2019/20 Rivals - Arsenal

ThierryFabregas

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I think our defence is a level above yours. It should be, we’ve just spent £130 Million upgrading it.
I'm not sure, Maguire you should get 10 years out of but is he as good as Luiz who has won the CL and multiple league titles in 3 countries? Obviously Luiz has a mistake in him but his ball playing abilities are world class.

Bellerin doesn't win the ball back as often as Wan Bissaka but he got 5 assists off 18 games last season which is a very high attacking contribution

Shaw vs Tierney? Hard to say as Tierney is new to the league but he looks a top talent

Sokratis/Holding vs Lindeloff/Smalling - I really don't know about your 2 as I don't watch them often enough. Sokratis is a solid no nonsense defender and Holding looked very composed before his injury.

Arsenal's main defensive weak links were 1 Mustafi - cost us countless points 2. Kosceilny - solid servant but his legs have gone a bit 3. Maitland Niles - like you playing Young he's not really a defender

This season we'll have 5 defenders we didn't have for much/all of last year: Luiz, Tierney, Holding, Bellerin and Chambers
 

Mogget

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Let me guess, you're man of stats and what they've won but don't watch them play.

Honestly, not sure why're you're stating ages but okay if Luiz is a 32year old CB is what you need, then okay you had a better deal :lol:. Suddenly he's won more trophies so it automatically makes the player better? How about his injury record? How many mistakes has he made throughout his career? Does Arsenal need a player need a player with that many errors in his defence?

But no he's won trophies, you got the better defender. (and my opinion is joke...)
So why is Vallejo going to have a better season than Luiz? Let me guess, he looked world class in the 7 whole games he played last season :houllier:

Why is Cutrone going to be great for Wolves but Pepe is going to struggle? Let's ignore the fact he scored 3 goals in 34 games because stats aren't important.
 

John_Jensen

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Let me guess, you're man of stats and what they've won but don't watch them play.

Honestly, not sure why're you're stating ages but okay if Luiz is a 32year old CB is what you need, then okay you had a better deal :lol:. Suddenly he's won more trophies so it automatically makes the player better? How about his injury record? How many mistakes has he made throughout his career? Does Arsenal need a player need a player with that many errors in his defence?

But no he's won trophies, you got the better defender. (and my opinion is joke...)
- He's started an average of 38.8 games over the last 5 seasons, started 50 last year.

- "Meanwhile beyond all this the real David Luiz has made two errors leading directly to a goal in his entire Premier League career. Last season 93 defenders were dispossessed more often than the league’s top-ranked goofball. Only two made more passes." - from Barney Ronay's article yesterday.
 

Fooza

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So why is Vallejo going to have a better season than Luiz? Let me guess, he looked world class in the 7 whole games he played last season :houllier:

Why is Cutrone going to be great for Wolves but Pepe is going to struggle? Let's ignore the fact he scored 3 goals in 34 games because stats aren't important.
Vallejo is younger, got the legs, isn't reckless from the games I've seen and isnt injury prone. Always thought he'd make a class defender personally.

Cutrone is a striker and Pepe is a winger. Not sure why you'd compare but Wolves need a forward who can play on the last man and make runs, he's very good at that and can see him suited in the style Wolves want to play at.

On pepe, calm down, he may prove me wrong and be a top winger. Every time I've watched pepe he's always been lightweight, ive only just merely stated he maybe too light in PL. I'd have preferred Zaha personally.
 

oneniltothearsenal

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He was the best player in the squad from when he got back into the team after Christmas up til his injury against Napoli.

Consisntantly played well in a string of big matches, and after his injury the Always Say Die attitude returned to the squad almost immediately.
I couldn't disagree more. Did you actually watch the matches? Yes he runs a lot but that's really about it.

Really? The Aaron Ramsey you fans manage to always say that he's put the most effort in the games when the team didn't give a toss and plays direct, suddenly he's dross. :houllier: Makes no sense that you'd put Cabellos ahead of Ramsey. What makes you think he'll be an upgrade?
Ramsey has always had a minority of Arsenal supporters that insist he was the best player on the team ever since he got his leg broken, he can do no wrong and believe he walks on water. I have a close friend that feels that way. He watches maybe 10 matches a season.
I'll just wait until the end of the season as I am quite confident Ceballos will be better than Ramsey has been in over 5 years.
 

