₦airaland Forum

[quote author=A-40 link=topic=439183.msg6664613#msg6664613 date=1283161855]Duduspace is a hater i have said it earlier on and i have been proven right he just can't be objective when it comes to the lad its not in his DNA
Abeg go and chase aeroplane!!  where you not the one posting MOTM links after the Liverpool game when your darling Diaby shaded Theo by a paltry 1%?? Now that your arch-enemy has won the award you are finding it bitter to swallow abi? Two straight matches now and all you can do is yarn more and more opaks.[/quote]Now, yu're speakin out of both sides of your mouth cos you didn't accept those results before, why are you alluding to them now? 
on the day yu speak off, you never accepted the fact that Theo had little impact on the day. I'm not even questioning the fact that he was awarded the MoM by most Arsenal fans, only that I personally woudnt make him my MoM, everyone knows it is much easier for an attacking player to get MoM than a defending player, for Sagna to get 9% of votes tells me others saw his contribution as I did.

[quote author=A-40 link=topic=439183.msg6664613#msg6664613 date=1283161855]How did Theo mess that 2nd goal up?? If you saw the replay you would realize it was bound for Paul Robinson's palms it was actually Theo that helped us get that goal because if he was not in the way Robinson woulda saved it!! That fortuitous bounce directed the ball straight to Arshavin and the rest is history. Please stop this hating its bad for your health!![/quote]Now this is a crazy analysis and shows how skewed your perception is to everything Theo, very soon you'll be trying to convince me the ball that fell to Arshavin was some kind of genius on Theo's part? how sure are you that Robinson would have saved the initial shot which was well struck by Cesc by the way? why in hell should Theo become a 3rd CB  for the opposition?
Learn to differentiate between indifferent analysis and hate, Theo wasn't the worst player on the pitch yesterday but in my opinion he definitely wasn't the best but most Arsenal fans don't agree with me, I accept that and live with it.

slimshay:
Dudu what else he did? Bobo yi why are you longing this thing. One goal, one yansh assist,and woulda gotten a def assist if Wilshere didn't pull a Terry on us.
Seriously theo as Debo has pointed out, continually intercanged with Chamahk, dropped deep several times for cover and to pick up balls. So really what else should he have done. He did more than Assasin in d game and I dont see you squeezin the Russian.

Don't mention Arshavin, he was piss poor apart from the goal, and I don't understand this idea that I'm picking on Theo, he has done well but was not my MoM, simple. Infact, Theo has so far had a better season than Arshavin, if he keeps this up, he might end up like our present day Freddie Ljungberg, not an extremely skillful player but one who weighs in with his share of goals, playing to his strength.
This whole discussion came up simply because A-40 questioned my not naming him MoM, not because I was slating Theo, infact the initial post that A-40 picked on actually indicted Cesc more than Theo but no he doesnt pick on the fact that I said Cesc was poor, only on my point that I didn't see Theo as the MoM.

debosky:
I am not talking about the press jizzing themselves because of Theo, but it rankles when our own supporters are downplaying his contributions. I am not saying he is flawless, but saying he brings little apart from goals sounds like an attempt to talk down the player.

I never downplayed his contribution, he did well only that he is not my MoM.

slimshay:
Dudu you get crush untop melanie slade ni? Why can't this boy seem to do right by you. 'He doesn't add anything apart from goals'. O de so pe o wa ni stadium?

Okay, I hear you, point out one more thing he did apart from the offside goal, his goal, the supposed run that created the space for Sagna to run in to (which no one saw by the way until Shearer pointed it out on MoTD calmly forgetting to point out that in addition he blocked Cesc's initial goal bound shot before it fell to a lurking Arshavin).

The boy has improved on from last season, only a numbskull wouldn't accept that but its still too early for the press to start wanking all over him, that was the same thing they did before pulling him down so badly last season. It is still the same player from last season, he hasn't suddenly become good over night, only that he is getting goals now which he wasnt last season and I hope he keeps that going.

debosky:
@ Dudu

I'm not joining anything - to say he brings little else to the game besides scoring is inaccurate at best and patently false at worst. His best contributions have been creating chances for others (CL games most notably). On his good days he creates chances from crosses for others and his runs open up spaces for other players to take advantage of. I just wanted to highlight the seeming imbalance in your post by claiming aside from goals he brings little else.

