Arsenal - crisis or not?

[Psychotic]

You have a point there, but I think that there is more to the decision than mere trophy-hunting. If players were motivated entirely by silverware, Cole would've moved to Madrid ages ago, and Steven Gerrard would currently be wearing an ugly blue shirt.

When did Madrid win anything recently?

We could've recalled Hoyte, but that would mean he'd be unable to return to Sunderland, and once the crisis was over he'd have spent the rest of the season warming our subs' bench instead of gaining first-team experience.

I think you can still loan players out to lower division teams outside of the transfer window. I know we loaned Zak Whitbread out to Millwall outside of it.

How can you possibly say that Kewell has outperformed every single one of our midfielders? He' simply lucky to be surrounded by good players on a good run of form. In the matches I've seen, he's hardly been impressive, and certainly not good enough to make up for his history of abject failure at the club. And I still stand by the hair comment.

If you're saying Liverpool's success has come from other players besides Kewell, then look at this. Fun for all! And that's just recent games. He's been top in many other previous games. All of this is voted for Liverpool fans, and you're not going to claim we're biased in favour of that guy (especially above Kop heroes like Gerrard or Carragher) after the abuse we gave him after the Champion's League. And as Liverpool's midfield has been performing at a much higher level than Arsenal's, I think that we may assume that the most in-form midfielder for Liverpool has been performing better than the most in-form midfielder for Arsenal. As for the hair, it's the third-worst in football, yeah. Only Claudio Caniggia and Carlos Puyol can beat Mr. Kewell.

We should form a club!

A Chelski dislike club? I think that's pretty much every football fan.

That's the kind of comment I'd expect from the football fan equivalent of West Brom. I still haven't gathered what exactly is so bad about Gilberto, and to criticise Cesc Fabregas after the kind of perfomances he's been putting in at age 18 is just plain foolish. As for Diaby, he's played six games, and has shown every sign of being the tough-tackling midfielder we need. Just because he isn't a big name doesn't mean he isn't any good. After all, who had heard of Patrick Vieira when he first joined the club?

Oh now, no need to get personal. Gilberto can't tackle, can't pass, and looks lost. Look at him playing against Liverpool, if you want an example. I didn't criticise Fabregas, as I genuinely believe Zoltan Gera is a good player, and easily WBA's best.

I absolutely love this. You're equating players because of their nationality? Ignoring the falsely-implied inferiority of the Arsenal players for a moment, it would have made far more sense to put Diaby in with Makelele and Hamann, as his role in the team is nothing like Essien's.
And putting Ljungberg, a creative right winger, in the same category as two offensive midfielders who compensate for their respective teams' lack of proper goalscoring talent? Don't get me wrong, I'm not for a moment questioning the talent of Gerrard or Lampard, but just because Arsenal don't field that sort of midfielder doesn't mean you can throw in anyone you like just for the sake of a comparison.

Oh okay, it's very wrong and naughty to use nationalities to show how three Premiership sides have similar teams to each other. I'm sorry, Internet Police, please let me off with a caution this time. :rolleyes2

If you want to put Diaby in with Maka and the Kaiser, the point still stands: He's worse than both of them. But as it happens, he looks like he's going to be a nasty piece of work, just like Vieria was, and just like Essien and Sissoko are.

What do you think Steven Gerrard has been playing as this season if not a creative right winger? Perhaps a goalkeeper? Well, he'd probably be better at it than Ljungberg. And isn't he Arsenal's top midfield scorer, just like Gerrard and Lampard are for their respective clubs? I was going for that angle.

Well, Robert Pires plays on the left, is a great dribbler and has scored more goals than those two put together this season, as well as a dozen in each of the two seasons prior.

Robert Pires....great dribbler? I think you meant to type "diver" there. Also, might I add that there is more to being a footballer than scoring goals, incredible as it may seem.

It's difficult to refute that Chelsea are stronger than Arsenal in each of those categories (although that's hardly surprising, for obvious reasons), but your misguided loyalty to the unemployed car-thieves really shows here. To suggest that Harry Kewell is a better player than Robert Pires is laughable, and I wouldn't say Hamann is better than Gilberto either. You can't possibly judge Abou Diaby after such a short time at the club, but I'd say he's already the equal of Sissoko.

Oh, another personal taunt about Liverpool. Wow, I'll bet your post will prove to be an objective and completely unbiased analysis! Pires better than Kewell? Dream on. Cast your mind back a few days ago to the Valentine's Day encounter. Who was the one pulling the opposition's defence apart, and who was the one standing around looking like he couldn't be arsed? Kewell has clearly had a much better season than Pires this season. As for Hamann vs Gilberto...now who is misguided? Honestly, that has to be a joke. Watch the second half of Liverpool v AC Milan. Watch him take one of the world's best, if not the world's best, playmakers, Kaka, to the cleaners. And what makes this even more incredible is that he was doing it with a broken bone in his foot (and he still took and scored a penalty with said foot in the shootout) Then come back and tell me Gilberto "Huh? What's going on?" Silva is superior. So...let me get this straight...you can't judge Diaby when he's only been there for a short time at the club, but already he's as good as Sissoko? Uh...you're judging him right there. :rolleyes2 As it happens, I'd be extremely surprised if he plays anywhere near as well as Sissoko has this season, as his performances have been immense.

The fact is that this is all a matter of form. Liverpool are on a roll right now, and each of their players is performing to the very best of their ability. Conversely, Arsenal are stuck in a rut and the individual players are suffering as a result. But these are just ongoing trends. Liverpool were poor at the start of the season, even after a lengthy Champions' League qualification campgain to help their new players settle in. When their current hot streak wears off, then players like Sissoko or Kewell will begin to flag. Similarly, when Arsenal find their form again, the indiviuals in their side will start to flourish. The fact that there was only a single goal between the sides last week shows that an under-strength Arsenal side can still compete, and had that been a full Gunners' side, we would have been a match for Liverpool, bad form or not.

No, all our players are not performing well. Look at the strikeforce! But still we manage to score from midfield. And Liverpool are currently fatigued, if it had escaped your notice, thanks largely to the Super Cup, WCC and FA Cup, not that I'd expect an Arsenal fan to know about the first two. Didn't you notice that Xabi Alonso was "flagging" (useful verb, thanks man) and had to be substituted? The fact that there was a single goal between two sides last week shows that a fatigued Liverpool with misfiring strikers can still completely dominate Arsenal, and that Jens Lehmann is a very good keeper, and is the only reason you're not further behind Spurs.

I'm sorry to have ever doubted you, PsyPsy. You really are funny. :laugh:

Thank you, thank you. For my next joke: The Arsenal Midfield!

Nah, the time when Liverpool lived and died by Steven Gerrard is long gone. However, your inconsistency and lack of attacking options last season was why you finished fifth. Nobody finishes behind Everton on bad luck alone.

For Everton, read Spurs. (The under-achieving inferior blue and white rivals...from ENGLAND no less, if I'm still allowed to compare nationalities) What will your excuse be?