LU Arsenal Brigade II

[CC_Eagle]

As good as those stats are, they are not really the sign of a good DM.

The D stands for Defensive. Which he isn't that good at, 'cause he is up front trying to assist and play throughballs... ;-)

Which is my point exactly. He possesses all the qualities of a good DM : Interception skills, vision, hard and concise tackling, aggression etc.

But he can rotate as a DM , holding CM or a box to box midfielder and is very good at all three.

Back to the game though, oh my f*cking god. How to best upset commuter train etiquette on the way to Uni : score a 95th minute winner.

A month ago I was near dreading watching us play, as it had become almost too painful to watch. Now I'm eagerly anticipating the Everton game. There's no reason why Arsenal can't repeat the 6-1 scoreline from 2009/2010!

 

[AusKnightRKO]

Song is a great player, but him always coming forward leaves us open to being smacked on the break against the best teams in the world thats why id love to see a take no shit style Viera or Keane DM if we could find one

 

[CC_Eagle]

Song is a great player, but him always coming forward leaves us open to being smacked on the break against the best teams in the world thats why id love to see a take no shit style Viera or Keane DM if we could find one

He's been a lot more controlled and selective recently imo - but I do agree that in the past he had occasionally been a liability whenever moving near the box.

However, his match winning ball for Robin V Liverlol last week is an example of how he can combine both a defensive mindset, with an offensive approach. The pass was from ten metres or so within their half.

 

[CC_Eagle]

Get texting Thomas!
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/tra...of-Tottenham-and-Newcastle-article879566.html

Articles like this pose an interesting question though : If we did sign Vertonghen, how would our first choice backline look?

Surely neither Jan or Verm would play at LB - which essentially means one of Koscielny or Per will be in the reserves.

 

[Habitual Linestepper]

Centre back is probably the only position where we have reasonable depth.

I can't see us getting him. A year or two ago he would have been a good signing but we would be better off throwing money at Gotze/MVila/Marvin Martin/Matias Suarez.

 

[BunniesMan]

Not the highest quality of wins but a few weeks ago we would have dropped points in this sort of game. Learning to win the tough grinding games is crucial. In 3 weeks we've gone from 12 points behind Spurs to 3rd place.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs all dropped points this weekend. Good feeling.

Now to spend the rest of the season fortifying our current position. Who would have thought we could finish 1 spot higher while losing Nasri and Fabregas and replacing them with Gervinho and Arteta.

We finish 3rd and we have guaranteed Champions League football to offer to potential signings.

 

[Habitual Linestepper]

Who cares about the quality of the game haha.

How many teams would be confident of winning away at Liverpool and Everton within two weeks. The last three teams to play at Everton were Spurs, Chelsea and City and they all lost.

A home game against Villa this weekend while Spurs play Chelsea. Massive opportunity to open up a bigger gap between the chasing teams. Fingers crossed they draw and we go 3 in front of Spurs and 8 in front of Chelsea.

Sunderland away, Spurs home, Liverpool away, Newcastle home, Everton away. Honestly, how many points were we expected to get from those five games. Amazing the run we have been on recently.

 

[the_flight_of_the_magpie]

 

[andrew057]

Good win to keep the roll going this morning. The draw between chelski and spuds was great as well.

Great to finally see Vermaelen finally get a few months of footy uninterupted. I'm bias but I think hes the best CB in the league with Vidic.

Song and Theo both continued their good form. Onwards and upwards.

 

[Habitual Linestepper]

Good win to keep the roll going this morning. The draw between chelski and spuds was great as well.

Great to finally see Vermaelen finally get a few months of footy uninterupted. I'm bias but I think hes the best CB in the league with Vidic.

Song and Theo both continued their good form. Onwards and upwards.

He's not even the best CB at the club mate. The top 3 imo are Kompany, Koscielny and Vidic.

Speaking of Koscielny i don't think he was injured. If he picked up a yellow today that would have made 10 and he would miss the next two games, which are QPR and City. Can't imagine he will play against QPR as well.

Decent game this morning. We looked to go out there and put the game beyond them pretty early and we managed to. Put the cue in the rack and pretty much just went into autopilot. Would have liked for us to put a few more goals away to help the GD but otherwise happy with the result.

Happy for Gibbs after all the injuries he has put up with and also good to see Gervinho contribute after a rough couple of months.

Hopefully AOC gets a run out against QPR.

 

[andrew057]

Sorry no way kos is a better CB than a fully fit vermaelen IMO.

 

[CC_Eagle]

Sorry no way kos is a better CB than a fully fit vermaelen IMO.

Agreed.

Kos has been 'the' form CB of the season, his transformation from squad member to a brilliant and integral player has been a joy to watch.

But Vermaelen, in my opinion is still a better player and a fantastic leader. Which is imperative for a CB.

 

[BunniesMan]

Since October 3rd, United, City and ourselves have 51 points. Over more than 6 months we've matched the 2 best teams.

