Are 'super super class' players really that important?
Friday, May 18, 2007
Consider this a season review if you want but ive not posted the whole of last season, a combination of laziness, having no hunger to write about our losses to crap team like Sheffield Tuesday and Man City...also dont forget despite doing the double over Man Utd, West Ham did the double over us(thats a new low!).
Anyway, on to my point. Henry, who apparently said "I'm off" to teammates, has come out and said that injuries have cost us the season and im sure no one can disagree with him on that. Looking at our squad you have to say, on paper we SHOULD be challenging for the premiership.
Sure you can say that we have no width with both Rosicky and Hleb preferring to make runs towards the middle of the park but since when have Arsenal ever done that? Our best side was made up of the best left side the premier league had ever seen and none of those players ever made runs anywhere near the corner flag. Asshley, Pires ands Henry made the left side unbeatable but none ever crossed the ball(its not like there was anyone in the box anyway). Cole made run to the edge of the are before laying it on for Henry and Pires would always shoot after taking the ball to the edge of the box. Although I agree that Hleb doesnt cut it on the right, he still has his uses and sometimes he does show glimpses of why Wenger signed him.Im sure we would all lick our lips if Ribery signed but if I'OM dont get into the CL, they will definitely not let him go for anything less that 17m pounds, is he worth that much? Not unless he can score 20 goals a season from the wing!?
Everyone has been complaining we need another striker but actually we probably have 3 very good strikers with 3 very different uses. Henry gives us speed, Robin gives us power and Ade gives us height, something Kanu never gave us despite the similarities. Walcott cannot be considered a striker just yet, and could possibly play on the right if Wenger decides he has seen enough of Hleb and with Bendtner coming back to prove himself we will have 4 strikers that can definitely score goals. I think Henry will not be a weekly feature like he use to be and we will see a few games next season where Robin will partner Ade. Although a fully fit Henry can do pretty much anything but we have yet to see a fully fit Henry since Paris. If Wenger can get the 80% of his job done, Arsenal wont have any problems up front. Its also important to point out that before Henry and Robin got injured, our problems were not scoring but it was that we conceded first so often that they ended up playing against 11 defenders. Bringing in any of the 83 strikers we have been linked to over the course of the season will only make Bendtner's progression slower. Its highly unlikely all our strikers will suffer injuries (and 3 match suspensions for not punching Wayne Bridge) at the same time again.
We also have Denilson, Diaby and Hoyte all looking like good prospects and Fran Merida, Carlos Vela and Traore and probably only a few seasons away from the first team as well. Bringing in players for the present will make it longer for them to get first team football as no star will sign for Arsenal if he is only offered a 2-year contract. Lukas Fabianski shows that Arsene still believes that youth is the way to go. Although, I agree that we do need some traditional wingers that can actually play on the wing, the price of wonder kids like Ribery is not something Arsenal can afford at the moment. If Wenger does not make any big signings I wont be too upset, Wenger has a master plan. Just remember, Arsene only signed one player during our unbeaten season, JENS LEHMANN!
Stats:
Players who have had at least 1 month out with an injury this season:
1.Henry
2.Rosicky
3.Hleb
4.Walcott
5.Van Persie
6.Baptista
7.Gallas
8.Clichy
9.Eboue
10.Diaby
11.Aliadiere
You could almost build a new team with this lineup!
In Wenger, I trust.
By the way, a very Happy Birthday to the-cannon which turned 1 today! Congrats and all the best for the future.
posted by highbury1913 @ 9:15 pm | |
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