Fans split on who should partner Cesc now but tip Ramsey for future
THE Goodplaya survey of 1,000 Arsenal fans asked who should be Cesc Fabregas’ partner in central midfield. Around two thirds of respondents cast their vote in the period after the Roma victory (when Denilson and Diaby excelled and Song only came late on) and before the Fulham game. The rest voted post Fulham.
Who should partner Cesc in central midfield?
Denilson: 438—–45%
Song: 32—–3%
Diaby: 396—–41%
Ramsey: 95—–10%
Eboue: 6—–1%
Randall: 9—–1%
So, a split. Respondents were also asked whether Denilson, Song and Diaby will make it as Arsenal players.
Denilson will make it as an Arsenal player:
Agree strongly: 212—–22%
Tend to agree: 431—–44%
Neither agree or disagree: 181—–18%
Tend to disagree: 128—–13%
Disagree strongly: 29—–3%
Song will make it as an Arsenal player:
Agree strongly: 19—–2%
Tend to agree: 99—–10%
Neither agree or disagree: 201—–20%
Tend to disagree: 381—–39%
Disagree strongly: 283—–29%
Diaby will make it as an Arsenal player:
Agree strongly: 132—–13%
Tend to agree: 428—–43%
Neither agree or disagree: 235—–24%
Tend to disagree: 159—–16%
Disagree strongly: 31—–3%
So, a fairly clear verdict. Despite only one in ten people thinking Ramsey should be partnering Cesc now, he is expected to do well.
Ramsey will make it as an Arsenal player:
Agree strongly: 389—–40%
Tend to agree: 452—–46%
Neither agree or disagree: 127—–13%
Tend to disagree: 14—–1%
Disagree strongly: 1—–0%
And finally, I asked fans to comment on the statement:
Lack of central midfielders is the biggest reason for our struggles this season:
Agree strongly: 529—–54%
Tend to agree: 302—–31%
Neither agree or disagree: 59—–6%
Tend to disagree: 72—–7%
Disagree strongly: 21—–2%
Coming next, we’ll look at Fergie’s claims that we need defenders, whether fans are too critical and whether Arsene is too indulgent.
5 March 2009 at 7:03 pm
I think this question could have been better worded: Lack of central midfielders is the biggest reason for our struggles this season.
We have cesc, denilson, diaby, song, ramsey. 5 players for 2 positions should be enough. Instead the question should have been: Lack of central midfielders of the necessary experience and quality is the biggest reason for our struggles this season.
All of the 5 have certainly showed glimpses of being able to make it at Arsenal. However, I think this season came too early for some of them.
5 March 2009 at 7:14 pm
Central midfield is one of the only areas of the squad that have been good enough this year. Goalkeeper, center backs, left back, wings and up front have been far worse. We all just like to point at the lack of a maniac central midfielder.
5 March 2009 at 7:42 pm
Those who agree that Denilson should partner Fabregas dont understand the game very well.Denilson cant very tackle,he’s slow,and not a great passer.is he suppose to be the defensive midfielder?Be reminded Fab is the playmaker.
5 March 2009 at 8:13 pm
Tom, dont agree we need a new keeper. Almunia has been quality this season. Shyane, Denilson doesn’t need to be a DM. Flamini wasn’t and he is sorely missed.
5 March 2009 at 8:32 pm
dang ive missed a=ALL the votes
for what its worth i think diaby is showing the kind of discipline recently that can give him a permenant place in that midfield, whether with cesc or not. he could be the complete player (Vieira mach 2) if he puts his head to it.
i also think its still way too early for ramsey, he’s still only 18.
5 March 2009 at 9:33 pm
Denilson has some of the best stas for passes AND tackles. What ever Amatuer Alan hansen said different really doesnt understand the game very well do they?.
Of course central midfield is the main reason for our struggles, we lost 3 central midfielders and never replaced em!
That and the oh so effin predictable injuries of course.
5 March 2009 at 9:33 pm
stas = stats
5 March 2009 at 9:38 pm
I still think that if we do make it to the semi final and final of the Champions League we’ll be bloody glad we have Denilson and yes he can pass.
5 March 2009 at 9:42 pm
I
5 March 2009 at 9:46 pm
Alex V hit the nail on the head. We could debate the relative promise of 4 of our central midfielders all day long - we would probably not get two people who comment on this blog who would totally agree on all 4.
But at this moment in time ? Not one of them is good enough to play every week for a team with serious thoughts of winning the league. Anyone who doesn’t think this…..well it just astonishes me, it really does, that anyone who could otherwise.
And if you start the season with only one central midfielder who’s good enough then scrapping for 4th/5th was just inevitable.
ps - the one is Cesc by the way in case anyone thinks otherwise
5 March 2009 at 10:12 pm
I think the losses of cesc, Theo and Rosicky not coming back have not helped the cause this season, along with the stop start progress of Diaby coz of injuries. We’ve been solid for a long time now, thats stemmed from the midfield getting to grips, finally. We have not had the same attacking threat and if we had, we’d be well up the league, IMO and that would be with Song & Denilson……
Go figure!!!!!!!!!!!
