(The not-so-temporary quite-official) Gooner Thread (Part 1)

Finally some fight shown by the boys! But why oh why couldn't we put in a shift like that vs chelsea.

Much better, we were all over them in the second half and I was actually a bit disappointed when the final whistle went. 

Now to Everton, where we must not lose. 

I quite enjoyed the final 'conclusion' on F365's post-match analysis:

"Finally, a plea for patience with Arsenal and Wenger. This is a reign that can be reasonably split into three distinct eras, each one with its own associated level of realistic expectations. The first were the glory years, his approach innovative enough to give Arsenal a significant advantage, the club also able to rely on a transfer budget as high as any other club in the country. The second era was one of financial limitation. With the move from Highbury to the Emirates, Wenger was forced to operate under relative austerity as Arsenal looked to continue inside of economic sustainability.

In both of these first two periods, Wenger was undoubtedly successful. Arsenal may have not won a trophy since 2005 (as you may have heard), but for the majority of this time simply keeping the club in the top four (and therefore reaping the rewards of the Champions League) was a successful return as the investment from Chelsea and Manchester United made title bids incredibly difficult. Such a scenario makes a mockery of Jose Mourinho's "specialist in failure" assessment.

However, Arsenal have now entered the third era of Wenger. This is now a time at which the club once again has the ability to flex their financial muscles, and thus expectations must also change, both of the club's achievements and of the manager himself. That will not be an instant transformation, but there seems little reason to suggest that Wenger does not possess the capability to manage through such a shift in ethos. By the very least, he has earned the chance to have a go.

This was performance far removed from the capitulation of last weekend, and a match played without four first-choice midfielders (Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil) and a first choice central defender (Laurent Koscielny). Take those sort of talents out of any squad in the division (Nemanja Matic, Willian, Ramires, Hazard and John Terry, for example) and they would struggle - take them away from a comparatively threadbare squad and Arsenal simply couldn't have an expectation of anything other than plucky draw.

As it stands, this is a side heading for Champions League football for the 17th consecutive season, second only to Real Madrid in Europe with Manchester United surely failing on that front. Given that Real have spent approximately £748million on players in the last eight seasons alone, that's a hell of an achievement.

Wenger clearly has his flaws, of that there is no doubt, but the way in which his players responded against City demonstrated an ability to roll up their sleeves and fight for their manager. Keep the faith, would be my insistent advice."

Solid 2nd half for us bit gutted we couldnt find the extra gear to nick it. Love Giroud but he just dont show up for the big games in my opinion, i know the service isnt allways great but still. i think the subbing at the end showed the difference, City bring on negrado and we bring on sanago. IF we had won the Swansea game we could have been in with a sniff :(

Everton game this sunday is a must win, they are in great form at the moment as well.

Josip drmic mmmmmm

And Giroud lead an un-fancied Montpellier to the French league title. Doesn't always translate to Premier League glory.

Drmic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F1VtEx74Y0

I can't find it but I saw a video compilation of Sagnas crosses for Giroud this morning. I saw 3 minutes of missed opportunities, and there were heaps of sitters Giroud couldn't burry. The final minute included his goals he had from the two of them, and I think there were 3. We don't need a striker to develop. We need a striker that can come in and score goals.

I can't find it but I saw a video compilation of Sagnas crosses for Giroud this morning. I saw 3 minutes of missed opportunities, and there were heaps of sitters Giroud couldn't burry. The final minute included his goals he had from the two of them, and I think there were 3. We don't need a striker to develop. We need a striker that can come in and score goals.

Yup, I'd agree with that. I still like the idea of Balotelli if this Puma sponsored transfer was a goer.

not sure on Wenger + Balotelli

it would either be the masterstroke of all time or an unmitigated disaster

Great point about Balotelli brummers

Risky as foal says but it would be quite phenomenal if wenger was able to straighten him out. He's currently on his third major club and looks like he's screwing it up for a third time. 

van Persie was in a similar state of ruffling feyenoord feathers when we got him for a snip. Wenger also handled dropkicks like Adebayor, Nasri and Anelka quite well before shipping them out for huge fees when they got too much. So he has a fairly successful record with attitude players... in fact we always do ok at Arsenal in that respect thanks to Arsene's closed door nature - he never says anything about anyone in public to ignite the situation, even an idiot like Bendtner.

