I'd imagine Milner would want regular first team football, he wouldn't get it here.

Rosicky's played more league games than Wilshere for the past two seasons, both on 4 goals...

Even though he plays all over the place for Man City, I think he would be a good player at DM and it would be hard to choose between him and Coquelin. That he can fill in on the wings is a bonus. I sort of agree with others that we could probably ship out 3 of Flamini, Arteta, Rosicky and Diaby and replace them with Milner. Wenger himself is saying the squad size is too big, versatile players like Milner would give us some leeway.

But he hasn't grown up the Arsenal way and Wenger's obsessed with technical ability in midfield. Milner's a hard-working player but I don't think Wenger will fancy him just because of that. And besides that, we're probably at the stage where we're looking for world class or nothing. Milner's as English class as it gets.

Whole of this thread should just be in Anti-Wishlist

Klaus wrote:

We would have made Champions League without Rosicky and then some. It's such a bullshit argument to point to the player who had the smallest influence as being the one who pushed us over the line instead of those who performed for a whole (or at least the better parts of) a season.

And that was because we were poor before he came into the side. We lost 3 on the trot in 11-12, he came in and was a catalyst in our successful run into the top 4. He played 28 league matches that season, how is that minimal impact? Same went for the next season, he played 10 league matches in the 2nd half of the season, scored a few important goals and enabled us to overtake Spurs into the top 4, both seasons by slight margins. And then some? Lets not rewrite history here.

We wouldn't miss him much if he leaves next season, and I for one would certainly be in favour of having Milner come in for our squaddies, but trying to downplay Rosicky importance in the past is pretty unfair on him.

Clrnc wrote:

Lets not rewrite history here.

Indeed. Rosicky usually has a marginal influence with a handful of outstanding performances. The way you're trying to make him into a pivotal player for us when he starts less than 10 games each season is a little silly. You could take Rosicky out of the team for the last few years and I'm sure the points we'd pick up with another reserve in the side would be about the same, the occasional highlights performances aside. Now if you remove Ramsey's contribution last season on the other hand, or even Özil's... we'd be so far outside the Champions League places that it would be ridiculous, and there would be no FA Cup victory to crown the season.

Rosicky is not comparable to our better players because he simply doesn't contribute as much. Thinking anything else is mistaking "doing very little" for "doing something significant". And that's usually how you end up rewriting history.

arsedoc md wrote:

Wanted last year. Dunno this year. Prolly will be downhill from next year. Circumspect.

This. Also I'm not sure he'll ever recover from that brutal slipping nutmeg by Messi.

Klaus wrote:

Indeed. Rosicky usually has a marginal influence with a handful of outstanding performances. The way you're trying to make him into a pivotal player for us when he starts less than 10 games each season is a little silly. You could take Rosicky out of the team for the last few years and I'm sure the points we'd pick up with another reserve in the side would be about the same, the occasional highlights performances aside. Now if you remove Ramsey's contribution last season on the other hand, or even Özil's... we'd be so far outside the Champions League places that it would be ridiculous, and there would be no FA Cup victory to crown the season.

Rosicky is not comparable to our better players because he simply doesn't contribute as much. Thinking anything else is mistaking "doing very little" for "doing something significant". And that's usually how you end up rewriting history.

I don't think you have quite gotten the meaning of a catalyst. Anyway, he started 18 games out of 31 games he played in 09/10, then 13(13), 23(11), 9(4), 22(12) and then finally this season 5(12). Other than that 2 seasons he was injured most of the time, he starts a considerable amount of matches. Starting less than 10 matches a season? Give me a break.

You would also realised that you are talking about Ramsey and Ozil last season, but I am talking about the previous 2 seasons where he pushed us to UCL qualification. Ramsey was horrible in those season and we don't have Ozil too. Your point definitely doesn't stand.

Now, if you are telling me he has had lesser of an impact this season, I would definitely have agreed with that. If you ask me whether we will lose anything major if he leaves and is replaced by Milner, yes the answer is no. We have much better players today and his importance is diminishing, but the way you are spinning things about him in the past is not on.

