Arsenal

[BenRobbins]

I still think it will just be Chelsea and City in the tittle race next year. Cech is good but he won't save them anywhere near that amount of points next year and they aren't clinical enough and they can't beat the best teams in the league which you should really be doing if you want to win the league.

I know people say jose didn't have a choice in the matter but if cech was going to raise arsenal to tittle challengers then it wouldn't have happened. He would of kicked up a hell of a fuss. I know everybody will tell me that it was down to roman etc but if jose really didn't like it they would have fallen out big time.

Arsenal still need to buy a better centreback, a better 6/8 and a world class goal scorer who can put up big numbers.

 

[antonnn]

Yeah, they need more than just Cech for sure. Cech is the first step, let's see if Wenger can actually buy what Arse need now.

 

[BenRobbins]

Yeah, they need more than just Cech for sure. Cech is the first step, let's see if Wenger can actually buy what Arse need now.

It just feels like everybody says this year after year but it never comes to fruition and i can't see anybody making the gap up to city and chelsea and then overtaking them. United and Arsenal need a few summers before they reach those levels.

 

[Icarium]

[vine]https://vine.co/v/e5KlWKnUbIq[/vine]

Lol this is too funny.

 

[antonnn]

It just feels like everybody says this year after year but it never comes to fruition and i can't see anybody making the gap up to city and chelsea and then overtaking them. United and Arsenal need a few summers before they reach those levels.

Well year after year Wenger generally fails in the transfer market, hence Arsenal never challenging. What's a bet now they have Cech he'll sign some mugs for cheap?

 

[Robbie]

I still think it will just be Chelsea and City in the tittle race next year. Cech is good but he won't save them anywhere near that amount of points next year and they aren't clinical enough and they can't beat the best teams in the league which you should really be doing if you want to win the league.

I know people say jose didn't have a choice in the matter but if cech was going to raise arsenal to tittle challengers then it wouldn't have happened. He would of kicked up a hell of a fuss. I know everybody will tell me that it was down to roman etc but if jose really didn't like it they would have fallen out big time.

Arsenal still need to buy a better centreback, a better 6/8 and a world class goal scorer who can put up big numbers.

Jose wouldn't sell us Demba Ba, because he didn't want to do anything that would improve us. This is the same manager that sold Mata to United. He really doesn't like Wenger.

And we already made big purchases in the past few seasons. Just last year we picked up Gabriel Paulista from Villareal and Chambers from Southampton. Koscielny and Mertesacker are a solid pair, and have become even better recently. I think it was the emergence of Coquelin that proved how badly we needed a "Makelele" type of defensive midfielder, but we're 1 injury away from having nobody else who can fill that role. And on the topic of an effective striker... Well, who exactly is available for a decent amount of money? Higuain might be on the market, but he's a bigtime bottler who will cost way too much. Benzema is a fan favourite at Madrid, and probably will retire there. I'm not sure, maybe Martinez?

It's going to be a long summer, but I think we'll end up not making an addition to our forward line. Walcott might finally get the chance he deserves.

 

[barcafan161]

Benzema next?

 

[MaxY]

Benzema next?

According to rumors it's Aubameyang .

 

[BenRobbins]

[formation=red2,6]
Cech
Bellerin-0-Paulista-0-Kos-0-Gibbs
0-0-???-0-Le coq-0-0
Ramsey-0-0-Ozil-0-0-Sanchez
0-0-0-Giroud/Aubameyang-0-0-0
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
[/formation]

Am i right in thinking this will be the preferred arsenal line up next year? Its pretty strong tbf.

 

[DrPepper]

It's not really that strong when you have to play Ramsey on the wings due to lack of alternatives. Even with Cech they need a striker, a central midfielder and another winger to properly challenge.

Considering a lot of Arsenal fans right now expect them to challenge for the title (since the last time they won back to back FA cups and signed a goalkeeper they went unbeaten), it doesn't really look like a title winning team yet. Not stronger than Liverpool 13/14 for example. Maybe if they do a Monaco again in the CL they could sustain a longer and consistent title challenge.

 

[Galning]

They're not even close to winning the league with that squad. Classic Arsenal at the moment, big expectations but that's about it.

 

[Alik]

It's not too bad. It will be a while before anyone can match Chelsea's squad though.

 

[ceefoo]

IMO they still lack a Midfield-General-Vieira type with strong leadership and the character to carry them through the really difficult tests. I know it's virtually impossible to find another 'Vieira' and the closest thing around atm is Pogba, and that's not going to happen.

I don't know if it's down to the Manager, but Arsenal always seem to lack that cynical and ruthless edge needed to challenge for the 'big' titles.

 

[Barcafan 2304]

Still think it's all down to money now and who has the biggest tycoon. Arsenal get criticised and are the source of derision for how long they have gone without a PL title but hell, with the money Chelsea and Citeh have, it's bloody hard to keep up. Even Man Utd are finding it tough

 

[Robbie]

IMO they still lack a Midfield-General-Vieira type with strong leadership and the character to carry them through the really difficult tests. I know it's virtually impossible to find another 'Vieira' and the closest thing around atm is Pogba, and that's not going to happen.

I don't know if it's down to the Manager, but Arsenal always seem to lack that cynical and ruthless edge needed to challenge for the 'big' titles.

Coquelin and Ramsey share that "midfield general" role. Both are players that never stop running, pressing, and chasing every lost cause. Coq is like a 2007-era Flamini/Gattuso type, and Ramsey is like Gerrard -- he can make a goal happen out of nothing. And we have been close to winning a title with a squad worse than this one (2007-08), and got to a Champions League semi-final with Denilson/Almunia/Silvestre/Eboue/etc. We even got to a CL final with Senderos in the first team. I rate our current squad better than anything we've had since 2005-06, and we've won back to back FA Cups.

Just a few short years ago, we didn't even have the mental strength to beat Birmingham in the god damn Carling Cup. Things are different now, and we've got big game players like Alexis, Ramsey, Cazorla and (pls be true) Petr Cech. Let's see how we do next season, because we've never gone into pre-season in such good condition. Every single player is fit, we're getting a world class keeper, and nobody is being sold. We almost won the title in 07, and we sold Henry, lost Bergkamp Gilberto, etc.