Like I said previously, that is my opinion of him, take a look at his statistics again, when I judge a player's contribution I look at what he is supposed to be doing, would you compare Theo to Ashley Young or Lennon in terms of assists per season? even if I take out last season (where he really sucked), in his best season in terms of assists, he got 7(06/07) and since that time the most he has got is 4 and I consder that pretty low for a player playing so far up the pitch when you compare that with the likes of Arshavin, RVP and Cesc, it pales into insignificance.

His movement is good and has always been good, but nobody was pointing that out last season, when he was looking clueless on the wings. Theo is a goalscorer and that is what he'll always be, if he doesn't keep scoring expect to see the criticism rise again because that will put the spotlight back on his other flaws.

[quote author=kay_pumpin link=topic=439183.msg6662471#msg6662471 date=1283115725]Did we really watch the same game?Song?For most part of 1st half he and Cesc were culpable of so many misplaced passes like it was going out of fashion.Song had an average game yesterday and it was made less evident by Diaby's gallant display.[/quote]I personally would put most of those misplaced passes squarely at Cesc's doorstep, he really was off the pace and affected the MF, I personally toned down my praise of Diaby lest some accuse me of being Diaby's grandfather, a good thing someone else saw exactly what I did.
Song was brilliant in the holding role and even going forward, Diaby's game really seems to have matured as he and Song were continuosly interchanging yesterday, to be honest I think both Diaby and Song in a way carried Cesc through the game yesterday.

[quote author=kay_pumpin link=topic=439183.msg6662471#msg6662471 date=1283115725]This is so Hansen like i feel like shooting you. Theo's over-all contributions in the last 2 matches is nothing short of immense.Castigating him is one thing,but not appreciating his effort so far is sacrilegious.[/quote]Put it in context, I am quite happy for him cos in a way he is carrying the goal scoring burden of the team at present. This entire discussion came about because he is not my MoM, he didn't do enof to get that yesterday IMO, against Blackpool without a doubt he was more than worth it.

dipo2much:
I dont know why ppl are so worried about charmakh not scoring. I would definitely prefer MC scores even 12 goals and arsenal carry a trophy than him scorin 30 like adebayo did,and the team endin up wit no silverware. so far so good,if walcott,arshavin.rvp come wit good goal tallies,we are good

Abi o, as long as his presence allows both Arshavin and Theo get into double digits, provided most of the other MF guys like Cesc, Diaby and Denilso can get in the mid to high single digit values, we can do with Chamak,  RVP and Bendtner getting just about 15 goals each.

debosky:
Even Sagna's run for the second goal was created by Walcott - by moving towards the middle, he dragged the Blackburn defenders out of position giving Sagna a wide open area to run into. Theo's scoring, movement and overall dedication so far this season have been exemplary and it would take a bigger person to admit that and stop looking for flaws in his game.

I've never faulted his work ethic, and when I say there isn't much more in his game apart from scoring I wasn't specifically referring to yesterday's game. Wait until he hits a goal drought and yu'll have those keeping quiet now coming back in droves. And don't accuse me wrongly, I was one of the first to acknowledge his impact on the day against Blackpool even before he went on to score his hat trick and I have not said he didn't do well yesterday only that he is not my MoM on the day. How that amounts to looking for flaws in his game beats my imagination.

I have also said on here that Cesc didn't have a good game here so what is the problem? it is only A-40 who seems to have these opinion that no fault must be found in Theo, are you by any chance joining him too? 

And I stand by the statement that I can't live with Theo if he is not scoring, it puts a gloss over all the other flaws in his game. Did anyone of you see that he blocked Cesc's attempt at goal before Arshavin scored
If it was Bendtner who did that now, I wonder what the press and all the moaners on here would be saying particularly if by any chance we ended up with a draw.