We are one good transfer window away from seriously competing for a league title.

 

[Habitual Linestepper]

Don't get me wrong. I think Vermaelen is a good defender. But Koscielny is just on another level.

Kos in the PL (per game)
Tackles - 2.7, Interceptions - 2.7, Offsides Won - 1.6, Clearances per game - 5.3, Aerial duels won per game - 2
Vermaelen in the PL (per game)
Tackles - 1.7, Interceptions - 2.1, Offsides Won - 0.8, Clearances per game - 3.9, Aerial dules won per game - 2

The stats are clearly in favour of Koscielny. Vermaelen has other strengths that Koscielny obviously doesn't, like leadership, long range passing, shooting and aerial ability but Kos has it over him in the attributes that a CB relies upon most, i.e. tackling, anticipation and speed. They're both great players and with Ferdinand's recent decline and Vidic's injury it's not out of the question that they could be the best CB pairing in the league if they get enough time to properly gel.

Read somewhere that with our starting back 5 (Szczesny, Sagna, Kos, Vermaelen and Gibbs) we have played 8 leagues games, won 7, drawn 1, conceded 4. Not bad.

Might as well chuck up the stats for arguably the best CB in the league.

Vincent Kompany (per game)
Tackles - 2.2, Interceptions - 2.5, Offsides Won - 0.5, Clearances per game - 5.8, Aerial duels won per game - 0.8

Kos beats him in every stat but clearances per game.

 

[boxhead]

I'll declare egg on my face for the Sandro comment.
Losing like that has its after-effects.

 

[Habitual Linestepper]

I'll declare egg on my face for the Sandro comment.
Losing like that has its after-effects.

We've all been there.

Hope you guys pick up a bit of form, but not too much obviously. Would rather you make CL over Chelsea.

 

[andrew057]

Don't get me wrong. I think Vermaelen is a good defender. But Koscielny is just on another level.

Kos in the PL (per game)
Tackles - 2.7, Interceptions - 2.7, Offsides Won - 1.6, Clearances per game - 5.3, Aerial duels won per game - 2
Vermaelen in the PL (per game)
Tackles - 1.7, Interceptions - 2.1, Offsides Won - 0.8, Clearances per game - 3.9, Aerial dules won per game - 2

The stats are clearly in favour of Koscielny. Vermaelen has other strengths that Koscielny obviously doesn't, like leadership, long range passing, shooting and aerial ability but Kos has it over him in the attributes that a CB relies upon most, i.e. tackling, anticipation and speed. They're both great players and with Ferdinand's recent decline and Vidic's injury it's not out of the question that they could be the best CB pairing in the league if they get enough time to properly gel.

Read somewhere that with our starting back 5 (Szczesny, Sagna, Kos, Vermaelen and Gibbs) we have played 8 leagues games, won 7, drawn 1, conceded 4. Not bad.

Might as well chuck up the stats for arguably the best CB in the league.

Vincent Kompany (per game)
Tackles - 2.2, Interceptions - 2.5, Offsides Won - 0.5, Clearances per game - 5.8, Aerial duels won per game - 0.8

Kos beats him in every stat but clearances per game.

Vermaelean missed basically all of last season, plus 2 months earlier this season, where as Kos has had an uninterupted season. Not to mention Vermaelen has played quite a few games at left back as well.

Not that I really care for stats, I thought it was pretty obviously Vermaelen was Arsenal's best centre back. Each to their own.

 

[CC_Eagle]

We've all been there.

Hope you guys pick up a bit of form, but not too much obviously. Would rather you make CL over Chelsea.

Are you mad Sir?!

Yes, Chelsea's abrupt and oh so lulz-worthy decline has been a joy to watch, but there's no way I'd prefer Sp*ds to finish above them. It's just, not right nor healthy.

Sorry Twizz.

 

[CC_Eagle]

Vermaelean missed basically all of last season, plus 2 months earlier this season, where as Kos has had an uninterupted season. Not to mention Vermaelen has played quite a few games at left back as well.

Not that I really care for stats, I thought it was pretty obviously Vermaelen was Arsenal's best centre back. Each to their own.

Rewind to two seasons ago (nay even one season ago), our CB depth was terrible. Vermaelen was the only player capable of playing good, consistent football.

Now we're debating over who's better : arguably one of the top three CB's in the league, and a player who has been one of the best and most consistent this season.


:crazy:

 

[Habitual Linestepper]

Are you mad Sir?!

Yes, Chelsea's abrupt and oh so lulz-worthy decline has been a joy to watch, but there's no way I'd prefer Sp*ds to finish above them. It's just, not right nor healthy.

Sorry Twizz.

As much as i dislike Spurs they deserve to make top 4. I think they deserve some credit whereas Chelsea just brought their success. The sooner those Chav cvnts are out of the top 4 and Roman gets tired of playing football manager the better.

If it was between Spurs and anyone but Chelsea or City i would choose the other team.