Let's check Neal's shopping list:Ajax defender Thomas Vermaelen has completed his move to Arsenal.
The Belgium international has joined the Gunners on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.
tall center back- ball-winning middie
- center forward (if K2 leaves)
Update (and warning, this devolves into a lot of rambling Arsenal-related speculation):
[10:28] Neal J Thurman: guess the question is whether verm is "tall"
[10:28] Neal J Thurman: rumor has him at about 5'11" or 6'
[10:28] JSpitzberg: ha
[10:29] Neal J Thurman: not exactly giant
[10:39] JSpitzberg: 1.8 meters
[10:39] Neal J Thurman: which is about 6' right?
[10:39] JSpitzberg: 1.8 meters = 5.90551181 feet
[10:39] Neal J Thurman: = Gallas or Toure
[10:39] JSpitzberg: shit... i'm taller than he is
[10:40] Neal J Thurman: like I said - not exactly Haageland
[10:40] Neal J Thurman: or whatever his name is
[10:40] JSpitzberg: back to the drawing board
[10:40] Neal J Thurman: my guess is that one of Gallas/Toure will be on his way and there is still another CB on the way in (Bassong or Haag)
[10:41] JSpitzberg: or both out?
[10:41] JSpitzberg: gallas inj & old
[10:41] JSpitzberg: toure aging and to be sold?
[10:41] Neal J Thurman: or the plan is to move Song to CB fulltime with the Verm
[10:42] JSpitzberg: at this point don't you need song in midfield?
[10:42] Neal J Thurman: yup
[10:42] JSpitzberg: then all you need is a striker
[10:42] JSpitzberg: (if k2 leaves)
[10:43] Neal J Thurman: unless you're ready to promote Bendtner and partner him with Arsh/RvP/EdS or play mix and match with those four for the season
[10:43] JSpitzberg: 9 goals in limited time
[10:43] Neal J Thurman: not like Wenger has a Redknapp-like history of forcing the Big-Small thing up top
[10:44] JSpitzberg: or if he wants Cesc to push into the "hole"
[10:44] JSpitzberg: nasri/cesc/arsh behind a big?
[10:44] Neal J Thurman: could be
[10:45] JSpitzberg: 3 from nasri/cesc/arsh/rvp
[10:45] JSpitzberg: denilson/song behind them
[10:45] Neal J Thurman: regardless, he seems to be flexible based on personnel as opposed to having to fit players to a specific system
[10:46] JSpitzberg: i always thought he was very wedded to the 4-4-2
[10:46] JSpitzberg: only just this season he experimented w/ the 4-5-1
[10:46] JSpitzberg: or 4-4-1-1
[10:47] Neal J Thurman: I suppose it has always (until recently) been a notional 4-4-2 but how that manifests itself has changed greatly over the years
[10:47] JSpitzberg: diaby/denilson not exactly viera/petit
[10:47] Neal J Thurman: Henry/Bergy were positioned much differently than K2/RvP
[10:48] JSpitzberg: is that b/c wenger wants them different
[10:48] JSpitzberg: or they're just inferior players trying to match that system?
[10:48] Neal J Thurman: Cesc not the box-to-box guy that Vieira was - he doesn't come back nearly as far and pushes up further than Vieira did
[10:49] JSpitzberg: i miss freddy cutting infield and getting on to a bergy (who had drifted out and back) pass to slam home a goal
[10:49] JSpitzberg: he was still making those runs on wednesday...
[10:49] JSpitzberg: but more often than not he didn't get the ball
[10:49] Neal J Thurman: alas, no Bergy
[10:49] Neal J Thurman: ditto Henry/Pires interchanges
[10:50] Neal J Thurman: that seems to be the current issue at Arsenal, it's really one big ecosystem that has to work together (aside from the occasional individual effort) - the Invincibles team had at least those two distinct ecosystems plus a lot of individuals who could do it on their own
[10:51] Neal J Thurman: if someone took away Bergy-to-Freddie that opened up TH14-to-Pires on the opposite diagonal - teams had to pick their poison
[10:52] JSpitzberg: i guess that's why arsh is/was so important
[10:52] JSpitzberg: as the opposition would focus on Cesc
[10:52] Neal J Thurman: yeah - Cesc-to-K2 seems to be one potential eco-system; the question remains as to whether some combo of Arsh/RvP/Theo/Nasri can create another one
[10:28] Neal J Thurman: rumor has him at about 5'11" or 6'
[10:28] JSpitzberg: ha
[10:29] Neal J Thurman: not exactly giant
[10:39] JSpitzberg: 1.8 meters
[10:39] Neal J Thurman: which is about 6' right?
