Almost feel sorry for Klopp and Liverpool - all seems so gloomy and depressing for them at the moment - but I'm willing to be charitable, and hope they get a win to cheer up the Liverpool fans at Anfield next Saturday evening

10 minutes ago, carrickblue said:

@Bobbywoodhogan - I think we should maybe look at signing him again. We will need something different for next season whether it's Morata or Lukaku is hard to tell.

I think we will go for him again TBH but he's gonna cost a fair whack. If Costa does go (and I unfortunately think he will) then Lukaku is probably the obvious choice. They're not similar players really but both score goals.

Just now, Bobbywoodhogan said:

I think we will go for him again TBH but he's gonna cost a fair whack. If Costa does go (and I unfortunately think he will) then Lukaku is probably the obvious choice. They're not similar players really but both score goals.

He is different from Costa but sometimes he looks a bit better with the ball at his feet. I bet he'd have found Pedro today. And perhaps as good if not better in the air? He'll cost a fortune but we've the Oscar money and if,as you say, Costa does go there will be cash from that. So our summer purchases could be Lukaku and Sanchez? LOL  

5 minutes ago, carrickblue said:

He is different from Costa but sometimes he looks a bit better with the ball at his feet. I bet he'd have found Pedro today. And perhaps as good if not better in the air? He'll cost a fortune but we've the Oscar money and if,as you say, Costa does go there will be cash from that. So our summer purchases could be Lukaku and Sanchez? LOL  

I doubt Sanchez would happen but that would be awesome lol

Some really strange guys in the Arsenal bunch, aren't there? Seems like some of them are supporting Wenger rather than the actual football club.

5 minutes ago, carrickblue said:

He is different from Costa but sometimes he looks a bit better with the ball at his feet. I bet he'd have found Pedro today. And perhaps as good if not better in the air? He'll cost a fortune but we've the Oscar money and if,as you say, Costa does go there will be cash from that. So our summer purchases could be Lukaku and Sanchez? LOL  

To be fair, normally Costa would have found him as well. He was just being a greedy CU Next Tuesday today!

@Bobbywoodhoganwell we signed Ashley Cole!

2 hours ago, carrickblue said:

@Bobbywoodhogan - I think we should maybe look at signing him again. We will need something different for next season whether it's Morata or Lukaku is hard to tell.

If i had a choice between spending big money on Morata or Lukaku, i would pick Lukaku every day of the week. Morata is at the bigger club, but Lukaku is a better player than him. Lukaku is also acclimatised to the league.

I thought Lukaku's all round game was brilliant against Bournemouth. His finishing, movement and awareness of his team mates was everything you want from a striker. At the age of 23 he already has pretty much everything needed to be a top player, all he really needs is to start turning up in the big games. 

I can't see him being at Everton next season. He's too good to be missing out on European football every season.

3 hours ago, carrickblue said:

He is different from Costa but sometimes he looks a bit better with the ball at his feet. I bet he'd have found Pedro today. And perhaps as good if not better in the air? He'll cost a fortune but we've the Oscar money and if,as you say, Costa does go there will be cash from that. So our summer purchases could be Lukaku and Sanchez? LOL  

What? That is flagrantly wrong! Lukaku's first touch is one of the worst of any striker in the league. It's been terrible for years and he still hasn't worked on it. Lets him down at the most crucial moments too. He's also not nearly as good as Costa in the air despite being just as big if not bigger than Costa physically. Also, he's an extremely streaky player. He'd score a hat trick in one game, one goal in the next and then go the next 8 games without getting a peep of goal. I bet he doesn't score more than 1 goal in his next 7 after the 4 he's just scored against Bournemouth. If we're looking to be title contenders and CL contenders, he's really NOT who we should be going after. We can't afford to have such a player go missing for so many games in a row. He's found his level and that's Everton. Leave him there. Unless Conte is going to work some magic on him like he did with Luiz, Lukaku is a terrible choice.

Edited February 5, 20179 yr by Barrettinator

Any chance we get Sanchez in the summer? 

24 minutes ago, Barrettinator said:

What? That is flagrantly wrong! Lukaku's first touch is one of the worst of any striker in the league. It's been terrible for years and he still hasn't worked on it. Lets him down at the most crucial moments too. He's also not nearly as good as Costa in the air despite being just as big if not bigger than Costa physically. Also, he's an extremely streaky player. He'd score a hat trick in one game, one goal in the next and then go the next 8 games without getting a peep of goal. I bet he doesn't score more than 1 goal in his next 7 after the 4 he's just scored against Bournemouth. If we're looking to be title contenders and CL contenders, he's really NOT who we should be going after. We can't afford to have such a player go missing for so many games in a row. He's found his level and that's Everton. Leave him there. Unless Conte is going to work some magic on him like he did with Luiz, Lukaku is a terrible choice.

