Daily Bits and Bobs

Striker spares clubs blushes & Why this £22M Arsenal move would absolutely make sense…

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

The Telegraph report this morning that Arsenal scouts were hard at work last night keeping a close eye on Sevilla Defensive midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak. If true, great!

The big Pole has a buy-out clause of just £21.26 million and that’s a good price for a seasoned international player who is rated very highly by a few Gooners I know. And it’s less than Utd paid for Morgan, whose surname I still can’t spell! Mind you, Krychowiak is worse but if Arsenal sign him, I’ll add him to my ‘new word to learn to spell each day’ list.

Seriously, what is £22 million when you have £200 million in the bank? And let’s not forget we’ve already got Podolski’s wages off of our books so there’s his salary, pretty much anyway and a few kids have gone too and although they may not have been earning much individually, it all counts when added up together..

All Arsenal have to do is trigger that buy-out clause and if the player wants to move to Arsenal, then he’s ours. If we are to believe this story then we also need to think there’s some truth in the players link to Southampton but we’d surely have the upper hand in negotiations as Arsenal can offer Champions League football. Krychowiak has already won the the Thursday/Sunday Cup, maybe he wants the bigger one in Europe.

Ok, he was part of a side which lost 5-4 to Barcelona last night in the Uefa Super Cup so I suspect someone will question his defensive abilities but come on, it was Barcelona…. lol

Krychowiak is 25 years old – a good age. Very experienced both internationally and in Europe. He stands at 6′ 1″ tall so would add a bit of height to the midfield and above all, Wath really rates him….

Oh, and looking at his stats which I know will please Ts, seldom does Krychowiak stray over the half-way line. He reads the game well and made 97 interceptions in his 32 appearances last season. He’s strong in the air too with a success rate of 73 per cent which is apparently a higher rate than any other player to compete in at least 60 aerial battles.

Come on Arsenal, do all it takes and get a deal done…..

Then go and get your striker or whoever it is you want to bolster the attacking unit…

Finally, well done to Chuba Akpom who last night helped spare Hull City’s blushes in the Capital One Cup. Not only did he open the scoring but fired home his penalty which saw Accrington Stanley knocked out…

That’s it, happy Wednesday all….

rico

230 thoughts on “Striker spares clubs blushes & Why this £22M Arsenal move would absolutely make sense…”

  1. Adam says:

    If Arsene is interested in signing him and nearly did so before, then why not have had it done several weeks ago? It couldn’t be reactive could it? As we are so often told, every Arsenal reaction is “knee jerk”.

  12. rogerbij says:

    Good one Rico, saw this too and agree Krychowiak is one of the best DMs left in the market. (Sevilla might disagree he is in the market!).

    I was surprised to find he is a few cms taller than Schneiderlin and a whole 10kg heavier! Beast! There is not too much between them in stats, but its a different league in spain isnt it. Which is why I prefered Morgan because you know exactly what youre getting.

    Krychowiak has a lower pass sucess rate over the past seasons, and fewer passes per game than Morgan, and slightly fewer tackles per game. Otherwise its about the same. So not a bad player stats-wise. Its also excellent to see he is only 25 with an excellent injury record (ie few).

    Lars Bender is Kevs favourite, but stats wise he had a much lower passing % than both last season, and made fewer tackles per game than both. Interceptions about the same. Overall in other seasons there is not much in it really stats-wise. Sven Bender is the slightly lesser of the Benders stats wise.

    Anyway, I really agree we need a solid DM because this is the base from which attacks move from and hold it together when things break down. Im probably one of the few who think this position is more important for Arsenal than another striker. And yes Im still mad we didnt buy Schneiderlin, especially after I learned to spell his name!

  15. Micko says:

    rico, it’s not easy signing players you know, first of all…….on seconds thoughts I won’t go there, it’s been flogged to death already.

  16. allezkev says:

    Good Morning Rico, a post that hits the spot…

    Good Morning Lee, Adam, Munchers, Crunchers and all Bender fans…

  18. bumba11 says:

    Personally this is something I hopes turns out to be true, but then again I agree with the Bender comments too. Plus, lets not forget 2 of Barca’s goals last night were Messi free kicks. I didn’t see the others so cannot comment.

    Rico, I reckon you are right on the 2 month wage savings ;-p

  22. rico says:

    Thanks Roger…

    On paper he sounds ideal, he’s tough too isn’t he? Koeman wants him for a reason I guess and perhaps that’s because he’s the nearest thing (stats wise) to Morgan.. Apparently, Southampton offered £9 million for him a few weeks back which funny enough, was declined….

  24. Madhav - Indian Gunner says:

    Nice post Rico…
    We’ll be strong in the midfield if we get him. But it’s up to AW. All we can do now is hope, that AW buy him. We need a CDM if we are to fight in all competitions.

  25. rogerbij says:

    Yeah, I guess the main thing that worries me about Krychowiak is his speed/mobility. Ive just been watching his scout videos on youtube and while a beast, he moves like one too. Hardly in the mobile Yaya Toure mold. Maybe someone more familiar with La Liga knows if he will be too slow/caught out in PL?

