Ibime:

^^Mugu, you can't counter the point that Sneijder/Milito/Maicon/Robben is neither here nor there. You just focusing on typos.

David Villa I meant of course!

how did david silva equates david villa? instead of you to admit you made an error punishable by death, you are calling me mugu for calling you out. debating with you is ambiguous, cos like i said. . . . you are a big fool. if you cannot sort the difference between david villa & david silva, you are not fit to be in a debate with me.

kay_pumpin:

So tell me how a consistently pummelled Gael wouldn't be prone to madt glitches?After bursting his lungs to help in the attack in one moment,he's back trying to cover up in another moment without help.Not in anyway exonerating his staccato performances,but dude barely get helped.

clichy should be rested in the next few games. he needs rehab!

Ibime:

3rd place is irrelevant.

Only the top two are set in stone.

The only reason 3rd place became contentious is because of the presence of Iniesta (who shouldn't make top 30 sef).

Replace Iniesta with Robben, Ronaldo, Milito, Maicon or David Silva and no one will even bring yeye Sneijder arguments into the debate.

Sneijder/Milito/Maico/Ronaldo/Robben is a SUBJECTIVE choice!

Whilst Messi and Xavi is an OBJECTIVE and INEVITABLE choice.

then i have nothing else to say here than call you a big fool. if you can compare sneijder to david silva(who nani shytes on in 2010), then you need to be intensively lobotomized.

gael clichy got no help from the russian owl and nani had acres of space to torment clichy. arshavin picks his moods. one moment, he is garrincha and the next moment he is bobolayefa edon.

Ibime:

Some punks have gone from arguing that Sneijder should be no 1 to arguing that he should at least be ahead of Iniesta.

The way Cougar came into this thread fellating on Sneijder, you would have thunk Sneijder was paying his rent.

Now we know the punks who should be labelled as football nonentities.

Sneijder? Are you kidding me?

How can anyone watch the season Xavi and Messi just had and put Sneijder in the same sentence? Certain punks follow ephemeral fads. Sneijder will get washed away like tears in the rain where big boys are talking footie.

Like I said previously, no one is begrudging Sneijder the top three, but the top two are not even in his stratosphere.

As for Diego Milito, he's been woeful this season so he hasn't done himself any favours.

If I was to pick one player from Inter team to join the top three, it would undoubtably have to be Maicon (no Gareth retorts please!)

As for the punk with shaky knowledge of fractions, how does 26/29 signal a better return than 34/35?

my guy, stop foaming in the mouth. wesley sneijder had a brilliant season for club/country. if an english player wins the treble and then take the three lions to a world cup final, the world would collapse if he isn't nominated in the top 3 european players. sneijder was the heart-beat of the inter team that washed the floor with chelsea fc even on their home soil. respect beget respect and sneijder was colossal last season.

debosky:

I am not overestimating his ability - what I've said is, someone with more experience in the EPL (over 30 games) playing alongside someone like Gallas during that period has gained a level of appreciation of the EPL that he can pass on. In addition, he was a potent goal threat as well.

Of course he's not the best defender since sliced bread, but I'd rate him above the current pairing and I feel his EPL experience would be invaluable, especially to help Koscielny.

I've said LK and SS have done OK considering the entire situation, but with TV fit, I think there would've been a better performance overall, based on his EPL experience - you cannot underestimate the effects of playing in a new league without much guidance around you.

well, the league is not dead n buried yet. arsenal are still in the mix, so are chelsea, man city and even tottenham. arsenal can still get back to the pole position this weekend if they win and united manage to drop points at stamford bridge. injured players are getting back and wenger has better options on the bench these days than the last 3 seasons. it's up to the players at wenger's disposal to buckle up and challenge for the league title.

debosky:

I haven't written any of them off. The issue is, you almost NEVER pair two fresh CBs to the league unless on rare occasions. In Arsenal's case, this has become the norm instead of the exception, caused primarily by the unforeseen lengthy absence of Vermaelen.

Heck Utd struggled playing Evans and Vidic, but once Rio returned, you could see a difference.

debo, are you sure y'all are not overestimating vermaelen's ability here? he was fit last season when arsenal were shipping in goals like blackburn rovers. arsenal conceded counter-attack goals to nearly all the top teams they played last season each time vermaelen strolled up the pitch to compete with drogba's golden boot. i don't think vermaelen is the ish at all. he is also prone to positional errors. he loves to get forward(possibly wenger's instruction). i actually think squillaci/koscielny have done really well considering arsenal's goalies and substandard and because your defensive midfielders offer no cover at all.

debosky:

If you watch the Utd game again, Vidic's unparalleled aerial dominance rendered almost every ball floated into the ball useless. The Utd midfielders didn't stop the crosses, safe in the knowledge that their CB's have the quality to clear the ball.

