Arsene Wenger says better balance in the team and the squad has gone a long way to bringing about the recent run of good form.
Since losing to Sp*rs at White Hart Lane on February 7th, Arsenal have won eight Premier League in a row, driving up the table into second place, and the manager believes having players back from injury and adequate replacements for those stricken are key factors in that.
“What people forgot is that we had big players out for four months this season,” he said despite the fact nobody really forgot that at all. “Six or seven players from the squad completely out. So that made a big difference.
“We have a better balance in the team and some players have made it like Coquelin, who contributes to the balance of the team. Hector Bellerin as well has come into the team.
“And big players like Koscielny, like Ozil, like Giroud have been out four months in the season – four months the three together!
“I have a quality bench and we even have quality players at home like Chamberlain, Arteta, Wilshere. I didn’t even try Debuchy. We have a big squad and I think we have quality. Let’s see how we finish the season and after see how we do next season.”
Meanwhile, the Arseblog News Hound has noticed an interesting trend. As mentioned above Arsenal are 8 games unbeaten since losing to Sp*rs. That follows up a run of 8 wins and 2 draws when they beat us in 2012/13, and 7 wins and 1 draw following their success in the 2011/12 season.
By comparison, after beating us this season they lost their next game, as they did in 2012/13 and could only manage a draw in 2011/12.
It’s almost as if they give so much to win it leaves them spent and, rather hilariously, spurs us (pun very much intended) on in a serious way.
fuck Spurs 😀
St Totteringham’s is effectively only two wins away.
Or two Spurs’ losses without us even having to play.
Aren’t Spurs a basket ball team sponsored by KFC?
Basket case team, you mean.
damn spurs, always putting us into a downward spiral.
Keep the squad together, one (two tops) signings and we are going places next season. Though would still prefer to beat Spurs even if it does help us and harm them.
I remember in a presser or an interview not so long ago, Arsene said that he will keep 95% of the players from our current squad for next season. Sounds good to me.
This Summer; – Bring in Reus (To replace Podolski) + Schneiderlein (To replace Flamini). – Sell Campbell and give Gnabry some more game time instead. – Sell Jenks because Deb + Bel are 1st and 2nd choice RB’s now so Jenks deserves more than a 3rd choice RB. – Make Sanogo our FA and Carling Cup striker and let him grow into the Arsenal way of playing. – Introduce Zelalem into the first team squad during league games (It is time). – Sort out the Walcott contract (but that’s up to him dampening his ego) as we should keep the… Read more »
The same sanogo who’s done nothing at crystal palace? No thanks.
Sanogo did not underperform at Crystal Palace. Other Palace strikers are on fire and are preferred.
Yeah lets keep Diaby and play Zelalem and Gnabry more, what about the other 7 players we have for the same positions?
Not sure on the jenkinson sanogo thoughts . Jerks is young And debouching while 1st choice atm is getting on, I’d loan him out in the premier league for more exp and same for sanogo. Fa cup n capital 1 cup for welbeck and possible use for akpom assuming he isn’t loaned out, can also use it to get another look at Walcott as a front striker, it can’t hurt
I love Reus but he’s not getting far if he comes in to replace Podolski.
How about giving Iwobi a chance as the FA and carling cup striker?
FOYS!!!
Spurs away first game next season.
We’ll be champions and the spuds will be relegated.
Brilliant. Also, in case no-one has noticed, Hector Bellerin has now scored twice as many league goals as Mario Balotelli this season. So if Balotelli can be projected to score 15 in a season, surely that means Bellerin will score 30.
Oh, I dont mind we not winning the league this year, but please, carry on this winning streak UNTIL next year, and I’ll be one happy camper.
Spurs can get fucked.
From behind. With a broken hockey stick. That has been dipped in ebola-laden poo.
This team doesn’t feel like it needs anymore signings. It also doesn’t feel as if we will be getting rid of anyone in the Summer except for Poldi and Campbell (and perhaps Diaby and Walcott). I really hope we can carry this on to next year. We could try combining the strong start we had last season to the strong finish we had to this one and really give a title push come 2015/16.
If a top class player becomes available and can fit into how Arsenal plays then why not? I.e. Petr Cech (just an example).
Peter Cech is a bad example. But I agree with your point. 🙂
Yes, I don’t want Chel$hit chav scum in our team.
I don’t think the news community likes Mr Cech much
What is it with this Cech business?
If, for some strange reason, we did want to ditch and replace our deposed #1 keeper, why would we want Chelski’s deposed #1 keeper for the job?
Especially when Ospina has been better this season (statistically) than the guy who deposed him.
All pundits and fans will likely say we need the following this Summer: – another DM to compliment and compete with Coquelin. With his performance this year not as many are calling for a Carvalho or Schnederlin, but getting someone like that will only make the squad stronger. At a minimum we need a backup option for Coq as he can’t play every match, may get injured and also will serve suspensions for card accumulation along the way. – another strong goalie. Whether you think Ospina is the answer or not we need another goalie capable of being the number… Read more »
The only position that I see potential in being strengthened is perhaps the DM role but even with Beilik coming up through the ranks soon, that could not be the case. Otherwise, I cannot see where the new signings would fit in? Perhaps we could purchase someone for the right wing should Theo Walcott leave? Even then we have The Ox (if he stays fit) who can replace him and we seem to be doing fine without either of them at the moment. Yes, maybe a world-class player would be bought, but then again that would come at the expense… Read more »
James Milner could be a decent signing
Free,Experienced, provides cover at most midfield positions
Wage and playing time demands probably make it unlikely though
Isn’t Arteta and Bielik going to be Coquelin’s competition next season? That’s assuming Flamini is moved on.