[quote author=A-40 link=topic=439183.msg6661134#msg6661134 date=1283099211]So Mr Duduspace if Walcott did not deserve Motm then who should have gotten it? Diaby? Wilshere? You never see anything that dude would so make your earlier rants look ignorant! Just hope he comes from the int'l break injured. Wellington Silva abi?[/quote]Abeg give me a break A-40, that is my opinion and I'm welcomed to it, I know its like swimming against the tide at present and I didn't say he didnt do well only that he is not my man of the match any offence in that? abeg go chill small.

And if you care to know, I would give it to one of Diaby, Song or Sagna, they had a major part to play in us achieving that result, did you for once consider Sagna's run out from the back that led to that second goal? (a goal Theo almost ended up messing up by blocking Cesc's initial strike at goal) Theo is good because he is scoring and that is exactly what he is there to do, I can live with him if he is scoring but can't if he is not because there is hardly anything more he adds to the team.


There is some news coming out about Wilshere's involvement in a fracas this morning but the details are sketchy as to the extent of his involvement.
Update is that he was only being a peacemaker so nothing to worry about, he isn't going to be facing any charges, it is better to be a peace maker than to be accused of despoil like Jonny Evans. 

Theo and Gibbs also make the England squad for the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

debosky:
I disagree - for the goal Mame D scored, Samba got the ball, played out of defence beating three players along the way. That goal was a display of excellent attacking football - a classy counter attack.

You said it, "Counter Attack", with most of our players caught out of position. I meant playing out from the back, everytime their keeper had the ball he just hoofed it upfield straight back into our box. Funny thing is the few times they actually put the ball on the ground, they did play well and have some decent ball playing guys in their side but old habits die hard.

debosky:
I don't think so - RVP's pass opened up the game for Theo's goal. The injury was innocuous and happened in midfield. The tackle was actually a fair one and he just got nicked on the foot. Chamakh did a good job on Samba though - impressive.

Definitely not as innocuos as it seemed, I had seen them kick RVP's ankle both on and off the ball at least 3 times before the injury, at a stage our players weren't going into the 50/50s with much conviction apart from prolly Song, Cesc had quite a few words with Salgado after RVP went down I wasn't sure was shown on TV.

slimshay:
Docky, I'm seriously not getting this your criticism of chamahk. Man works hard all over the middle of the pitch and the final third and all you can say is 'out and out striker'. Well guess what in a 4-3-3 the point is moot. He was bought for his ability to be effective in interchangin positions with the front 3 and not getting caught offside like a certain togolese who was born in that position.

There is nothing at all to fault Chamakh for in his playing that Central role, quite interesting that other people score when he is playing that role, his movement is brilliant and the way he floats about the pitch shows an incredible work ethic, we won't miss RVP much with Chamkh in the side that much is clear. I'm not into whether he is better than Ade or not but he fits that purpose in our team at present.
Ade stopped working hard after his stellar season, but Chamakh is born for this role.

slimshay:
I understand what people are saying about Diaby's hesitation on the ball. But in this game after the second goal, our game plan was to keep it simple and totally control the pace of the game. And usually that's Diaby's job in the team.
Meanwile, in other news, Up Gunners!!!

And how well he does it, Abou is unbelievable on the ball, it takes seeing this guys in action to understand why people love to see Arsenal play, Song, Cesc and Abou are brilliant with the ball at their feet.
Those people claiming Arsenal is losing fans couldn't be far from the truth. It is quite funny at the stadium yesterday the Away end was filled up but there were some spaces in the home end despite the fact that there were quite a number of Arsenal fans like myself who got tickets for the home end and couldn't rejoice too much not to annoy the Blackburn supporters every time we scored.

Just back from Ewood park and an interesting game, will post some pics later. Some quick points though,

1. Blackburn know only one way to to play when they face arsenal, they never played out from the back but hoofed the ball out of defence all the time, you couldn't have seen a better display of contrasting styles, maybe our style is starting to win out at last.

