Arsenal Thread 2013/14

[Matty]

If Ramsey had stayed fit, I think they would have won the League

Their decline coincides with Ramsey's injury.

Just as key to Arsenal as RVP was to Utd, and Aguero is to City, Suarez to Liverpool etc

I don't think I can express how much I disagree with what you've put there.

Yes they missed Ramsey, but he's nowhere near as influential as any of the 3 players you've mentioned above.

Arsenal were always going to fall away as the season reached its end, they haven't got the squad depth, or the squad quality, to carry a legitimate title challenge. Their strikers are limited in the extreme, and their midfield is made up of ball players, but no size, strength of solidity. They've been playing Arteta in a holding, defensive role, can you see him getting many games in any role for City or Chelsea, let alone in a holding position?!

 

[aguero93:20]

Re: Come on Tarquins.

Not sure how 4 points behind with 6 points to play for puts Everton out

Probability. Arsenal have WBA (h) and Norwich (a) to close out the 4th spot with as close to a fully fit squad that they'll get and have hit form again. Everton have to play us and are semi-crippled with injuries and out of form.

If league worked on probability we would be lifting the title back in March

True to an extent, but as is always the case with probability, the closer to the finish line you get the closer to fact it becomes. Mentality plays a big part as well, as does form and Everton have never managed to keep either up for an entire season.

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

Re: Come on Tarquins.

Probability. Arsenal have WBA (h) and Norwich (a) to close out the 4th spot with as close to a fully fit squad that they'll get and have hit form again. Everton have to play us and are semi-crippled with injuries and out of form.

If league worked on probability we would be lifting the title back in March

True to an extent, but as is always the case with probability, the closer to the finish line you get the closer to fact it becomes. Mentality plays a big part as well, as does form and Everton have never managed to keep either up for an entire season.

They have done bloody well though. I expect them to be up there next season as well as long as Martinez is left alone

 

[aguero93:20]

Re: Come on Tarquins.

If league worked on probability we would be lifting the title back in March

True to an extent, but as is always the case with probability, the closer to the finish line you get the closer to fact it becomes. Mentality plays a big part as well, as does form and Everton have never managed to keep either up for an entire season.

They have done bloody well though. I expect them to be up there next season as well as long as Martinez is left alone

Hopefully he gets a bit of backing, they should still have Barry and Delefou next year and could well have Lukaku as well, if he gets a good budget to strengthen the squad I see no reason why they can't break into the top 4.

 

[Matty]

Re: Come on Tarquins.

If league worked on probability we would be lifting the title back in March

True to an extent, but as is always the case with probability, the closer to the finish line you get the closer to fact it becomes. Mentality plays a big part as well, as does form and Everton have never managed to keep either up for an entire season.

They have done bloody well though. I expect them to be up there next season as well as long as Martinez is left alone

Everton are an excellent side, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if we dropped points at Goodison on Saturday.

However what's undeniable is they are on a poor run of form at the moment (lost 2 of their last 3 games) and they've got some key players either missing through injury, or just returning after a lay off so potentially not at 100%. Add to that the mental aspect of pretty much knowing their champion's league ambitions are gone after Arsenal's win last night, and there are reasons to be optimistic if you're a City fan.

-- Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:55 pm --

True to an extent, but as is always the case with probability, the closer to the finish line you get the closer to fact it becomes. Mentality plays a big part as well, as does form and Everton have never managed to keep either up for an entire season.

They have done bloody well though. I expect them to be up there next season as well as long as Martinez is left alone

Hopefully he gets a bit of backing, they should still have Barry and Delefou next year and could well have Lukaku as well, if he gets a good budget to strengthen the squad I see no reason why they can't break into the top 4.

And therein lies the issues, Everton don't have the finances, via their owner, sponsorship, or matchday revenue, to spend what is needed to break the top 4 (except on the odd occasion, like Moyes did once). FFP just reinforces this situation as they'll never be able to take the route Chelsea/City have recently followed.

 

[aguero93:20]

Re: Come on Tarquins.

True to an extent, but as is always the case with probability, the closer to the finish line you get the closer to fact it becomes. Mentality plays a big part as well, as does form and Everton have never managed to keep either up for an entire season.

They have done bloody well though. I expect them to be up there next season as well as long as Martinez is left alone

Everton are an excellent side, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if we dropped points at Goodison on Saturday.

However what's undeniable is they are on a poor run of form at the moment (lost 2 of their last 3 games) and they've got some key players either missing through injury, or just returning after a lay off so potentially not at 100%. Add to that the mental aspect of pretty much knowing their champion's league ambitions are gone after Arsenal's win last night, and there are reasons to be optimistic if you're a City fan.

-- Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:55 pm --

They have done bloody well though. I expect them to be up there next season as well as long as Martinez is left alone

Hopefully he gets a bit of backing, they should still have Barry and Delefou next year and could well have Lukaku as well, if he gets a good budget to strengthen the squad I see no reason why they can't break into the top 4.

And therein lies the issues, Everton don't have the finances, via their owner, sponsorship, or matchday revenue, to spend what is needed to break the top 4 (except on the odd occasion, like Moyes did once). FFP just reinforces this situation as they'll never be able to take the route Chelsea/City have recently followed.

Still though, they didn't do much last summer but the extra BT money should enable them to add at least 1 or 2 quality players in the right areas of the squad this summer, if Martinez gets the freedom to do so. Looking at the age profile of most of their squad they should be building strongly for the future and shouldn't need to sell.