This has little or nothing to do with the recent losses in reality. Individual defensive errors, particularly from Clichy, Squillaci and Koscielny have been the principal causes.

Even with Song's so called blinder, we still had our worst defensive performance in over 8 seasons, showing yet again where the flaw lies - the quality of your defenders.

Simply put, the quality of the defenders bar Sagna (who incidentally was even at fault for failing to track Park) is the primary issue.

that was fergie's game plan. . . . .load up the centre of the pitch and force arsenal to go via the flanks knowing neither sagna nor clichy can cross the ball. arshavin loves to tuck in and nasri isn't exactly a touch-line hugger. fergie knew even sagna/clichy manage to get decent crosses in, the aerial superiority of vidic + rio + vds will neutralize the threats. as such, arsenal were toothless and even the little triangles play pattern didn't work cos united loaded the midfield with runners. if the game were to gon on for 900 mins, arsenal wouldn't have scored.

eldee:

Do you want me to continue?? Last time I went into a Messi hype, I got called Mr La Liga.
Let me just state it in simple terms, Iniesta's the only questionable person on that list, and questionable doesn't mean wrong, just questionable.

you got called out on messi because you pointed out his goals/game ratio and it's clear ronaldo had a better ratio than him and he wasn't even considered. since ronaldo joined la liga, he has scored 43 goals in 44 appearances. if the ratio is such a key, then ronaldo should be up there. i am not questioning messi's place in the top three but sneijder performed better than iniesta in 2010. let's leave sentiments aside.

proudly9ja:

Every team has its share of injuries. In fact Im so glad Chelsea and United have had their share this season so if we fail to win it this season, I wonder what our excuse will be?

The highlighted part is our problem. AW needs to wake up and at the same time wake his team up too!

rooney and rio were injured for a long spell. scholes is currently injured, hargreaves is done! valencia has been out and he wont play till february. injuries should no longer be used as excuses. every fan/manager must know injuries are now part of the game.

RuuDie:

I don't really care about the stats but I just love the threat we pose with two forward players --- one player up top and we leave room for their defence to push players forward.

that's the thing! one cannot persist with the same formation all the time to beat different teams. this is what arsene wenger is yet to learn and the reasons he has lost 5 games already this season. i am not sure if this is because wenger is lethargic or it's because he doesn't have enough players in his team that are adaptable to alternate formations. we can beat chelsea with 4-4-2. going 4-5-1 against chelsea won't give us enough ammo upfront as rooney cannot easily bully john terry. if he manages to outfox terry, he must outfox petr cech too. with 2 strikers, we have a chance to beat em at stamford bridge.

dayokanu:

^^^ You would say its better to continue their 2-4th place see-saw till eternity instead of sacking the useless man.

isnt it obvious that wenger has done all he could? The only hope of getting a major trophy now is to hope Fergie has a heart attack or Abramovic stop a bullet in Moscow

they will need a new manager and a massive transfer kitty!

dayokanu:

^^^ You would say its better to continue their 2-4th place see-saw till eternity instead of sacking the useless man.

isnt it obvious that wenger has done all he could? The only hope of getting a major trophy now is to hope Fergie has a heart attack or Abramovic stop a bullet in Moscow

he hasn't tried other methods. wenger is stubborn, if he tries other methods(mixing what he's got with seasoned players) then the results would change.

proudly9ja:

Seriousky guys, and I know this may just be mere conjectures but with all sense of honesty and as be objective as you can be in answering this question:

With the same Arsenal team, same players, same youth set up, playing in the same English League - but with one of SAF or Mourinho as coach, do you think we will have improved or worse results?

what i know is saf/mourinho will not persist with the same format that has won nothing for six years. they would have changed something after the 2nd year with no trophys.

proudly9ja:

How do you know the results will get worse under a new coach?

of course, it will get worse. the foundation of that arsenal side has been built on french-speaking players. if a new manager gets hired, his first task will be to dismantle the french love. besides that, players who are forever indebted to wenger like fabregas, diaby, eboue, etc will no longer see the essence of staying and will want to move on. there will be unrest in the camp and trust me, the outcome will be disastrous. the only way a new manager can help arsenal's problem is for the owners/shareholders to give him $500 million to shop.

dayokanu:

Help me ask am o. If Inter Milan had stuck with Mancini fearing a new coach, Would they ever win the treble?

