Quite a cool feature. Interesting that at 1.20 Wilshere is giving instructions to Alexis. 

Ricky1985 wrote:

God, I miss have goalscorers in the team. Genuine world class finishers of chances.

So many one touch finishes!!! We now take at least three/four before even attempting a finish..

Clrnc wrote:

Quite a cool feature. Interesting that at 1.20 Wilshere is giving instructions to Alexis. 

Looks like he's motioning to a three, the middle of which will drop back and the two wide push ahead.

Clrnc wrote:

Quite a cool feature. Interesting that at 1.20 Wilshere is giving instructions to Alexis. 

tomas rosicky sighting at 4:52

Best player in the League. I really hope he gets more recognition for his utter genius in the next few seasons. A more central role in a winning German team would be a good start this summer, but Arsenal have got to do better for him.

He's a gigantic player.

Our defence looks a bit ropy, but forget that—it's a crime against football if we don't get some world class forwards around this guy.

Look at the missed chances.

The likes of Giroud and Walnut should give him their wages.

Re-watched this for the umpteenth time because of Rosicky's assist. Love, fucking love, RVP's goal against Wolverhampton after Fabregas pass to Theo....my how the mighty have fallen.

2010/2011 was a fun season...that team was very very entertaining

That RvP goal is one of my favourite goals. Love a good counter which involves more than one pass and a player running a long distance.

^ Reasonable music in a player comp for once and loving the nutmegs

Boy is very powerful. He has all the basics, but he also has very good running power to go with his big frame.

Kind of a sad collection we have this year.

That Flamini goal still makes me laugh every time. Best season in a hundred years, they still finish below us AND conceded a brace to Mathieu fucking Flamini

Yeah, not a vintage year for goals.

One thing strikes me though. Giroud scored three of our best goals and they were all genuinely quality. In isolation, they are the goals of a top CF, however he just doesn't deliver on a regular enough basis. Shame. Given the calibre of forwards we've had over the years, I do wonder what Wenger's opinion of him is.

If you look back Özil's assists this season - there's a video floating around somewhere - Giroud is invariably the one on the end of them and, as you say mate, with some genuinely quality finishes earlier in the season. I don't know what happened to him from January to April, and as much I wanted to head butt him during that time, he's not a donkey, far from it. At his best, I actually think he's a really good player, perhaps even good enough to start for us. Even if he's not my cup of tea personally.

Might be possible he had something personal going on during those three months or maybe he just buckled under the pressure of having to score the goals needed to win the League?

I have to admit I was sure he was made of the sort of stuff that would see him rise to the challenge down the stretch. Especially after he did exactly that to win the French League for Montpellier a few years back. I suppose this isn't an isolated incident though; he has gone missing for spells during every season he's been here, but I really felt that in the months before Christmas he was playing at a level he hadn't reached in previous seasons here.

Not sure what to make of it at the moment, but I  wouldn't be surprised if he reminded Arsenal fans everywhere this summer that he's far from the donkey he's now labeled as.

Giroud suffers from fatigue—both physical and psychological. And he doesn't like being an isolated goalscorer much, he's more prolific when there's someone else on hand who might score one or two.

Aside from that his intelligence and striking technique are of a good class, but his touch is unreliable, sometimes because he's too ambitious, and obviously he's slow.

I think it's when we're counter-attacking that Giroud annoys me the most. If he's high enough up the pitch when we transition then he makes poor runs that don't stretch the retreating defenders and if he's behind he ball when we transition then he's far too slow to participatee in the counter-attack altogether. What annoys me far more than that though is his passing and awareness on the counter-attack. For a player that is marked out for his intelligence and considering he has a really good left foot, he chooses the wrong pass way too often. Or plays it at the wrong time, at the wrong speed or to the right guy but behind him. I find it absolutely infuriating and it's bad even when he's good.

I'm not sure fatigue covers his second half of the season collapse. Seems like something more to me. He looked physically okay, looked up for it, but spiralled as things went wrong. It was strange to see.

