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Giroud-Ozil Sanchez-Xhaka/Coquelin-Ramsey-Walcott
Just to increase the goals in the Premiership.
Since the facts are telling us Mertesacker isn't really up to scratch, we have a few options: a) trust Gabriel to keep a cool head for an entire season, b) hope Mertesacker improves, c) put our faith in 21-year old Chambers who has spent most of his career playing at right-back, or d) buy a CB befitting a club of our stature.Only Wenger and his kool-aid drinking acolytes could ague that we don't need to strengthen the core of this team.
Chambers captained England and was in the team of the Toulon Tournament and Gabriel will probably get better. Gabriel (fast, sweeper-type) to me also fits better as a partner to Mertesacker (tall, slow) than to Koscielny (fast, sweeper-type). Some of the players mentioned in the internet press as possible transfer are somewhat similar to Gabriel in that they are young, have shown some brilliance, but haven't proven themselves (more than a year).
He's still our best player by some distance. Not lived up to the price-tag but £42m is an absurd amount for anyone. Glad to see he's so committed though; his performances since coming back from injury have been superb and the effort he is putting in is tenfold compared to when he first joined.
Cazorla?
He's after the Ballon d'OR!
"Should I continue to improve myself and stay healthy, I want to get my hands on the Ballon d'Or in the upcoming years," the Germany international told Sport Bild. "I am convinced that it can work out. I am headed in the right direction.
"I am a world champion and play at a top club in the Premier League. It's far more physical here [England] than in Spain or in the Bundesliga. I constantly have bruises, but it only makes me stronger, and physically I feel better than ever before."
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, now a pundit, accused Ozil of "going through the motions" at Arsenal in his column for the Independent at the start of this month.
Also captained Germany in the second half against Brazil. Doesn't sound like a guy going through the motions.
Jose Mourinho.
Isn't it a bit crazy how they sold half their team and are still in 5th place? I think he supposed to be their best player.
Looks really good; liked the cross-field distribution. Seems a little slow, but 16 and playing top level football??!!
I wonder what the boss saw in Calum Chambers that he didn't see in Carl Jenkinson, despite the three year difference in age. I wonder if Chambers will end up at center half.
I'm not trying to knock Chambers. Just wondering, because I liked what I saw from Jenkinson.
When the team played with two defensive players in midfield, the attack seemed to bog down, so I don't think they can.
I think it depends on how willing the other midfielders are willing to do the dirty work. Liverpool was able to dominate possession against us because every player contributed to harrassing us when we were on the ball. We played much better when we did the same (see Ramsay against Galatasaray).
It seems to me most of the goals against us have either come on the break or from set pieces; the boss made the point that the team needs be better when pressed, to be able to work their way out of trouble instead of giving the ball away (like the best teams are able to do).