John_Jensen

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I couldn't disagree more. Did you actually watch the matches? Yes he runs a lot but that's really about it.



Ramsey has always had a minority of Arsenal supporters that insist he was the best player on the team ever since he got his leg broken, he can do no wrong and believe he walks on water. I have a close friend that feels that way. He watches maybe 10 matches a season.
I'll just wait until the end of the season as I am quite confident Ceballos will be better than Ramsey has been in over 5 years.

Yes i watched all the matches, i watched his peforamances vs Spurs, Utd, Napoli etc, and i saw the team absolutely fall to shit after he was injured. There were no more Napoli home performances after that. Did you miss all those clusterfecks at the end of the season? :confused:

The upturn and fall away completely correspond to him coming into and out of the team, and speak to the way the midfield couldn't function & compete without him.
 

oneniltothearsenal

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Yes i watched all the matches, i watched his peforamances vs Spurs, Utd, Napoli etc, and i saw the team absolutely fall to shit after he was injured. There were no more Napoli home performances after that. Did you miss all those clusterfecks at the end of the season? :confused:

The upturn and fall away completely correspond to him coming into and out of the team, and speak to the way the midfield couldn't function & compete without him.
Then we can agree to disagree because nothing Ramsey did last year was impressive to me and I am quite happy he is gone. But much more important things to discuss today so have fun.
 

Powderfinger

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Yes i watched all the matches, i watched his peforamances vs Spurs, Utd, Napoli etc, and i saw the team absolutely fall to shit after he was injured. There were no more Napoli home performances after that. Did you miss all those clusterfecks at the end of the season? :confused:

The upturn and fall away completely correspond to him coming into and out of the team, and speak to the way the midfield couldn't function & compete without him.
Ramsey's absence hurt but the team fell to shit earlier, with him in the side. The first abysmal performance was Everton, when he came on at the half and did nothing at all to affect the match, and the next was Watford (where we played horribly despite playing against 10 for 80 minutes), when he started and played 68 minutes, again completely toothlessly.

All told, Ramsey only started seven matches in this period between Christmas and his injury. He put in a couple very good performances but its not like he was carrying the side.
 

John_Jensen

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Ramsey's absence hurt but the team fell to shit earlier, with him in the side. The first abysmal performance was Everton, when he came on at the half and did nothing at all to affect the match, and the next was Watford (where we played horribly despite playing against 10 for 80 minutes), when he started and played 68 minutes, again completely toothlessly.

All told, Ramsey only started seven matches in this period between Christmas and his injury. He put in a couple very good performances but its not like he was carrying the side.
He wasn't carrying the side, the two up to were excellent obviously. But he was consistently excellent, and he made the midfield function whether it was Torreira or Xhaka was beside him, as well as giving a goal threat when teams tried to squeeze us high.

He has his limitations as a player and can be frustrating but to say he had no affect on the season last year after Christmas is nonsense. Gave 100% at all times too when other, more highly paid, players where dropping their heads and looking to pass the buck.

Really don't understand the hate he gets, all the best to him. Hopefully Ceballos can fill his boots and Luiz's passing mean we can afford to drop Xhaka.
 

lordbaelish

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Ramsey is a shit player ,and his problems are mainly mentally he just wants to score goals that's his priority
 

tinfish

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Ceballos is a superior player to Ramsey already in my opinion. Watch his past performances and his youth games. Far higher ceiling. Give him time to settle and he will explode just like Ramsey did in his purple patch era.

I will quote myself this time next year. You heard it here first.
 

unplayable

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I will quote myself this time next year. You heard it here first.
Is this really a hot take? I'm sure most people expect him to be class.

I'd say it's pretty certain he will be your best midfielder.
 

Seij

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I'm not sure, Maguire you should get 10 years out of but is he as good as Luiz who has won the CL and multiple league titles in 3 countries? Obviously Luiz has a mistake in him but his ball playing abilities are world class.

Bellerin doesn't win the ball back as often as Wan Bissaka but he got 5 assists off 18 games last season which is a very high attacking contribution

Shaw vs Tierney? Hard to say as Tierney is new to the league but he looks a top talent

Sokratis/Holding vs Lindeloff/Smalling - I really don't know about your 2 as I don't watch them often enough. Sokratis is a solid no nonsense defender and Holding looked very composed before his injury.

