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The Goon Thread
- Thread starter Jordinho
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markysimmo
Johnny nice-tits
They are officially out of the title race, not bad with 28 games to go, their fans will go into overdrive
markysimmo
Johnny nice-tits
Amazingly a decent view from Winterburn, it does amaze me though that after reading the bits in bold which I agree with, Chambers is still in the England squad/team when he is clearly struggling to cope
Arsenal are in desperate need of a centre back and should adopt the defensive tactics of former manager George Graham when looking to address current lapses, according to Nigel Winterburn.
The Gunners let a lead slip for the second time in a week at Swansea on Sunday, just days after surrendering a three-goal at home to Anderlecht in the Champions League on Wednesday.
And Winterburn believes the club should perhaps adopt the stern defensive displayed shown during Graham’s spell at the club when attempting to hold on to leads.
“To often when we see Arsenal struggle, particularly when the opposition break quickly on them from midfield and they can’t close them down and win the ball back, we see both full backs chasing backwards.,” Winterburn told Sky Sports News HQ.
“I would love to see us defend how we did it under George Graham, where one of the full backs sits back in there, so you’ve got two centre half and a full back facing the play as you’re being quickly counter attacked. I think if Arsenal looked at the way we defended under Graham it would help them immensely.
“They’ve been caught out because they’ve Debuchy who’s gone out injured for a long time and at the moment Koscielny is out, so it’s left them short. Wenger may have taken the gamble on Calum Chambers, who can play in both positions, but what they didn’t plan for was that two of them are out for a prolong period of time. They do need a centre-half that’s for sure.”
Winterburn, who enjoyed thirteen trophy-laden years at the club, believes the capture of a world-class defender would ease some of the pressure on Arsenal's leaking defence and, more importantly, ease the level of expectation on young defender Calum Chambers.
Since his summer switch from Southampton, Chambers has struggled at times in the unfamiliar right back position and Winterburn, who occupied the full-back position at Arsenal himself, offered some advice to the defender who was put through his paces by Swansea’s Jefferson Montero in Sunday's defeat.
“There are several things Chambers can do [in dealing with difficult opponents]but he’s got to work that process out as game is going on. You can’t have the manager shouting out ‘you’ve got to do this’, you’ve got to work that out as you’re playing and that will be a massive learning curve for Chambers.
“He’s had a real torrid time there and he needs to go on the training ground to figure out what he’s going to do should he end up in that situation again, but it’s not a problem that he’s had that experience because we’ve all had it. My gut feeling is that he will eventually be a centre half for Arsenal.”
Arsenal are in desperate need of a centre back and should adopt the defensive tactics of former manager George Graham when looking to address current lapses, according to Nigel Winterburn.
The Gunners let a lead slip for the second time in a week at Swansea on Sunday, just days after surrendering a three-goal at home to Anderlecht in the Champions League on Wednesday.
And Winterburn believes the club should perhaps adopt the stern defensive displayed shown during Graham’s spell at the club when attempting to hold on to leads.
“To often when we see Arsenal struggle, particularly when the opposition break quickly on them from midfield and they can’t close them down and win the ball back, we see both full backs chasing backwards.,” Winterburn told Sky Sports News HQ.
“I would love to see us defend how we did it under George Graham, where one of the full backs sits back in there, so you’ve got two centre half and a full back facing the play as you’re being quickly counter attacked. I think if Arsenal looked at the way we defended under Graham it would help them immensely.
“They’ve been caught out because they’ve Debuchy who’s gone out injured for a long time and at the moment Koscielny is out, so it’s left them short. Wenger may have taken the gamble on Calum Chambers, who can play in both positions, but what they didn’t plan for was that two of them are out for a prolong period of time. They do need a centre-half that’s for sure.”
Winterburn, who enjoyed thirteen trophy-laden years at the club, believes the capture of a world-class defender would ease some of the pressure on Arsenal's leaking defence and, more importantly, ease the level of expectation on young defender Calum Chambers.
Since his summer switch from Southampton, Chambers has struggled at times in the unfamiliar right back position and Winterburn, who occupied the full-back position at Arsenal himself, offered some advice to the defender who was put through his paces by Swansea’s Jefferson Montero in Sunday's defeat.
“There are several things Chambers can do [in dealing with difficult opponents]but he’s got to work that process out as game is going on. You can’t have the manager shouting out ‘you’ve got to do this’, you’ve got to work that out as you’re playing and that will be a massive learning curve for Chambers.
“He’s had a real torrid time there and he needs to go on the training ground to figure out what he’s going to do should he end up in that situation again, but it’s not a problem that he’s had that experience because we’ve all had it. My gut feeling is that he will eventually be a centre half for Arsenal.”
Reservations over Arsène Wenger’s defensive tactics held by former players and pundits are shared by members of his Arsenal staff.
Wenger’s approach has been called into question following the Champions League draw with Anderlecht and Premier League defeat by Swansea City after leading in both games.
