Daniel1980

They're probably going to the Austrian training camp together straight from Italy.

4-2-3-1 with Matic and Fabregas is essentially 4141, because Fabregas will be probably playing a bit more advanced anyway.

Yeah, in big matches, I expect to see Ramires next to Matic, with Cesc/Oscar as #10.

It's hilarious how ever since he joined us, Costa became a shit player that's destined to flop(according to other clubs' fans). I'm not exactly Costa's biggest fan, but dammit, I so want him to prove all of them wrong.

Cesc is more of an assist machine than a goal-scoring one, though there were seasons he scored more goals than he made assists. In all competitions for the club: goals assists 2006–07 4 16 2007–08 13 23 2008–09 3 162009–10 19 162010–11 9 142011–12 15 162012–13 14 122013–14 13 16 It's interesting that he made most assists in 2007-2008 when he played deeper in midfield, though in his last three years at Arsenal he played fewer games because of injuries.

It might just mean that he was specifically asked about Chelsea's and Arsenal's interest.

It also helps that our new players are familiar with each other. Courtois, Costa and Luis all obviously know each other well, Costa and Fabregas(and Azpi and Torres) trained together for Spain NT. Their surroundings and the team won't be completely unfamiliar to them. It should help them a lot to settle in the club.

I would have liked if we signed De Sciglio too if we could get him for cheap. Promising lad, very composed for his age. Luis could have mentored him into a true WC, and LB position wouldn't be a problem again in a few years.

LOL The Dragonborn theme in that video. But in all seriousness, I'm glad he's a bully--we need more bullies--but he'd better tone it down a bit. The last thing we need for him to get suspended and leave us with Torres.

Try looking at what we have rather than at what others have/might get. The grass is always greener on the other side. Vidal is a complete CM and a WC player, for sure, but he's not superior to Matic when it comes to defending and he's far inferior to Fabregas when it comes to passing and creativity, not to mention that both of our midfielders are PL proven. Don't get me wrong--I'd be happy to get Vidal. Just putting things into perspective, mate.

Yes. The panic is ridiculous. It's not like we have been strengthening our weak areas too-- Oh wait.

Yep.

Sometimes I get a feeling that we fans rate Vidal much higher than team managers.

Part of the problem is that he didn't suit their slow possession style. In the first half of the 2013-2014 season, Martino changed the team to be more direct and quicker in transition. And Fabregas thrived when Barca played more direct football, as he used to do at Arsenal, and most of his assists and goals came in the first half of the season. But although the results were very good and Barcelona was winning games, some people on the board, Barcelona fans and some players didn't like the direct style of play, didn't like that they weren't dominating possession. The rumor has it that Xavi went to Martino and convinced him to go back to tiki-taka. Either way, it seems Martino was pressured into doing it, and the second half of the season, Barca dominated possession again and created fewer chances. Cesc became pretty much invisible. Cesc at Arsenal:Cesc in the first half of the season when Barcelona played more direct football: Cesc in the second half of the season (back to tiki-taka):Look at all the lovely side passes and possession domination!

His finishing was actually the second best in the team after Messi(Sanchez and Neymar's finishing is not exactly clinical), but he didn't shoot that often at Barcelona. Fabregas is a strange player. Midfielder with his vision and long range passing should have been a perfect holding deep-lying playmaker à la Pirlo(and maybe he still can return to his native position), but he has finishing and instincts of a striker too, despite the fact that he lacks great pace.

I agree, but while Eden's number of key passes is nothing short of amazing, it must be said that there's a key pass and then there's a key pass. These stats don't show how many of those chances were clear-cut chances. Some players create fewer chances, but more quality ones. If Eden made 92 key passes, it doesn't mean our finishers could have scored 92 goals if they were better. Far from it. Clear-cut chances stats would be more informative. Edit: here it is(information on top creators in the EPL, generated on 31 March 2014, but it still gives a more clear picture): Eden easily had the most total chances created (87), but out of all those chances, only 9 were clear-cut chances. To put things into perspective, the player who created the most clear-cut chances in Europe last season--Cesc--created far less total chances than Eden(less than sixty I think), but almost half of them (27) were clear-cut chances that should have led to a goal. Ibrahimovic is another example of a player who created a lot of clear-cut chances(24). Suarez was the best in the PL in that regard. Liverpool are going to miss his creativity a lot. That said, Eden's clear-cut chances stat isn't bad at all compared to other PL playmakers'(better than Ozil and Mata), but the stat shows that he isn't that superior at creating goal-scoring chances as his key passes stat suggests, which explains why he has relatively few assists compared to the total chances created.

I suspect we never tried to get him.

Because he's not "the star" of the team. Despite the fact that he made most assists in La Liga, he's dispensable for Real if they want to get shiny new toys. It's actually not that different from Barcelona's selling Sanchez and Fabregas despite the fact that Fabregas got the most assists in the team and Sanchez was the second best goal scorer of the team after Messi--they're not "untouchable," despite their contribution. Neither is Di Maria(or Ozil) for Real.

Benatia is a top class CB. Probably the best centre-back in Serie A last season. Would love to get him. If we do get him, I doubt he'll be a back up. He's too good to be a back up.

Yes, but it's all interconnected. We play to players' strengths, and while our attacking midfielders are pretty good passers, none of them are pass masters like Fabregas. Passing isn't our AMs' greatest strength. I'm sure Jose saw the problem too and that's why we bought Fabregas--because he offers something different. Sure, to get the most out of Fabregas's vision and passing skills, we'll need our wingers(and Oscar) to run. Schurrle should get--and hopefully will get--more chances next season.

Last season we didn't have anyone particularly good at through balls. With Fabregas in the team we shouldn't have this problem anymore. His through balls are great, one of the best out there.

I wonder who's going to take free kicks, corners and penalties this season. Penalties: Hazard, but maybe even Costa? Corners: Cesc might. He was Arsenal's main corner taker I think. Not sure about free kicks. Willian/Oscar/Cesc?

Same here. Does he speak English well?

Thanks. I didn't watch the match, so I have no clue why they decided that Oscar made a mistake that led to a goal. But as far as I know, whoscored deducts quite a bit from a player's rating if he made such a mistake. That's probably why Oscar has such a low rating(even if they blame him incorrectly).

But did he or didn't he make a error leading to a goal? I'm surprised, because whoscored usually gives pretty adequate ratings.