We fucking win the Prize™ 2013-14: Page 146 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

We fucking win the Prize™ 2013-14

dreamlord

He's good for this kinda stuff though .

y va marquer

Biggus wrote:
otfgoon wrote:
I'd be happy to do that if it was actually going to happen. But given that he's likely to stay another 2-3 years, I'd rather look ahead with optimism rather than put myself in a foul mood.

This above all- To thine own self be true.

Is thine own self going to remain in a foul and fetid mood Biggus? 🙂

I was convinced Wenger was planning on bowing out in glory after the FA Cup Final, I'm not so sure now.
At the moment I just want us to wrap up our league season with fourth, two wins, no injuries and bounce on into final day on the up.
The build-up's half the fun, it's going to be great waking up on the day and be truly and fully involved in the buzz 🙂

Qwiss

Giroud obviously needed to be 2nd choice. He's got 15 goals and while it's a decent return that most strikers would be happy with we need more to win the league. An attacking team is very unlikely to win the title with less than 20 goals from their main forward.

The issue in midfield is just as big a problem though. The absolute lack of balance there is hurting us every bit as much as our striker issue. Arteta and Flamini are both players who shouldn't be first choice yet at least one of them plays pretty much every game. The attacking mids are talented but not doing enough due to our tactical inbalance.

New top class striker, new first choice defensive(ish) mid and a new manager. That's how we fix our problems.

y va marquer

I predicted 16 goals for Giroud at the started of the season, and that was when he was on a run.
It's on a knife edge now 🙂
I hope Wenger, if it is indeed he who's managing next season, abandons this strategy of goals being shared around, as it seems he thinks this negates the absolute need for a twenty plus a season striker.

Bold Tone

I agree. I thought i was the only one who doesn't give too much of a t#ss how many goals our midfielders score if they are doing the main job, they are paid to do, properly. When Barca were, by far, the best team around, Xavi and Iniesta (to a lesser extent) were irresistable in midfield but hardly got amongst the goals yet were considered good enough to be 2 of the top 3 players in the world.

Patters

That idea is fine as long as the team's winning. As soon as things start to go wrong, fans and the media need players to blame. And then we start to look at 'end product' which we measure by fantasy football points. Walcott will have his 20 goals+assists so he's fine. Wilshere will only have 10 goals+assists so he's the problem.

Our midfielders (bar Arteta and Flamini) recognise that as well and they'll all be looking to get on the scoresheet. I don't see that being a problem. I don't mean to put the blame entirely on Giroud but a good, quick striker upfront will make the biggest difference.

Bold Tone

I agree and would still say Arteta and Flamini had been good for us even if they hadn't scored a single goal between them.

Biggus

Arteta's got 3 Flaminis got 2, important ones as well. 😃

y va marquer wrote:
Is thine own self going to remain in a foul and fetid mood Biggus? 🙂

Only as long as Wenger is still at the club.

I should start to perk up around August 2024.

Bold Tone

3, 2 or 32 is all a bonus. My point is the number of times they have managed to stop the opposition scoring is their real value to the team.
Edit: 2024? Has Wenger signed a new 10yr contract?

Claudius

What are you guys talking about? Abandon the concept of sharing goals? Look at our goals for compared with Liverpool and City. Add 10 goals to what Giroud has for a top, top striker's return and then see how we would compare to City and Liverpool. Still wouldn't be close. We need more than just a solo striker scoring

y va marquer

Not the concept, the strategy.

Biggus

Bold Tone wrote:
2024? Has Wenger signed a new 10yr contract?

Isn't that what dictators do Tone?
Give themselves a new contract every 10 years.

Dillinger

Biggus wrote:
Arteta's got 3 Flaminis got 2, important ones as well. 😃

y va marquer wrote:
Is thine own self going to remain in a foul and fetid mood Biggus? 🙂

Only as long as Wenger is still at the club.

I should start to perk up around August 2024.

