Who would Mustafi bench? Certainly not Luiz or Azplicueta and on current form he wouldn't bench Cahill either. Bellerin wouldn't bench Moses either. His balls in the final third are piss poor and we rely on that defensive LWB/attacking RWB combo to keep the system balanced and so the RWB has to be quite good going forward, which is why Moses fits. Ozil can't clean Pedro's boots when it comes to work rate and he wouldn't touch Willian either. And it's not like he can play deep. So really, the only player that would get into our XI is Sanchez. Which is why it would be madness for us to not at least put in a bid. That front 3 can win the CL.
Alexis Sanchez
- Thread starter DanClancy
- Start date
Mustafi is a pub defender 
So Wenger dropped him from the starting lineup as punishment, only to later turn to him when they were down? How pathetic.
I said a few months ago that he would either go to PSG or Bayern with the former being the more likely option.
He's also already played in England, Italy and Spain and probably wants to try France/Germany. PSG would then have Pastore and Ben Arfa for the attacking midfield position, Cavani up top with Guedes in reserve, Di Maria and Sanchez starting from wide with Draxler and Lucas Moura as squad options.
Actually also said that Ozil should follow him to PSG too, although they don't play a system that suits him, he would probably find it great there and I can see him being attracted to that option.
It can only be a good thing for our rival to lose one of their only two world-class players.
He's also already played in England, Italy and Spain and probably wants to try France/Germany. PSG would then have Pastore and Ben Arfa for the attacking midfield position, Cavani up top with Guedes in reserve, Di Maria and Sanchez starting from wide with Draxler and Lucas Moura as squad options.
Actually also said that Ozil should follow him to PSG too, although they don't play a system that suits him, he would probably find it great there and I can see him being attracted to that option.
It can only be a good thing for our rival to lose one of their only two world-class players.
The idea that he's already given everything and can act like a dick is laughable. He was inconsistent to poor last season - if he performed like he has this time out we very well may have won the league.
Would he be the type who wants to play at the second-best level in a League he'd already won in advance though? (Germany, Italy, France) He seems too ambitious.
I think he wants more than that.. I think he want to go to either Spain again or another top club in England. Chelsea might well be the destination, but I'm not sure their brand of football is what he prefers. City or United would be more his style of play. So if he wants to be in England, then I'd say chances are equal of getting him for United, City and Chelsea
I think he wants more than that.. I think he want to go to either Spain again or another top club in England. Chelsea might well be the destination, but I'm not sure their brand of football is what he prefers. City or United would be more his style of play. So if he wants to be in England, then I'd say chances are equal of getting him for United, City and Chelsea
Aren't many Chelsea fans clamouring for Moses to go and Azilipecueta to move to another position? There was even a Chelsea fan who talked about goals were leaking on the side where Moses and Azilipecueta are playing? Weren't Chelsea fans eager to axe Cahill after he was passing the ball straight to the opponents during the early part of the season? Of course you are confident since Chelsea is flawless right now. But you can't ignore the fact that Arsenal has talented players and they are still a top club in both England and Europe, and they have players who can boost Chelsea even further.
Form-wise, perhaps only Sanchez can get into the current Chelsea squad. However, Ozil and Mustafi are still integral to the German national team, and they are arguably the best in the world. Kolscieny, Giroud, Cech and Walcott are also known to play well for their national teams. So, the players at Arsenal individually have talents, but how they play like West Ham against Bayern, Liverpool and Chelsea is a worrying thing. Let's not forget that Arsenal were dominant for a few months before the Chelsea defeat. It seems like the "heartware" is missing in the team. I can understand Sanchez being frustrated because he knows every one is good, but something is not right and it is not likely to improve anytime soon.
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We don't need a lazy and weak mentality player as Ozil. Sanchez, absolutely we love him but no Ozil. Mustafi is a good player but he even is not the best defender in the league yet. Bellerin to replace Azpilicueta? That's madness.
They were pathetic against us at Stamford Bridge, before 1-5 defeat in Munich. Then they were humiliated by Liverpool Saturday. Currently ranked 4 or 5 on the table and being useless in Europe for 10+ years. The only world class player they are having is Sanchez, and he is about to leave.
