I feel like if his head wasn’t filled with mashed potato then Adebayor could have gone up a level with us.
3 Likes
He’d have been perfect as the 3rd member on Bodger and Badger. Emmanuel Adebodger.
3 Likes
All things considered Giroud has exceeded his expectations at Arsenal.
4 Likes
Ehhh…he came here off a season where he lead Ligue 1 in scoring. Definitely expected more when we signed him. That said, when we later saw the player he was over a 10-20 game stretch, yeah, sure, he’s met the expectations for the talent he has.
1 Like
Robin van Persie
He was plagued by so many injuries before blossoming into a damn good striker. The club stood by him and when push came to shove he walked away from the club to join Man United.
I’m sure if you ask him he’ll say the one PL title he has vindicates his decision but I don’t think the story should have gone this way. I can’t help but think that 2010-11 really fractured his relationship with the club. There was that awful Carling Cup loss to Birmingham and that ridiculous red card at the Nou Camp.
I personally think he cut off his nose to spite his face by joining Man United. Yes, he won a PL title, but I think if he had stayed at Arsenal for the 2013 season we win the title that year. If we add Ozil to a lineup with RVP well … a guy can dream right?
I can admit that his letter really rubbed me the wrong way even if I have come around to his idea of thinking regarding the direction of the club. That’s the difference between a player/employee and a fan though.
He could have been an absolute legend at Arsenal but I guess that one medal was worth more.
1 Like
Him playing a major role in Montpellier ligue 1 success is more of a testament to his mentality. He scored 21 goals that season, only really a few goals less than the numbers he’s been putting up here. Eden Hazard’s stats from his final season in ligue 1 to his PL seasons have dipped, not because he lacks the quality but maybe the standard opposition is better in England.
When he first signed he was an obscure name, I thought he was RVP’s back up. I think supporters naturally hoped he’d help fill alot of the void but it was difficult for Giroud into come into a frustrated post RVP climate and please when he possessed attributes you don’t commonly associate with the typical striker Wenger had seen the most success with.
I see Giroud as an successful experiment in tactical pluralism by Wenger. He basically found a big guy whose game was a mainly technically based player and developed him into a competent cultured PL target man. His physicality and presence in final third is something that had been missing at Arsenal for a long time. I’ve always said there’s more to his game than goals, even when he’s not scoring he offers alot. Under £9.6m for him was a coup really especially when the likes of Carroll, Benteke and Bony have been transferred for over £30M each, none of them come close to Giroud in terms of technique and link up play.
That drought has been overblown in many ways. 15 consecutive matches without a goal was largely padded by 7 15 - 20 minutes ‘appearances’. He went 8 starts without a goal, which still isn’t good reading but he’s was just one part in a general system that failed in the 2nd half of last season. You can’t really attribute the failure of the Ozil to Giroud combo as Giroud fault completely either, in the same period as Giroud’s drought Ozil only registered 3 assists in 18 matches, all starts.
If you look at his scoring rate, his general fitness, mentality and general performances in relation to his cost he’s objectively exceeded expectations.
Why can’t you apply this logic to Alexis? After all don’t many claim a player like Alexis Ozil’s ideal forward to assist? Yet the stats show Alexis was more wasteful in front of goal than Giroud last season.
I hope we don’t have to bring back the, “Is Giroud World Class?” thread again if this debate carries on 
I don’t think Giroud belongs in this thread, personally.
Lord Bendtner. The expectations were massive! He didn’t achieve world class status for us and never won the ballon d’or, becoming the best player in the world which he claimed to be. We even gave him the classic 52 shirt ffs! I for one am hugely disappointed.
1 Like
FC Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry. 
Shame he didn’t get the billion and half chances Diaby, Theo, Alex got.
Good shout. One of the best dribbler i have ever seen. Just too greedy.
How fucking good was that season?
And how fucking good was Cesc.
People would try to brush off Cesc as a false dawn or something but he was really good for us.
Something really went wrong for Cesc during those hamstring injuries because he lost the smoothness in his play since his last 2 season with us.
I think it’s the exact opposite. He’d never pull the trigger and would always look for an extra pass, I remember countless times I would scream for him to shoot in an obvious position only for him to pass to a similarly positioned team mate. He needed to be more selfish and ruthless.
I didn’t appreciate him all that much at the time but he was a great system player. I’d have him endlessly dribbling and playing cute little passes but not shooting in our current side.
All Hail Alex Hleb, King of the Pre-Assist and First of His Name
1 Like
I agree.
Considering his limited talent, he must be the only player to play for a big club, without any real competition for his place in the first team, for so long.
The only reason he has exceeded his expectations is because of the other players he plays with.
Eduardo is a player who didn’t fulfil their potential and it wasn’t his fault.
He was one of the best finishers I have seen at the club.
Reyes was another.
When he came here, he was considered one of the best young players in Europe, along with RVP, who we also got around the same time, but Reyes lacked mental strength and, although he got off to a good start, he didn’t seem to get on with some of his team mates, and didn’t want to be here.
Like most clubs we have a lot of players like this, Diaby, Rosicky, Eduardo, Hleb through injury, and others because they moved to bigger clubs, or some like Vela, Merida, Reyes etc and even Gnabry who were considered brilliant youngsters but just didn’t have the extra of what it takes at the highest level.
If Hleb earned a transfer to Barcelona didn’t he fullfil his potential/expectations at Arsenal then?
1 Like
Yep.
Anelka in my opinion could and would have been the best player in the world if hed have stayed here for a few more years.
Wenger was at his peak as a coach then and was aware of the whole world game. He would have been the best mentor a young player with talent could have wanted.
Made to many poor decisions this man with his career and didnt fully reach his true potential.
Anelka is a great call. He was half the reason Ian Wright was sold after the Double winning season when young Nick came onto the scene. 98/99 he was brilliant. Ultimately his impulsive nature to burn bridges and keep changing from club to club was his downfall. We were very lucky though we were able to move on from him so quickly when another certain Frenchman arrived.
Plus his transfer fees lead to us building a new training ground, so it worked out rather well 
I’ll add Giovanni van Bronckhorst to the list. I remember being pretty excited signing him after what he managed up at Rangers. Every now and then he’d have some good matches but we had so many top quality players when he joined, he just never really got a look in at Arsenal.
1 Like
I was just reading about him yesterday because I was watching the PSV vs Feneyoord highlights and I had no idea he was the Feyenoord manager. According to wikipedia (I don’t know/remember that Arsenal side that much) he suffered a big injury when he first sign with us? then he moved to Barcelona and was very successful. Another Hleb maybe?
Wait what, GvB is Feyenoord’s manager!?
That’s made the victory over Mou even the more sweeter 
2 Likes
That midfield of Rosicky, Cesc, Gilberto, Hleb was one of the best midfields I’ve ever seen. If could have held them together for a few more years I fully believe we could have done some damage.
1 Like