Official Arsenal FC Thread

[kdawg32086]

Imagine how strong our defense will be with a legit defensive midfielder in front of Per and Kos.

[IronChef]

Kos has been immense. Up there with Santi for player of the season.

I'm still on the fence about trying to upgrade Mertesacker. It's obviously not a major area of need, but he does get exposed for speed sometimes. Hes done very well this year, though. A solid RB and we're in good shape.

[MaliBrah]

We could use a 4th centre back that could compete with mertesaker , kos and verm for the first two spots and for depth instead of having djourou.

Hoping we move fast! I would rather higuain over jovetic but I dont even know how concrete the higuain rumours are at least we know there's something to the jovetic rumours. Higuain is still young and under wenger can still improve and is already a proven goal scorer for a big time team. I want something like Higuain+aubameyang or jovetic+ aubmeyang , or like higuain/jovetic and villa.

Hell if we can afford jovetic + gonzalo go for it.

Jovetic/Podolski -Higuain/Giroud -Walcott/OX
Cazorla
Wilshere DM?/arteta

[IronChef]

Wilshere's gonna end up in the more advanced Cesc role, imo. He'll probably get some games further back to spell Ramsey and stuff, but most of his games will be up where Cazorla is. So I doubt we get Jovetic and Higuain, unless Podolski is really off to Juve.

I like Higuain, he'd be a good fit up front. Telegraph reporting we're in for him for 19 Mil

EDIT: We've also signed 15 year old Danny Crowley from Villa, apparently. The kids been dubbed 'the next Jack Wilshere'. Looked good against the Arsenal U-18's, scored two and had an assist.

[IronChef]

Player Season Reviews:

Szczesny- 6 - Poor for most of the season, good for the final stretch and made some important saves. Distribution is still awful.

Sagna- 6 - His worst season thus far for Arsenal. Did play a big role in the run-in, and put it some solid performances.

BFG- 8 - Consistently good all season, especially the run-in. Does get exposed for pace at times, but generally able to recover.

Koscielny - 8.5 - Huge for us down the stretch, but had some rough games earlier in the year (Chelsea). Has been great since he's been consistently in the side. Scoring a few goals, and saving a few too.

Gibbs- 7.5 - Best season to date. Has moved ahead of Monreal. Still room for improvement, but very encouraging. Showed a great motor, solid passing and movement when getting forward, and scored a hell of a goal at Swansea.

Arteta- 8 - Did a great job playing outside of his normal position. Excellent passing, effort, tackling. Very solid if unspectacular.

Ramsey- 7 - Played all over the place from on the wings, to full back, to holding mid for the first half of the season and struggled to do so. Had some solid games and some poor ones. Was great in the second half of the season when played consistently next to Arteta in a box-to-box role.

Wilshere- 7 - Was excellent upon returning from injury until March when he struggled again with injury. Had a couple poor performances and was wrapped in cotton wool for the run-in. Due to have the pin removed from his ankle this summer and will hopefully be able to play more consistently next season.

Cazorla - 9 - Player of the season for me. Finished with 12 goals and 11 assists in the league for his debut season.
Struggled occasionally, but was one our best players from the start of the season to end.

Walcott - 8 - Great in spells, poor in others. Inconsistency is still his big issue, but finished the season with 21 goals and 14 assists.

Giroud - 7 - Solid debut season. Generally poor finishing, but scored some big goals. Hold-up play is encouraging and has an eye for the key pass, finished with 17 goals and 11 assists.

Other notables:

Rosicky - 6.5 - Injury troubles for much of the season, but was healthy for the run-in. Started the big games to end the year, and helped to produce an unbeaten run.

Chamberlain - 6.5 - Struggled early in his second season, but came on in the second half. Always brings energy and directness, which proved vital late in some games.

Diaby- 3 - Had a very good seven games to start the season where he stayed fit and played well. Hurt himself kicking a ball and missed three months, then tore his ACL to finish the season.

Coquelin - 5 - Tidy, energetic, and combative. Generally played well when called upon, but was unable to get many games towards the end of the season.

Podolski- 7.5 - Good debut season, finished with 16 goals and 10 assists. Struggled with injury at times, but generally produced well when called upon. Struggled to play the full 90

Vermaelan - 5- Captain was a our worst defender this year, unless you count Santos. Error prone, and led to several assists for the other team. Rightly benched for Koscielny

Monreal - 7 - Played well since his January transfer. Was solid while Gibbs was injured, but has since seen Gibbs regain his place as first-choice.

Jenkinson- 7 - Played well when Sagna was injured to start the season, and generally whenever called upon barring a poor performance against Sunderland. Most improved member of squad.

[MaliBrah]

I'd agree with all your player reviews , pretty much spot on.

Yeah really excited in crowley and we've yaya sanogo pretty much admitted he's on his way to us this summer hope he can stay healthy and grow as a player we could use in the future.

Iunno how I feel about jack getting the advanced cesc role but I dont mind it really , this season the team looked better with santi in that position and jack staying in the more deep play maker position but I know the cesc position would be better for his career.