Arsenal's main defensive weak links were 1 Mustafi - cost us countless points 2. Kosceilny - solid servant but his legs have gone a bit 3. Maitland Niles - like you playing Young he's not really a defender

This season we'll have 5 defenders we didn't have for much/all of last year: Luiz, Tierney, Holding, Bellerin and Chambers
You guys with a supposedly 40M budget ended up spending a far higher net transfer fees and overall did your business better than us. What is this world coming to.
 

Mastadon

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Aaron Ramsey is incredibly overrated based on 1 purple patch season. I never heard of Ceballos before we were linked with him and I’ve only seen him play today but I would take him ahead of Ramsey anyway.
 

MalBot

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Great to start with 3 points. Was really worried with so many players out. Pleased with the clean sheet. Heard that means we already equalled the total away clean sheets from last season.
 

maniak

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Great to start with 3 points. Was really worried with so many players out. Pleased with the clean sheet. Heard that means we already equalled the total away clean sheets from last season.
Watford was our only away clean sheet last season.
 

Powderfinger

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Great to start with 3 points. Was really worried with so many players out. Pleased with the clean sheet. Heard that means we already equalled the total away clean sheets from last season.
And the only one was against Watford when we played against 10 men for 80 minutes!
 

Ooh2B

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An away win with a clean sheet. Already equaling records from last year!

I know it was only Newcastle, but a winning start is always welcome.
 

Oxeki

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The new boys needs to be integrated as soon as possible before we play spurs
 

awop

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The window is closed but if anyone wants to dive into the numbers, SwissRamble explains it very well :
 

jus2nang

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Interesting from OptaJoe:

25.6% - Since his Premier League debut in February 2018, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has the best shot conversion rate (25.6%) of the 68 players to have scored 6+ goals in the competition. Hitman.
 

Ooh2B

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Interesting from OptaJoe:

25.6% - Since his Premier League debut in February 2018, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has the best shot conversion rate (25.6%) of the 68 players to have scored 6+ goals in the competition. Hitman.
That’ll sit well with the “he’s not world class” crowd.
 

romufc

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Ceballos is a superior player to Ramsey already in my opinion. Watch his past performances and his youth games. Far higher ceiling. Give him time to settle and he will explode just like Ramsey did in his purple patch era.

I will quote myself this time next year. You heard it here first.
Yep, but it is a shame he will be back at Real just when he is making an impact.
 

VP89

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Why do I have a feeling Arsenal wil still come up short for top 4 this season? Even with a new manager who has had his time to settle, a good couple defensive signings and a very high potential in Pepe.. I still feel they are there to be taken by any side that plays them. Newcastle had a decent go and they are relegation favourites.

I feel like Arsenal will need to create some fear by going on a silly run of unbeaten games to change that perspective.
 

MalBot

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The window is closed but if anyone wants to dive into the numbers, SwissRamble explains it very well :
That was a good read. Imo it shows that we could always spend a bit more if we wanted it. The club seems to have realised to compete we had to change the way we operated. Not objecting to dealing with certain agents, not always haggling over price and knowing when to be decisive and pay the asking price (Pepe), not letting our players dictate the terms when they want to leave (Kos), getting decent prices for players leaving etc.

In many ways, off the pitch we seem to be a completely different club than the shambles of the last few years. Just need now to produce the results on the pitch.

Top 4 will be an epic struggle again, United, us and Spurs all have strengthened. Even Chelsea I can't rule out, they look good in many ways, just might struggle with goals.
 

ForeverRoma93

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They remind of Liverpool of a few seasons ago. Have a very good attacking lineup but still suspect at the back even with new defensive signings. Will be a close one for the top 4 race and am interested to see how they fair against the likes of City, Pool and Spurs.
 

Ooh2B

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That was a good read. Imo it shows that we could always spend a bit more if we wanted it. The club seems to have realised to compete we had to change the way we operated. Not objecting to dealing with certain agents, not always haggling over price and knowing when to be decisive and pay the asking price (Pepe), not letting our players dictate the terms when they want to leave (Kos), getting decent prices for players leaving etc.

