The grass just looks greener on Stamford Bridge.

Klaus wrote:

The grass just looks greener on Stamford Bridge.

It really doesn't. I can't stand Chelsea, even less than United.

Luiz, however, is obviously better than Koscielny. He's stronger, tougher and more "accurate" in passing and possession. If he played for Arsenal you'd be raving about him. It's only because it doesn't look good on Arsene or Arsenal but at least you could admit that we couldn't "afford" a player like that.

Tony Montana wrote:

If he played for Arsenal you'd be raving about him. It's only because it doesn't look good on Arsene or Arsenal

Haha, and why would I care about that? Don't be ridiculous.

I rate Luiz. I think he'd do well here too. I don't think he's obviously a much better player than Koscielny though and I don't think we would've been much better off in the table at the moment if we'd bought him instead in the summer. I do think we would've been better off at the moment if Vermaelen hadn't been missing for basically the entire season though.

If we'd bought Luiz in the summer we'd be top of the table and have won a trophy already this season.

Probably.

I think the difference between Luiz and Koscielny represents one of the reasons why fans are beginning to lose patience with Arsene and his policy. We could have signed Luiz in July, no questions asked. Alright it would have cost us at least £20M, but we could have got him no problems. Instead we go and get a completely untried and untested unknown quantity from France, for less than half the price.

I like Koscielny and think he will turn into a great defender, but it will take time to knock the rough edges out of his game, and it was one hell of a gamble to throw him into the team as we did. We could have taken much of that gamble out of the equation, if we had paid more money. It's the sort of gamble Spurs would take, or Villarreal would take, because they just can't attract the top players and never win anything anyway, but never one of the big boys - simply because the pressure to win and succeed means there's too much to lose if it goes wrong.

Maybe we need to start thinking and acting like a big club, one who can't afford to take gambles because it might cost us a trophy - which should be considered the end of the world if it happens. We don't have the money of some other clubs, but there's definitely an element to Wenger where he wants to show people that there is another way to win - and that means he doesn't get everything he can out of the budget he has available to him.

I think that's where the extreme frustration with him comes from because he's just so damn stubborn, almost like he's trying to show everyone how clever he is. I think that's the next stage we've got to move onto; thinking and acting like the big club we now are - hopefully Wenger can adjust his thinking and change his approach, but I fear it might have gone too far for him to do so.

Completely agree Ricky.

I agree Ricky, we cant afford another summer of bringing in unknown/untested guys, if they fail to perform at the level we require we'll be left with a squad where the majority are mediocre at best. We need to top up with real quality.

Why does Kos turn to shit when he plays with Squillaci?

Invariably, Squillaci gets the blame for the awful defensive displays but it is usually Kos making the most mistakes and doing various things that his senior tries to bail him out of. I've never seen anything like it. Djourou can be quite haphazard too but the effect is nowhere near the same.

I actually think Squillaci does things in a very level headed way, it's surprising to see him as part of a calamitous pairing.

Koscielny has talent, but I'm not confident he'll cut out the errors from his game to go on to be top notch.

It's probably because Squillaci is still adapting to the league, and Koscielny doesn't communicate at all. I've never seen a defender open his mouth less.

The other thing about Koscielny (which isn't relevant to anything) is that he's frighteningly fucking thin. The guy has chicken-arms. Scary.

Maybe his upper body, but he still has Kate Moss arms.

I don't think he struggles for being weak or anything. He just needs to eat more protein. And maybe wank more.

Moving away from arsenal for a moment, how tentative and scared has Torres looked for the last couple of games? He's a shell of the player that lit up the league in his first season.

I thought when he first got there, he was showing great movement and was just unlucky with his finishing. Seemed only a matter of time before he started banging them in.

He's going in the wrong direction - which is quite surprising.

Captain wrote:

Why does Kos turn to shit when he plays with Squillaci?

Invariably, Squillaci gets the blame for the awful defensive displays but it is usually Kos making the most mistakes and doing various things that his senior tries to bail him out of. I've never seen anything like it. Djourou can be quite haphazard too but the effect is nowhere near the same.

Seems to be the theme of our defense, certain combinations just don't go well together. If Eboue plays RB, Djourou degenrates into a nervous wreck, likewise Koscielny with Squid, and Almunia with the entire back four

And I agree with asa on Kos' vocal ability. I don't think I've ever seen him say a word on the football pitch, he just sort of saunters about looking like a grimacing, mute version of Christian Bale in The Machinist.

Worried about Chelsea now. To the point where I'd rather they drew with United at OT rather than won. Hopefully Ancelotti keeps trying to force Torres down everyones throat, they're still a more fearsome outfit with Drogba up front.

Gazza, doesn't make a difference what the Chelsea / United result is. if anything, for the neutral, a Chelsea victory is best so that we can see United challenged in the run-in.

On Luiz. He is class. In this league, he is right up there and one could decently argue that he is 2nd only to Vidic in terms of quality. Meanwhile, we plug on with the greatest show on earth: Squiscielny (as Arseblogger likes to call 'em)