Or If Chelsea had stuck with ranieiri? Obviously WenGAY is clueless and has resorted to giving lame and insane excuse to satisfy loonie fans like Dope2much

it's not the same with arsenal. ranieri, mancini and others did not spend a whooping 14 years in their respective clubs when they moved on. wenger is an institution. you just don't remove a manager like such. he signed all the players in arsenal fc. 90% of them from third world countries - thus their undying loyalty to him. if wenger gets sacked tonight, arsenal will not finish in the top ten.

eldee:

Haba . . . I don die, how can anybody in their right mind say Messi's season didn't trash Sneidjer's??
Abi which kain insult be this??

There are some performance that we'll never see in this generation of footie any more, Messi had one of them.
How can someone average almost one goal per match and you're yarning dust about World Cup??
When people do these amazing things, they break conditions like . . . you didn't win the UCL or World Cup.

When last did you see one human being scoring 34 goals in 35 matches?? With assist too??
Walahi, una don crase finish . . . insult.

So you'll openly agree if Sneidjer was nominated ahead of Messi??

if it's about messi's statistics in la liga(ignoring his world cup), then cristiano ronaldo deserves to be there ahead of messi.

dayokanu:

* After yet another trophyless season, Arsene Wenger tells Arsenal fans that he has spotted the problems in the side and will regulate them in the transfer market.

* One month after making these comments, and with no one still signed, the apologists begin by claiming that 'Arsene needs to wait for the World Cup to finish' before signing anyone.

* Apologists then come to the realisation that the 15 year olds Wenger intends on signing aren't at the World Cup, since Burundi, Burkina Faso and Zamunda aren't taking part.

* Chamakh comes in on a free. He adds firepower to 'new signings' Eduardo, RVP and Vela (all back from injury of course).

* The World Cup finishes and still no sign of a top defender, top midfielder or top striker. Wenger apologists then claim that Arsene is 'waiting for Godot'.

* A week later, Wenger bemoans the inflated nature of the transfer market.

* Almunia gets a job waitering at the Ivy and Fabianski is hailed as the new Lev Yashin.

* With 2 weeks to go until the start of the season, and still no sign of further additions, Wenger picks up a turd from Hampstead heath and puts it in the squad.

* One day after watching the turd in training, Wenger insists that 'he cannot find anything better than what he currently has'.

* Arsene's cult agree. Some random 'diehard' claims that anyone criticising Wenger's decision to sign the turd should 'go and support Chelski or Citeh'. If Wenger has seen the turd in training then he Knows best.

* The season begins. Arsenal destroy Ebbsfleet 15-1 on the opening day, with the turd even getting in on the act.

* Cue riotous celebrations. 'Arsene Knows' and 'the turd has proved his critics wrong'.

* Turd is given a massive contract extension and bumper pay rise the following day.

* With one week to go until transfer window close, Arsenal are top of the league by alphabetical order mind, so why would he need anyone else?

* Transfer window slams shut. Only then does Wenger reveal he was 'very close' to signing Lio Messi, David Villa, Whitney Houston and Robert Mugabe.

* Arsenal surge to a great run and are top on new year's day!

* Wenger goes on to throw the FA Cup. Range of deluded apologists defend this disgraceful decision.

* In the following weeks, Arsenal play Man United. Despite 100% possession, Arsenal have no shots on goal and lose 5-0 at home to Man United's 3 shots ongoal (plus a Denilson + Fabianski og).

* Random Arsenal player gives a loudmouth interview claiming 'we will learn from this'.

* Two days later, Arsenal go to Stamford Bridge and only manage 80% possession. Didier scores a hat-trick inside 15 minutes.

* The Chelsea back-line and keeper decide to sunbathe for the rest of the match, safe in the knowledge that Arsenal will play one thousand pretty passes in front of the D, without anyone actually shooting.

* Wenger gives post-match interview, furious about Chelsea's 'anti-football' and disgusted that Ancelotti has invented a new on-field collective known as a 'defence'.

* Wenger is even more disgusted at the 6 foot plus fella on the nets preventing the ball going in. Arsene had always thought that bloke's job was to pick the ball out of the net once it had gone in?

* Robin Van Persie injures himself doing the moonwalk. Out for the season.

* Rosicky injures himself eating a Krispy Kreme, Out for '4-6 weeks'. Ends up being out for a decade.

