From Hakim : no cutting edge
Morning, Myles
Thoughts on yesterday’s match
– Rosicky was terrific. Always trying to carry the ball forward. More creative than Arteta, Ramsey and Wilshere.
– Ramsey put in a shift. Nothing came off for the him though. Works hard and I appreciate it.
– Wilshere is not a number 10.
Belongs in the engine room with a DM. We need to buy two midfielders ahead of him to start who have dynamism and box-to-box ability. Arteta does not have that type of energy.
Jack cannot be relied upon to play 30 EPL matches per season. The heart is willing but he is injury prone. But we know Monsieur Wenger will pencil him in for 50 matches. I fear for the boy’s career.
– Not a fan of this 4-5-1 setup.
Do we play this way because it is cheaper than buying proven goalscorers? It is exciting when you see two proper forwards combining. However, we have too many inbetween midfielders who don’t create or defend enough.
– Very difficult to win consistently if your creative playmaker is your leading goalscorer.
– Two dynamic midfielders will make it easier for us to impose our will, and two more reliable goalscoring options will certainly help us.
Podolski was a power player I enjoyed watching.
Where has the aggressiveness gone?
Myles says :
I’m not a fan of 4-5-1 either, Hakim.
Strikers are expensive and this genius can’t buy a good one without David Dein being there to hold his hand.
I remember one AGM in the Anelka period where Wenger told us, “The wages of top strikers are very, very big.”
That was true then and it’s even more true now.
The numbers are a bit scary, I admit, but Arsenal have £100m+ in the bank that we know about.
And probably another £25m hidden elsehere in the accounts.
Also, as I’ve said on ANR since before Ashburton Grove opened, a 60,000 stadium needs stars to excite fans and put bums on seats and then get punters off their seats, as Gareth Bale does.
Arsenal don’t have a spectacular power player.
The closest is Walcott, who is only half a footballer
Did you notice that there is no Arsenal player in the PFA team of 2013?
How often has that happened in the last 25 years?
Why no Arsenal player in that PFA side?
Because this is the worst Arsenal team since 1996.