Touch? Yes, lukaku is pretty poor but costa is not much better..

In the air? I don't think both players are good in that department, pretty much on the same level..

 

1 thing you might consider that lukaku is only 23 but more or less already a constant 20 goals a season striker, a stats that is much better than morata... Lukaku is EPL proven so if the choices lie between those 2, I'd rather have lukaku.. The problem would be his fee.. for 60mils, I'd rather have sanchez and settle with batshuayi.. I reckon 40mils would be enough to get sanchez and batshuayi is pretty good... HIs holding up play is quite good, it would bring the others into play, it suits our play..

 

6 minutes ago, bola said:

Touch? Yes, lukaku is pretty poor but costa is not much better..

In the air? I don't think both players are good in that department, pretty much on the same level..

 

1 thing you might consider that lukaku is only 23 but more or less already a constant 20 goals a season striker, a stats that is much better than morata... Lukaku is EPL proven so if the choices lie between those 2, I'd rather have lukaku.. The problem would be his fee.. for 60mils, I'd rather have sanchez and settle with batshuayi.. I reckon 40mils would be enough to get sanchez and batshuayi is pretty good... HIs holding up play is quite good, it would bring the others into play, it suits our play..

 

We need to drop this "EPL proven" shtick. More often than not, it's bollocks. Players come in from other leagues and take this league by storm all the time. Hazard wasn't "EPL proven" when he came here. Neither was Costa or Sanchez or Aguero or Ibrahimovic. A great player is a great player. There are other things that contribute to a player being sh*t in this league rather than it just being oh so physical or whatever other thing you might want to say is exclusive to the league. Hell, Mata was said to be a poor man's Silva (not saying he's been as good as Silva still) and too frail for this league by some when we signed him. Yet he's had a very successful spell. Let's drop that narrative. It was somewhat valid 10 years ago. Not anymore.

Also, no chance we spend 60m to get Lukaku and no chance Everton lets him go for less so that's that (thankfully). Neither Costa nor Lukaku is Drogba in the air but that header before Alonso's goal today, you'd never see Lukaku do that. Better to spend that money on Sanchez. He's well worth it. I don't even think it's a foregone conclusion that Costa leaves anyway. Reckon he's still got another 2 seasons at least with us. A Hazard-Costa-Sanchez front 3 could win us the CL.

Edited February 5, 20179 yr by Barrettinator

Oh and about Costa's touch, it left a lot to be desired when he first got here but it has gotten a lot better especially this season. His link up play with Hazard and Pedro/Willian has been really crucial to our attack. Some of the passes he's been making this season and the control, you'd never have imagined him making them in 14/15. That's someone who's clearly been working on that part of his game. I understand Lukaku is young but facts are facts. We really do not have the time to exercise patience and groom a striker into being lethal. Not if we want to win the CL (which I assume we all want). This is also why Batshuayi can't lead our line in the event that Costa does leave (which again I doubt is going to happen).

Edited February 5, 20179 yr by Barrettinator

It's strange with Lukaku, he can look like one of the deadliest strikers in Europe on days like today then look utterly useless in the next game. 

I'd rather we kept hold of Diego although we all know that might not happen.  

46 minutes ago, Barrettinator said:

We need to drop this "EPL proven" shtick. More often than not, it's bollocks. Players come in from other leagues and take this league by storm all the time. Hazard wasn't "EPL proven" when he came here. Neither was Costa or Sanchez or Aguero or Ibrahimovic. A great player is a great player. There are other things that contribute to a player being sh*t in this league rather than it just being oh so physical or whatever other thing you might want to say is exclusive to the league. Hell, Mata was said to be a poor man's Silva (not saying he's been as good as Silva still) and too frail for this league by some when we signed him. Yet he's had a very successful spell. Let's drop that narrative. It was somewhat valid 10 years ago. Not anymore.