* Arsenal fans claim that 'with a fit Rosicky and RVP' that the UK would definitely have won the Eurovision song contest.

* Now out of the league cup, FA Cup and title race, Arsene Wenger claims that these 3 competitions don't matter, and that only the CL does.

* After his kids have their undies pulled down my Man United in the CL yet again, AW claims he has discovered a new mathematical theory whereby third place is actually superior to first.

* Arsenal fans happily digest this and serenade Wenger, who is offered a contract for life.

this is too harsh. i feel sorry for the goons.

chamotex:

Carrick will start against Chelsea . . . . he is the only one that sits in front of the back four.
Scholes will be fit but whether he will start remains to be seen cos I cant see Fletch or Ando losing their place.

Same team against the Arses is fine by me . . . If it aint broke, don't fix it.

Our wing play will be very important against Chelsea . . . there will be chances to find space behind Asheley Cole when he bumps forward but we will need to move the ball quicker than we did against the Arses.

Did someone just mention 'O'Shea to play against Chelsea?' If na play make you stop am o.
They should just give Chelsea the 3 points then . . . no point playing.

fergie is likely to play 4-4-2 with chelsea. playing chelsea and playing arsenal are two different issues. arsenal have a highly mobile midfielders with their pass-n-move tactics so you have to load the midfield up to overrun them. chelsea are a different kettle of fish. their midfielders are robots/immobile. we have nothing to lose playing them in a 4-4-2 system. chelsea's weakest link is paulo ferreira. if we can pit him with nani, with rooney and berbatov as strikers then chelsea will be toast. in all the big games we have played against chelsea in recent past, fergie deployed the 4-4-2 system. i doubt he will change it now.

debosky:

Fixating on beating Utd and Chelski is of little value - I saw no value in the 2008/09 season where we gave a lot of energy to beat Utd and were nowhere in contention, and I see little value in it now.

Do the business against other teams and you won't need to worry about the so called 'rivals'.

this is not correct. there are two ways to go about it. when you don't beat your "rivals", you must at least pummel the smaller teams beyond recognition and get maximum points from those. in the 08/09 season you are talking about, united had an abysmal record in the grand slam games but they took 70 points from the 72 available against the bottom 12 teams. arsenal are not using that blueprint this season as you have lost to west brom and newcastle at home already. it means you cannot beat your big rivals and you are not even beating the smaller teams. it's a big concern.

ladej:

whats your position , do you think they were crap? they failed to capitalise on the success though, it has to be said. big time. even us chelsea won back to back

technically, i think they were crap.

ladej:

chop knuckle broda.
true that, doesnt diminish that excellent season though. its like diminishing barca's season by saying the other teams rolled over for them. sometimes you have to credit the goal scorer, not lambast the keeper

but you have to be honest, many see that achievement as a fluke because arsenal's dominance didn't last long. when other great european teams have dominated, they at least defended a league title and were victorious in europe. arsenal did none of that so you cannot blame people thinking the invincibles were crap.

ladej:

were the other 17 teams rubbish or was arsenal exceptional that season?

a bit of both to be honest!

ladej:

biggest yes, hardest no. im willing to accept at best its different though. its definitely more prestigious, but the consistency needed to win the league takes it for me. due to being seeded big guns can avoid each other, and get a kind draw for the second round. from the QFs onwards u can hit full steam as a club. in the league no soft touch o. if u win the league u have deserved to win the league. champions league has had a few lucky winners IMO, namely porto [remember the disallowed goal from scholes]

yes, an undeserved winner can win any cup competition but that does not devalue it. if you win the champions league unbeaten, consider it the most difficult task ever because from the group stage onwards, there's no easy team. arsenal's toughest rivals in 2003/4 when they went unbeaten were man utd and chelsea. the other 17 clubs were not up to scratch. in the tie against united(it was 0-0 at ot, 1-1 at highbury), in a champions league format, the gunners would have been eliminated based on the results. lastly, there must be a reason arsene wenger is yet to win the champions league - and that is because it's more difficult than the domestic league.