He is not really. He is criminally underrated. It's just tough being an Arsenal defender in these days.Mustafi is a pub defender
I'd be over the moon if we got him. Love the tenacity he has and I think he just has a crazy desire to win and give his all which I really admire. Would certainly improve us if he came here I think he's class. Having said that, I really would be amazed if he rocked up here, but imagine 
No. In fact, we're delighted he's just signed a new contract. Fully deserved. Doesn't mean we don't realize he's a good player, not a great player and we'll need a great player in there that is an even greater threat going forward than Moses is if we want to win the CL. Moses would be perfect as a Back up to an even better attacking RWB.
Move to what position? No. He's perfect at RCB. Conte just this weekend called him "one of the best in the world at this position".
Conceding a few goals every now and then from that side of the defense is hardly a cause for panic. We're the best defense in the league as of the time of this post. Azpilicueta isn't the tallest fella to ever play CB but it's not really helped by the fact that Moses is even shorter than him. That's why we've conceded a few there. And that's been the only weakness in the defense. Not sure why on earth we'd want to swap Moses or Azpilicueta for Bellerin who isn't tall either and poor in the final third with crosses and a lot of his passes.
Rightly so. He put in about 3 absolute shit performances in a row and deserved the stick. Since then he's been a rock at the back. Cahill isn't Ramos but I'm not swapping him for Mustafi either. Not on current form at least.
Every player in at least the top 10 have talented players who are admirable. Not sure how this top club talk changes the point.
They have one player who can boost us. Alexis Sanchez. Absolute peach of a player. Other than that? No one else. You could have been able to make an argument for Ozil if we were still playing a 4-2-3-1 but we have absolutely no need for him positionally and his work rate would brake down our system. Even Fabregas has a better work rate than him.
Ozil isn't benching Hazard and he definitely isn't benching Pedro who's been having a blinder of a season (and plays as an inside forward anyway) so where exactly are you proposing we'd play Ozil? Deep in midfield? No thanks, Kante isn't Jesus. He can't handle all of that alone. Since we know Ozil can neither help him out back there nor play the position.
At United, Zlatan*, Pogba and Mhkitaryan would clearly boost our squad. At City, Aguero*, De Bruyne and Sterling/Sane would boost our squad. At Spurs, Walker, Rose, Kane*, & Wanyama would boost our squad.
*with a 3-5-2
So you see, it's not overconfidence, it's just that Arsenal have a lot of average players and where they have good players, we have even better players (bar Sanchez), up and down the pitch. I really don't care about how many caps they have for their national sides. Again, that's besides the point.
I'd swap him for either one of mustafi or kos. Not on current form maybe, but overall? Absolutely. I don't think Cahill will be a starter for you next season. Zouma, Ake and Christensen have a better shot than him at getting the starter spot
Zlatan and Pogba would walk into Conte's starting XI, not sure about mhkitaryan. Don't think Conte would have stuck with that porous back 4 for him
Aguero would start for you. The other 3, i'm not so sure. Like most pragmatic winners, Conte tends to prioritize defensive solidity over attacking potential
Kane -same thing as Zlatan and Aguero-. Agree about Rose and Walker. Disagree about Wanyama. Conte would take Dembele
Average for a top side. Chelsea also have a few average players for a top side
More like you don't have worse players. You have better players in goal(curtois over cech), CF(diego costa over giroud+welbeck+walcott. As in, he's better than those 3 combined, by a lot. If you want to consider alexis as a CF, well Diego is a better CF than alexis, too) and CM(kante over coquelin, elneny, xhaka, basically anyone other than ramsey, who's having a bad season, and cazorla, who's injured). Rest is about the same level
Hes a fantastic player don't get me wrong, but I just don't think he's all that, if he did go I reckon he'd leave for £40-£50million.
Which is good, but it isn't Suarez money. He's a league below him in terms of quality.
I reckon Arsenal could reinvest in someone just as good. Heck, they could get Griezmann. Who's leagues ahead of Sanchez.
Which is good, but it isn't Suarez money. He's a league below him in terms of quality.
I reckon Arsenal could reinvest in someone just as good. Heck, they could get Griezmann. Who's leagues ahead of Sanchez.
Why on earth should Griezmann come to Arsenal? They can't offer 250k+/week salary (which Sanchez apparently demands) or guarantee trophies (that's probably the main reason why Sanchez wants to leave). Those types of players want to earn mammoth salaries or to be in a trophy hunting team or both.
