Captain wrote:

The fullbacks.

I want them to provide some of the width, not all of it. There's zero in Dules' team.

Tim wrote:

Yeah. Also needs to get Cesc back to being as aggressive as he was in 07/08. Geezer pulls out of tackles and headers all over the place nowadays and it's not acceptable.

no point getting hurt for a losing cause. plus, can't play for barca if you're hurt. that cesc is gone forever, he's not naive anymore. it'll happen to wilshere, too, if wenger keeps doing his thing.

if wenger wants to keep 4-3-3 he can. move robin into the deeper role that cesc plays. still get width from theo/nasri/hazard (hopefully), cesc can move back to proper central midfield (meaning we can rest jack more too)

as much as id love Karim here, this just isnt happening. Big money signings put too much pressure on Wenger to succeed. At least with his bargain basement ways he has his ready made "We dont spend as much as others" cop out.

We don't have any efective wide players and until we do what's the point in playing folk out wide

If Cesc cant/wont play properly in central midfield anymore then he should be sold. I'm not sure that's the case though. He just needs to be re-motivated and reminded exactly what is expected of him in the role.

I wouldn't want a straight up 4-4-2. I'd ask Van Persie to play the role that Cesc has been playing, behind a main forward, but he'd have certain defensive and tactical responsibilities. Personally, I think we've looked a far better team in recent weeks whenever Van Persie has dropped in to that deeper role.

I honestly don't think Cesc is obsessed with being in a number 10-ish role.

We've never heard anything to indicate that from him, for instance I can't recall him announcing his disappointment with last season's lack of goals relative to 09-10.

Cesc in that advanced AM role is Wenger's doing in my opinion, and stems from our lack of a competent backup for the injured Van Persie and Bendtner in 09-10.

My concern is that Cesc is becoming habituated to the narrower responsibilities and lower workrate of that position. He's way too young and to be frank, not devastating enough as a finisher to be put out to pasture in a pseudo-forward role.

Machete wrote:

Yes we need a striker. You don't plan on rvp staying fit ya know. Or atleast you damn well shouldn't

And Benzema will just sit quietly on the bench the rest of the time then?......

Armor wrote:

I hope by "retune mindsets", you mean Wenger needs to fuck off and a year later we'll be saying Arsene who again.

Fixed.

qs! wrote:

Wenger has as good as said we're going to play 4-4-2 next season against weaker sides at home.

Where did he say that Q.

Ricky1985 wrote:

Captain wrote:

I don't think we can play 4-4-2 with Cesc. Just cannot see it.

I don't see it either. I'm with you on this, our midfield is a disaster zone, and switching to a two would just make things worse. I think Benzema is a very good player, not sure if he has it in him to be a great player, but he's still someone most top teams would be mad to turn down - that said, I don't think switching to a 4-4-2 is a good idea at all, so I struggle to see how Robin and Benzema could play in the same team together.

Remember there was once a time Robin was excellent on the right for Holland? I know moving our best striker there don't make sense plus he really lost a fair bit of pace after his injuries, but it might work out just fine if we have a correct balance complementing it on the left. Wenger just dosen't play Robin on the right though, and him on the left don't work at all.

Another idea would be Benzema on the wings.

The only way I see those two in the same team as viable - except for 7 or 8 homes games in a season where we could play 4-4-2 - is if Benzema or Robin could move wide and do a very good job. I don't think Robin has lost any pace, he's still has the decent pace he has always had, but I don't think either of them would be best suited to the wide role. Both perfect for the lone striker role in our system though, and it would be ideal if Benzema could contribute from the left wing, and then move inside when Robin gets his next injury or needs a rest. As I said, the fact that I'm not sure Benzema can is why I'm not sure he's the man we should be spending a lot of our money on.

To play 4-4-2, I think we would need to sign a box to box winger. Maybe somebody like Lansbury could do the job but that would be a huge responsibility to burden him with.

Or maybe Wilshere thinking about it but it would seem a waste.

I really don't get why people want 4-4-2? You end up with an extra striker, which is good, but you also end up with two wide players positioned a fair bit deeper, with much more defensive responsibility and as a result you end up reducing the goal threat of two players. In our case that's two players that have scored over 30 goals between them this season.

I really don't like it at all, and when you consider the midfielders we have at the club, it makes even less sense to me.

4-4-2 can be very successful though Ricky if used correctly. Its Wenger's most successful formation anyway. But we don't have the players for it, unless we sell Cesc.