Paul Merson, the former Arsenal forward, was the most outspoken of manager Wenger’s critics last week, branding the club “clueless” and while such a harsh view is not shared by anybody at the Emirates Stadium, there is frustration inside the club over Wenger’s refusal to change his defensive set-up.
Steve Bould, Wenger’s assistant, takes a particular interest in the defence, but other backroom figures were left dismayed by the Frenchman’s approach at the Liberty Stadium.
Having seen Arsenal take the lead through Alexis Sánchez, Wenger made no obvious attempt to try to close the game out or solve the problems Calum Chambers was suffering on the right.
There is a feeling that Wenger would have been better to move Nacho Monreal to the right, or play 19-year-old right back Hector Bellerin, and put Chambers into the centre of defence.
Wenger, though, stuck with the same defence that threw away a three-goal lead against Anderlecht and made it easy for Swansea to expose Arsenal’s weakness.
Having studied the Anderlecht match, Swansea’s game plan was to make as many crosses from the left as possible to try to put Monreal and Kieran Gibbs under pressure.
The move worked out with the winning goal, as substitute Bafétimbi Gomis rose above Monreal to head a Jefferson Montero cross from the left past Wojciech Szczesny.
All of Wenger’s substitutions came once Arsenal had fallen behind, rather than trying to influence the game earlier by sending on Bellerin or Jack Wheelchair to try to protect the lead.
Wenger will be given £20 million in the January transfer window to try to shore up Arsenal’s defence, but there remains regret that he did not do so in the summer.
Arsenal will hold a scouting meeting this week to discuss targets and start to assemble a list of who exactly they will bid for.
Celtic’s Virgil van Dijk is a man Arsenal have watched, with the Scottish club demanding around £15 million, while Manchester United’s Chris Smalling, Aston Villa’s Ron Vlaar and West Ham United’s Winston Reid are also being monitored.
Defender Per Mertesacker admitted it was “unbelievable” that Arsenal lost the lead again at Swansea after shooting themselves in the foot against Anderlecht and questioned the team’s maturity.
“The game at Swansea was completely in our hands, especially in the second half when we scored,” Mertesacker said.
“Then we have to play serious football and not lose the ball, but they got us on the break and that’s completely unbelievable in our situation.
“We know Anderlecht came back when we were winning 3-0 and Swansea came back due to mistakes we made.
"We have the potential, but if we don’t play that serious football then any team can cause problems against us.
“I thought we are mature enough to realise when we have the lead to take possession and not let them get us on the break. That’s what happened. We lost the ball on several occasions and that was the problem.
“When you get such a result as against Anderlecht, normally you come back quickly and after such a setback normally we bounce back immediately.
"At Swansea, that was not the case and we now have to take the international break really seriously and work hard on the issues.”
Goalkeeper Szczesny was equally honest in his assessment of Arsenal’s defensive troubles, adding: “We had a poor five-minute spell at Swansea and at this level it costs you.
"It’s something that we need to focus on because it’s been two games where short spells lacking discipline and focus have cost us.
“You can’t just hope that the next one will be different and we’ll get a bit of luck – we need to focus for 90 minutes and do our jobs properly offensively and defensively. Then things will change.”
Chambers, who suffered a torrid time at the hands of Montero, believes he and his Arsenal team-mates will have to show plenty of character when they return from the international break to face Manchester United.
“We’ve just got to stay mentally strong as a team,” said Chambers. “We’ll watch it back to learn from it and try to improve our game. We’ve just got to stay mentally strong throughout the game.”
Merson has vowed not to back down in his row with Wenger after his old boss questioned his managerial record and the validity of the 46-year-old’s views.
Of his brief managerial career at Walsall, Merson said: “I wasn’t a great manager. But I don’t remember drawing a game after being 3-0 up – and I never had a team full of internationals.
“I think it is childish he [Wenger] has had a dig at me. Not interested in Paul Merson? He was begging me to stay when he offered me a new contract [in 1997].
"I respect Arsène Wenger, he’s a brilliant manager. When he first came here he was far ahead of his time. But times change.
"It’s my job to give an honest opinion. I was at Arsenal 14 years and I say these things because I care – I’m not backing down.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/11222040/Arsenal-manager-Arsene-Wengers-tactics-under-scrutiny-from-members-of-coaching-staff-following-defeat-at-Swansea.html
Wenger’s approach has been called into question following the Champions League draw with Anderlecht and Premier League defeat by Swansea City after leading in both games.
Paul Merson, the former Arsenal forward, was the most outspoken of manager Wenger’s critics last week, branding the club “clueless” and while such a harsh view is not shared by anybody at the Emirates Stadium, there is frustration inside the club over Wenger’s refusal to change his defensive set-up.
Steve Bould, Wenger’s assistant, takes a particular interest in the defence, but other backroom figures were left dismayed by the Frenchman’s approach at the Liberty Stadium.
Having seen Arsenal take the lead through Alexis Sánchez, Wenger made no obvious attempt to try to close the game out or solve the problems Calum Chambers was suffering on the right.
