Gael is starting Wednesday night in Bolton Part 2

as ive said of more concern is Eduardo's form he's had a solid run of games he's been played wide left just to get him some game time without the stresses of playing up front but his touch and finishing has been terrible cant decide if he's still getting over the injury or if the injury has changed him permanently

[Perceptor]

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

I think it's a little of both. He clearly is struggling mentally and technically, he's missing a lot of easy chances. He has moments where you see his pre-injury form, but sadly, he's not effective these days.