In many ways, off the pitch we seem to be a completely different club than the shambles of the last few years. Just need now to produce the results on the pitch.

Top 4 will be an epic struggle again, United, us and Spurs all have strengthened. Even Chelsea I can't rule out, they look good in many ways, just might struggle with goals.
We are indeed. This transfer window was a complete 180 from the direction we looked like heading back in early June. The new guard appear to really have their act together and are dealing with the market like they actually know what they’re doing.

Very encouraged by all their work, but like you said, our main competition for that top 4 spot has also done some good work, and apart from Lampard, Emery and Ole have had time to put their own stamp on their squads, so no real excuses for them this year not to be getting results.

As long as we can hold our own against the other top 4/6 we should be right in that battle for a top 4 spot.
 

CM10

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The defence should improve with Mustafi seemingly out of favour but I think most of the other defenders they've got are still pretty flaky, especially if they're planning on playing four at the back.

I'll be interested to see how Holding does when he recovers from injury though, he's one of the few who I actually quite rate.
 

B20

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maitland-Niles, Willock, Guendouzi, elneny, kolasinac, Chambers.

It's just such an odd squad composition arsenal have. Loads of players who are destined for obscurity after doing a squad player. Add in 'bigger' signings like

Xhaka, mkhitaryan, ozil, mustafi, luiz

Who are basically busted flushes, And you have a majority of a squad that other top teams wouldn't touch if offered on a free and a spot in need of filling. None of them really fit in in the sense of fulfilling an important role the way someone like Coquelin did for a little while or being important for the mentality they bring.

The ones they had that were good enough for other top clubs are basically now playing for other top clubs.

Torreira, Lacazette, Aubameyang and maybe Bellerin are the only ones who could hope to play for a top club in the future (jury still out on Pepe and Tierney). And none of them players that fans of other top clubs would be envious of, except maybe Aubameyang.

There is enough in there for a good manager to get top four, but hard to see what you are supposed to build on from there.
 

RooneyLegend

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Emery is a fraud, said it and will keep saying it.
Arsenal are going nowhere with him steering the ship.
 

NieThePiet

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Pretty awful line up, as good as Liverpool have been.

Luiz, Maitland-Niles, Willock, Guendouzi, Xhaka,Ceballos. Nowhere near good enough.
Ah, Ceballos isn't good enough after one bad game? Willock and Matteo are young and especially Willock was our best player in midfield today.
Maitland-Niles isn't a natural Fullback, but Bellerin is still injured. Tierney too, Holding too. I would like to know how Liverpool would look without Trent and Robertson.

Liverpools midfield: Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Henderson. Honestly, i would want no one of them for Arsenal. But Klopp is the far better coach and he makes every player so much better, the same he did at Dortmund.
 

Mogget

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maitland-Niles, Willock, Guendouzi, elneny, kolasinac, Chambers.

It's just such an odd squad composition arsenal have. Loads of players who are destined for obscurity after doing a squad player. Add in 'bigger' signings like

Xhaka, mkhitaryan, ozil, mustafi, luiz

Who are basically busted flushes, And you have a majority of a squad that other top teams wouldn't touch if offered on a free and a spot in need of filling. None of them really fit in in the sense of fulfilling an important role the way someone like Coquelin did for a little while or being important for the mentality they bring.

The ones they had that were good enough for other top clubs are basically now playing for other top clubs.

Torreira, Lacazette, Aubameyang and maybe Bellerin are the only ones who could hope to play for a top club in the future (jury still out on Pepe and Tierney). And none of them players that fans of other top clubs would be envious of, except maybe Aubameyang.

There is enough in there for a good manager to get top four, but hard to see what you are supposed to build on from there.
I'm sorry, what? :lol:

How are Willock, Guendouzi and Maitland-Niles "destined for obscurity"?
 

izec

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Had a relatively good first half, then went to shit. Dont think they are that bad, they played against Liverpool, who our out of most teams league.

They will fight for top 4 with Chelsea in my opinion for the last spot.
 

Robbie Boy

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They’re still shite. No idea why anyone had other notions. Tonight just proved that but it was clearly still the case.
 

NieThePiet

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They’re still shite. No idea why anyone had other notions. Tonight just proved that but it was clearly still the case.
because it is pretty obvious that we are not challenging with City and Liverpool.