Premier League 2016/17

[lanky316]

Hats of to Cech there, could easily have been a much larger margin without some great saves.

[Kaney]

It's so disappointing watching us play, they're so far off the mark it's embarassing.

[Gazz]

It's a shame ArsenalfanTV are now partnered up with The Sun, which means I won't ever watch them again, because today's videos should be hilarious.

[Jimmy]

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Moses Julep]

Changing of the guard!

[GoGo Yubari]

 

[Kaney]

Me.

[Nerf]

2 hours ago, Moses Julep said:

Did you just scream fake news in the football thread?  

Pretty much, yeah

There's this media narrative that Liverpool are in bad form. We aren't. Before the Palace game, we went unbeaten for two months solid, and not the United kind of unbeaten either, as we only drew two games in that time. Defense is largely a systematic issue rather than personnel, and it's massively oversimplying it to say that it's just a shit defense. A lot of it is also media perception. Arsenal have conceded as many goals as us this season, yet the consensus is that they're a defensively solid team.

[Rich]

3 minutes ago, Nerf said:

Pretty much, yeah

There's this media narrative that Liverpool are in bad form. We aren't. Before the Palace game, we went unbeaten for two months solid, and not the United kind of unbeaten either, as we only drew two games in that time. Defense is largely a systematic issue rather than personnel, and it's massively oversimplying it to say that it's just a shit defense. A lot of it is also media perception. Arsenal have conceded as many goals as us this season, yet the consensus is that they're a defensively solid team.

I mean, I don't really think there is a consensus that Arsenal are a solid team in anyway, in fact I thought the consensus is that they have been soft defensively for about a decade.

[Nerf]

Just now, Rich said:

I mean, I don't really think there is a consensus that Arsenal are a solid team in anyway, in fact I thought the consensus is that they have been soft defensively for about a decade.

I've seen a TON of people suggest Koscielny is one of, if not the, best CBs in the league. Mustafi is great. Cech is one of the best keepers in the league. And yet here they are, conceding an identical number of goals as Mignolet, Lovren and Klavan in a fewer number of games.

[MDK]

2 minutes ago, Rich said:

soft defensively for about a decade

Ever since Pascal Cygan left...

[Gazz]

5 minutes ago, Nerf said:

I've seen a TON of people suggest Koscielny is one of, if not the, best CBs in the league. Mustafi is great. Cech is one of the best keepers in the league. And yet here they are, conceding an identical number of goals as Mignolet, Lovren and Klavan in a fewer number of games.

I mean, on paper, they are. Arsenal are far worse defensively without Kos, just look at the Bayern games. Mustafi is very highly rated but hasn't lived up to expectations and Cech, whilst nowhere near his peak anymore, is still a very good keeper. Problem is, defences are units and as a unit, they don't match the sum of their parts. Bellerin is massively overrated and is basically nothing but speed and Monreal/Gibbs on the left is hardly going to set the world alight.

The less said about the protection they get from central midfield, the better.

I do get what you mean about perception though, when he was at Sunderland, Mingolet was the best keeper the league had seen since Brad Guzan according to some media and then the same media was saying when he was having a bad spell at Liverpool, that they might as well have played with a scarecrow in goal.

[Lineker]

35 minutes ago, MDK said:

Ever since Pascal Cygan left...

They need Gilles Grimandi back.

[Baddar]

 

 

[Nerf]

1 hour ago, Gazz said:

I mean, on paper, they are. Arsenal are far worse defensively without Kos, just look at the Bayern games. Mustafi is very highly rated but hasn't lived up to expectations and Cech, whilst nowhere near his peak anymore, is still a very good keeper. Problem is, defences are units and as a unit, they don't match the sum of their parts. Bellerin is massively overrated and is basically nothing but speed and Monreal/Gibbs on the left is hardly going to set the world alight.

The less said about the protection they get from central midfield, the better.

I do get what you mean about perception though, when he was at Sunderland, Mingolet was the best keeper the league had seen since Brad Guzan according to some media and then the same media was saying when he was having a bad spell at Liverpool, that they might as well have played with a scarecrow in goal.

Truth be told, it was just incredibly frustrating hearing the same old shite "WE TOLD YOU SO!!" when Palace beat us as if they hadn't been waiting since February for a really bad result they could throw at us. I bet you didn't hear a peep about us being unbeaten for two months on TV, I know I certainly didn't. I'd argue our 'problems' though are arguably the easiest to solve. Once we figure out how to consistently break down teams that park a double decker, there is really nothing stopping us at this point.

The defense isn't going to get much better with van Dijk or Keane or fucking Cannavaro. It's symptomatic of playing an AM as your deepest midfielder and fullbacks with starting positions higher than most wingers. I'd still take that over playing for 1-0s though. And despite a lot of insistence to the contrary, you can win a league with a porous defense provided your attack is good enough.

[Gazz]

1 hour ago, Nerf said:

 And despite a lot of insistence to the contrary, you can win a league with a porous defense provided your attack is good enough.

Can you?

Since the beginning of the Premier League, only 3 times have the champions conceded more than a goal a game on average, and only once since 1998.

[Sam]

Yeah I can't help but think the score one more than the opposition is a recipe for disaster. All the best Premier League teams have had solid defenses to fall back on. 

[The Lusophone]

3 hours ago, Sam said:

Yeah I can't help but think the score one more than the opposition is a recipe for disaster. All the best Premier League teams have had solid defenses to fall back on. 

Although saying that, the biggest winning margin (18 points), was us in 99-2000 and we had Nazi saluting cocaine fiend Marky Bosnich in goal, who might be the worst first choice keeper for any title winning side.

[Szumi]

A must win today, for be. To go three points ahead of City and United with that extra game is great for us, need to put the pressure on them instead of us.

 

I say that and Coutinho looks like he's coming off... Fuck

Edited May 1, 2017 by It's Pronounced Zoom-E

[Baddar]

Lol, fuck off Can.