Eh can we play spurs every 9 weeks so?
And lets lose to spurs twice a year and get those 18 games Won 16, Drawn 0 Lost 2
Then we only need about 12 wins from the remaining 20 games to win the league at a cantor
and spurs get to release 2 dvds…
….
and get relegated
Today is Today.
The next game we play…
The ball is round
and sometimes wet,
and square.
Cubic, even.
But so what.
It’s coming out of a cannon!
Can we play them in the first game of next season then?
The even funnier thing is listening to Sp*** fans on the phone ins etc without exception they say 1. The manager isn’t up to it 2. We need a clear out of players and some new blood. They seem completely unaware (as does Levy) that the constant revolving door of players and coaching style and staff is exactly why they cannot crack the Top 4. With the exception of Juande Ramos (who was clearly out of his depth in the PL) if they’d stuck with any of their managers for 2 seasons or more they’d probably not only be Top… Read more »
there’s also a heap of ’em who are – hilariously – tearing their hair out at the short-termism the club operates in response to results/5-live phone-ins/fan forums etc. But all that means is that we can laugh at both Spuds fans who demand instant success/knee-jerk change *and* those who despair exactly the same approach and its guarantee of contiued failure, so it’s good news all round really. Sooner or later they’ll stick rather than twist and all we have to do is hope that it’ll be somebody along Villa Boas/Gooner Tim lines that they persevere with – you never know,… Read more »
I sometimes think Spurs was put on the earth solely to be a cautionary tale to fickle Arsenal fans.
That new 400 million pound stadium is going to cripple Spurms even worse than our stadium debt restricted us. At least we had the resources and the smarts to stay in the Champions League for 15-odd years while we paid for the stadium, and now we are past that time and the future is rosy. But how the hell are Spurms going to manage that debt? They won’t be able to buy any new players (other than “who is he?” types), and they don’t have any good players to sell. There’s a good chance they could christen that new shithole… Read more »
It goes to show what a tremendous manager Arsene, and a great club Arsenal, is. The Wenger-out brigade might want to have a closer look at Tottenham Revolving Doors next season and learn their lesson about turning teams around whilst buying stadiums. Oh, the glory! Change takes time, no matter how many billions, managers and players you through at it.
People do forget actually. Watch Goals on Sunday were they discuss our slow start and they barely mention injuries! And when they do towards the end, we apparently only had two injuries. The rest must be figments of our imagination!!
I’m not envious of any other team’s squad and honestly think a world class keeper and a top class second DM would make our squad one of the best in Europe let alone the premier league. Czech & Schneiderlin the final pieces?
Interesting that he didn’t even mention Walcott. Signs of things to come?
The only shift of power in North London was from Highbury to the Emerates. All them muggie managers that kept fantasing, better squad, negative spiral. Cunts… The lot of em.
At 65 with 2 years to run does anyone think this could be Wengers last contract?
If Walcott is forced to pull over at the sheer affrontery of being offered 120,000 pounds a week then we will know what happens next…. He’ll marry some northern bird who thinks she can sing.
Hey.. northern bird still pretty :p
That’s all well and good, but what’s our best eleven?
Oh that cracked me up.
The only spot I can imagined AW thinking right now is the left wing.. With theorically Podolski and Campbell going, I could imagine him buying some backup for Alexis there. On the right, in the event of Walcott leaving, I think he will go along the idea of deploying Ox with Gnabry as backup there, with Ramsey also can play there .. And also Welbeck/Alexis/Ozil/Cazorla. The middle is interesting, while everyone keep blabbering about BFG and Kos the Boss passing the magical 30, peoples tend to forget Cazorla are also in that bracket.. This is where Jack have a chance… Read more »
Frankly better balance has been borne by availability of Cbacks from Christmas. Had Coquelin been playing before then, we would likely have had similar results. MOst goals were conceded from corners and wide areas suggesting that the central pairing were unfamiliar be it through inexperience Chambers or out of position Monreal. Had Wenger brought in a player like Gabriel at start of season, we would have had better results first half and may still be within a shout of Chelsea (say 4 more points than where we are now) There was no mythical world cup hangover for our big German.… Read more »
This summer we will look to replacing key areas in : Midfield Arteta is not getting younger and will likely leave. Flamini is good enough to cover Coquelin but we may need someone who can add height in the middle sans Diaby. Possibly a combination of Arteta/Diaby in a Khedira will depend on salary issue/price. A cheaper alternative with more upside (less experience) is Kongdogbia. Attack Walcott does not look to be signing the extension. If so, there are several possibilities. Wenger will be keeping a keen eye on Campbell but also the emerging talents of Akpom and Gnabry. The… Read more »
With regard squad balance, again I think it is best viewed in pairs : 1) CF – Giroud, Welbeck (Sanogo) 2) RW – Walcott, Ox (Campbell) 3) LW – Alexis, Gnabry (Akpom) 4) AM – Ozil, Santi (Rosicky) 5) CM – Ramsey, Jack (Zelalem) 6) DM – Coquelin, Flamini (Arteta) 7) RB – Debuchy, Bellerin 8) LB – Monreal, Gibbs 9) CB – Per, Chambers 10) CB – Koscielny, Gabriel 11) GK – Ospina, Szsc (Martinez) Plenty of space for potential coming through but also experience in every area. If Walcott leaves, RW/LW could still do with another player particularly… Read more »
In terms of the sort of wide player we may need should Walcott go, this Dyabala chap is a great prospect for us with his ball skills. We need another player who can retain the ball and add creativity should one of Alexis or Santi get knocked.
We will likely only have to add two (plus LB for academy) so we cans pend maximum resource being competitive for signatures.