Just in time for an ex Arsenal player, a five Premier Leagues title winner, an FA Cup winner and a Champions League winners medal all round hero on the pitch .... to return to manage the team.

YES, you got it ... Mikael Silvestre. That ought to perk you up.

Biggus

With Gallas as assistant. :o

Come back Arsene all is forgiven! 😆

Burnwinter

Patters wrote:
And then we start to look at 'end product' which we measure by fantasy football points.

It's not so much that any individual without much end product is the problem, be it Cazorla, Rosicky or Wilshere. Or even Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Note I'm not talking about what these guys are capable of in scoring terms, but what they've actually produced. Ox should be a 10-15 goals a season mid or wide forward easy, but right now he's not.

There just haven't been enough goals among all the players on the pitch. Two recognisable strikers is not enough. You start both, you've got nothing off the bench. Start one, you've got nothing on the pitch.

Irishgunner

We need more aggressive players who have the individual talent to affect the game on their own.

Ox, Wilshere, and Ramsey have those qualities imo. Add in a striker, Ozil, and Walcott, and we'll be fine. Another wide forward would be nice though, sick of Santi on the wings.

Qwiss

y va marquer wrote:
I predicted 16 goals for Giroud at the started of the season, and that was when he was on a run.
It's on a knife edge now 🙂
I hope Wenger, if it is indeed he who's managing next season, abandons this strategy of goals being shared around, as it seems he thinks this negates the absolute need for a twenty plus a season striker.

It'd be fine if there were enough goals shared around. If the other 3 in the front 4 were racking up Pires, Ljungberg and Bergkamp numbers then we're probably win the league even with a 15 goal striker. What we have instead are attackers who desperately need a 25 goal striker in front of them to maximize what they do.

MistaT

Irish gunner wrote:
We need more aggressive players who have the individual talent to affect the game on their own.

Ox, Wilshere, and Ramsey have those qualities imo. Add in a striker, Ozil, and Walcott, and we'll be fine. Another wide forward would be nice though, sick of Santi on the wings.

That's how I see it too. This holds most true for Giroud as he rarely creates his own chance, and for quite some time hasn't been creating for others.

Walcott was a massive loss in that his pace created a constant threat that most players in our team could assist. Santi and Wilshere don't possess that same goal threat, nor do they offer enough defensive cover to warrant starting right now.

Be interesting to see where Wilshere is next year - he needs to improve one side of his game notably so he can start leaning towards a role and position to make his own.

y va marquer

qs! wrote:
y va marquer wrote:
I predicted 16 goals for Giroud at the started of the season, and that was when he was on a run.
It's on a knife edge now 🙂
I hope Wenger, if it is indeed he who's managing next season, abandons this strategy of goals being shared around, as it seems he thinks this negates the absolute need for a twenty plus a season striker.

It'd be fine if there were enough goals shared around. If the other 3 in the front 4 were racking up Pires, Ljungberg and Bergkamp numbers then we're probably win the league even with a 15 goal striker. What we have instead are attackers who desperately need a 25 goal striker in front of them to maximize what they do.

That's true but it's also the case that a striker as fearsome as Henry frightened and distracted defences enough that the others had the confidence that he'd score, relaxing the pressure on them and allowing them more freedom in attack.

I think we see some of that in a slightly different context at Liverpool with Suarez, I reckon Sturridge would not have hit the numbers he's hit this season if Liverpool had being relying on him as their main striker.

Klaus

The problem is not just about the sheer amount of goals, it's about our inability to be decisive in key moments. You get a couple of opportunities in each game where, if you capitalise, you get a chance to dictate the rest of the match. The difference between Giroud and someone like Suarez might only be ₁₀ goals in the end, but the way they help their respective team to shape a game is a world apart. This is the main thing Henry brought to Arsenal. Forget about 30+ goals six seasons in a row - if he got two inches of space in the attack he fucking killed you. He invented space to finish where there was none. It must have been so easy to play with him. To this date he still has the best conversion rate in the history of Premier League. We would not have won the league in -02 or -04 without him.

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