  28. tsgh says:

    Good read rico.

    Seville went all out to sign Nzonzi for a reason; AW was £3m short in January to bring him over before he recalled Le coq. Seville were even prepared to buy a makeshift replacement from Qatar but then IG and co. did what they do best… pull out…

    Dna- your link on previous page about Le Coq. Spot on.. everything I have been saying for awhile now.

  31. tsgh says:

    Rico- someone has been copying and pasting from this site.. 🙂

    Has this note been posted on here before… ok..the original poster had a lot of typos in his comments. 😛

    ”Coquelin’s skillset is fairly limited, and that is why Arsenal’s major competitors do not have a player similar to Coquelin starting matches as the defensive midfielder. Barcelona have Sergio Busquets; Real Madrid have Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, Bayern Munich have Xabi Alonso, Philip Lahm or David Alaba, PSG have Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti, and closer to home, Chelsea have Nemanja Matic.”

  33. scottfromoz says:

    If Coquelin does his job, and everyone else does, we work, as a unit.
    He doesn’t have to be flashy….we have enough of those.
    No frills is exactly what’s needed, and that’s what he is.
    This Polish lad, I know nothing of, but I do know we need another DM so hopefully we get one, if not him.

  35. scottfromoz says:

    That article is ridiculous.
    Anyone attempting to yell me we didn’t improve when Coquelin started playing is kidding.
    One poor game, in which the entire squad played poorly, and suddenly the kids no good?
    Bullshit.

  37. rogerbij says:

    Its a pretty good read DNA and TSGH. And it beats the hell out of my why there were plenty on HH in the summer saying we dont need another DM because where will Le Coq go?

    I say it again, 2 quality players in every position. In DM we have one good one, and we are 1 injury away from a crisis there. And as the article suggests, Le Coq is very good, but not world class.

  38. tsgh says:

    Wath- i saw a GG flavoured HP sauce in the corner shop the other day. 😉

    Agreed roger above.

    Adam- Up until 2 years ago I could understand why AW would wait until August to make certain signings as we were allegedly waiting for UCL qualification before we went out to spend another £25m; but since the deal sponsorship deal there is no more excuse..

    Eduardo was half right last night believing ‘deals being in the pipe line’.

    The issue as also is that we let who we want as first choice to dictate our whole transfer strategy.

    As an example, according to rumours AW went in for Turan when he heard he was up for sale. by that time the player and Bulut had agreed personal deal with Barca. Unless we could offer more there was no way we were going to get Turan…

  39. scottfromoz says:

    Roger, I don’t think anyone here said we don’t need another one.
    Plenty argued what type of DM do we get…..get a young, high priced one and chances are we lose Coqulein, so possibly get an older, more experienced one to help bring him along and share the load.

  40. rico says:

    Hi Scott. I started to read it then gave up, one off day for Coquelin, on a day when everyone else were awful too, someone wanting to rip the heart out of him doesn’t quite do it for me…

  43. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Good Morning Lovelies and Hunkies.

    I wish that Krychowiak would come. I like him. he can play as CB and DM. And as you pointed out in your good post…..he sits in front of the defence and rarely goes up.

    and he plays international football and is already a winner. he knows what it takes.

  44. Dublingunner says:

    Morning, jeez Rico don,t mention wenger leaving things late, today, you,ll be told otherwise, Lol. According to twitter reports Grzegorz Krychowiak has told Sevilla FC officials to accept Arsenal’s bid. He wants the move. I have to admit I’ve not seen much of Krychowiak but I know a lot of people rate him.

  45. scottfromoz says:

    Rico, I’m with you.
    I was just thinking…..when was the last time Arsenal lost a game due to one or two players having a shocker?
    I can’t remember, off the top of my head.
    When we lose, it’s because the vast majority, or even the entire 11 have had an off day.
    Why?
    I don’t have an answer, but I know we can never point the finger at one player, not even 3 or 4.

  46. tsgh says:

    Scott- I admire your confidence in Le Coq but surely we can’t be putting the progress of the club on hold for Coquelin’s sake. 😉

    Compare our form in the later part of 2012, 2013 and 2014 to later part of 2015 and you will be shocked there is no difference at all…

    Fans go on about us being able to win the league if we could replicate our form from when Coquelin got his call up…

    But there is no bases to that argument imho; if Chelsea and City replicated their better form over last year to the whole of this season, and we did like wise we will still finish 3rd.

    On the other hand if we replicated our form before January 2014 just before Ramsey got injured over the whole of this season and extrapolated Chelsea’s best form from last season, we will win the league 12 points ahead of Chelsea.

