Premier League 9/10 November 2013

Fey wrote:"Oh Robin, you're a c**t"

*RVP celebrates*

"OMG, FUCKIN BASTARD, totally uncalled for"

Fickle club

TheCrazy58 wrote:FT 1 - 0. Taking into account that 1) it's at OT, 2) we were missing Mertesacker and  3)our attacking players looked all off colour (Ozil - Allez, you have to agree now, he's off form - Cazorla, Ramsey and Giroud too) we didn't do too badly. It's never good to lose, obviously, but we clawed our way back into the game in 2H, restricted their chances and I didn't feel that absolutely massive gap in quality and abillity which always hit when we played in the recent past. To say this changes everything for both Utd and Arsenal is patently absurd.The return match is relatively soon- January I think - so we'll see then. Gnabry looked bright when he came on, he should get more playing time.

The Pröfessör wrote:

shazlx wrote:

The Pröfessör wrote:

shazlx wrote:Like most of the season, we're struggling to keep possession. Cazorla and Ozil aren't being precise enough.

Disappointed with both of them especially Cazorla who has played little football this season.

We miss a special striker in these sort of games. It's impossible for a team to create loads of chances in every single game, therefore u need a striker who can create something out of thing in those games where your are struggling to create chances. Giroud relies 100% on quality service.

Kind of expected the result but still gutted!!

Just like to mention. This team has so much more attacking momentum when Wilshire plays. I'm not sure what he does to open the game up so much, maybe its his movement or just instinct to play forward but also the rest of the team seems to have better movement too. He didn't even do that much really but then I'm trying to think of Arteta's impact and there was the big difference. I'm hoping this team ends up with Wilshire and Flamini at CM with Ramsey as the AM and Carzorla/Rosicky and Ozil out wide.

I'm not sure about Ramsey at AM, never been impressed with him in that position. I think he's best when he makes those penetrative runs from deep. For me that's his best position, and there's where we should play him.

Wilshere also looks best at CM, but is he compatible with Ramsey? That's the biggest question. The Wilshere-Ramsey partnership is the one with the most potential in our team, but it's also the most risky. My feeling is Wenger will ultimately settle on that partnership, but he probably thinks they are not yet ripe enough to make it work. Kind of similar to Flamini-Cesc in a way, Wenger initially tried them when they were 17-20, but he didn't really fully back them until a few years later. And that partnership worked in the end. Wilshere showed more defensive nous in the 2010/2011 than Cesc ever showed with us, and Ramsey will improve his positioning, just like Flamini did. Ramsey can also match Flamini's engine and is taller, faster, and is the better footballer. Therefore, I can also see Wilshere-Ramsey working long-term. But for now I think we'll probably see any combination out of Arteta, Flamini, Ramsey and Wilshere depending on form, injuries, opposition etc.

With regards to Ozil, we have got one of the best nr 10s in the game IMO, so for me it's pretty straightforward - he plays at 10. However I don't think Giroud is the ideal striker for him (and therefore limits his influence on our team). It's little surprise there's zero chemistry between them; Giroud hardly makes runs behind the defence,  rarely scores from through passes, all his goals are  from crosses or cut backs.  Keep Ozil at 10, we won't get anyone better, and bring in quality striker than can play with him. We need a Henry or Anelka - someone that can run on to through-ball into space (behind the CBs).