Bola Cafe: International

Man City dh pintas Gunners...
Maknnye extra game utk champions league nnt...

yeh sizen dh pn habis!

Arsenal Player Season's Review
credit to StarGhazzer!

Player reviews:
Manny Al: Sorry dude, thanks for the moments, no thanks for the blunders. Nice chap, behaved like an absolute professional when he was dropped, yet it's simply time's up for Manny. I'd be very surprised if he remained with us come August although getting rid of players isn't exactly as easy as we think (Senderos).

Luk: Shaky when he first started, but grew stronger as he accumulated games under his belt. Was really unlucky that he lost his place to Woj due to the season-ending injury, and he probably will find it hard to regain his place once he returns. Overall a fairly solid yet unspectacular performance, but willl that be enough to cement a starting position?

Woj: Pretty much the undisputed number 1... for now. In terms of goalkeeping skills I personally don't think Woj and Luk are that far apart, what he does better over Luk is the confidence that he expresses on the pitch. Didn't get as much flak from the fans when he made blunders, but he did make loads of blinding saves when our entire team forgot how to defend.

I'd be happy with either Woj or Luk as our number 1 next season, although my feeling is that the younger pole will be our Pole between the poles.

Bak: Not much to complain about the ever reliable Bacary, and he even scored ! My player of the season due to his consistency and commitment, edging over Robin and that is considering my personal bias for the latter. The worry now is if *touchwood* he becomes unavailable, how are we going to replace him?

Eboue: Everybody loves Eboue ! Utility player, nothing more. Good to bring on as a late sub to peg opposing defenders back with his penetrating, mazy runs, but the lack of end product makes him a blunt dagger rather than a lethal claymore if you get the analogy.

Laci: The black sheep of all our defenders, and somewhat fairly so given some of his abysmal performances. I don't think he is as bad as people think (even comparing him to a twilight Silvestre !), but surely he's never going to be our number one choice. Like Eboue, good for backup and nothing more.

Kos: It has been difficult for Kos in his debut season, given that 1)people already wrote him off before the start of the season due to his slight frame 2)the lack of a regular partner 3)high profile errors; but overall I must say he didn't do too shabbily after all. Kos is good at interceptions and plays a fairly aggressive game which unfortunately makes him prone to cards and fouls, he just needs a regular partner to establish a mutual understanding, and I believe that person might be Vermy rather than JD.

JD: Did well when he returned from a lengthy injury, grew stronger as he forged a partnership with Kos early this year... then faded. Vermy's likely to be first choice when he returns, so it's up to him to fight it out with Kos. At least he didn't end up like Senderos.

Clichy: It's hard to imagine that a few seasons back Clichy, together with Bak, were the best fullbacks in the league. Gael made a fair share of mistakes this season, and his lack of attacking end product has made him an easy target. He's far from being as good as Ashley Cole during his Arsenal days, but Clichy's interceptions is still a very vital part of our game. Until we identify and obtain a suitable replacement, he's the automatic first choice.

Gibbs: Showed much potential in the past, but is becoming more like a player whose potential may never be reached due to constant injuries. He's nowhere near capable of replacing Clichy - both are equally easy to be caught out due to their high-up positions, but Clichy's defending is still better. Likely to continue as backup for Clichy, or his replacement if the latter chooses not to extend his contract.

Theo: He's getting there. This season has got to be Theo's best, although he's still being plagued by injuries. His movement has improved drastically, in fact more often than not it's his team mates that fail to spot his runs. The understanding that he built with Robin and Fabregas can be a good weapon for years to come. I still think his future is up front, it just depends on whether Arsene is willing to let him spearhead the attack.

Jack: Much have been said, much have been praised, and indeed Jack's emergence is one of the brighter moments of our season. There's never any question about his motivation and fighting spirit, nor were there about his abilities; what he needs to do now is dominate games like Fabs used to do at his current age. If he can add scoring to his forte than we just might have our very own Paul Scholes.

Rambo: Meh, can't say much as he didn't play much. Great performance vs MU, but other than that it was pretty mediocre. Will need a full summer's preparation to regain his touch. See you next season Aaron !

Song: There's good and bad things about Song this season. The good one would be the increased frequency of him bombing into the box, the bad would be the times where he failed to protect the defence given his responsibilities. He's not the best ballkeeper around, and hence if he chooses to charge ahead he'll need to avoid losing the ball as we'll be susceptible to counter attacks. I'd say he's still a starter when fit as no one plays his role better, no not even Jack.

Denilson: Probably put the final nail in the coffin with his recent remarks, and now the lid's shut. Has had his moments in previous seasons, but based on this season alone he's probably one of our worst performers. Time to say goodbye perhaps.