6 March 2009 at 2:44 am
DPK: In the last 4 draws we had 60 goal attempts and at least 12-15 clear-cut opportunities. With Eduardo and Adebayor in form we would have bagged those games and leveled with Liverpool and CSKA London.
Can’t you see it?
6 March 2009 at 2:59 am
what is the population that you sampled? fans at the park? fans that visit your website? without this type of information, it is difficult to say whether your data is accurate or not.
6 March 2009 at 10:39 am
LOOK yes we started the seasion with problems and our strikers havn’t been performing at their best recently but we’re getting form back and we havent actually lost in aroud 15 games so that’s really good. Our defence has stepped up, Almunia ahs been great are midfield are performing well and so are our strikers they just can’t finish to the best standards. so give them time, trust them and give them your support or we’ll be the ones that miss out.
listen to me look what some you have done to eboue if we gave him our support and cheered him instead of booed him he wouldnt bve so nervous on the ball and mess up so often he might even be on really goor form and be one of our best player if we didnt give him such a hard time! just support the players ok? And the professor!
6 March 2009 at 3:14 pm
cescfiberglass: He sampled fans that visited the latrine in White hart lane…. Where do you think it happened?
6 March 2009 at 3:17 pm
I think the weaknesses in midfield have been our biggest issue during games. as for a partner for cesc, den simply did not work in the early part of the season. I dont know why but they played together plenty of times and not once was I convinced they made a good partnership.
Diaby and Cesc is just too attacking. people picking those 2 are just picking their 2 faves, not even thinking about the balance between attack and defence - like some sort of fantasy football game.
Song just isn’t talented enough to play week in week out at the top, though he probably is the right KIND of player for cesc. haven’t seen enough of Ramsey over 90mins in the PL to judge him yet but maybe he can partner Cesc. In short not one of the players offered in the suvey is a suitable partner for cesc and thats one of our key problems.
I would sell song and one of Den and Diaby and buy a proper DM with tons of energy and at least some experience.
6 March 2009 at 4:16 pm
Quick passing high tempo games need to have confident players on the ball. Trying to take on the responsibility for a challenging pass or take a difficult attempt on goal knowiing that you are going to get stick when it fails must be hard for seasoned players let alone these youngsters.
I for one am more impressed with these guys the more I see them and the better that they appear to be playing.
It seems to me that the call for more experience is really the call for someone more thick skinned.
As it is we have the team we have and in the future we will have that experience.
Support the team now and in the future when they are winning league and cup doubles,triples etc they will surely brighten your day
7 March 2009 at 12:15 am
I think ramsey is overrated if he should play the amount of games denilson plays he would be a stone cold flop
7 March 2009 at 10:43 am
Rambo a flop? He’s a kid, it will be four/five years before you can begin to label him a flop. It doesn’t matter how well or poorly he does, his performances now don’t tell you how good he will be. Look at Senderos, he was much better in 06 then he was in 08; or look at Flamini, who was never impressive until his last season. Cesc was excellent from a young age and still is, but very few players follow that path, even the great ones. Look at Henry and Viera. In the current squad look at Arshavin, he was 27 before he was considered top class. I personally think Ramsey will be excellent, but it’s way to early to tell.
7 March 2009 at 1:04 pm
Matt,we had lost 5 games before the end of November & were clearly out of the title race at that stage. And that was before Cesc & Theo were injured. Can’t you see that ??
7 March 2009 at 10:58 pm
I think we have a perfect team here. In November we had problems in defence. But as soon as we fixed that problem, Ade, Cesc and Theo got injured, and now we have a new goal scoring problem. We will be a dominant force again when all our injured players return, its just a matter of time.
8 March 2009 at 6:23 am
Totally agree with you Double D.
DPK: That was then. Now’s a different story, we don’t leak goals anymore but we don’t convert our chances. Ad Double D points out, with the return of our best players we should have a hell of a team pretty soon.
The objective of the subs was to keep us in the cups and carry us in the league while the injured recover. This is a crucial week with qualifications for the quarter-finals of both cups and a potential 4th spot a the league. If that happens, hats off to the reviled midfield.
8 March 2009 at 1:25 pm
best partner is rosicky, he used to play in this position in czech national team
8 March 2009 at 1:58 pm
When every players are back, I would like to see this 4-2-3-1:
Alumnia
Sagna Toure Djourou Clichy
Rosicky
Fab4
Walcott Arshavin Nasri
Adebayor/Van Persie
Sub: Fabianski, Gallas, Gibbs, Eboue, Ade/RvP, Bendtner, Dudu
With this line up all midfields to strikers interchangable except Ade. All can shoot from outside of penalty box hence we won’t be afraid of team park the bus infront of the goal. This is the same tactic SAF & Moanriho used to break the defensive minded team. How frequence did you hear these managers complained about the other teams parked their bus in front of goal? Seldon, I dare to say. All midfielders within a team that capable of challenge the title should able to score from outside the penalty box!