[10:39] JSpitzberg: 1.8 meters = 5.90551181 feet
[10:39] Neal J Thurman: = Gallas or Toure
[10:39] JSpitzberg: shit... i'm taller than he is
[10:40] Neal J Thurman: like I said - not exactly Haageland
[10:40] Neal J Thurman: or whatever his name is
[10:40] JSpitzberg: back to the drawing board
[10:40] Neal J Thurman: my guess is that one of Gallas/Toure will be on his way and there is still another CB on the way in (Bassong or Haag)
[10:41] JSpitzberg: or both out?
[10:41] JSpitzberg: gallas inj & old
[10:41] JSpitzberg: toure aging and to be sold?
[10:41] Neal J Thurman: or the plan is to move Song to CB fulltime with the Verm
[10:42] JSpitzberg: at this point don't you need song in midfield?
[10:42] Neal J Thurman: yup
[10:42] JSpitzberg: then all you need is a striker
[10:42] JSpitzberg: (if k2 leaves)
[10:43] Neal J Thurman: unless you're ready to promote Bendtner and partner him with Arsh/RvP/EdS or play mix and match with those four for the season
[10:43] JSpitzberg: 9 goals in limited time
[10:43] Neal J Thurman: not like Wenger has a Redknapp-like history of forcing the Big-Small thing up top
[10:44] JSpitzberg: or if he wants Cesc to push into the "hole"
[10:44] JSpitzberg: nasri/cesc/arsh behind a big?
[10:44] Neal J Thurman: could be
[10:45] JSpitzberg: 3 from nasri/cesc/arsh/rvp
[10:45] JSpitzberg: denilson/song behind them
[10:45] Neal J Thurman: regardless, he seems to be flexible based on personnel as opposed to having to fit players to a specific system
[10:46] JSpitzberg: i always thought he was very wedded to the 4-4-2
[10:46] JSpitzberg: only just this season he experimented w/ the 4-5-1
[10:46] JSpitzberg: or 4-4-1-1
[10:47] Neal J Thurman: I suppose it has always (until recently) been a notional 4-4-2 but how that manifests itself has changed greatly over the years
[10:47] JSpitzberg: diaby/denilson not exactly viera/petit
[10:47] Neal J Thurman: Henry/Bergy were positioned much differently than K2/RvP
[10:48] JSpitzberg: is that b/c wenger wants them different
[10:48] JSpitzberg: or they're just inferior players trying to match that system?
[10:48] Neal J Thurman: Cesc not the box-to-box guy that Vieira was - he doesn't come back nearly as far and pushes up further than Vieira did
[10:49] JSpitzberg: i miss freddy cutting infield and getting on to a bergy (who had drifted out and back) pass to slam home a goal
[10:49] JSpitzberg: he was still making those runs on wednesday...
[10:49] JSpitzberg: but more often than not he didn't get the ball
[10:49] Neal J Thurman: alas, no Bergy
[10:49] Neal J Thurman: ditto Henry/Pires interchanges
[10:50] Neal J Thurman: that seems to be the current issue at Arsenal, it's really one big ecosystem that has to work together (aside from the occasional individual effort) - the Invincibles team had at least those two distinct ecosystems plus a lot of individuals who could do it on their own
[10:51] Neal J Thurman: if someone took away Bergy-to-Freddie that opened up TH14-to-Pires on the opposite diagonal - teams had to pick their poison
[10:52] JSpitzberg: i guess that's why arsh is/was so important
[10:52] JSpitzberg: as the opposition would focus on Cesc
[10:52] Neal J Thurman: yeah - Cesc-to-K2 seems to be one potential eco-system; the question remains as to whether some combo of Arsh/RvP/Theo/Nasri can create another one
[10:53] Neal J Thurman: certainly Cesc, RvP, and Arsh are good enough to occasionally produce some individual brilliance and K2 was that guy two seasons ago but not so much last year
[10:54] JSpitzberg: not at all
[10:54] JSpitzberg: he wasn't the K2.6 of "old"
[10:54] Neal J Thurman: no
[10:57] Neal J Thurman: I suppose a lot will depend on how Theo and Nasri continue to adapt/g
[10:54] JSpitzberg: not at all
[10:54] JSpitzberg: he wasn't the K2.6 of "old"
[10:54] Neal J Thurman: no
[10:57] Neal J Thurman: I suppose a lot will depend on how Theo and Nasri continue to adapt/g
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