Pogba for sure would, not sure about Zlatan though. Conte likes a lot of mobility from his centre forward since Chelsea do a decent amount of pressing, Zlatan can't do that as effectively as Costa. Aguero has the same problem. It's possible we'd go 3-5-2 with those players available, though. Kane would be an interesting one, there's not a lot between him and Costa to be honest.
I do think people underrate Marcos Alonso a bit-he's not the best player but his height is actually a critical part of what Chelsea do. He is the outlet for long goal kicks, and is absolutely dominant in the air against opposition fullbacks and wingers. It's also vital to have him when defending set plays to cover for Azpi and Moses' aerial deficiencies. He's much better going forward than I thought, though he does struggle defensively and isn't the quickest over short distances. Rose would be an intriguing option, though I'd not play him at the same time as Moses, if that makes sense.
Agreed about Cahill, he's bang average and is the weakest player in our XI right now. He still makes one or two mistakes a game, but is fortunate to have cover around him, in particular Luiz who is mobile enough to get across and cover. Ake, Zouma, and Christensen are all excellent prospects though; I don't think Chelsea need to buy so the rumors of spending £50m on Koulibaly seem nonsensical to me.
Selling to Chelsea would be the same as selling to us. Cant see a differemce really. Neither will happen though, he isnt staying in the England. Can see him at Juve if they sell one of their top players again.
Yes, Conte would go with two strikers upfront with hazard behind them
Sanchez at Chelsea would give our attack another dimension, he works incredibly hard for his team and he'd slot right in to Conte's system. He's basically Willian (close control, dribbling, tenacity) and Pedro (finishing, movement) combined.
You can't have sanchez.
Winning it three out of four years would mean you have dominated and if you got him nobody would have a chance next season.
Nothing is ever certain. Everyone said United and City were the contenders this season and the rest would have to fight for top 4.
It's more likely we don't get him but it would be naive to say we can't get him. I'm sure Kroenke would have no problem selling to us if we put in a cheeky 40m bid. Sanchez has 1 year left on his contract anyway. Shouldn't cost more than that. We'd be foolish not to go in for him.
But anyway, if our entire team didn't go tits up last season, we very well could have been about to win the 3rd in a row this season. We have to be aiming for the CL too and Sanchez would definitely help with that.
This is the 2nd time in 3 seasons Cahill is being a starting CB in a title winning team (assuming we go on and win it) and that's not counting the CL, EL, FA Cup and League Cup we've won since he's been here. Nobody is calling him a world beater but on his day, he's a very reliable CB. Kos, yes, I can agree. Not Mustafi.
Mhkitaryan could play ahead of Pedro as an inside forward, although Pedro has been better than him this season.
Sterling is very mobile and so is Sane. They aren't players in the ilk of Ozil that are hard to teach the art of pressing and tracking back. They'll pick it up quickly. De Bruyne is another issue. But he offers so much offensively that you'd have to consider him.
You can interchange between Dembele and Wanyama really. Not much difference in my eyes. Either of them can pair up with Kante.
Sure we do. And they're more reliable than Arsenal's average players.
Yeah I think I'd take Pedro over Iwobi, Matic over anyone Arsenal have in midfield and Azpilicueta over whoever you want to throw in. We haven't even mentioned Hazard, although I guess that cancels out if you're comparing him to Sanchez. The rest, yes, are about the same level.
No Arsenal player apart from Koscielny & Sanchez would get into Chelsea's team. Explain yourself @giorno
Right now they wouldn't. But that's not the point. The point is that majority of arsenal players aren't worse than chelsea players. It's just that chelsea are far better coached. Individually, aside from azpilicueta, not one of chelsea's defenders are clearly better than arsenal's(i'm including moses and alonso here). In midifield, kante, matic and fabregas are better than most of arsenal's midfielders, not all of them. Upfront, the difference is Diego Costa. Swap Diego Costa with Giroud, Kante with Coquelin and Conte with Wenger, and arsenal would be the ones running away with the title by now
You seriously believe Arsenal's wingers are anywhere the same calibre as Pedro & especially Hazard? Courtois isn't a far superior goalkeeper than Cech? Luiz isn't Beckenbauer compared to Mustafi? Our fullbacks aren't better?