2. Don't like to say it but Cesc had a below par game and gave the ball away too much, Diaby was immense today though he still had the tendency to hold on to the ball too much, you can't however fault his skill and composure on the ball.

3. Theo is definitely into his groove, another unbelievable performance today though I wouldn't have awarded him the MoM award, we were immense in MF mostly due to Song and Diaby while Sagna gave a sterling performance in RB.

4. Arsene made a mistake starting with RVP as the central striker, they kicked the hell outta him and Salgado finally delivered the coup de grace, Cesc as captain had a few words with him though. They couldn't do the same to Chamakh who is a fighter and much stronger than he looks, he actually got some headers against Samba (who is a monster of a man) which I know RVP would likely not get, his link up play is very impressive, under considerable pressure with back to goal he still usually found a team mate with either a pass or an header.

5. Our players are very skillful, their touch and control is unbelievable, those Barcelona guys must be something else to have played us off the park last season.

All hoodoos have to come to an end, may Squill's future be as different from Silvestre's past with Arsenal as heaven is diiferent from hell despite the obvious similarities in their antecedents and being given the same squad number. Amin edumare.

illusion2:
dudu,you again ? 

no be yu I dey talk to joo, I don't comfort other guys, where is maedan? I know she needs comforting right now and you guys have enof on yur plate already.

We and Manure get relatively easy draws, Chelsea should go through also but Tottenham's group is a bit tough. The group of death is AC, RM, Auxerre and Ajax. Sparks go fly for that group with the recent resurgence of french teams. RM should go through but e no sure for AC at all if they don't get some more quality in.

Eduardo is coming back to the emirates with Shaktar as we draw them in the UCL. Hope Tottenham draw the group with AC and Madrid. 

Before you crucify Arsene, consider this Q&A with a Valencial fan in the lead up to the coming season, before someone asks me if Valencia is a big club they won the La Liga in 01/02 and 03/04 and have had 3 managers since then. The one thing that is common to both them and Arsenal in recent times is the building of a new stadium and the selling of their top stars. If you dey cry make you dey shine your eye abi na how yoruba people dey talk am?

And yes another thing I notice is that this fan's view to Valencia is exactly my view of Arsenal at present with the caveat that we have a genius of a manager who has worked with the board to ensure our debts remained manageable and that our youth policy IMO will win out sometime, some people might consider it blind optimism but my view to it is this, that it is more or less the only option available to us anyway and that is the path the board has chosen, It is of no benefit to my general well-being or the club's to adopt a gloomy outlook.
It is time to get realistic about the situation of the club.

[Quote]
Q) I'm a long time Valencia fan, having been born over there. What are your thoughts on the club's health in general?

Richard Denton, Bromley, England.

A) I'm not a doctor so I can't think of a suitable medical description about Valencia's health, however the prospects have to be mixed, to say the least. The sale of the two Davids, Villa and Silva can't have anything but a negative effect on the club. I can't see them repeating their third place of last year, which was astonishingly achieved against the backdrop of their huge debts which are currently estimated to be around 500m euros.

The new stadium which has caused all these problems is still only half-built and its construction is hardly progressing owing to the cash flow problems. The arrival of Roberto Soldado, once of Real Madrid, from Getafe and Artiz Aduriz from Mallorca should ensure that Valencia can still score goals but players' morale will inevitably slump if wages are not paid, as was the case some months last season.
Coach Unai Emery did a fantastic job last season but I can't help wondering whether he will be able to achieve another miracle, having lost his two best players, along with Nikola Zigic and Carlos Marchena, and with the financial issues no closer to being resolved.[/quote]Be careful what you wish for, at least Arsenal always paid their player's wages through the lean period. On a funny note though, it seemed the players performance actually improved when they were not paid, but I'm not saying anything o. 

mukina2:
^
do not try reposting till its been untagged. if you repost it , it will ban you.

No probs, I gave up when it disappeared. I should have broken it down into smaller pieces.