There is a feeling that Wenger would have been better to move Nacho Monreal to the right, or play 19-year-old right back Hector Bellerin, and put Chambers into the centre of defence.
Wenger, though, stuck with the same defence that threw away a three-goal lead against Anderlecht and made it easy for Swansea to expose Arsenal’s weakness.
Having studied the Anderlecht match, Swansea’s game plan was to make as many crosses from the left as possible to try to put Monreal and Kieran Gibbs under pressure.
The move worked out with the winning goal, as substitute Bafétimbi Gomis rose above Monreal to head a Jefferson Montero cross from the left past Wojciech Szczesny.
All of Wenger’s substitutions came once Arsenal had fallen behind, rather than trying to influence the game earlier by sending on Bellerin or Jack Wheelchair to try to protect the lead.
Wenger will be given £20 million in the January transfer window to try to shore up Arsenal’s defence, but there remains regret that he did not do so in the summer.
Arsenal will hold a scouting meeting this week to discuss targets and start to assemble a list of who exactly they will bid for.
Celtic’s Virgil van Dijk is a man Arsenal have watched, with the Scottish club demanding around £15 million, while Manchester United’s Chris Smalling, Aston Villa’s Ron Vlaar and West Ham United’s Winston Reid are also being monitored.
Defender Per Mertesacker admitted it was “unbelievable” that Arsenal lost the lead again at Swansea after shooting themselves in the foot against Anderlecht and questioned the team’s maturity.
“The game at Swansea was completely in our hands, especially in the second half when we scored,” Mertesacker said.
“Then we have to play serious football and not lose the ball, but they got us on the break and that’s completely unbelievable in our situation.
“We know Anderlecht came back when we were winning 3-0 and Swansea came back due to mistakes we made.
"We have the potential, but if we don’t play that serious football then any team can cause problems against us.
“I thought we are mature enough to realise when we have the lead to take possession and not let them get us on the break. That’s what happened. We lost the ball on several occasions and that was the problem.
“When you get such a result as against Anderlecht, normally you come back quickly and after such a setback normally we bounce back immediately.
"At Swansea, that was not the case and we now have to take the international break really seriously and work hard on the issues.”
Goalkeeper Szczesny was equally honest in his assessment of Arsenal’s defensive troubles, adding: “We had a poor five-minute spell at Swansea and at this level it costs you.
"It’s something that we need to focus on because it’s been two games where short spells lacking discipline and focus have cost us.
“You can’t just hope that the next one will be different and we’ll get a bit of luck – we need to focus for 90 minutes and do our jobs properly offensively and defensively. Then things will change.”
Chambers, who suffered a torrid time at the hands of Montero, believes he and his Arsenal team-mates will have to show plenty of character when they return from the international break to face Manchester United.
“We’ve just got to stay mentally strong as a team,” said Chambers. “We’ll watch it back to learn from it and try to improve our game. We’ve just got to stay mentally strong throughout the game.”
Merson has vowed not to back down in his row with Wenger after his old boss questioned his managerial record and the validity of the 46-year-old’s views.
Of his brief managerial career at Walsall, Merson said: “I wasn’t a great manager. But I don’t remember drawing a game after being 3-0 up – and I never had a team full of internationals.
“I think it is childish he [Wenger] has had a dig at me. Not interested in Paul Merson? He was begging me to stay when he offered me a new contract [in 1997].
"I respect Arsène Wenger, he’s a brilliant manager. When he first came here he was far ahead of his time. But times change.
"It’s my job to give an honest opinion. I was at Arsenal 14 years and I say these things because I care – I’m not backing down.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/11222040/Arsenal-manager-Arsene-Wengers-tactics-under-scrutiny-from-members-of-coaching-staff-following-defeat-at-Swansea.html
I'm not really refering to just wenger here. but, if you think about it, isnt merson taking wenger's words on him personally a bit hypocritical? it was somewhat the same with mourinho/redknapp too. and other managers and pundits.
basically pundits regularly question managers' credentials to do their jobs. but when managers question a pundits qualifications to give an assesment on the game, suddenly the pundit takes it very personally.
Baleforce
Arthur Rowe
Merson's a scumbag (surprisingly), the scum stood by him and kept him in the game whilst other caught drug takers received life bans, then as soon as he's up for a big money move he's off, he can't even claim they forced him out now as he's just admitted they offered him a contract, now he can stick the boot in for a few quid off the paper to a club that saved his career, maybe even his life.
The man is an imbecile and shouldn't be given the inches or airtime.
The man is an imbecile and shouldn't be given the inches or airtime.
glorygloryeze
Tom Huddlestone
I have to agree with this. Fun to watch the squabbling though innit!
markysimmo
Johnny nice-tits
Arsenal's season so far
ShelfLife
Clive Wilson
Trudy Mertesecker. I would.
shaney
Alan Hutton
Up the ***enal?
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shaney
Alan Hutton
According to some people here, we might still finish top 4.