 

[Marvin]

If Ramsey had stayed fit, I think they would have won the League

Their decline coincides with Ramsey's injury.

Just as key to Arsenal as RVP was to Utd, and Aguero is to City, Suarez to Liverpool etc

I don't think I can express how much I disagree with what you've put there.

Yes they missed Ramsey, but he's nowhere near as influential as any of the 3 players you've mentioned above.

Arsenal were always going to fall away as the season reached its end, they haven't got the squad depth, or the squad quality, to carry a legitimate title challenge. Their strikers are limited in the extreme, and their midfield is made up of ball players, but no size, strength of solidity. They've been playing Arteta in a holding, defensive role, can you see him getting many games in any role for City or Chelsea, let alone in a holding position?!

Well we'll have to disagree about the impact of Ramsey. Think back to the start of the season, and the form Ramsey was in. Whether it would have lasted I can't be sure. But he is a level above their other midfielders

 

[Ronuja]

If Ramsey had stayed fit, I think they would have won the League

Their decline coincides with Ramsey's injury.

Just as key to Arsenal as RVP was to Utd, and Aguero is to City, Suarez to Liverpool etc

I don't think I can express how much I disagree with what you've put there.

Yes they missed Ramsey, but he's nowhere near as influential as any of the 3 players you've mentioned above.

Arsenal were always going to fall away as the season reached its end, they haven't got the squad depth, or the squad quality, to carry a legitimate title challenge. Their strikers are limited in the extreme, and their midfield is made up of ball players, but no size, strength of solidity. They've been playing Arteta in a holding, defensive role, can you see him getting many games in any role for City or Chelsea, let alone in a holding position?!

Well we'll have to disagree about the impact of Ramsey. Think back to the start of the season, and the form Ramsey was in. Whether it would have lasted I can't be sure. But he is a level above their other midfielders

I think you're on the money here. It's hard to overstate the impact early season Ramsey had. At one point I think he was Arsenal's top-scorer as well as the player with the most tackles. His contribution was almost messianic in nature, so in addition to his old nickname of 'Rambo' some fans started referring to him as thte 'Welsh Jesus'. There were doubts of course about whether he could continue such super-human levels of performance, and I guess we'll have to wonder, but after returning from injury he seems to have hit the ground running with a goal and an assist in his first start against Hull. I don't know if Arsenal would have won the league had he stayed fit during that whole time, but I'm fairly confident that the 7-point gap between us and the top would be smaller.

 

[afc16]

If Ramsey had stayed fit, I think they would have won the League

Their decline coincides with Ramsey's injury.

Just as key to Arsenal as RVP was to Utd, and Aguero is to City, Suarez to Liverpool etc

I don't think I can express how much I disagree with what you've put there.

Yes they missed Ramsey, but he's nowhere near as influential as any of the 3 players you've mentioned above.

Arsenal were always going to fall away as the season reached its end, they haven't got the squad depth, or the squad quality, to carry a legitimate title challenge. Their strikers are limited in the extreme, and their midfield is made up of ball players, but no size, strength of solidity. They've been playing Arteta in a holding, defensive role, can you see him getting many games in any role for City or Chelsea, let alone in a holding position?!

i just don't get this 'aresenal were always going to fall away' business i really don't.

based on the form of some of our players, are you really suggesting the 7 point gap wouldn't be smaller had we not had ozil/wilshere/ramsey/walcott all out at the same time for a number of months, on top of koscielny for a few of the games as well?

lets just say we only managed 1 extra win had those players not got injured all at once, that puts us just 4 points behind the leaders, going into the last 2 games of the season, i hardly call that falling away?? i mean people have been saying that since the start of the season, even by jan when we were still top. well to finish anywhere between 4-7 points behind the winners, considering the injuries, is hardly what i call falling away.

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

I don't think I can express how much I disagree with what you've put there.

Yes they missed Ramsey, but he's nowhere near as influential as any of the 3 players you've mentioned above.

Arsenal were always going to fall away as the season reached its end, they haven't got the squad depth, or the squad quality, to carry a legitimate title challenge. Their strikers are limited in the extreme, and their midfield is made up of ball players, but no size, strength of solidity. They've been playing Arteta in a holding, defensive role, can you see him getting many games in any role for City or Chelsea, let alone in a holding position?!

Well we'll have to disagree about the impact of Ramsey. Think back to the start of the season, and the form Ramsey was in. Whether it would have lasted I can't be sure. But he is a level above their other midfielders

I think you're on the money here. It's hard to overstate the impact early season Ramsey had. At one point I think he was Arsenal's top-scorer as well as the player with the most tackles. His contribution was almost messianic in nature, so in addition to his old nickname of 'Rambo' some fans started referring to him as thte 'Welsh Jesus'. There were doubts of course about whether he could continue such super-human levels of performance, and I guess we'll have to wonder, but after returning from injury he seems to have hit the ground running with a goal and an assist in his first start against Hull. I don't know if Arsenal would have won the league had he stayed fit during that whole time, but I'm fairly confident that the 7-point gap between us and the top would be smaller.

Don't kid yourself. Ramsey is a superb midfielder, but football is a team/squad game and Arsenal at the moment are tooweak.
Arsenal did what they do every year (capitulation), Ramsey or no Ramsey. There's always a bloody good excuse. But funny it
happens around the same time every season.