Dr Kitaun:
I am a doomer, yes I am. . .Fck u all retarded hypocrites that choose to believe your own lies and act out Wenger's hype!

I think the bot ate that post, did you see it?

meanwhile, it might be time to start preparing your Bebe jokes. As predicted, the initial signs are not good. Won ti'n fi ohun sile ni Carrington.

yousouph:
As an aside. Who knows what happened to our beloved Adebayor? I havent heard of him lately

He was last seen entering a dibia's office, purpotedly to arrange how Balloteli would fall off his bed and damage his Achilles ligament like Sidibe.

dayokanu:
Michael Ciani is not Marquee by any standard, He is younger and stronger than Squilacci, Actually I started noticing Ciani like 18months ago and in the CL for Bordeaux last season, he was immense

Actually Monsieur Ciani is quite the physical specimen, even Drogba would probably move to a different part of the pitch if he comes face to face with him but then he is 26 and I'm sure would cost much more to prise away than Squillaci and that is if Bordeaux are willing to let him go at all, remember that beggars are not choosers.

@maedan

If you need a shoulder to cry on, mine are waiting here. I can understand a need to cry at the present situation of liverpool. Don't worry, dead bones shall rise again.

slimshay:
Whats with all the suspense. Announce the thing already!!!!!

abi o, I was refreshing my browser every 30 mins at work yesterday for news about the signing, now its gone to every 15 mins today, hope they announce it before they sack me for overuse of internet facilities.

slimshay:
Theres something inherently wrong with the Arsenal fandom.

No mind our fans, that is one point on which no matter how much I hate to admit it, DK is right but then there is no shame in it because Balaam's donkey also spoke once. a lot of of our fans have hypotrophylescaemia (trophylessness Hypoglycaemia) and so can't think straight. We will continue to sing out of tune until we win something. I just hope we win very soon.

slimshay:
Dudu its interesting to knw you can be so defensive of the wenger way and then turn around and give theo so much grief? Really it doesn't add up.

@A-40 reserves schmeserves, as far as I know they were donnin ugly backside aon labelled jersey. Only one bunch of class of people I knw who do that, yeah u are right, the scummies!!!

Slim, my opinion of Theo na personal one, but I might have read him wrong, he was looking so bad last season and I've never seen a potential world beater look so bad, maybe its because like Arsene I like technical players, Theo's touch was atrocious and he just seemed unable to shield the ball or do anything meaningful with it he seemed to be a cast back to the English school of the pacy small man who knows nothing more than to keep latching on to long balls played in behind the defence.

Thank God for him he came to Arsenal, they would have just turned him into another Defoe perhaps, an Arsenal player needs to be better than that or the likes of Cesc might just begin to wonder what the hell they are doing here.
If you see all our recent academy graduates, the first thing you'll notice is their outstanding technique, even big guys like JET have good touch and ball skills, Theo just stuck out like a sore thumb and it wasn't a pretty sight, good for him he seems to be getting it together.

[quote author=A-40 link=topic=439183.msg6626414#msg6626414 date=1282589214]Did you predict the hat-trick at the start of the game or when it dawned on you that the lad was on fire on the day?? Well like i told you we are going to see a lot more of that if we play to the lads strength's every now and then. You would observe that a fair share of our goals came from counters and that is Theo's game if only Wenger could instruct these guys to go back to the playing style that won us trophies i would not get on his back so much it is this his over-elaboration of the passing game that makes our players pass instead of shoot!! Vela,Walcott and Van Persie where in situations where they where directly facing goal with no one ahead of them (opposing defender or teammate) but still wound up passing instead of shooting. Say what you like but unless you are going to buy a Robben a Ribery or a Cristiano Ronaldo,Pedro (players we obviously can't afford) then you absolutely do not know what you are talking about when you say there are better players waiting in the wings (i hope you don't mean Wenger's academy boys by the way)

All Theo needs to do more often is actually take shots at goal rather than try and square the ball so damn much i personally would like to see him set a 15-20 goal target this season! With the positions he is able to get himself into and his finishing the rest is more or less mental[/quote]That is the part I don't subscribe to, no one is going to play to anyone's strength it aint going to work that way, he should just keep working his socks off and get better in his decision making, he has a unique ability others don't have, he should learn to make it work within the team's playing pattern and continue developing his game, Arsenal is not a place for one trick ponies they get found out quickly.
As for those players waiting in the wings, yes I mean those from the academy and the reserves, maybe Theo knows its now or never as our complement of English players continues to grow, if he doesn't tie that place down I can assure you there are some chopping at the bits behind him.