    So imho, we regressed the early part of last season because of the trio of JW and Ramsey plus Flamini in midfield plus Aw using 4-1-4-1 which fans were calling for AW to use previously…

  48. Adam says:

    In my rather limited fashion I see Coquelin’s essentials as two-fold. Win the ball and play it off to someone who can do something with it. Santi perhaps? If Santi is a way away on the wing Coquelin might be tempted to try a few ‘Hollywood’ balls. This he did, but alas, not very well.
    I doubt he is the answer but he was very good after he came in last year, perhaps because he kept it simple. It’s Arsene’s call but pundits will always cut the facts to fit their premise.
    The truth will lie in the points column after a few games.

  49. rico says:

    Thanks Ts, Devil..

    🙂 Dublin, I suspect I will… Let’s hope the Twitter stories about the guy wanting to move are true, like you I know little about him but I know a few people who do and speak highly of him…

  50. scottfromoz says:

    Ginge, I say it as a see it, and it was absolutely obvious we improved when Coquelin started playing.
    He did his job, and did it well.
    He relived the workload of others.
    I reiterate my comments made earlier…..we need anther DM, no question.
    My only worry is buying a young, top class guy means we will probably lose Coquelin at seasons end, and be no better off than we are now.
    If we get an older guy, happy to play his role when required, then Coquelin gets his chance to develop.
    If we get a young guy, and Coqeulin does leave, everyone will complain about losing him.
    What’s the answer?
    I don’t know but I know we did improve when Coqulein became a regular.
    I also know he is copping a heap based on one average game.
    Of course, plenty of others who payed even worse barely rate a mention.

  51. rico says:

    Scott, this might sound controversial but I think ‘some’ fans have their favourites and can’t see beyond them as being the reason Arsenal are good (when we were earlier in the year). I always got teased about my support of Theo and rightly so because at times he’s been woeful and I knew that deep down…

    I’d love to know, and if I could be bothered I’d look, which players were involved in our good run from Jan onwards and then the last few games when we really struggled again, who had returned from injury…

    It’s always easy to pick holes in players, and having just seen an headline suggesting Ozil is the worst Arsenal signing ever, I just nod my head in amazement and wonder what some people see before them…

  52. rico says:

    Adam, my own view is should we not sign a DM and Coquelin picks up an injury meaning Arteta has to play, the value of Coquelin will soon be noticed. Sadly by his absence….

    He’s not Matic or someone of his standard but as you say, he kept it simple and kept the ball moving but when he doesn’t do that, which I still think was down to not having Santi alongside him, it all looks a bit messy…

  55. Dublingunner says:

    Lets hope the stories regarding Flamini are true,that he,s been informed he can leave, with a year left on his contract, it,s said he,s looking for a pay off, “pay the man”
    Krychwiak in, Flamini out it seems.

  57. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Imagine this mates……

    Cech
    Bellerin, Per, Kos (GAB), Nacho
    Coquelin, Krchowiak
    Theo, Ozil, Sanchez
    Ollie

    That is some spine.

    Awesome.

    With Aaron, Cazorla, Danny, OX, all on the subs bench ready to come of

    And I am not including A new striker.

  64. eduardo says:

    Seen earlier in the year that Krychowiak and Szczesny are best mates. Played in all the age groups together for Poland.

  67. Micko says:

    Well I’m getting my excuses in early for our next game, I blame the bumpy pitch for our performance ! That’s me covered.

  68. Wath says:

    Am not surprised you like a bit of tart Bt, Micko partial to a bit of that as well…..

    Extra long grass as well Micko and of course the extra small goals..!

  71. eduardo says:

    Czech FA confirm that Tomáš Rosický is out for 1-2 months: http://bit.ly/1NpY0bs (via @petr_hruby)

    Wenger has told Flamini he isn’t in Arsenal plans & he can leave, @gstobart reports. Player hoping for big pay-off.

  73. tsgh says:

    Scott, I hear you on that…; I like debating with you even though we agree on loads because you never see a difference in opinion as a personal issue. 🙂

    I guess my interpretation/understanding of a player improving a team is slightly different. without sounding pedantic, in my view AS17 improved the team no doubt.

    But I find it hilarious when it is argued that because we did not get beaten 6-0 by Chelsea or Man city when Coquelin was in the team then we have improved when those results were anomalies at best. imo.

    But when before he came back we had won 14 out of a potential 25 games and then when he joined us we won 14 out of 29 games shows we have improved to the extend fans are amplifying his impact.

    Also, before he got recalled we have won 5 out of last 7 games showing that apart from the loss at spuds we were on an upward trajectory.

  74. rogerbij says:

    Good chat today lads.

    Devil the problem with your lineup is the distribution from def-mid > attack. Can either Coq or Krch do that? That is why Carzola beside Coq is sucessful, because he distributes. And why I wanted Schneiderlin because he is a bit of a hybrid, in that he can pass very well and make attacking passes.

  75. emma says:

    Morning all,
    I wanted krychowiak last summer. Doubt the story is true though. But if proven true he is a massive upgrade on Coquelin and way better than Schneiderlin and Bender. He is a monster beast of a DM prototype (a destroyer and a neutralizer). Very quick and aggressive in the tackles with good range of passing(long and short).