We should go for it and try to lure him, I find it pretty difficult but we should give it a go. IMO he will end up in Bayern Munich if he decides to leave England and if he stays I'm afriad Chelsea can get him specially if Costa decides to go to China.
In fact, we are on the same page. You mentioned about "form", which I agree that you won't take Mustafi and swap him with Cahill at their current form. You also mentioned about also willing to take in Kolscieny. This just shows that there are Arsenal players who are able to fit into the Chelsea squad. This shows that you also agree that Arsenal players have something to offer. Yet, they look more like West Ham players with their current form. But the argument is very hypothetical, as footballers' performance depends on form, injuries, team morale etc. That's why I said on paper, a few Arsenal players can enhance Chelsea's playing squad. And something is worrying why these players are not performing when they should, at least on paper.
If you were to compare this squad with the squad a few years back when they had Santos, Denilson, Almunia and Jenkinson, the squad today has the capability. Almost none, except for RvP, could get into the United squad at that time. If Arsenal were to give us Ozil, Ramsey and Kolscny today, I am sure that Jose can whip them into shape and form.
I disagree that the teams in top 10 have something admirable, players from WBA and Stoke City in particular. I don't think anyone from these two teams can be a regukar, even at Arsenal.
Sanchez=Hazard(in fact, i rate the chilean more atm) Ozil >= Pedro. Curtois is much better than cech but you don't need curtois to win the league. City won it twice with joe hart, he's not better than Cech. No, David Luiz is not in a different category to Mustafi overall. Your fullbacks aren't particularly better than arsenal's with the exception of azpilicueta(who's not playing FB right now but nevermind)
Ozil isn't better than Pedro in this league. Not by a long stretch.
That's a matter of opinions. I wouldn't swap Hazard for Sanchez if you put a gun to my head. Very few players I'd swap Hazard for.
This is true.....if you're judging Pedro based on last season. But this season? It hasn't even been close tbh. Pedro by far.
Not sure why this needs to be said. Everyone agrees Courtois is better than Cech at the moment.
I mean, if you've been watching the back of your TV all season, yeah sure.
The way you lot overrate Mustafi on this forum is amazing. Same Mustafi who's been at the heart of a lot of the mistakes made in the thumpings Arsenal has gotten over the last 5 or 6 games? Despite how much I'd like Alonso to be better defensively, his height is crucial to our set piece defending and he's very good going forward. We'd be leaking a lot more goals if you swapped him for Monreal or Gibbs. Both 3 inches shorter than Alonso.
I'm not picking on Arsenal (as much as I love to do that), I've already pointed out players from other top teams who'd improve us a lot. Lord knows our team is far from perfect. But Arsenal just don't have many players good enough to bench ours or that fit our system (e.g Ozil)
And i agree with this. Wasn't talking about which arsenal players would improve chelsea, more pointing out that the real difference between the two isn't superior players all over the pitch, it's literally 1 game winner up top, 1-2 other players in key areas(CM), and the manager
I mean in terms of quality, this team: curtois, azpi, david luiz, cahill, moses, alonso, kante, matic/fabregas, pedro, hazard, michy/willian
Isn't really particularly better than this: cech, bellerin, mustafi, kos, monreal, xhaka, elneny, ramsey, ozil, walcott, alexis.
And this team: curtois, azpi, david, cahil, moses, alonso, matic, cesc, pedro, hazard, willian/michy
Definitely isn't better than cech, bellerin, mustafi, kos, nacho, xhaka, elneny, ramsey, ozil, alexis, walcott/giroud/welbeck
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What happened to Costa?
that's the point. anyways, we've gone way OT. Let's talk about alexis
Would be an ideal Mourinho signing if as the talk suggest Griezemann is not convinced by us.
Arsenal won't sell to Chelsea
Well, hope we have learnt something from the past.
Probably not, but worth remembering that we sold them Cech.
Cech didn't want to play as back up and wanted to stay in London. Different situations.
On the evidence of the weekend Sanchez is a backup now and his dogs seem to like London...
Lol! Fair enough, but Cech was also on his way down so Chelsea could afford to sell him to a rival.On the evidence of the weekend Sanchez is a backup now and his dogs seem to like London...
Haha yeah I'm just having a laugh, the situations are very different. Can't see Arsenal selling to a team in England, Bayern or Juve seem the frontrunners.