Are people underestimating Arsenal?

Before the start of the season, Liverpool was many people’s favourites to challenge Chelsea for the Premiership. Now it’s Man Utd, but what about Arsenal? If Arsenal win there game in hand then they will be 2 points behind Man Utd and Chelsea.

Some people think Arsenal squad is not big/good enough compared to Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd.

But is this really true?

Goalkeepers:
Lehmann, Almunia, Poom.

Defenders:
Eboue, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Lauren, Senderos, Djourou, Hoyte.

Midfielders:
Hleb, Fabregas, Gilberto, Rosicky, Ljungberg, Baptista, Diaby, Flamini, Song.

Strikers:
Henry, Van Persie, Adebayor, Walcott, Aliadiere.

Chelsea only have 3 center backs, Arsenal have four. Man Utd have no midfield ball winner. Liverpool haven't got a striker that will get 30+ goals a season.

Eboue, Senderos and Djourou are young players but they all played at the World Cup. Out of the top 4 clubs, you could say Arsenal have:

- The most creative midfield.
- Best striker, Henry.
- Quickest centre back pairing, Toure and Gallas.
- Lehmann, when he is not acting a fool then he is one of the best goalkeepers in the World.

With there injury problems at the start of the season, Arsenal are still 4th in the league and some people would say the current squad is better than the one that go to the Champions League final last season.

If I wasn’t a Man Utd fan then would think Arsenal are a good bet for the league. Man Utd still need to make signings in the January transfer window to compete for the Premiership whereas Arsenal doesn’t in my opinion. Both teams big test will come when the play Chelsea.

Sunday 26th November, Man Utd vs Chelsea.

Sunday 10th December, Chelsea vs Arsenal.

Yeah we have a serious team at the moment. Rosicky has blended in excelently; Hleb is understanding our game better than he did last season; Eboue is immense and Gallas is simply one of the best defenders around. Still, I'm not sure if we can win the league. We are still fragile. Presently we are in good form - it's when we play less fluently that problems arise. Can we grind out results? I'm not sure...but I am sure that purely on footballing ability we wipe the floor in the EPL. No other team can touch us in a technical passing game. I know we'll be top three...I don't know any more than that.

Yeah, I hold my hands up. The fact that I dislike the kiddy fiddler and Queen Henry did somewhat blind me. They have a great team.

Still think they'll fall short though, due to the reason Freddie mentioned above.

Totally agree Freddie the winter months are fast approaching this will be a real test of Arsenal's character.

Obispo wrote:Yeah, I hold my hands up. The fact that I dislike the kiddy fiddler and Queen Henry did somewhat blind me. They have a great team.

Still think they'll fall short though, due to the reason Freddie mentioned above.

Who's that?

Agooner wrote:

Obispo wrote:Yeah, I hold my hands up. The fact that I dislike the kiddy fiddler and Queen Henry did somewhat blind me. They have a great team.

Still think they'll fall short though, due to the reason Freddie mentioned above.

Who's that?

Wenger, no?

Never heard of that name, was thinking more Freddie.

Fey wrote:

Agooner wrote:

Obispo wrote:Yeah, I hold my hands up. The fact that I dislike the kiddy fiddler and Queen Henry did somewhat blind me. They have a great team.

Still think they'll fall short though, due to the reason Freddie mentioned above.

Who's that?

Wenger, no?

Indeed your correct

Arsenal have stepped up a gear recently though

Never , but still think they are not up for it when it comes to grinding results , they can be great to watch at times but there will be times when they dont get the results and get frustated.

BilalShah wrote:Never , but still think they are not up for it when it comes to grinding results , they can be great to watch at times but there will be times when they dont get the results and get frustated.

Like in our unbeaten season u mean?

The thing is, our current squad is the best we've had in the last two seasons. Our major problem was lack of squad depths; an injury to any starter meant we had to rely on kids to come in, and we've had several injuries in the past two seasons especially in defence. But the kids are no longer inexperienced, we are now well covered in all areas. Infact i forsee a selection dilemma for wenger when everyone gets fit; will senderos and djourou be happy to sit on the bench for the rest of the season after performing so brilliantly for us? What about lauren?

The thing that satisfies me most is we've actually worked on a formation that makes us very difficult to score against and at the same time create enough opportunities to win matches. If u watch the stats, we have the best defence and only manu have scored more goals than us( though we have a game in hand)

Unfortunately I do think Arsenal will lose key points to the "smaller" teams again this season. I hope I'm wrong because I obviously like a good footballing side like Arsenal, and the more in the title race the better, but I'm not too sure.