  77. scottfromoz says:

    Ginge, I now what you’re saying, and I agree to a certain extent……we got better as a squad and purely because of Coquelin.
    I do believe he was the final piece though.
    Not the perfect piece, but the final one….if that makes sense.
    I also agree with you that in certain games, Arteta will still do a great job.
    If Coqulein cops an injury though, we are in real trouble against some of the big guns.

  81. eduardo says:

    at the moment Arsenal have 23 players over the age of 21, and that includes Wellington and Campbell, who its not clear yet if they will be part of the first team squad this year, we also have two players over 21 out on loan, Szczesny and Jenkinson. We clearly have scope to make new signings, with the rumored departures of Flamini, Wellington and Campbell likely to be accurate we could have 5 places open. Now I would not expect more than 2 signings to be made, 3 if we decide to bring in an experienced goalie on a years deal for 3rd choice.

    20 days to get our transfer business done.

  84. emma says:

    If Rosicky is out for another 2months because of knee surgery we should probably let him go. Flamini no idea what he is still doing with us. Arsene should make room for Krychowiak by letting both leave. Can’t count on arteta cause he is too slow since his legs are gone but good for the team dressing room as well as FAcup/COcup

  89. allezkev says:

    You can never see what’s around the corner, injuries, loss of form etc…

    Atm Rosicky isn’t contributing, but in a couple of months he could be this seasons Coq…

    Flamini looks likely to leave, which could point to a signing in that dept’ – so I’m looking forward to Sept 1st, when he arrives…

    I still think that Bielik could have a few run-outs for us this season…
    Same with Iwobi…

    So I won’t be surprised if Wenger doesn’t fill up his 25 man squad…

    Could be, he’s leaving a spot or two for some business in January?

  90. tsgh says:

    lol Micko, you instigator. Since we are ‘ratting’ I must admit I had the backing of Emma too… 😉

    Sorry Emma.

    I think you have been sharing your notes with Rico a bit too much. 😉

    Rico, is a natural journo’. She is good at picking up the right info’ to make a point. 🙂

    Like she said I mentioned we should not sign Morgan because he was out of form… but she omitted that I added he was probably out of form because his head was not right and that if he was going to be like that then if a ‘bigger’ team came for him he will do the same to us. 🙂

  91. frednerk says:

    If you want a balanced centre/mid to compete
    it must be worked in two’s.
    2 players who compliment.
    Not the best stats for each.
    We all know the Coq was two-bob
    before Christmas and,
    we all know when
    we have a run of form,
    we all know who’s better.
    But unless you get about with a
    white stick……..Surely… anyone can see
    The Coq made a difference.

  92. Gdna says:

    Morning again, Coq has done well playing in a limited role at the end of last season because of SC playing beside him. He is a good player to have in the squad but should not be the first choice DM for a club like Arsenal. Its the same for the OG playing CF. For years AFC lacks proper players in the spine of the team and AW continues to use average players to fill the CF and DM positions. AW got away with sitting on his hands for past transfer windows, but this season is going to be different taking into consideration the additions the lesser teams are making. The moral of the story is CF and DM positions need to be upgrade, questions marks are even hanging over the CM position, because AR is not a A/B+ player for me his decision making and intelligence is a questionable. imo

  93. tsgh says:

    Scott- I am counting Arteta out of the equation because he only made 12 appearances the whole of last season and so he is not to be relied upon.

    Saying that if we compare our win ratio of Arteta in the team vs Coquelin you will be shocked.

    Also if you factor in viewsin Roger’s post from a few days back you will notice that we score less goals with Coquelin playing.

    Before, it is highlighted by someone that we can win the league by winning 1-0 or even 2-1 all season, I will respectfully refer all to the league table of 2013/2014 where yanited and Shitty finished on equal points but city lifted the trophy because they scored 14 more goals.

    Also no team has won the title having scored less than 68 goals.

    Again backing my point of contention that we need better.

    Roger- since you like your stats can you give us the win ratios please… 😉

  94. Gerry says:

    I am not going to be a regular on here, but following the premise under the banner, I would like to disagree with the Shortfuse article.
    There is a basic flaw in there which others have alluded to, in that:
    If you are playing out of defence, the ‘sideways pass’ is rarely the better option if you want to hit teams who park the bus with a quick counter? There is no need to ‘draw them on’ because if we are defending they are already out.
    This is partly why the Coquelin/Santi combination worked well. The former with the simple pass, the latter with the movement or pass forwards.
    That is part one …

  96. Gdna says:

    Arsenal made a mistake handing him contract extensions to MA and TR. The club had good chance to upgrade the MF and look what they did.

  97. emma says:

    Coquelin emergence last half of the previous season was simply an eyeopener of what we were actually lacking(a proper DM). Imagine what an upgrade of Coquelin could do.

