Comments on: Garth Crooks Can See It, Why Can’t Arsene?!

by: Brigham

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:49:57 +0000

I take some of your points Kris regarding Clichy and his injury and getting back to full fitness. Whilst I can see that is a perfectly obvious observation, you need to remember he was pretty poor prior to his last injury and in all honesty has not been the same since the Birmingham game last season.

He no longer nips in to steal the ball, his positional sense is woeful at times and his crossing is terrible and he could not cross a cheque! In fact, both of our full backs constantly fail to deliver a decent ball into the penalty area and that is probably due to a lack of practice in training, whree I have no doubt our players are taught to ‘thread it through the eye of a needle’. No point in crossing it anyway really as there is never anyone in the bloody penalty area to get on the end of it most of the time.

The best two crossers of the ball we have IMHO are Gibbs and Eboue, who can both deliver a cracking ball into the box, as can Trarore at times as well.

What we lack right now is a forward who loves to play on the shoulder of the other teams defence, one who can bully them, make THEM think about what he is going to do next. Chelski have Drogba, United have Rooney and it works a treat for them. Who do we have currently? Arshavin and Nasri, both of whom could not bully a 6 year old in the playground, let alone Terry, Ferdinand, Vidic etc.

Anyway, three points against the bin dippers tomorrow will do very nicely and get ourselves back on track. Support the lads, support the club, especially the club as it will always be around when players and managers have long gone.

by: Kris

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:58:32 +0000

What a lot of people don’t seem to appreciate with Clichy is how long it takes for a player to get back after an injury. I don’t quite understand how it is fair that Walcott, Eduardo, Rosicky and Diaby (every week) get sympathy about not being at full fitness whilst both Clichy and Nasri never appear to get any. You watch Clichy run, he is playing at about 60% of his best, Nasri is no different. Both Clichy and Nasri have had really serious injuries and its extremely unfair to expect either of them to come back and start playing at their best. You don’t turn from being one of the best left backs in the world, if not the best, to being utterly rubbish every match. You can pretty much guarantee that if we’d had United and Chelsea at the end of this apparently easy run we’re now going to go on he wouldn’t have been the one making the mistakes.

by: BoRiS

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:10:32 +0000

I cannot belive that some people like to see Chamakh in an Arsenal shirt , He is not even better then Vela UNBELIVABLE realy . Please God dont let this happen his shit honestly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by: Wenger's Immortals

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:30:10 +0000

I like your post Joel, but the problem is that over the last 5 seasons we’ve sold more players than we’ve bought. So while it would be natural to assume that we’ll be stronger next season (like most fans do) we probably won’t be.

Last summer we brought in Vermaelen but sold Toure and Adebayor. The summer before we brought in Nasri but sold Flamini, Diarra and Hleb. The same thing happens year after year. We just replace what we’ve lost (and not very well) and that’s why we haven’t progressed over the last 5 seasons. Players like Henry, Vieira, Bergkamp, Gilberto, Freddie, Bobby and Lehmann haven’t been replaced with adequate enough players and that’s why we haven’t won anything since those players retired or left the club.

