On a positive note, lovely finish from Theo

[PSRB]

if he could just stay onside a bit more often......

[Nicosia Gooner]

[Curly]

The offsides,not the goal :surprisesurprise:

[Billy Goat Sverige]

Like much of his goals.

[Bergkamp's Brain]

[East Upper for Supper]

[Nicosia Gooner]

move about during the match anyway

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

[Bergkamp's Brain]

[Curly]

Caught in possession,poor passing,over running the ball,losing tackles.
2/10

[East Upper for Supper]

midfield. Anyway I was judging the season so far. Gibbs has been outstanding as an attacking lb but his defensive job is still a work in progress. Carzola in patches is wc but far too often goes missing. Great player though.
Coquelin is a squad player at best. the need for an experienced strong dm has been needed since August and is something wenger has been unable to address,.

[Classic Jorge]

[Billy Goat Sverige]

http://cadfael.tv/image/src/1356803637278.gif

http://i.minus.com/ibsxSfc77HrNQw.gif

[Bergkamp's Brain]

I like the idea of him going into the middle, but there were a few occasions, in the 2nd half, where he gave the ball to Sagna then bee lined for the penalty area leaving Sagna 1 v 2, with no other support and little hope of getting the ball in. It is a learning curve for Walcott.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

suggests he could be a future long-term option, although I agree that we need to get someone in who can play that position right now.

You could also argue that Poldi has done pretty well since he came in. He definitely seems to be quite anonymous a lot of the time, but the stats don't lie.

[Curly]

[Nicosia Gooner]

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

Both see him hugging the high defensive line and breaking free with plenty of time and space to slot it past the keeper

[East Upper for Supper]

Agree that Coquelin is a prospect at the moment.

[Monty91]

from a central position. Only really happens against average defences. You rarely see a goal like Theo's vs Newcastle against good teams, whilst all teams are susceptible to goals like yesterday's.

[Classic Jorge]

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

[Billy Goat Sverige]

[Classic Jorge]

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

:baghead: :-(

[Monty91]

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

[Monty91]

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

But Diaby, game against Swansea aside, has shown his priorities (and ability) lie far more with attacking than defending

[Bergkamp's Brain]

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

and generally contribute to the defensive fortitude of the team.

[Bergkamp's Brain]

[Monty91]

depending on the game. In big away games he might be asked to sit a little and restrict his runs forward to counter attacks. In home games he might be given more freedom based on the assumption that we'll have more possession and the opposition will be playing mainly on the counter.

I would love to see him stay fit for the rest of the season http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/ohwell.gif

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

But yes, sort of, as evidenced by Arteta's shift in position this season. That said, many have been unconvinced, despite his excellent tactical awareness, and have called for someone a bit more 'vanilla' as far as defensive-minded midfielders go.

[Monty91]

team forward, which is why Diaby, in theory (i.e. if fit) could be such a massive player for us.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

almost nil. It's f**king devastating, as you could see our form evaporate as soon as he got injured (again) earlier in the season

[Bergkamp's Brain]

you need midfield players to get ahead of the ball, sometimes ahead of the striker. You need others to make sure that they do not ever get ahead of the ball. In a really good team, you can have many players taking their turn to do both of the above, at different times.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

top-class in that role. But then I am also happy to admit that I know absolutely f**k all about football :-)

[Monty91]

In Diaby's case he has the physical attributes to win the ball back and then, to use Wenger's phrase, make good "transitions" into attack.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

which is what I meant by wily nous.

It is often as much about intercepting passes and closing off options, as it is about nitty gritty tackling.

[Monty91]

I still reckon your thinking is too rigid.

[Peter]

Both in terms of expression and position.

Some players simply arent built, mentally, to accept this. Gilberto was. Roy keane was.

Diaby clearly doesnt want this role. And anyway, he is never fit. Arteta does it but i still fear he is wasted there.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

I was very pleased with our early defensive solidity, and thought that in Arteta we had a player who didn't conform to the stereotype of your typical defensive midfielder and was still doing a superb job.

Months and many (team) defensive failings down the line, however, and I can't help but wish we had a Busquets or an Inler to come in and shore things up.. Yes I realise it is entirely reactionary, but I still fail to understand why a team that ostensibly has plenty of skilled defensive players is so easily passed through by the majority of teams that we face.

[taxman10]

I am starting to think Diaby is too thick to play that role.

Wenger has often been quoted or reported as saying that a player has to "play the percentages" by which he means percentage of your move being completed versus the risk attached to it.

Diaby often picks the ball up just in front of the 2 central defenders (as you might expect). he is then closed by an opponent and frequently tries to go past him (with a turn or other trick) - the odds on him pulling this off are probably (being generous) more than 50/50 as he has a decent amount of close ball control and he is big enough to shrug off the other player.

The problem is his f**king decision making. I have no issue with him doing the above against the opponents midfield - if it works then he now has the ball inbetween their defence and midfield and something positive might happen. If he loses it there, well we generally will have enough bodies close enough to get back to help defend.

HOWEVER - doing this when you are just in front of our own defence is stupidity of the highest order. If it works then wow, you now have the ball in front of the opponents midfield (assuming its the opponents forward who is closing diaby down) - ie zero advantage obtained. If it f**ks up (see Sundays game). The opponent now has the ball with only the centre backs to cover the position.

How many times is Diaby going to do this sort of ****? does nobody coach him at all?