  98. Gdna says:

    Gerry, the Shortfuse article is an opinion, but it make sense. All you got o do is re-watch all the games when we were on our so-call run. What about this section

    “With Cazorla and Coquelin, Arsenal beat a fairly-average Liverpool and lost at home to Monaco, where the two were fairly culpable for the first and second goal. Furthermore, a higher proportion of Arsenal’s goals were scored on set pieces, which isn’t very sustainable, and there is a smaller sample size of success, with results and performances at the end of the season pointing to the opposition sussing out how to stop Arsenal, as Manchester United did in the league until Cazorla was subbed off and Coquelin was moved to right back”.

  99. tsgh says:

    In recent time the team that has won the title having scored the least number of goals was Chelsea in 04/05. before that it was yanited in ’92 season…

    Chelsea set a record with the highest number of points accumulated having also conceded a miserly 22 goals.

    Even under the supposedly astute defensive tutelage of GG, we didn’t conceded as few.

    My point is in order to win the title we need to score at least 15 more goals than we did last season…

    Micko, potter, fred or Kev might be correct me if I am wrong…

  101. Gerry says:

    Part two …
    The real problem however, lies in how the rest of the midfield is constructed. It is like a 10 piece jigsaw puzzle for all the outfield players, except you have 11 pieces, and the surplus one is in midfield. All the pieces will fit together, after a fashion, but only some combinations work really well.
    In short, if Ozil is going to be our principle ‘up field’ creator, then he needs the lateral space to move around. He got no space at all against West Ham as nearly all crowded the middle.

    Ramsey works well with Ozil because he runs into the space, often created by Ozil’s off-ball movement, so they rarely occupy the same area. We miss Ramsey’s energy when de doesn’t play.
    Cazorla works well with Ozil because both are experienced enough to work around each other effectively, with neither having to be the pretend wide player.
    What Coquelin needs, and what he does well, is keep it simple, and have someone to pass to. Where this favours Cazorla in the partnership role is that he can carry the ball out of a tight situation with a far greater success than Ramsey can. Who, in general, would look to pass the ball on. Not a bad thing to do if we are trying to retain possession, but it slows things down if we are trying to counter quickly.
    With Alexis, when fit(and that will not be against Crystal Palace, imo), Walcott, and Ox, supported by Ozil, who is no slouch, we have the pace to exploit the counter option.

    That said, I too am a big fan of Krypchoviac, and would sign him in an instant. Not because I have lost faith in Coquelin, but because he will be the ideal tutor for fellow Pole, 17 year old, Bielik, who is a great prospect for the future
    He would be the ‘1’ in the 4-1-4-1 line up should it be needed. He is a far better option than W Carvallho who simply cannot tackle.
    If that means Coquelin plays second fiddle, although with the number of games we play, he will still get plenty of starts, then so be it. But he does not solve the midfield conundrum … except possibly open up a space for a pacey left winger?

  102. Gdna says:

    The manager playing his buddies/favorites, fans don’t want to upgrade certain positions because their buddies/favorites might be relegated to the bench, how can the club win the PL with this problem?

  103. tsgh says:

    Dna- you are making sense today. 😛

    Joking aside btw…; you are spot on above. As I said and as I know everyone on here is capable of doing their own research to content my submissions (barring time), we score less goals when Le coq plays.

    Also it is a huge MYTH/ disinformation that if we replicate our form from dec 13th 2014 onwards to my throughout this season we will win the title.

    I respectful submit that the argument that one should believe what they see in football is pure conjecture. We did not play better when Coquelin re-joined the team.

    The team had won 5 out of 7 before he joined. if the last lose was not against the sperds I bet it wouldn’t have received as it was…

  104. scottfromoz says:

    Did Coquelin NOT end up an upgrade on what we had?
    So if we upgrade him, then you’ll be bitching the new guys isn’t good enough lol.
    Same shit every day.

  106. Gdna says:

    Ts, the improvement the team needs to compete is clear as mud (lol), I have no favorites so I will say it as I see it. Loyalty to certain players is holding the club back.

  107. scottfromoz says:

    Ginge, you are not making any allowances for Coqeulin finding further improvement though.
    He did improve us……yes, it highlighted our prior deficiencies, but he improved us.
    He’s young and will improve, or should.
    None of these conversations took place last season.
    Why?
    One average game.
    ONE.

  109. Gdna says:

    Coquelin is suddenly the best thing since slice bread, when most fans couldn’t wait to see him out the door. lol. MF, MA and FC will only get you 4th, although that might be the ambition of the club. lol

  110. Shanice says:

    Either welbeck r a new winger . not Walcott r ox . welbeck offers a lot to me on the wing maybe not goals but he does other things well. He doesn’t go missing like ox and Walcott he works very hard and try to stay in the game I like that. I find it funny he is injured for so long maybe he is doing some work on his finishing I hope.

  112. tsgh says:

    Scott- again I get your point but I have been consistent in my views on Coquelin from last season.

    I have consistently showed data showing that Coquelin drops in distance covered in 2nd half of games and cards he collects etc.

    I have also agreed with you that I expect Shad to improve Francis’s stamina.