by: Joel

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:13:08 +0000

For those complaining about us not signing a striker, Chamakh is coming this summer on a free. Wenger has wanted him for a year, but Bordeaux wanted too much for a fee and Wenger decided to wait it out a year. He may have gone back in for him in January but as Bordeaux is still in the Champions League and Chamakh is their best striker, Bordeaux again refused to sell. So, with van Persie and Bendtner out and Chamakh planned on joining in the summer, Wenger didnt want to buy another striker and stunt the growth of Eduardo, Vela, Walcott, etc. I wish he could have found a player available on loan, but I really think those players weren’t available on the market.
As far as a goalkeeper, I have no idea what Wenger was thinking. If he really was going in for Sorenson on deadline day, he shouldn’t have waited that long and then run out of time. Almunia has been the weakest player in the side all season. Wenger obviously recognized that when he benched Almunia for 19-year old Vito Mannone. I wish Fabianski could get a run of games just to see how he does this spring. If he does well, maybe we won’t have to sign a keeper. If he fails to do well, its time to buy a new one. Personally I think the young Polish kid Schechny (or however you spell it) who is on loan in League 1 or something is our best goalkeeper. In a few years he could be Number 1, and I think Wenger might be buying time for him by sticking with Almunia and not investing in a new one. But Almunia really is a liability, and he does not deserve to wear the shirt.
Clichy should be on his way out as well. Sell him, while people might still pay good money for him. Unfortunately Gibbs is out, because for me the job is his to take now. Clichy is awful.
Looking ahead to next season, Wenger will have van Persie, Gibbs, and Djourou back. Striker, center back, and left back will all be strengthened by our own players. I hate when Wenger says players coming back “will be like a new signing” but more than anything we just need these players fit again and a lot of our problems are solved. Add Chamakh on a free and Wenger really only needs to add a goalkeeper (if Fabianski cant cut it) and possibly a holding mid to play behind song.

GK - (New Signing), Fabianski, Mannone, Schechny
LB - Gibbs, Traore
CB - Vermaelen, Song?
CB - Gallas, Djourou
RB - Sagna, Eboue
CDM - Song, (New Signing)
CM - Diaby, Denilson
CM - Fabregas, Ramsey
LW - Arshavin, Eduardo, Vela
RW - Nasri, Walcott, Rosicky
ST - Van Persie, Chamakh, Bendtner

by: the real anon

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:08:59 +0000

garth crooks is a no-nothing spud face who sits on a sofa and talks big. if he is such a hotshot why aint he out there being a manager instead of playing it safe on the sofa without having the guts to actually put his balls where his big mouth is?

that slightly ageing milf who sits next to him and talks just as much crap as crooks has more credibility than him and she is easy on the eye. someone should tell crooks to go and get measured for a correct-fitting trouser because he looks like a nonce sat there with his punny balls sticking out of his ill-fitting trousers. grow some real balls crooks and get out there and manage or shut your biased mouth.

and just so to make sure that even the slowest of your readers get it: CROOKS=NO BALLS BIG MOUTH BULLY WHO HAS ABOUT AS MUCH CREDIBILITY AS A GLASS NAIL.

win or lose get behind the team or f@ck off and die.

f&cking lightweight glory-hunting scum. you make real fans sick to the stomach with your pathetic moaning and treacherous “surport”.

by: RoyVasey

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:59:49 +0000

Cesc Fabregas has today reportedly turned down
a new contract. That says it all really. We can all argue on
here all day about OUR clubs failings, but when
our star mans had enough and wants out doesn’t that prove us doubters right!
How much, really, would Chamakh and Sorenson cost us £10 million? £15 million?That wouldve kept us and Cesc happy, but sadly not.
When Arsene goes next summer it’ll lead to interesting times…

by: John

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:43:19 +0000

We totally and utterly dominated this game and if Clichy had not decided to try and decrease his transfer value by about £10m since he returned from injury, we would have been 0-0 going into the second half of a game that we bossing. I agree we need a top GK and then sign Chamack and we have a great squad. We don’t need another MF, we don’t really even need a striker when RVP and Bendtner are around, but if we have those people then we have the best team/squad in the league. If Man Utd lost Rooney for as long as we lost RVP, and Chelsea Drogba, then they would prob be 9 points worse off too. The GK’ing issue is obvious, but we do need a bit of luck up front. It is not as bad as everyone is making out. We beat Liverpool and Chelsea and Utd don’t win away at Everton and Villa and suddenly we are 7 pooints off top with the easiest run in out of the lot.

by: Wenger's Immortals

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:57:26 +0000

Spot on Brigham.

by: Goonoo

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:33:09 +0000

Quoting Garth Crooks makes you look like even more of an idiot than him.