[quote author=kay_pumpin link=topic=439183.msg6626208#msg6626208 date=1282586198]Now let's hope Schillaci(would have preffered that Ciani dude from Bourdeux) will be our answer to Drogba  [/quote]I feel you, that guy is built like a ox I think even Drogba would bounce off that chap and if some whispers are to be believed we are still in for him but I think very unlikely.

Now DK, this is a player who wants to leave, na so so ihale Barca dey do during the Cesc saga. Person wey no get Barca DNA dey strike becos dem no gree am go Barca. 

It is so bad at liverpool, mascherano can't see a future that he's opted to strike.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=816976&sec=england&cc=5739

Manure own still dey come o, by the time their team is full of Bebeic signings na then people go know say wahala dey.

[quote author=A-40 link=topic=439183.msg6626074#msg6626074 date=1282584742]@Duduspace
Who are you kidding? We all know how much you can't stand the kid. And if Diaby's goal did put a knife through my heart then i must have just one stab wound while you have three. I didn't see you salute him on Saturday. He might be the worst player to you but on his day he is one of the most brilliant and dynamic players we have at the Emirates.

Better players have come to the EPL and have ended up being flops plus the Prem has not been to kind to Brazilians. He can be the next Messi?? Haha ok ooh i don hear lets wait and see nau[/quote]that is so not true, if you go to the match thread, you would see I predicted he would score an hat trick before he did. I watched the match with a friend and at a stage we were staring at each other at what Theo was doing on the pitch, he did a lot of things I never associated with him on that day, hustled like hell and destroyed that Blackpool LB but like I said I don't have a knife through my heart, I still believe there are better waiting in the wings but good for the lad though it can only benefit him and I never faulted his hadwork and commitment which seem to be bearing fruit now.

One conclusion I've also come to is that Theo will be twice the player he is as a winger when played centrally but its good he has been played on the wings so far, what doesn't destroy you ultimately makes you stronger. He would have ended up as another Owen (burnt out at 28 while the likes of Giggs are still waxing strong at 35 changing positions after their pace has deserted them and never able to cut it at the highest level) if he didn't come under Arsene's tutelage.

v3:
P.S : Anyone knows how many right footers we got in our first 11?

Vela's solo run was good. . weak RIGHT foot
Wilshere run was good. . weak RIGHT foot

Nice spotting v3, we've got a lot of left footers in the squad and more are still coming as I think JET is also primarily left footed, Vela had my jaw on the floor with that beauty of a move a pity he couldn't finish it off, that is one of the things you pay to see and why Arsenal will still have a huge fan base whether we win or not. Jack needs to work on shooting with his right foot. I think that should be his project in the coming years, RVP was also extremely one legged when he first arrived.
Right footers are Arshavin, Cesc, Theo, Sagna, Eboue, Koscielny and Denilson I think, both Nasri and Diaby use both feet.

Specialist900:
Heard gallas signed for 60k a week at spurs while he rejected our 80k. Sharpness kills, after travelling round europe looking for a better deal he was told money don't grow on trees. He succeeded in playing himself 2-0

No mind the stupid boy, pride no go gree am come take the 80k we offer am b4. Onyoshi.

About Koscielny's height, he's 184cm while Kos is 186cm but he is heavier. Good I think.

follypimpi:
We Nlers r going bowlin n a dinner,debo his coming as well just thot u might be up for it.

Awwwwwh, why am I stuck up north on my own? not free for that weekend will see if I can book it off.