    May I also add that Coquelin has not only had 1 poor game. He has had a few luckily as I have always said Sc19 and AR16 were in form to cover his deficiencies.imho

    I can’t talk for others who may be forming their views based on 1 non-showing by him imho…

  113. rogerbij says:

    hey TSGH, cant break it all down right now, becuase Im at work but…

    No team in the past 7 years at least has won with a goal difference less than +41 (that is as far back as I can be bothered going)

    PL Champions last 7 years…
    Average GD is +53
    Average F is 86
    Average A is 33

    Year W D L Win Ratio
    2008/09 28 6 4 74%
    2009/10 27 5 6 71%
    2010/11 23 11 4 61%
    2011/12 28 5 5 74%
    2012/13 28 5 5 74%
    2013/14 27 5 6 71%
    2014/15 26 9 3 68%

    Hope this table displays ok…
    Lets agree you need +70% win ratio to have a decent chance. We can lose max 4 more games or so this season.

  114. Wath says:

    Gdna, Don’t think for one minute ppl saying Coq is the best thing since sliced bread at all think it merely highlights the fact that’s the position where we have struggled for years and years and it’s where we should still improve on as a priority if we are going to be competitive enough to think about winning the league.

  115. Micko says:

    1990-91 tsgh, Safe Hands only conceded 18 when we won the league, best defense in Europe, seems like a 100 years ago now !

  116. emma says:

    scott – ????
    Coquelin is currently an upgrade of what we currently have but will benefit if someone superior comes in. They can both rotate pending on opposition.
    At the moment the position that needs an upgrade are the DM and ST roles

  118. tsgh says:

    Scott- do you agree we score less goals when Coquelin plays?

    I have always agreed with everyone who Loves and rates Coquelin that he might have improved us when our performances are compared to results pre 13th dec. 2014.

    However, if we compare our points tally over the last 3 seasons from the same period then we as a club has not improved.

    That is my submission. If anyone can dispute those hard facts then fair game…

  120. tsgh says:

    Micko since I am me… I will say that season was during the old division… 😛 😀

    That’s for bring that knowledge to bare to me though… Something for my stats catalogue.

  122. Wath says:

    Seems like 100yrs ago Micko, that’s cos ya brains frazzled………. ole git…! Ask Kev for some of his “pills”…!

  124. scottfromoz says:

    Ginge, I take your word on the stats of goals scored with/without him.
    How do we gauge improvement?
    Is 3rd place not an improvement?
    The fact is other clubs improved as well.
    It’s a hard discussion point.
    As for some players being favourites, others are not.
    Some will cop abuse and criticism every day of the week.
    Giroud.
    His critics were very quiet for months last season, but they’re back in fine voice this week.
    Of course, I’d like to see people name a single position where we couldn’t upgrade.

  125. Micko says:

    Yeah saw that Scott but in fairness Messi isn’t the quickest either !!!

    Wasn’t pulling you up tsgh, did say it was a very long time ago.

  126. Gdna says:

    I’m going to be slated, but Grzegorz Krychowiak is probably not the right DM we should be looking at, fans who never seen this guy play is getting their hopes high because we desperately need to upgrade the DM position, but the players we should be looking at are Bender, Kramer and Camacho who are all better players although Javi Martinez would be my first choice. Javi Martinez and Benz would improve the team massively.

  130. andrewh1313 says:

    Afternoon all. We still putting in a League Cup team?! Thought we had let nearly everyone on the fringe go out on loan. Don’t want AW saying a few of our lads are tired, time next league match comes.

  131. Thulani says:

    We can talk as much as we like but this is Wenger’s team he does as he please. Even our Board listen to him and him only and I suspect he is done buying. That man takes advices from no one ask Tony Adams he will tell you.

  137. tsgh says:

    Dna- when was the last time Martinez played as a CDM?

    No offence bro, but I think you are going by reputation only.

    Sven has been shocking for 3 years.imho
    he couldn’t even get ahead of a player like Kehl. And Kehl is worst than Arteta who you hate and don’t rate btw.

    Lars has been ok but he is going to behind Castro and Kramer

    I doubt Lars will get ahead of Aranguiz…

    Bayer 04 has to sell imho.. no UCL football either

  139. andrewh1313 says:

    94.38% of fans think we made a mistake with Schneiderlin;-) Personally, I actually believed it was a done deal, but then again, should know from Higuan never to trust any reports anymore. Known Prmnier player who apparently wanted to come. If it was the money that broke the deal, then I feel really sick.

  140. Gdna says:

    Ts, reputation? lol. All the players listed can contribute on both ends of the field effectively and are all better players than what we have.

  143. Gerry says:

    Gdna @1:28pm – I appreciate it is an opinion, but if it is built around discrediting one player to favour another, with a flawed proposition, then I though it was worth pointing it out.
    The fact that you did not challenge my argument, but went on with another part of the article to make your case suggests you accept the flaw?

    I am not sure if re-watching games is very helpful, unless you are truly objective. Most people see what they want see. And when you are restricted to what the cameras pick up and re-show you are very much in the hands of the editor?

