Yep Roma had a brilliant summer. Maicon has done well for them in an area they were weak, same for De Sanctis. Benatia is brilliant, Strootman has been very good and Gervinho suits them perfectly. Weirdly enough Ljajic looked their best signing on paper but he hasn't been quite as successful as the others. He'll come good in time though.

@ Tactics - He does a bit ye. So quick to nick the ball away from a forward and look graceful while doing it too.

@ Klaus - Same. I bet Juve would have been all over him if they weren't happy with their starting CB's. They've been great at raiding the smaller Italian sides over the last few years.

Honda signs for Milan (can play from January), looking forward to seeing what he can do

so if napoli and milan lose today italy won't have a representative in the round of 16. a draw won't even help napoli if marseille don't beat dortmund.

Irish gunner wrote:

Honda signs for Milan (can play from January), looking forward to seeing what he can do

Hes like Arshavin hot and cold for months at a time. I can see him exploding then disappearing.

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Is it just me or is Gervinho doing really, really well in Italy?

FEBravo wrote:

Gervinho

http://video.corriere.it/gervinho-incontenibile-funambolo-roma/08c21b8a-60ae-11e3-afd4-40bf4f69b5f9

Tactics wrote:

Gervinho is a really good footballer

If only he didn't have a weak mentality.........

I agree but i am also left wondering if he is that good or are the Italian defenders just a little bit shit. I've heard stuff about it being about the coach, the system or some other player but all i see is Gervinho consistently dribbling past his markers and setting up chance after chance for others. Maybe he is in a purple patch but it's been 6 months so i'm not too sure

He's a confidence player with a lot of talent. Used to kill defenders in the PL as well, just couldn't handle the Arsenal pressure.

Gervinho's best quality is his burst/acceleration, and so its no wonder he's running past carb loaded Italian defenders.

It's because he doesn't have arseholes getting on his back every time he makes an error.

I would have thought Wenger would be his ideal manager but it wasn't the case as he has performed at Lilles, Ivory Coast and now Roma. Maybe his skill-set wasn't what Arsenal required as we needed (and still need, i agree Rex) a clinical striker and that's precisely what he never is gonna be.
Anywho, it is all about Jheeroo now for us.

Captain wrote:

It's because he doesn't have arseholes getting on his back every time he makes an error.

Yup, they've accepted there that he won't score often, and are happy with him "destabilizing" the defences. He still loses the ball quite a lot when he tries to dribble, but he feels backed up so he keeps on trying, and it works quite often. Also, remember in Italy they like dribblers so his style is endearing. In fairness, Garcia is using him in an ideal way, just letting him run at defenders and try to make something happen.

Captain wrote:

It's because he doesn't have arseholes getting on his back every time he makes an error.

yes, it's our fault that he missed from 1 yard with no GK against Bradford .

Come spacey. He failed here but that's not all you remember, is it?

Quite right. As alluded to by both Wenger and Arteta; the stadium was poisonous for a good amount of time.

Is there a significant difference this season?

Gervinho was good at skinning people and fucking useless at quite a few other things that you'd expect from a forward.

No - people moaning whenever he fluffed a chance that anybody on this forum would have taken probably didn't help him, but Gervinho didn't help himself. Good for him that he's doing well in Italy, but dumping his arse was a great move from Wenger, and one I didn't expect given the type of players we were clearing out last summer.

Volante wrote:

Is there a significant difference this season?

Yes, very much so.

spaceman spiff wrote:

Gervinho was good at skinning people and fucking useless at quite a few other things that you'd expect from a forward.

People are assholes, that's all. Giroud couldn't hit a barndoor but they sang his name every match while the likes of Ramsey and Gervinho got booed from the first minute and then got sarcastic applauds when they went off.

spaceman spiff wrote:

Gervinho was good at skinning people and fucking useless at quite a few other things that you'd expect from a forward.

No - people moaning whenever he fluffed a chance that anybody on this forum would have taken probably didn't help him, but Gervinho didn't help himself. Good for him that he's doing well in Italy, but dumping his arse was a great move from Wenger, and one I didn't expect given the type of players we were clearing out last summer.

Are you saying that with a straight face?
We top of the league because Wenger moved Gervinho on.

I'm pretty sure there are quite a few people who moan whenever Giroud tries a flick that was never on, or misses a 1-on-1.

Anyways, I find it silly that we're debating the merits of Gervinho and the effect from the crowd. Are the Emirates crowd a group of angels, no but Gervais couldn't score in a bordello with a fistful of hundred dollar bills and had an abysmal haircut - these were valid reasons to get rid, and ultimately that's what's important. The vast majority support the club and that's what matters.

Good for him that he's doing well though in a different league

Bold Tone wrote:

Are you saying that with a straight face?
We top of the league because Wenger moved Gervinho on.

:hmm:

I'm not sure I said this at all. Try reading my post again?

really don't know what you're talking about. Oh well - Go arsenal! That we can all agree on.

Agree with that matey
Anyways fuck Gervinho!
Didn't he cuss us in the summer?

If we hadn't signed Özil and had a start to the season like in the previous 2 years, then Giroud would be a prime candidate for the Emirates crowd.

Nah Giroud has a catchy song. He's bullet proof.

Gervinho would actually have been useful for us this season. He was okay when used through the center last season. Glad he's gone, don't get me wrong but at least he was semi productive when he was here. Certiainly made a better fist of his Arsenal career than Eboue, Denilson, Bendtner, Chamakh and the likes.

Eboue was a decent player - just a bit of a mong. Doesn't deserve to be grouped with the others who were dreck.

Still wished we had Eboue here. Head and shoulders above anything Jenkinson has to offer. Huge credit to him as well for coming back the way he did after the Emirates crowd turned on him. Credit to him as well for wanting out to actually play football.

Milan struggling again. We need to find a way to tap up Balo.

Roma in complete control, Milan don't look like scoring, get the equalizer from a corner.

I swear Allegri is trying a new system every time I see Milan. How can you expect consistent results if you keep changing the system?

Gervinho still up to his usual tricks

Balotelli is crying out for service. Ozil, Cazorla and Walcott are crying out for a mobile striker. Feck. We're stuck with Bendnter, aren't we?

According to the times, Milan have approached AVB.

Rossi just scored his 15th goal for the season. Such a classy little player.

Also, Gervinho is back to being Gervinho:

He also scored in that match. The strike for his goal was actually even worse than the one in that video. Probably why it went in.

Derby time

Wow. Gervinho! Turd.

One of the best things Wenger has done recently was to realize his mistake with Gervinho and get rid quickly. Usually he's more stubborn than that and would give a player longer to prove his worth even though it's clear to all that he's pish, e.g. Chamakh.

The Destro goal is hilarious!