Balotelli = a lot of eggs in one basket. I actually thought Tevez was a better fit for us. 

more urgent

1. Beating Everton, no interest in a draw

2. Resign Sagna, 2 years is good , 3 years is acceptable

3. DM and CB both large purchases if required

we have a number of players capable of creation and finishing, security is foremost on the shopping list. 

Winning the FA Cup is also highly significant/important. If only to stop hearing trophy drought carry on. 

.

Everton = massive

                     Szczesny

Sagna-Mertesacker-Vermaelen-Gibbs

                  Arteta-Flamini

     Chamberlain-Rosicky-Cazorla

                       Giroud

Current injuries;

Ramsey, Monreal, Koscielny and Diaby (!) all possibly available for FA Cup semi next weekend.

Wilshere and Ozil a little longer, probably a couple of weeks away. 

Walcott out for season.

I think that's it...

On the striker front, Lukaku's agent is making noises, perhaps he's an option, but Benteke has torn his achilles and will be out for some time, so he's probably off the radar. 

Lukaku's agent shopping him around - including to the Spuds.

If we don't get a genuine 40-60m striker (and let's face it, we won't) I'd have him. Young, proven scorer in the EPL - huge upside.

I rate Lukaku, he's strong, proven in the EPL, and can score goals. I would love to see him battling with Giroud for a starting position. Or finding a fast & tricky centre forward who can play alongside Giroud in the Bergkamp role.

Ramsey on Facebook this morning says he's fit to face Everton... he also pasted a link to the official Arsenal site which states the same thing...

Massive game this weekend, great timing to have Ramsay back.

For me winning the FA Cup this season is the only way it can be a success as the League is out of question. Not sure how some can talk about buying defensive players and young strikers when we are screaming out for a world class striker. Someone mentioned Gnabry not getting a go of late, thought he looked in a similar mould to the Ox and agree he should have got more time during the second half of the season.

Agreed that we do need more cover defensively, but if you could get a world class striker in or 2 more defensive players what would you have? I know whats top of my list.

Cavani, Diego Costa, Llorente, Benzema, Giuseppi Rossi, Mandzukic. I'd rather have Giroud as a back up to one of them. We can add 5 defenders to our team yet we still wouldnt win the league without a world class striker. Do I back Wenger to make this type of signing? No, but I'd love him to prove me wrong.

If Vermaelen and Sagna were to leave then a defensive signing would be a higher priority than a striker. 

But aside from that thought I am basically in agreement with you. 

Llorente, Rossi, not world class in my opinion. The rest of those, I agree, and would absolutely love to have one of them. But each of those have their own set of problems when trying to sign them. Benzema will stay unless Real try to get Suarez. So he's probably off the list. 

Mandzukic, Costa, Cavani, outside possibilities but again, one or more of those may stay at their current club, and if they don't, there will be stiff competition to sign them. Hardly a given that we'd get them. We can pay big wages but not silly Man City wages.

Would be disappointed to see them two leave as they provide great experience though I can understand Vermaelen wanting to leave being club captain yet stuck on the bench. Unfortunately it will take a lot to get of those strikers again but with all the talk about our transfer "warchest" we really have to back it up.

I think regardless of Sagna and Vermy leaving we'll need another CB. Is miquel ready to play 4th string? Because if not, and having lost Djourou to Hamburg on a perm if reports are true, then we're still running around with no 4th choice.

It's kind of like we need an up-coming CB like Kurt Zuma to fill that spot (up to $5m). A first class RB if sagna goes(up to $10m). A first class DMF regardless (up to $20m), and a Striker (up to $40m). Those 4 players should be available in those prices. I don't imagine any of the strikers out there demanding Bale/Neymar/Ronaldo money.

Ramsey potentially back this weekend is brilliant news, will be great for the run in.

Sagna and Jenkinson arnt in the same league, Jenkinson isnt ready to be first choice.....TBH i dont think he ever will. I have season sagna put in lots of great crosses but no one gets on the end of them.

20mins off the bench and hopefully starting against wigan next weekend. Hopefully he hits form fast

I would be happy if we got Remy and Mandzukic....or as someone else mentioned earlier lukakau would be awesome as well

Indeed, that is what I imagine will happen...just got a couple of tix to the semi at Wembley so hope to see him firing there!