    But you are welcome to use the part of the article to discredited those run in games to build a case if you want to. I happen to think that Coquelin played a huge role at a time when we needed a boost, and which eventually got us the luxury of no midweek games right now. Cazorla praised him highly, and he should know?
    Rmemember, it is okay to disagree ..

  144. tsgh says:

    Dna- Geiss is better than Lars imho; reason he was captain of Mainz at 20y.o and bought by by SC04.

    Even Goretzka is better imho

    If you have time this season keep an one on both…He even scored on his debut for SC04 ok friendly. 😉

  145. Drake says:

    Ts didnt castro sign for dortmund?my dream MF for arsenal krow paired with ramsey only if wenger lets him play b2b.a ramsey who plays for wales is different to the one who plays for us…as for COQ why has he not been called up by france if he is that good?

  146. emma says:

    Gdna
    August 12, 2015 at 2:16pm

    ‘I’m going to be slated, but Grzegorz Krychowiak is probably not the right DM we should be looking at.’

    He is definitely what we need and can confidently tell you that I watched loads of Sevilla matches both in the laliga/Europa league last 2 seasons to make the judgement. But doubt we will sign him

  148. Gdna says:

    Drake, stats are like mini skirts that only shows legs. lol. I was also looking at a player who could play with FC effectively, its just opinion bro, Grzegorz Krychowiak might be a good buy, who knows.

  159. tsgh says:

    Same line-up but with theo coming in for Ox.

    But I think AW will play AS17 and move Ramsey to the rhs and play theo upfront.

  164. arsenal1170 says:

    Great Banter and debate – I do agree we need a DM to complement and assist Le Coq,not replace him. Many games.I confer Coq plays better alongside SC19. AW must be ruthless drop his favourites, he cannot all in starting 11. Rotation and squad management key to our season.Cheers

  165. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Krychowiak is not the ideal player but will be a good addition. With him, Flamini could be transfer to another team.
    But for me, and probably we are late now, Pedrito is our solution for the attack. He wants a move, he wants to play in Spain national team next year, he wants to play in CL, he probably wants to play with Cazorla, he his always there and in the right place, he his much more cheaper then Benzema, Cavani,etc, he is younger and I apprecite him a lot.

  166. tsgh says:

    Possibly Dna. It has been said that my views are biased against Ox.

    For now I see him as a player who can come on and stretch defences. When he starts games he has too many scary moments. saying that 7out of his 13 goals he has scored for us has come when he has started games and so…

    good job I am not the manager so.. 😉

    Drake -what do you think of young Weigl.. he looks very promising.

  167. GML3 says:

    I’d like him at the club. We need some height and defo more steel in midfield. Some of my mates who are Seville supporters really rate the lad highly. They also say there are rumours that he’d planned to stay one more year to play in the CL with Seville before moving with additional rumours that Arsenal was the likely club for next summer, so if we go for him now, it may be like the Monreal deal- somewhat of a deal in place for a later date that is getting moved up. Anyway, just rumours all around. Bottom line, we need another quality DM and a top class clinical striker. In the striker department, I’d still prefer Lewa, but I’d take Benzema or Cavani.

  169. Gdna says:

    Ts, I honestly don’t know what to say anymore about the British core, I would play TW because he score goals, but the Ox debate I wont get in. lol.

  170. Drake says:

    Ts,everyone at dortmund is back on form defence,midfield and attack,there is also a kid plays lb who impresses me…tuchel 1st signing and is slowly being introduced to the side and yes i like the kid ts

  171. Drake says:

    Dna chambers is the only good english player we have,as for others it best i dont talk about them.why jack is still an arsenal player?,but woj smokes once and he is out

  172. Gdna says:

    Drake, lol. Not 1 of them impress me but I guess their passport/birthplace is important so the club got to accommodate them.

  174. allezkev says:

    I have to agree, in part, with Gerry, re: Coq.

    Last season, well that part of the season from West Ham(a), Coquelin was immense.
    He kept it simple, made the tackles, won the ball, gave it to Santi.

    Job done…

    People have such short memories…

    Well I saw, at the Emirates, the shambles that was the Arsenal midfield.
    Prior to Coquelins return from Charlton.
    They couldn’t tackle a custard tart…

    He’s had one poorish game, in a team performance where every Arsenal player was poor…

    And now you want to dump him ffs….

  175. allezkev says:

    I haven’t got a problem with Wenger bringing in another def/mid, but imo he should be complimentary to Coquelin and not his replacement…

    And how about playing two def/mids as a, what is it Ginge goes on about?
    A double pivot…

    Sounds line something a carpenter does tbh!

  177. arsenal11730 says:

    Just thinking this could be a topsy turvy season with the Top 4 because mid table teams have purchased good talent. The Tele deal with extra revenues have allowed them the flexibility to offer decent wages. We have to get our act together quickly or else it could be same old…………….

  182. allezkev says:

    Makes sense Ginge, it’s clear that Campbell doesn’t have a future at Arsenal.

