He hasn't got any quicker since Torres exposed him in '08 either.


Darren, I thought RvP was very poor for what's expected of him.

The three games they defended best.

Gonna be interesting to see what happens in the Euros. I'm not a fan of Boateng, and despite him being a good defender in his own right, Mertesacker doesn't suit their style.

Maybe Badstuber can regain form and fitness and get his place back?

Holland's set up didn't suit RvP, he only really had Robben to work with.

Hold on though. Surely, if this is something everyone here realised, either we're all geniuses or more than Lowe receiving credit for his flexibility, he should be given a dunce's hat for trying it in the first place.

comment by • Tu Meke ERNIE • (U3732)
posted less than a minute ago
Holland's set up didn't suit RvP, he only really had Robben to work with.
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Meaning Robben had to work on his own.

Yeah, Mertesacker is obviously a better defender than Boateng, but Boateng's mobility is needed.

I've not seen much of Badstuber.

Problem with RVP is that he seems to get isolated quite easily due to his lack of pace. As he's got older he's become so reliant on other players in the team.

Imagine this Arsenal team with RvP in it He'd have left on a free even if we kept him though,

I guess Loew deserves a bit of praise for changing it up, don't think he's a huge fan of Boateng either.

RvP was never really reliant on pace anyway tbh.

That 11-12 season where he led us to third was obviously outstanding for him, but people really underestimate how much service he got from our players.

RVP has turned into RVN, albeit a lesser version and can shoot from outside the box.

No he wasn't but as he's got older, slower and less mobile he's become even more reliant as he doesn't have the pace to get away from players to create for himself or others.

And set up good runs with ease.

I haven't watched much of United lately for obvious reason I didn't realise age affected him to that degree. This tournament suggests what you're saying is true though.

A lot of it, for me, is to do with his style needing you to play a higher line. The whole team needs to push up to get RVP closer to the box because he's not quick enough to beat men and counter effectively.

When he first joined us he was doing this as we were pushing up a lot higher and he was scoring for fun. As soon as Vida came back we had to sit deeper and this isolated RVP and he stopped being as good - he went like 10 games without a goal.

We had similar issues last season, and Holland have as well at this world cup. I've mentioned before that the reason Arsenal defended higher up when Mertesacker first joined, when it was obvious it wasn't his game, was to cater to RVP as a striker that good needed the team built around him.

He leaved and you replaced him with Giroud, who is not in his class, allowed Wenger to change his system and get you defending deeper and Merte has looked much better for it.

Good points

The obvious solution for us is to get an upgrade on Mertesacker

But I can't see Arsene willing to spend the big bucks on a defender. He's probably still moping he had to spend 30M on Sanchez

By the way, "he leaved"?

Meant leaves.

You say that about Mertesacker, but I actually think the signing of Sanchez would suggest that playing deeper and utilising counter attacks more might be the way Arsenal are headed.

Giroud is still a problem in this, especially against better teams, but I think your counters will be more effective next season.

Yeah, but it still means we can only really play one way. Sitting deep and hitting on the counter won't work all the time, and tiki-taka won't work with Giroud up front, and Flamini/Arteta in midfield.

And Vermaelen is too reckless to be considered a viable option if we do need to press high up.

I've felt for a while we need an upgrade on Per, but haven't mentioned it 'cos the kids on here would r.ape me

I'm still content if he's our first choice next season though.

Giroud is fast?

comment by itsonlyagame - Gracias, Don Alfredo (U6426)
posted 17 seconds ago
Giroud is fast?
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He broke Newcastle's offside trap last season

Yes I agree with that, Mertesacker is clearly an obstacle there, it's something we've had with Vida and Rio for a number of seasons now.

But I suppose you can push higher up against weaker teams where you'll have the lion's share of the possession, so it becomes less of an issue.

But I suppose you can push higher up against weaker teams where you'll have the lion's share of the possession, so it becomes less of an issue.

===

I guess we could try that away against the big boys this season, see if we can break last season's goals conceded record.

20 goals away to City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton is the benchmark Just under 50% of our total goals conceded last year

Leave our offside trap alone u mug

Happy with Cabella, Andy? Pardew will turn him into Ben Arfa mk2.