Like Capi said, we need a b2b winger, but we don't have the players for it. Neither Wilshere nor Lansbury is good at it, only maybe Nasri. Hleb and Rozza was brilliant in it though

in a 4-3-3 benzema can play on the left side of attack. rvp can play both on the right and in the "cesc" role.

so what's the problem?

Strikers not called Van Persie play more games a season for Arsenal than Robin ever does. We need more than one quality striker.

Fuck it, count me in Cal, I'm joining your Benzema bandwagon. He's too good to turn down at the price being bandied about. Lets go get him.

benzema and rvp would be lethal.

we've made a right old mess of the team from back to front anyways so i dont see the problem - might as well have a seriously strong frontline to bail us out cos we'll not tighten up under wengers stewardship.

i see gervinho has said he'll clarify his intentions for next season in June - I think we might nab him n all. pace to burn that boy

can see arshavin, bendtner and vela leaving us, with two from gervinho, benzema, hazard or falcao coming in.

When we had Cesc as a normal centre mid in 07/08 the midfield looked more solid than it does now. And we played 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 for most of that season.

And I think Wilshere, Ramsey, Nasri and Lansbury could all do a good job out wide. I'd want a new left back though.

Who would take Falcao over Benzema?

Rick; Well, Lansbury is a wide mid as much as he is a centre mid, and I thought you were in the 'Jack will be a wide player once he fills out' camp anyway. I think Ramsey could be superb wherever personally.

Clrnc wrote:

Who would take Falcao over Benzema?

Not me. Penalty box striker who needs close support, and if RVP goes down for any length of time we'll be left with just Chamakh and Walcott who can play up top with him.

Besides, if we want someone to play on the last shoulder I'd rather save the money and give Theo a shot.

Benzema doesn't need close support? Falcao is a beast in the air and a better finisher too.

i'd prefer benzema cos i think wenger will get him back to his lyon form or better. falcao will be the new juan pablo angel

Falcao is brilliant in the penalty box. Outside of it he doesn't do anything. That's why he needs a partner and/or somebody close to him. Benzema is much better with his back to goal and linking play.

And Falcao is NOT a "beast in the air". Talk about embellishment. Good finisher with his head would be a more apt description, much like Michael Owen, Eduardo, Hernandez and Rooney. How many headers is he gonna win against the likes of Terry, Vidic and Kompany!?

falcao is a brilliant finisher but he's not a great fit for us.

all about benzeeeeeeemaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Falcao would be £20m down the drain on a player no better than Eduardo. No thanks

Asa what about benzema?

He'd make us more dynamic and I recon he'd thrive at arsenal. He's young and would have got the Spanish experience out of his system. Smacks of a long term star.

Shit I promised I woudnt do this to myself

A "poor man's fat Ronaldo"! That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement! ;-0

What about that Hulk chap? Any good?

Very muscular approach but knocks in some great balls to tee up that falcao.

Would do well here. Depends on what type of game we wanna play

Hulk has been Terrible every time he's played English teams. He doesn't have the quality to cut it here.

Tim wrote:

Falcao is brilliant in the penalty box. Outside of it he doesn't do anything. That's why he needs a partner and/or somebody close to him. Benzema is much better with his back to goal and linking play.

And Falcao is NOT a "beast in the air". Talk about embellishment. Good finisher with his head would be a more apt description, much like Michael Owen, Eduardo, Hernandez and Rooney. How many headers is he gonna win against the likes of Terry, Vidic and Kompany!?

Tbf, he excelled in Porto's 4-3-3.

Falcao would flourish here. He gives us things we lack in our current strikers - very high workrate, makes alot of runs, superb heading technique, and comfortable in the box. He's a sharper version of Eduardo, and tbh, 20m is worth a player like that.

The system at porto is irrelevant. His role was to finish off the chances created for him. They had other players playing between the lines, providing close support and linking the play. It's also far easier physically to play as a single central striker in Portugal than it is in the Premier League.

For what it's worth i think he'd probably form a great partnership with Van Persie. The two would compliment each other very well. My worry would be what happens when Van Persie is rested or injured. I dont see Falcao having much joy as a lone central striker in our current system, in our league, his game just isn't suited to it. And i dont think our other forwards-Chamakh and Walcott-would make great partners for him. And I dont think we'd get anything by playing him from a wide position.

For the record I'm not saying we should blow our money on Falcao, just saying he is a good player with some outstanding qualities, and has also outperformed Benzema in every way this season.