by Allez les rouges Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:38 pm
110% wrote: blutgraetsche wrote: Isco Benny wrote: blutgraetsche wrote: Isco Benny wrote: Xavier wrote:Is Holtby injured?
No, just German.
See, that's why you'll remain in the shadow of your North London neighbours for eternity. They've finally seen the writing on the wall while you continue to miss the boat in typical fashion.
Serge Gnabry to be the next German sensation at Arsenal in near future, you've read it here first.
Hmmmmmmmm, interesting, given we've traditionally had more Germans than them. You not remember Klinsmann / Freund / Ziege whilst they were stocking up on Frenchies and Africans and finishing 40+ point above us?
They sign Mertesacker and Nemo and suddenly THEY'RE the fucking Teuton legion??
Holtby, by the way, will almost certainly get plenty of time this year. Freund is ingrained into the fabric of this club in a way no Teuton is over at Arsenal. But yeah, all you Germans jump on the Arse bandwagon because they bought Ozil
What? First you say that Holtby isn't in the team because he is German. Then you go on about being the more 'German friendly' club? You're confused.
Still, it's true that Arsene's current love-in for German players isn't because he found his long lost love for his Lothringen roots. It's just that he has seen the writings on the wall. Back in L'Arse days, French players were hot commodity and hence sought after, not just by Arsene, but he was arguably the first doing so extensively. Today it's the Spanish, but Arsene is ahead of the pack again and anticipating the things to come. Meanwhile, Newcastle have caught up with the trend of ten years ago, but that's a different matter.
No offence to Germany (because I really like Ozil), but I really don't rate mertesacker. I had a quick look to see how he was doing so far this season I had saw an interesting stat that says he's made 1 tackle so far in 3 games. It just doesn't sound right for a defender.
Look if you don't watch the games just don't comment until you have an informed opinion.
I was about to look for that gif, cheers Glenn – if that was his only "tackle" so far, not only was it about as clean as you get, but it was almost the turning point of the game, as Arsenal went upfield and scored the solitary goal.
Blut's already made the point and I thought most people had a balanced view by now. Merte's weaknesses are well documented – he is not pacy, agile or a particularly good footballer (though I actually get the impression that his passing has if anything improved lately; it certainly hasn't been successfully targeted). And even I think the German pairing for the WC should probably be Hummels-Boateng (in Badstuber's absence). But right now the Hummels-Merte partnership just doesn't work at international level and Merte getting the nod in the last games proved to be fully justified. I'm a huge Hummels fan but you'd have to admit at the moment that he makes a lot more mistakes than Merte and that the latter, as a defender, is more reliable (right now).
In other respects Mertesacker has been top-notch for Arsenal for a good while, and most fans have appreciated that as he and Koscielny have complemented each other well – his judgement, positioning and reading of the game are all superb. (Sorry to repeat Blut...) And specifically on the tackling issue, he has explicitly never been that kind of player – rarely makes a foul, and has always tried to win the ball through interceptions instead. Why he was a favourite for the Klinsmann/Löw "philosophy" in the first place.
I have to chuckle somewhat at the repeated recycling of Steffen Freund, who seems a nice chap and did great work with the U17 kids, compared to possibly greatest human being of all time Jens Lehmann, who I think it's fair to say was a rather more important player.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/lehmann-big-interview
I hear Deutschland hasn't had as many "legionnaires" at a single foreign team since Inter (I think) in the late Nineties, so of course Blut is welcome as an honorary Kanone.
Home
), but 1 over 3 games just seems strangely low to me. I need to do more research over numbers of "tackles" made by different positions. Maybe tackling was phased out and I didn't notice.
at the second part. I won't be an 'honorary Gunner', no worries there, although I'll be watching Arsenal with increased interest this season.