Diaby: Like Denilson, he has had his moments in the past, but Abou somehow just got that little edge over the Brazillian. Maybe it's his physique, maybe it's his ability to spin past his markers and charge the ball forward, who knows? But until he can play 5 consecutive games without getting injured, he's never going to fulfil his potential, or whatever that's left. Can't see him leaving, can't see him becoming a starter either.

Capi: A 50% Fabregas is still better than most players. Truth. Nevertheless we need more than a 50% fit Fabregas, and by that I don't simply mean physically fit, but also mentally focused on Arsenal. Our capitulation will do nothing to convince Fabs that his future remains at the Grove, so come on Arsene do whatever it takes to keep him, or just blackmail whatever team that wants to buy him. Put a starting price of 50M and let the bidding war begin. Losing Fabs will definitely hurt us more than anything, but Torres and C.Ronaldo's departures showed that the team won't necessarily collapse as long as others step up/adequate replacements are sought. The million dollar question is, who?

Nasri: Samir's form probably is a mirror image of our season - brilliant first half, disastrous second. We wouldn't have entered the title race had it not for his (and Chamakh's) heroics when we were missing Robin, yet Samir never regained his form after his injury. A brilliant player no doubt, unplayable when he's on fire; somehow I just wonder if we'll ever get the most out of him. Then again, we never saw the best of Robert Pires until he was 30, so who knows? Sign the damn thing already, Samir !

Andy: Another easy target for many. If looking purely at numbers, Andy's contributions to our season is probably as good as Robin's. Unfortunately the influence he had on a huge portion of games is sorely lacking, especially coming from a player of his fame and calibre. It's a difficult situation for Arsene I suppose - cash in on him while he's still capable of fetching a good price, or hang on to him and hope he becomes even better? Personally I think we'd benefit more if we had Andy, but there'll be no tears if he left this summer.

Nicky: Played mostly out of position this year and hence didn't look as good as he could have been. Again, let his mouth do the talking more than he let his feet. I stand by that he still could be a good striker, in fact there are things he can do that Chamakh doesn't seem able to. It'd be understandable if he chose to leave, Bayern Munich's interest in him is reasonable as he might be able to replace Klose like-for-like. For me if he stays he'd be once again used as a backup, but there's no way he'd be first choice next season so if he leaves, good luck.

Chamakh: Nobody really thought he would be the 30 goal striker when he was bought, and it's not hard to fathom why. Chamakh simply lacks the explosive character of strikers of his stature - think Benzema or even Anelka. He did well enough to lead the line during the first half of the season, in fact I even stood by him as first choice when Robin returned - then Robin showed us why he's boss. If Nicky leaves, Chamakh would probably remain as our substitute battering ram.

Robin: The only thing I can say about Robin is, why can't you play the entire season, every fcking season? Would have been player of the season if he never went out injured for the first half. The only player who seemed like making things happen whenever the odds are against us, but Robin can't be the saviour when everyone else is having a stinker.

Others:
Vela's clock is ticking - can't expect him to be anywhere near our first team when he can't even be in West Brom's.
Lansbury had a pretty good season as Norwich gained promotion, but will he be good enough? Denilson's imminent departure might just open up a spot for him, it's his chance seize it.
Bartley - loads of praise for the kid, and even managed to lift the SPL. Maybe he'd come in and displace Laci... we'll see in preseason.
Frimpong/Coquelin - which one of them will actually make the grade? Frimpong's preseason games showed us that he, instead of Diaby, might be the new Vieira although he is still technically very raw; Coquelin appears to be the more technical one but after a season in France my memories of him is fairly fuzzy.
JET - Still neither here or there. Too good for the reserves, yet not even close to being a starter for the Championship. I used to have high hopes for him, but now he might actually end up like Jay Simpson.

Tactics and gameplay:
There has been lots of debate about whether we should go back to the 4-4-2. First things first, we never played a true 4-4-2 during the invincibles. The closest Arsene had to a 4-4-2 was the one he inherited, the one where we had Petit-Vieira as anchors. Overmars was cut into the box fairly frequently, while Parlour was a central player stuck on the right. The invincibles functioned more like a 424 rather than anything else, while a 4231 isn't exactly our forte either given our tiny central midfielders.

Our best performances with a 433 would still be the season when we first started using it. Arsenal 6-1 Everton on the opening day, anyone? With our current players, we'd probably benefit from having 3 central midfielders interchanging frequently, taking turns to bomb forward while one plays the link-man/ support player and the last man as the shield. The wingers would need coordinate with Robin who normally floats around the box and time their runs as Robin's false nine drags the opponent's defence away. Easy to say, hard to execute, but when done nicely we do tear teams apart.