Agooner, the problem with the "when everyone is fit" scenario is that it never happens! I don't mean that as a dig at Arsenal specifically, just a general football rule of thumb.

nope

Cking wrote:nope

With each year that passes it will become more likely that someone other than Chelsea wins the title. Whilst my opinion is that Liverpool, at this time have neither the squad or manager to do it, I think that Arsenal or United, both have all the conditions required to become champions. The last condition, that only time will show, is luck. If Arsenal have more luck than Chelsea or United, they can win it,

I don't want to sound like I'm hating here, and people will most likely accuse me of saying this just because I'm a Spurs fan, but lets look at who they've beaten.

Man Utd - who won't play that badly again for a very long time - they could barely string 3 passes together.

Sheff Utd - Relegation Certainties.

Charlton - Relegation Certainties.

Watford - Who'll finish in the bottom 6, and played a suicidal high-line at the Emirates (Gifts for Henry).

And lastly, Reading. Isn't anyone taking into account, the effects the fall-out with the game against Chelsea must have had on their players. They looked scared to put their foot in after all the furoré of the weekend before. To have any hope against the players Arsenalhave in theire disposal, you have to get close to them - Reading seemed scared to do that, and just let Arsenal play... and of course the ended up being slaughtered. Arsenal benefitted from the circumstances of Reading's previous game a lot more than people are letting on if you ask me.

I think Arsenal have edged ahead of Liverpool this season and will finish 3rd. I am still not overly worried they will finish above Man U though.

Anyone not taking Arsenal seriously is not looking at the big picture. If they win their game in hand they'll be just 2 points behid Chelski and Utd.

TeamSpirit wrote:
And lastly, Reading. Isn't anyone taking into account, the effects the fall-out with the game against Chelsea must have had on their players. They looked scared to put their foot in after all the furoré of the weekend before. .

Agree on the Reading part, but I don't think there is any easy game in the Premiership. The relegation candidates will scrap and fight for it, making it very hard for you to win.

I also notice Hunt came extremely close to knocking into Lehmann whilst he had the ball in his arms. (in the exact same situation as Cech was in - position wise etc) He tried exceptionally hard to get out of his way, running at Lehmann but despite the same 'momentum' as he had with Cech, he managed to jump over Lehmann. You could see what Lehmann was saying to him once they got up

TeamSpirit wrote:I don't want to sound like I'm hating here, and people will most likely accuse me of saying this just because I'm a Spurs fan, but lets look at who they've beaten.

Man Utd - who won't play that badly again for a very long time - they could barely string 3 passes together.


Sheff Utd - Relegation Certainties.


Charlton - Relegation Certainties.

Watford - Who'll finish in the bottom 6, and played a suicidal high-line at the Emirates (Gifts for Henry).

And lastly, Reading. Isn't anyone taking into account, the effects the fall-out with the game against Chelsea must have had on their players. They looked scared to put their foot in after all the furoré of the weekend before. To have any hope against the players Arsenalhave in theire disposal, you have to get close to them - Reading seemed scared to do that, and just let Arsenal play... and of course the ended up being slaughtered. Arsenal benefitted from the circumstances of Reading's previous game a lot more than people are letting on if you ask me.

Ah that's is so familiar now because that's what people say whenever we beat a quality opposition. Remember the CL ? "Juve were just crap, that's their worst performance ever" , "madrid were just awful, thir team is crap anyway", " Villareal were unlucky"

Juve were indeed crap but that was mainly because we made them look so. They had the chance to prove to everyone that our win was just a fluke but they failed to do so in the second leg.

Contrary to what TS said, manu were not bad against us, we were just better especailly in midfield.

Sheffoeld United Just don't have the quality, at all.

Watford went with horrible tactics, and whilst Charlton gave them a major scare, Dowie has generally looked clueless this season.
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I still think it's Chelsea' title to lose, Arsenal have just had easier fixtures than Liverpool with which to fix their teething problems.

@ Agooner - you fully deserved that win, I think 1-0 flattered United if I'm honest. You should've won by 2 or 3... but to say United weren't anything better than inept is vey gernerous. O'Shea & Rooneyon that day in particular.

but even so, 3 Promoted teams and another relegation candidate?

TeamSpirit wrote:@ Agooner - you fully deserved that win, I think 1-0 flattered United if I'm honest. You should've won by 2 or 3... but to say United weren't anything better than inept is vey gernerous. O'Shea & Rooneyon that day in particular.

but even so, 3 Promoted teams and another relegation candidate?