    Not sure what’s gonna happen with Wellington?

  188. Rick says:

    Kev u21 are at home to Fulham on Friday.

    Game being played at the Emeriats any chance you could go to run the rule over the new boys.

  193. tsgh says:

    Morning Rico, lee and all

    I wonder why yaya is still with us albeit on loan whilst Campbell is being sold? hmmm… conspiracy or what.

    Wellington is joining Betis

  194. tsgh says:

    Rick, I am doing the Fulham game on Friday.

    I attend 2 emirates game for u-21 yearly. one reserve game plus one European game.

  195. tsgh says:

    Can anyone guess how many games how many games Kosser and Per played together from August 2014 to 13th of December 2014?

    To give a clue Kosser played 13 games before 13.12.14 and Per Played 19 games before that date.

  196. Lee says:

    More dithering from Wenger…..this squad is not good enough to win the PL or CL, we need to add some quality!

  197. scottfromoz says:

    Morning all.
    I’d love to sit down with Wenger, have a beer and ask what the fuck he is waiting for lol.
    Seriously, as much as I defend him, this is beyond a joke.
    Money is no issue.
    There’s been a shit load of players bought/sold and of bloody good quality, so what is it?

  198. Adam says:

    Morning Rico and chaps. Part of Arsene’s legacy will be his seeming reluctance to strengthen adequately. it is of course the earliest of days but, personally, I don’t see this squad winning the PL or the CL. Perhaps it is just an unfortunate perception but it does seem that, the louder the clamour for squad upgrades, the less likely Mr Wenger is to actually do them.
    I imagine that Kroenke has a large price hike in ST’s under his syrup for next season but the fans will want to see some serious improvements first.

  200. rico says:

    Scott, I think we all would. I really don’t understand why he’s so unwilling to get signings done. I’m no football expert and will never claim to be but even David Blunkett could see we need at least a central midfielder signed…

  201. Lee says:

    Rico, Stevie Wonder would of worked too… 😆

    Wasn’t that long ago that an away fixture at Palace was considered 3 points…. after that shit show on Sunday who is massively confident? I am not….

  202. scottfromoz says:

    I truly don’t get it.
    Ok, I’m a million miles away, but sitting back watching every other big club strengthen, and some of the mid table clubs, even more so, tells us we need to improve else we will go backwards.
    Damn, I hope he has a surprise or two up his sleeve.

  203. tsgh says:

    Rico- 😀 ”David blunkett could see that we need at least a central midfielder signed”

    Maybe there is a Jonathan Powell and Alastair Campbell telling Wenger its all good. 😉

  204. tsgh says:

    I think the false sense of security afforded Aw due to sections of fans believing that we can replicate our ‘form’ from 13th December is what might have caused this situation.

    I see a repeat of 2008/2009 season when the season before that we had beaten inter and almost won the league.

    Fans held this false believe that if Eduardo could be nursed back we will go on to win the league…

  206. scottfromoz says:

    Ginge, I honestly see anyone, anywhere suggesting we shouldn’t strengthen.
    Wenger shouldn’t hang is hat in fans opinion anyway, as he makes the calls and should know what’s required.

  208. rico says:

    You could turn that around Scott, fans wouldn’t be calling for signings if the man did his job properly….

    I bet any other manager would have signed another DM by now….

  215. Adam says:

    When Wenger began he was a total innovator and changed the game in this country. His achievements when we moved into the Emirates and were spun a crock of shit by the board probably defined him and left its legacy. Now the modern game, ghastly though it is, seems to be drifting past his windows as he clings on to the way things were.
    Uncharitable?
    Yes.

  218. scottfromoz says:

    Adam, he’s an idealist, and while that’s a very noble thing, it’s unappreciated on Football nowadays.
    That’s sad, but it’s also the way it is, so he must change….or else.

  221. tsgh says:

    Last summer, I mentioned I was losing hope in AW because he knew Per would be in the WC to the later stages and that with him allowing Sagna to go and bringing in Debuchy we would be staring the season with only 2 out of the 4 defenders who ended the season…

    Per did not play his first game for us until 31 Aug against leicester city. Coincidentally, we did not win the first 3 games he played and we conceded 5 goals in those 3 games even though Per was rushed back.

    It still amazes me how Aw can sometimes simplify his reason for doing certain things.

    Then again its not just AW’s doing, the debuchy deal still puzzles me! What has he contributed and what is his win ratio with him in the team.

  222. Wavy says:

    Adam, true? Yes youre right in every respect! He needs a good overhaul and someone should change his chip! His loyalty to most of his squad is laudable but too often misplaced! Sometimes you have to take a good, long hard look at yourself and re-boot (no pun intended, but apt none the less!).
    New players, we’ve had a few, too few to mention!
    My turn to put on my coat!

    Morning all

  225. Adam says:

    Scott. Unappreciated? Not so sure as I think we all value him. Successful? Possibly, but surely you need to use the assets, so hard won, to achieve better and better.

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