Food for thought (not about Rosicky): Is 10-15 great matches per season not important to a team? What if those matches come at the crucial time? I would take that over a player who is everpresent and plays 45 average matches.

Rosicky a key player for us

I agree Milner would be a good pickup, but he can't play DM. LM/CM.

Clrnc wrote:

Starting less than 10 matches a season? Give me a break.

He has started 7 this season, 5 of which were in the league. He started 7 league games in 12/13, 17 in 13/14. Over the last four years combined he has (almost) amassed enough PL starts to match a full season's worth.

Clrnc wrote:

Food for thought (not about Rosicky): Is 10-15 great matches per season not important to a team?

But it's not 10-15 great matches. It's more like 4 or 5. Season after season. It's one good month, maybe two, where 70% of the games are starts. The rest of the time you get a lot more out of people like Welbeck and Chamberlain. Rosicky is a good footballer but he's the definition of a luxury player. This is why he never gets an extended run. Wenger put him back on the bench again after praising his abilities against Brighton & Hove (Brighton & Hove!), because that's where be belongs. You hype him up in a way that just doesn't correspond to what he's done on the field. You're not alone in that to be fair, but fucking hell. Some perspective wouldn't go amiss.

Klaus wrote:

He has started 7 this season, 5 of which were in the league. He started 7 league games in 12/13, 17 in 13/14. Over the last four years combined he has (almost) amassed enough PL starts to match a full season's worth.

But it's not 10-15 great matches. It's more like 4 or 5. Season after season. It's one good month, maybe two, where 70% of the games are starts. The rest of the time you get a lot more out of people like Welbeck and Chamberlain. Rosicky is a good footballer but he's the definition of a luxury player. This is why he never gets an extended run. Wenger put him back on the bench again after praising his abilities against Brighton & Hove (Brighton & Hove!), because that's where be belongs. You hype him up in a way that just doesn't correspond to what he's done on the field. You're not alone in that to be fair, but fucking hell. Some perspective wouldn't go amiss.

Are you also saying Wilshere is a player who have minimal impact since he came through and is a luxury player just because he played lesser than Rosicky? They are both plagued by injuries every season, the amount of starts they amassed isn't the big picture. More like whenever they are fit, do they play? Before Ozil was bought, Rosicky always plays whenever he is fit.

Look, I am not hyping him up. I am not saying he is a pivotal starter or key player if that's where you are mistaken, but he did play a good part in propelling us to 4th in 11/12 and 12/13. We were looking languid and he was the catalyst who got us over the line. You might not remember, but as recent as last season many people agreed that it was his best season for a while as he had finally had a pre-season with us. It's definitely not "4 or 5" great matches. He is now almost 35 and yes he belongs to the bench, no longer an automatic starter obviously. So what? It doesn't take away the good work he done in the past. When all is said and done, he is still a top pro for us and is a huge influence on the training ground for our young players.

Anyway, back to the original point, taking Milner is a no brainer, especially to replace Flamini and Diaby. Underrated in Mancity, I think he would do a good job here, especially through the centre in big matches.

Clrnc wrote:

Are you also saying Wilshere is a player who have minimal impact since he came through and is a luxury player just because he played lesser than Rosicky?

Wilshere has had a small impact in the last two seasons, yes. However: before that he was our POTY. And he's 23, not 35, which makes it well worth dealing with his excessive injuries at the moment.

Clrnc wrote:

he is still a top pro for us and is a huge influence on the training ground for our young players.

No doubt, and I symphatise with that point, but honestly - what do these young players learn from him that they can't learn by watching Özil or Alexis? I feel we overplay this type of stuff, possibly because we haven't had many outstanding talents during our barren run. But we do now. The best thing for someone like Gnabry isn't to watch Rosicy on the training ground; it's to play with our first eleven on the pitch. That's how he takes the next step as a footballer.

Rosicky does seem to enjoy working with the young uns though. I think he'd make a pretty good coach when his career is over. It's always easier to manage youth talent when you have skills to beat them with. Puts you in an immediate position of respect.