EPL Season

just think how much a neutral observer may have suffered from this one.

We do have to care about innocent bystanders as well.

But I am too busy calculating the probability that it was sheer dumb luck rather than intuition that caused Muller to get the hell out of the way of Kroos' pass while drawing the defender with him so that Schweinsteiger could score, just now.
 
So silly red cards aside, the biggest problem I've seen lately is that there is absolutely no Wilshire-Cazorla connection to speak of.
I also think nothing good will happen until this connection is established.
My reasoning is that Wilshire is actually very positive and effective in getting us into or at least to the edge of the box, but he is still far away from being able to make the final deadly pass. That should be Santi's job, 75% of the time.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
So silly red cards aside, the biggest problem I've seen lately is that there is absolutely no Wilshire-Cazorla connection to speak of.
I also think nothing good will happen until this connection is established.
My reasoning is that Wilshire is actually very positive and effective in getting us into or at least to the edge of the box, but he is still far away from being able to make the final deadly pass. That should be Santi's job, 75% of the time.
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I think there are several problems with the set-up as we saw it Saturday.

The first, and most obvious, is having Santos anywhere near the side at all. If you look at the current mini-spiral we've been in, it coincides with the injury to Gibbs. I've been shocked at how his absence has thrown off the shape of the side. I guess the same thing would happen (maybe worse) to Bayern if Lamm goes out.

What is dumbfounding is why he wouldn't shift Vermaelen over and start Koscielny with Mertesacker. Hell, Arshavin might be an improvement on Santos.

As for the Wilshire-Cazorla problem, while I agree with sasha, I think the root of the problem is putting him alongside Arteta. I think Ramsey is a better foil. Whatever you think of him (I happen to be a fan) you cannot doubt his workrate and athleticism. No matter how English Bulldog he may be, Wilshire is little and doesn't have the athleticism to help Arteta who is limited athletically.

I'd pull Podolski and give Theo and Jack a run in the 3 with Cazorla and let them sort out which side and middle, in much the same way that Hazard-Mata-Oscar sort it out situationally.

I still think that Giroud will come good. He is tall, strong, athletic, with good movement and instincts, and often a good touch.

Mannone is a disaster waiting to happen and we look even sillier with Lloris on the Spurs bench.
 
How weird to be reading this, because it does make sense and yet Arteta has been so valuable, and has added more stability than just about anyone up until this stretch.

Whatever it is , there is a bad mix of players on the field right now. And I did not see it cominbg, in my anticipation of Wilshire's return. Did you?

I did however foretell that starting Ramsey on the right on Saturday would have led to no good.

And we need to explain to your general readership that the reason your Gibbs/Lahm parallel works is because Rafinha = Santos.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
How weird to be reading this, because it does make sense and yet Arteta has been so valuable, and has added more stability than just about anyone up until this stretch.
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I've been really impressed with Arteta's seamless transition to his current position which has to go down as another stroke of genius for Wenger. He's done a great job of shielding the back four and limiting his exposure to pace. According to OPTA, he's even had more successful tackles per game than Song and a fraction of the fouls and cards.

That being said, without someone athletic next to him, he becomes less useful. I think that Diaby, Ramsey, Coquelin, Frimpong, Djourou (in that order) would be my choice to partner him. Frankly, it would be an interesting experiment to push Vermaelen there.

Whatever it is , there is a bad mix of players on the field right now. And I did not see it cominbg, in my anticipation of Wilshire's return. Did you?
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Well, I wouldn't have been surprised with a bit of confusion after his return wherever he played, but you don't give someone the no. 10 and then put him in the 2 of a 4-2-3-1.

I did however foretell that starting Ramsey on the right on Saturday would have led to no good.
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Ramsey is versatile enough play almost anywhere, but if you put him on the right, he will drift in towards the center.

And we need to explain to your general readership that the reason your Gibbs/Lahm parallel works is because Rafinha = Santos.
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The Rafinha=Santos parallel wasn't what I had in mind, but it is certainly a poignant one.

What was so interesting to me is how the absence of Gibbs completely unbalanced (or imbalanced) the side. It was so stark and striking. It is was I would imagine would happen to Bayern if Lahm were injured for any extended period (although, to be clear, I don't think Gibbs is the same type of player Lahm is but I imagine the effect to be similar).

Lahm is such an interesting player because he influences the way the side plays from the right back position. The closest thing to him was Dani Alves when he was with Villareal, although Lahm is a calmer presence and generally does more dictating than forcing. It is a really interesting phenomena.
 
I agree about Lahm, he appears to be the only one on the team immune to food poisoning at Belarus hotels.
He was their best player in that game, as well as in that most unimpressive away win at Lille. But there also are obvious reasons why a full back can be the cavalry, and Lahm is not the only one who is good at timing that second wave of attack, when the first wave is in a stalemate.

I had friends email me all sorts of justifications for Santos being on the field, but still I could not believe he came out for the second half against Schalke. I really did expect to see Vermaelen on the left, as an emergency patch.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
I agree about Lahm, he appears to be the only one on the team immune to food poisoning at Belarus hotels.
He was their best player in that game, as well as in that most unimpressive away win at Lille. But there also are obvious reasons why a full back can be the cavalry, and Lahm is not the only one who is good at timing that second wave of attack, when the first wave is in a stalemate.
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I disagree about Lille. Lahm was one of the better players on the pitch for Bayern.

Also, I'm not talking about the obvious full back things he does, it's the things where he looks like a Pirlo at right back that amaze me. He seems to dictate play more than Schweiny.

I had friends email me all sorts of justifications for Santos being on the field, but still I could not believe he came out for the second half against Schalke. I really did expect to see Vermaelen on the left, as an emergency patch.
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It was surprising at the first whistle, it was stunning to see him return after the break. Unexplainable. One of the worst personnel decisions I've seen Wenger make.
 
originally posted by VLM:
I disagree about Lille. Lahm was one of the better players on the pitch for Bayern.
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I meant he was their best player against Lille.

Also, I'm not talking about the obvious full back things he does, it's the things where he looks like a Pirlo at right back that amaze me. He seems to dictate play more than Schweiny.
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well, they are going up the wings more and more, even at times when i wish they didn't
 
It's bad news for us in the league. If shitty and Chelski are both out of Europe, I think it could make 4th even harder to defend.

Certainly it looks like Benitez, who I've always liked. Unfortunately, I think he'll be a good hire for them, but won't last long. Jupp Heynckes as an outside candidate after Bayern make the final again?
 
i think one could safely mention any accomplished manager as an outside candidate -- at the rate with which chelski are going through them, not having "former chelski boss" on teh cv is going to make a coach look very much like a small timer.

dunno about the effects of going out of europe. i suspect you may be right, but then again, look at spuds las season...

fb.
 
Danny has class. Was he a late bloomer or something? He is exactly what Portugal had lacked internationally to go to the next level.
 
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