Since youtube clips are allowed here we could do with a thread where we post Arsenal videos. Here's one of Wilshere against Chelsea:

It's a terrible song but the video is great. It's his best performance this season in my opinion.

I thought the song was Arctic Monkeys' Brianstorm... then I realised it was just the next track starting. Nickelback... yeah, that makes more sense.

We've got our mystical 'third' midfielder.

van Persie's injury curse strikes again:

I'm sorry but, hahaha. The was waay too funny. The way RvP was trying to keep a straight face while the kid was screaming his head off.

JET's third goal reminded of henry; curled sidefoot finish inside the far post. tompkins has been atrocious everytime i've ever seen him play for west ham. no idea why they pay him to play football.

I know he's being played in the front three but I still feel he could be just what we want from Diaby. At the same age, Abou was probably slightly better but he hasn't progressed as any of us would have hoped (eg. performances still knotted with inconsistencies) whereas JET's talent is yet unrealised. I know he doesn't have any defensive responsibilities in his role at the moment but he used to play more defensively for the youth side in the past, so Id don't see it as an impossibility.

He played full back for the youths didn't he? I reckon his future is as a wide forward though

from what i've seen of JET (which is not much, admittedly), he's not much of a defensive player. he's very much an attacking player, even more so than diaby. doesn't really have a CM's game, either.

As qs said, he started out at LB and up until last season, he played mostly in midfield (unless I'm mistaken) where he did have to break up play. But it's been such a long time since I've seen him play there that I can't make any more cogent comment than that.

He's too lackadaisical to play centrally. It used to be a problem in the reserves because everyone noticed his obvious talent on the ball, but they didn't know quite what to do with it. He didn't do his part in midfield. He's developed rapidly since he started playing as a forward instead. I guess you could say he's what you'd want from Diaby in that sense, but as a forward rather than as a central midfielder. He's definitely a better finisher.

Somewhat tangential but Diaby's finishing is underrated. I'd say that he's better than Rosicky, Denilson (not difficult) and possible a smidge superior to Cesc in that department.

There's nothing wrong with Diaby's finish, I agree. It's rather the fact that he doesn't know when to finish that lets him down. JET has that instinct as his third goal in the clip above showed. He scored a brilliant goal against the City reserves a few weeks back too.

Yeah, I see what you're getting at there and I can agree with that. I still don't see JET as a winger though despite his finishing. I can't put my finger on it but I still feel he'd be better utilised as a support striker, although that isn't such a great possibility in our current formation.

Depends on what you mean by a winger, I guess. I see him as a forward, which is the role he plays when drifting inwards from the right in a 4-3-3. You're probably right that he'd be a very good support striker in a 4-4-2. I've got a suspicion that he could turn into one hell of a centreforward too, but it makes little sense to put him there right now with all our options up front.

Wilshere against Shakhtar Donetsk:

Don Pacifico wrote:

As qs said, he started out at LB and up until last season, he played mostly in midfield (unless I'm mistaken) where he did have to break up play. But it's been such a long time since I've seen him play there that I can't make any more cogent comment than that.

He played lots of games at centre back, too. He is no mug defensively, it's not that he can't tackle, or position himself correctly - it's that he doesn't have the discipline, concentration levels, or frankly, the willingness to do it over 90 minutes, game in, game out.

He's been a revelation since he was moved to a forward role, right, left or central - although, the right side seems to suit him best. He has too much instinct and composure in the box and in front of goal, to get moved backwards now. Although I also think his rapid improvement can be attributed to a huge gain in pace and power. He's so much more explosive now than he was about 12/18 months ago.

The similarities with Diaby are there to an extent, but he's much more direct. Perhaps not as skilful in tight areas, not quite the same brilliant close control or pure dribbling, but more powerful and dangerous. I also think his brain works considerably quicker too, and that shows in his quick combinations, clever passing, and when finding space to shoot in and around the box.

I really like him at right forward.

That Wilshere video is so impressive. Hadn't seen the game back on TV or anything, but watching him live felt like a real privilege.

He seems like an extremely determined young man.

I like his touch. Great long shot on him too. Also leaves the pitch in a great fashion, the way he gave his team-mate the high five. Proper Arsenal. Real shame we didn't sign him up on a longer deal...

😆 He honestly wasn't a bad player for the reserves. He was a bit short on fitness and stamina after being out for so long but his technique and link-up play was quality. Scored a few neat goals too.

Don Pacifico wrote:

Somewhat tangential but Diaby's finishing is underrated. I'd say that he's better than Rosicky, Denilson (not difficult) and possible a smidge superior to Cesc in that department.

He looks to have lost his confidence in front of goal. Lately he's had plenty of opportunity to have a crack but he either opts for a safe pass or takes too long before releasing and gets blocked, this was glaring when he played as AM while Cesc was injured. He really needs to find that eye for goal again.

Nasri v Man City. Probably my favourite individual performance of the season so far. Shit music though.

why would you use that music for a football video?

😆

Not sure I've ever seen a football video with appropriate music.

I can see meeeeeee in that vid after Niks goal. I aint even going to try describe it though.

What impresses me the most in that video is the amount of defensive work he puts in. I felt he worked hard when watching the game too but you don't really appreciate just how hard until you study him closely.

Definitely Klaus. People scoffed at the notion of him playing as DM and whilst that would be a waste of his talents, his defensive game is generally underrated by our fans.

I agree said the same thing on A-M.

It also shows how well he passes and moves, only that he should me making more penetrative runs behund the defence rather than passing and moving towards the centre. With his finishing ability he can score loads.

Not quite Arsenal-related but something that no doubt expresses the shared hurt of men up and down the British Isles:

any Youtube link to yesterdays highlights?

Not Youtube, but Daily Motion:

[video=dailymotion]

USArsenal wrote:

any Youtube link to yesterdays highlights?

Just as an fyi, footytube.com usually has highlights the next day.

101greatgoals.com is a good site too for highlights, goals and post-match interviews.

Ricky1985 wrote:

Not Youtube, but Daily Motion:

[video=dailymotion]

Thanks for that. Had been wanting to see the foul on Bendtner in the first half (2 mins 5 secs). Goes to show these commentators only see what they want to.

Klaus wrote:

101greatgoals.com is a good site too for highlights, goals and post-match interviews.

see, that would require effort on my part.. homey don't play that.. 😃

ok, saw the highlights.. Naughty naughty Bendtner on Theo's first goal.. (tee hee).. and what a blast for Nik's goal.. that was a great shot.. Snes looked good from the couple saves they showed.. (they didnt show the punch at the end though, which i kind of wanted to see)...