Assuming that we convert to a 442, what I would like to see is Theo being given a chance to play in front of Robin. Although this would require Theo to time his runs while playing on the shoulders of the last defender where Titi was a master at this. Robin, could still play the Bergkamp role and by that I don't mean Bergkamp in his twilight years where he is the playmaker, but rather during his prime where he played off Ian Wright. Another problem would be the central midfield pairing - will we go with Fabregas-Song and leave out the impressive Jack? Or will we go with Fabregas-Jack and have two midgets in the centre? If Jack turns out to have the Flamini-effect as in the 07/08 season, maybe 442 might just work after all... Nasri on the right as a Hleb-who-can-score, and Arshavin/Newbie on the left...

In terms of defence.... Jesus. God help us all. I don't believe that we have crap defenders, however as a unit we are shambles. How are we going to solve that remains unknown, maybe a thug-like new arrival might instill some badassery. Or we just need to learn how to chase for every single ball instead of ballwatching, which many of our players are guilty of especially during set pieces.

The Manager Conundrum:
Should he stay or should he leave? It's crunch time for Arsene, as once again we showed much promise and yet ended up in utter regret. I admit that I'm one of the most loyal supporters of Arsene, but like many here (eg toshio) and elsewhere (arseblogger, gilbetosilver) the faith has been questioned. I think what will happen is that Arsene will stay on and finish his current contract, provided Stanny doesn't sack him, and choose not to continue in his position. I have no problems with that, and Arsene will still get my full support but if things don't change the remaining core players esp Fabs and Robin might run out of patience faster than I will.

Let's say if Arsene leaves, who should be the new manager? I'd like to see new blood, and by that I mean someone younger and does things in a more radical way. No, not Mourinho despite his many achievements as our current financial situation won't satisfy his spendings and seriously not many Arsenal fans will enjoy losing our attacking vibe. Rather, it's the newer generation of managers that I'm referring to - Pep with his multi-winning Barca team, Bilic and his Croatian team, van Basten with his swashbuckling Holland team in Euro2008, or even recently, Porto's Villers-Boars. Not saying that we will be able to get anyone of them, but if we were to change we're better off going after new blood... Maybe Dragan Stojkovic then, as previously stated by Arsene to be a suitable candidate....

atreyudevil wrote:yeh sizen dh pn habis!

yea yea dah abis.. yea yea dah abis..
peace atre, peace.. ekekekeee

hahaha sizen baru nanti baru bukak thread baru.

takde post season talk ka?

Kop nak hijack eden hazard punya deal dari Asnel nih....

huhuhuuu.. the biggest mistake LFC made wazzz.. not appointing King Kenny after they sack Rafa.. ekekekeeeee

the second one wazzz.. appointed itu Roy as the manager

third one wazzz.. sacking of Rafa.. ekekekekeee

errr.. boleh ke.? ekekeekekeee

hicks ngan gillet mana bleh sack, share depa pegang..
majority plak tu, nak buat undi tak percaya pn takbleh

Bulan tujuh ni Top, salah, top 4 semua turun m'sia kn.>?
Gunners, Chelsea dgn liverpool...

Asnel 13 Julai!

sedih gak bila arsenal yang sepatutnya menamatkan EPL ditangga kedua, last2 jatuh ketangga 4...

biasa la tu Ven, awal2 season suma igt Chelsea menang title last2!~

atreyudevil wrote:biasa la tu Ven, awal2 season suma igt Chelsea menang title last2!~

sigh...
kesian Ancelotti

Ancelotti tak heran,
he know the consequences managing Chelsea. Nukasel pn serupa.
they are not a professional manager but a mercenaries!

Nape nukasel merceneries lak? trasa nie... ekekeke

edmundo wrote:Bulan tujuh ni Top, salah, top 4 semua turun m'sia kn.>?
Gunners, Chelsea dgn liverpool...

Chelsea ngan Arsenal kompem datang dan siap dah tetapkan tarikh perlawanan lagi
Liverpool katanya dah kompem datang.. tapi tarikh perlawanan belum ditentukan.. so bagi wa tak 100% kompem laaa tu.. ekekekeee

errrr marcccc.........!!!
hehehehehhehehe

atreyudevil wrote:errrr marcccc.........!!!
hehehehehhehehe

aper hehehehehehe.?
ni hehehehehee ada makna laaa ni, kan.?

ekekekeee

kekekekekek sindiri mau igt la!!


muhahahahahah

mlm ni MU Barca....glory MU...

Good luck tuk CL, may the best team win!
Barcelona mmg on form, tp MU ada the biggest advantage iaitu HOME ADVANTAGE!

mengapa semua orang kata barca akan menang mudah?... sedeyyy anya...

memang barca menang mudah.diorang bantai M.U. 3-1...

adoiii...
tunggu next season pulak..

Yeahhh hidup Barca...