8 March 2009 at 1:59 pm
Yeah, of course Matt, whatever you say. You know, if I actually thought you believed what you wrote it’d be better. But you just don’t. And I just can’t respect your comments any more as a result. Otherwise why did you talk recently about how it wasnt Denilson etc’s fault because they weren’t expected to play so much this season ? you couldn’t possibly have contradicted yourself more. Why feel the need to make excuses for someone if you really believe they’ve been the best person in the league in their position ? You must surely get tired coming up with excuses at this stage? Cos I’m certainly tired of fucking hearing them. Injuries, the opposition tactics, our home crowd blah blah blah blah. You simply just decided at the start of the season that Denilson was your pet & those of us who said in Sept/Oct we hadn’t a prayer of winning the league cos of our central midfield were wrong. And now, even having been proved 100% absolutely right, we’re somehow still wrong ! It’d be hilarious if I didn’t care about AFC so much….
And if we do win 2 cups & come 4th everything will be ok, will it ? I bet you’re one of the people who in May 06 said ‘look how great we were in CL, we’ll win the league next season’. Whereas those of us who had a clue knew we hadn’t a fucking prayer in the league in 06-07. If we win the CL this season it will of course be a momentous season - no doubt, and I will fucking love it - but if we go into next season with the same central midifeld we’ll be fucked in the league again.If you can’t see that I’m sorry but you simply haven’t a clue about football.
And as for ‘That was then. Now’s a different story, we don’t leak goals anymore but we don’t convert our chances. ‘
Why do you think we don’t leak goals any more ? Couldn’t be the fact that we’ve had to change our tactics cos our central midfield is so shit ? And as a result we’re not as good going forward therefore not scoring as many goals? (and of course you’ve completely ignored the fact that Fulham had just as many chances as us recently - convenient to ignore the game where our allegedly world-class central midfield was outplayed by Danny Murphy isn’t it ? )
Despite the fact that both Wenger & Sagna have admitted as much ? See Sagna’s comments I’ve copied below. Of course, you being you, and loving to argue for the sake of arguing, you’ll probably read something into it that isn’t there. Time to grow up Matt. Wenger has been a magnificent manager but supporting everything he does just for the sake of it doesn’t mean you’re more of a real fan than the rest of us.
We were never going to challenge to win the league this season because our central midfield isn’t good enough. The only people who say otherwise are either a) complete morons with no understanding of football whatsoever or b) stubborn fuckers who just love arguing for the sake of it,
And I don’t think you’re an idiot. So I expect to hear more rubbish arguments soon but frankly I’m done. You won’t be hearing from me again cos I can’t take you seriously any more.
‘Bacary Sagna has admitted that Arsenal have adopted a more defensive approach this term.
The Gunners are renowned for their free-flowing football and are widely regarded as one of the most entertaining teams in Europe.However, they have, at times, looked frail at the back, with their eye-catching approach work counting for little as goals were leaked on a consistent basis.
They do not appear to have resolved those issues as yet, with 25 goals conceded in 26 games this term, but Sagna believes a more considered approach will pay dividends for the club in the long run.We can’t compare this Arsenal team with the one from last year,” the French full-back told L’Equipe.We lost some players and a few new ones have come in. We are a young team and we have changed our style. We don’t rush forward as much anymore.We looked at what was going wrong and the reasons behind why we were conceding a lot of goals.We wanted to continue with the pace we displayed last season, but it was not helping us. So we have changed our style of play and we have not lost more games because of that.Now my first duty is to defend. Some people would like to see me attack a bit more, but I just adapt to each individual match.above all I am thinking about the team. The most important thing is not to concede goals.Personally I would like to attack more and have more fun, but sometimes the game demands I do the opposite.”
8 March 2009 at 4:59 pm
Talk to much shit dpk. And please go and take your boyfriend matt out for dinner he needs football schooling.
8 March 2009 at 5:10 pm
Will shut it you dont know what your talking about. DPK totally agree.
8 March 2009 at 5:14 pm
wow only ten comments for the arsenal west brom game i thought there would be up to 500 since it was the first time arsenal scored a goal in the premier league for months. Well anyway thank goodness we wiped and washed burnley i thought they would be a threat but against a team like today burnley stood no chance.
8 March 2009 at 8:04 pm
What a thoroughly enjoyable Sunday!
I won’t waste it arguing with anyone…
8 March 2009 at 8:45 pm
matt shut it! umph gaylord
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10 July 2010 at 9:25 am
THE Goodplaya survey of 1,000 Arsenal fans asked who should be Cesc Fabregas’ partner in central midfield. Around two thirds of respondents cast their vote in the period after the Roma victory (when Denilson and Diaby excelled and Song only came late on
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