ladej:

to be honest i have no clear answer to this question and i havent heard a convincing one till date.each brilliant team tend to bomb in the following season. the closest it got to back to back wins was when juventus got to 3 finals in a row in the late 90s. sadly only one was picked up. it might be the unpredictability of knock out football, this would be my educated guess, and i might be wildly wrong. even the excellent barca were tactically crushed by mourinho this year, leaving the players scratching their heads in disbelief. sneider opines it can be done. i wont hold my breath. remember when AC milan last did it they actually played fewer games than now[also a brilliant team to boot]

it's not solely because of elimination, the ambiguous "away goal" rule is also a factor and this is why the champions league is more difficult. you can draw twice against your opponents and get eliminated(1-1) at home, (0-0) away and you are out! so for this reason, the champions league is the biggest football competition in my opinion. the quality is top draw and you have to really be on point to clinch it.

and 24 hrs later, hnic is yet to be found. the police are still looking for him.

ladej:

nope it isnt. league is harder than champions league. time and time again this has been proven. the fact that you play 38 games in a 9 month season is a pointer. the league is more rigorous,more competitive, and the bread and butter of all leagues. of course they are different formats. one is 19 home, 19 away, while the other is a knock out competition. of course the quality is better at champions league, but the games are fewer and spaced further as well.

so kindly explain why no team has been able to defend their champions league title since 92/93 and these same teams defend their league titles time and time again. the champions league is more difficult! a club can be a local champion like lyon, celtic/rangers, porto, etc in their respective domestic leagues but there's no local champion in europe. if you don't stock up well, you would be found out just like braga exposed arsenal the other night. the champions league is more difficult!

ladej:

i bef to differ bros.i agree he failed to win back to back titles but hes also the only manager to go unbeaten in a season since the prem started 17 years ago. the european cup is one i cannot defend here, but because he didnt win it doesnt mean he isnt great.

alex ferguson won 2 different champions league titles unbeaten - i am yet to see united fans anywhere gloat about that which is even a more difficult task because fergie had to go past good teams like inter milan, barcelona, bayern munich, chelsea, juventus, etc. wenger went unbeaten with less-difficult teams to worry about. besides, there's no special prize for going unbeaten. winning it is the most important thing.

dipo2much:

^^
Yes,i'm a houseboy. if dat b true,u r a houseboy too. just that u r a fullish,useless houseboy. hence,d name sharon

ding!

ladej:

my guy no beef na. apples and oranges mate. in terms of overall trophies of course he lags behind. he had the chance to manage Madrid but chose to remain in arsenal cos of his principles, same principles that have cost him numerous titles. however i have a right to my opinion despite the fact im a chelsea fan. hes been an asset to england, and even alex will admit that he is a great manager[and he has done publicly]. why i would disagree with alex ferguson beggars belief. he more than anyone knows what a great manager is, after all we are all arm chair critics here [at least i am]. i maintain my stance. ARSENE WENGER IS A GREAT COACH. there. said it.

arsene wenger is a decent manager, he's not a great coach. to be great is to do something extra-ordinary consistently. wenger has not done that (yet). to be great is to defend a league title - wenger hasn't done that yet. to be great is to win a european cup - wenger hasn't done that yet. i don't disagree he's been great for arsenal but that is because arsenal are small time. in the clique of great european managers, wenger is an apprentice.

dipo2much:

^^
lets face it boy. honestly,d u believe anyone doubts if u r sauron or not? if there be any such person,he is as dumb as u or DKhead. u r a bigger fool than i imagined if u really think u r decievin anybody.

we have heard you. it seems you have a bit of time on your hands where you work as a house-boy. i shouldn't be found engaging in a discourse with a brain-dead fecal matter that you are. enjoy your day - you ignoramus!

dipo2much:

^^
shut up,sharon. it is public opinion dat u and dayokanu are among the worst ideeots from west africa. Isnt that the reason u changed username? why did u stop usin your  sharon username? Shameless mor0n.

you are the biggest vermin on the forum. how many times will i tell you i am not sauron? it seems the longer you exist, the dumber you will get. the iq of an average gaynner is less than 5 so i won't be bothered with your rants? if anybody in this day n age can reason like a slug the way you do, then the only logical conclusion is you must have lacked protein(needed for brain development) as a tot.

dipo2much:

^^^
dat one hit u,right? Next time,u keep d vitrioline within. You and your friends here r d fools. gettin bitter over sweets

i am laughing at your indolence and shaking ma head at your existence. everytime you open that gob of yours, your idiocy is exposed. it's better to keep mum and let people guess you are a fool than open your mouth and confirm their opinion.

dipo2much:

i cant edit my posts,so i'll just repost.

Nasri's d shi.t
Nani is shyte.

@sharon.

cretinous? is that how your doc described u? mhen,thats dire.
sorry,man

you are a fool! nani is making a strong case to win the player of the season.