Manu have also played all those teams u mentioned, i guess that makes their run less impressive he?

Agooner wrote:

TeamSpirit wrote:@ Agooner - you fully deserved that win, I think 1-0 flattered United if I'm honest. You should've won by 2 or 3... but to say United weren't anything better than inept is vey gernerous. O'Shea & Rooneyon that day in particular.

but even so, 3 Promoted teams and another relegation candidate?

Manu have also played all those teams u mentioned, i guess that makes their run less impressive he?

Not all one after the other they haven't.

Time will tell. Chelsea are still top dogs as far as I'm concerned, the 3 red teams are pretty even.

TeamSpirit wrote:@ Agooner - you fully deserved that win, I think 1-0 flattered United if I'm honest. You should've won by 2 or 3... but to say United weren't anything better than inept is vey gernerous. O'Shea & Rooneyon that day in particular.

but even so, 3 Promoted teams and another relegation candidate?

Did you people watch a completely different game to me? Personally I remember Lehmann pulling off a superb save at the death and getting hit in the face point blank one on one with Ronaldo.

I can accept saying we deserved to lose 0-1, but 2/3? You have got to be kidding me.

Manchester United Team Statistics Arsenal
0 Goals 1
0 1st Half Goals 0
5 Shots on Target 6
6 Shots off Target 7
4 Blocked Shots 3
10 Corners 5
12 Fouls 13
4 Offsides 4
2 Yellow Cards 2
0 Red Cards 0
78.8 Passing Success 80.5
33 Tackles 26
81.8 Tackles Success 84.6
48.5 Possession 51.5
49 Territorial Advantage 51

Don't believe the rose tinted hype

Great thread and discussion, again!

Well, indeed Arsenal seem to have one of the best, if not the best (because Chelsea is too short in key positions) squad in the league... except for defence, IMO, and also they lack some competitiveness, focus and alternate between warrior and smart football.

I'm very curious for the clashes with the big teams, and understand really if Arsenal knows how to face a battle instead of a sunny sunday afternoon game - in terms of attitude, focus and intelligence.

doninha wrote:Great thread and discussion, again!

Well, indeed Arsenal seem to have one of the best, if not the best (because Chelsea is too short in key positions) squad in the league... except for defence, IMO, and also they lack some competitiveness, focus and alternate between warrior and smart football.

I'm very curious for the clashes with the big teams, and understand really if Arsenal knows how to face a battle instead of a sunny sunday afternoon game - in terms of attitude, focus and intelligence.

Chelsea's squad is so far ahead of the rest it isn't even funny.

Owen Thomas wrote:

TeamSpirit wrote:@ Agooner - you fully deserved that win, I think 1-0 flattered United if I'm honest. You should've won by 2 or 3... but to say United weren't anything better than inept is vey gernerous. O'Shea & Rooneyon that day in particular.

but even so, 3 Promoted teams and another relegation candidate?

Did you people watch a completely different game to me? Personally I remember Lehmann pulling off a superb save at the death and getting hit in the face point blank one on one with Ronaldo.

I can accept saying we deserved to lose 0-1, but 2/3? You have got to be kidding me.

Don't bother OT, arsenal fans are now used to this, we are never given the credit we deserve; whenever we beat a top team it's because the team played its worst game in ages. When we beat a midtable table team, it's because they didn't rough us up properly.

doninha wrote:Great thread and discussion, again!

Well, indeed Arsenal seem to have one of the best, if not the best (because Chelsea is too short in key positions) squad in the league... except for defence, IMO, and also they lack some competitiveness, focus and alternate between warrior and smart football.

I'm very curious for the clashes with the big teams, and understand really if Arsenal knows how to face a battle instead of a sunny sunday afternoon game - in terms of attitude, focus and intelligence.

It's funny, because I think defence is possibly the one position where Arsenal are probably the best (or very close)

Lehmann (if you include him), is 1 of the best keepers in the league.

Toure and Eboue would push for any Premiership XI. Gallas would get into a Premiership XI at LB, but we better not put him there as he may threaten to score an own goal. Flamini is an excellent LB too (played exceptionally well against some of the worlds best players en route to the CL final last season)

Midfield and attack I would have Chelsea and United as ahead.

PS. Which key position (other than goalkeeper) is Chelsea short in?

You think Man utds midfield is better than Arsenals?

And central defence, you arent short there in personnel but if you play Bouah in the centre, then you only have ferreira for right back.