I thought the lack of reinforcements in January gave performances a knock through the whole squad. They could all feel it slipping away, and at that point Giroud really started to choke under pressure and fatigue.

It's a gruelling schedule from Christmas through until elimination from the Champions League, and Wenger has never prepared us adequately to survive it.

You're right about Giroud on the counter, by the way. It's a very weak suit for him.

Yeah, I totally agree. He's done so much with relatively little natural talent, and I respect him tremendously for that. He has several good qualities but he can't carry the load for an entire season.

Main problem IMO is about ability versus expectations. There are quite high expectations on a starting striker for the Arsenal, from everyone really. Giroud's ability just about gets him to meet those expectations when he is at the peak of his game the way I see it. As soon as he drops, even a little, a lot of people feel he isn't good enough. Giroud seems like a smart enough bloke, and I'm pretty sure he is pretty clued up with the general perception of him. No one is in his best form all the time, and I would think that the doubts affect Giroud more than most, thus leading to even worse performances.

Whatever the reasons we know what Giroud is capable of its clearly not enough to be starting striker. As Mirth said he'd be a great second choice. He's almost always at his best after a break and is a real threat when he comes off the bench too. He's an ideal back up striker.

Problem is, I don't get the impression that Giroud is a guy happy to play second fiddle. He spoke about how he found it difficult that period when Wenger chose Walcott over him. It's one thing going into a season knowing there is fair competition for a spot, but if we by some miracle manage to sign a class striker who is clearly going to be our number one, then that's something else. Giroud seems fragile enough mentally, and it is difficult to gauge whether a) he would be any good as the clear number two/back up guy, or b) whether that is a role he is willing to sign up for.

Speaking of Giroud scoring good goals:

Stunning.

Rex wrote:

Problem is, I don't get the impression that Giroud is a guy happy to play second fiddle. He spoke about how he found it difficult that period when Wenger chose Walcott over him. It's one thing going into a season knowing there is fair competition for a spot, but if we by some miracle manage to sign a class striker who is clearly going to be our number one, then that's something else. Giroud seems fragile enough mentally, and it is difficult to gauge whether a) he would be any good as the clear number two/back up guy, or b) whether that is a role he is willing to sign up for.

It's a tough one as you want all your players to feel like they've got a chance.
On top of that you want your striker to play with confidence so you do everything to make him feel 10 foot tall.
Telling him he is second fiddle goes completely against this philosophy and may have been the cause of the empty shell Chamakh became with us.
As for that gif, i must say the most stunning part is the quality of the defending.

That clip doesn't show what Pogba is doing really, and that was the truly stunning part of the goal IMO.

Ask and you shall receive - higher quality:

that cross is nuts.

Been watching a lot of season end compilations. Julian draxler always seems to impress me the most. Some of the skills he displays are so good to watch! If you can get past the shitty music, the above compilation is good!

Around this time last year - one of the few good points from last season. 

Looks familiar with Ox terrorizing (in pre season) and us unsure of our CF options.

Wow.

He's the best attacker I've seen play for Arsenal since Henry, Bergkamp and Pires. He's a level above Fabregas and van Persie, even at their best, for me.

And I've never seen another player that plays the right pass and does the right thing so consistently.

I just wish him 15 goals next season because he deserves the recognition and acclaim. Absolute superstar. If only we had a better forward line he'd be hero worshipped without the need to score a boatload of goals.

I think van Persie had a period where he was the third best player in the world. Fabregas at the beginning of the 07/08 season was also wonderful to watch. Not sure if I can rate Özil above them, but he's certainly up there.

Ricky1985 wrote:

He's the best attacker I've seen play for Arsenal since Henry, Bergkamp and Pires. He's a level above Fabregas and van Persie, even at their best, for me.

An attacker who doesn't score goals? Wot. He's the best creative player in the list, but I wouldn't put him above Fabregas and RvP as an attacker, both of whom were able to combine creating and scoring.

He gets super smoove points though

Persie's one good season tops last season from Özil. I say that being a huge fan of Ozil's.