Also, no chance we spend 60m to get Lukaku and no chance Everton lets him go for less so that's that (thankfully). Neither Costa nor Lukaku is Drogba in the air but that header before Alonso's goal today, you'd never see Lukaku do that. Better to spend that money on Sanchez. He's well worth it. I don't even think it's a foregone conclusion that Costa leaves anyway. Reckon he's still got another 2 seasons at least with us. A Hazard-Costa-Sanchez front 3 could win us the CL.

If you don't think 'epl proven' cliche (no idea what 'shtick' means ) matters then that's fine but what I want to point out is actually the risk.. Sure, lots of foreign players came with a bang along the years but also a lot of them struggled..  Take morata for example, what's the chance he's not going to end up like soldado? (Both are real madrid products) It's huge money transfer involved here.. With lukaku, at least we have insurance he won't be flop..  Like I said if it's between those 2 players, I'd prefer lukaku but if options get widen then it could be different..  The problem is, not many household big name striker is available..

And I also I think there are lots of cases where you just have to put some faith and give some players a chance, players like kane and bale are fine example.. Even morata started to come up into the radar after he left real madrid and played games.. It's ridiculous anyway to pay such fee for such player who hasn't accomplished anything..

Remember, I'd rather we spend the money to get sanchez and be done with batshuayi in striker department..

3 hours ago, bola said:

If you don't think 'epl proven' cliche (no idea what 'shtick' means ) matters then that's fine but what I want to point out is actually the risk.. Sure, lots of foreign players came with a bang along the years but also a lot of them struggled..  Take morata for example, what's the chance he's not going to end up like soldado? (Both are real madrid products) It's huge money transfer involved here.. With lukaku, at least we have insurance he won't be flop..  Like I said if it's between those 2 players, I'd prefer lukaku but if options get widen then it could be different..  The problem is, not many household big name striker is available..

And I also I think there are lots of cases where you just have to put some faith and give some players a chance, players like kane and bale are fine example.. Even morata started to come up into the radar after he left real madrid and played games.. It's ridiculous anyway to pay such fee for such player who hasn't accomplished anything..

Remember, I'd rather we spend the money to get sanchez and be done with batshuayi in striker department..

For every foreign player who's come into this league and flopped, there's 50 more home grown ones who came through the academy ranks of (insert English club) and have been even worse. So I don't see why "EPL proven" is a thing. 

Costas touch is infinitely better than lukaku, it's not even worth debating. As barettinator said lukaku is a streak striker, incredibly inconsistent and in my opinion the better defenders know exactly how to handle him, he is almost worthless with his back to goal. 

Costa is on a different level to Lukaku, one of the top Strikers in Europe.

Lukaku has unstoppable games, but then has plenty of games where it looks like his bootlaces are tied together.

Costa has quiet games, but never ones where he looks like the kid at school who always got picked last for the teams in PE.

3 minutes ago, dkw said:

Costas touch is infinitely better than lukaku, it's not even worth debating. As barettinator said lukaku is a streak striker, incredibly inconsistent and in my opinion the better defenders know exactly how to handle him, he is almost worthless with his back to goal. 

This too. Shearer mentioned a stat on MOTD about Lukaku having only scored 3 goals in his last 30 games against top 4 (or was it top 6?) sides. Surprise, surprise, those teams have the best defenders.

Again, he's still only 23 and he could very well develop those qualities with the right manager and the right amount of work and patience put in but we don't have that time. Not for a striker. If we were mid table, sure, we'd have time for that. You can't even sleepwalk your way into top 4 these days. There's little margin for error. No time for slow development.

8 minutes ago, Barrettinator said:

This too. Shearer mentioned a stat on MOTD about Lukaku having only scored 3 goals in his last 30 games against top 4 (or was it top 6?) sides. Surprise, surprise, those teams have the best defenders.

Again, he's still only 23 and he could very well develop those qualities with the right manager and the right amount of work and patience put in but we don't have that time. Not for a striker. If we were mid table, sure, we'd have time for that. You can't even sleepwalk your way into top 4 these days. There's little margin for error. No time for slow development.

Thing is with lukaku, it's never going to be a slow development.. He's already a quite consistent 20 goals a season striker now despite his age.. If we need to buy to replace costa then he'd be a sensible option (price excluded) unless you can name some targets... I'm not impressed with morata, cavani, aubemayang or whatever..   The names like aguero, griezman, lewansdozky are good but they are not available..

I'm certain we aren't getting Lukaku and that's that tbh. This is also all on the assumption that Costa leaves....which is very likely just a mirage.

Can't believe there are any Arsenal fans that still back Wenger given that it's been over a decade since they last had anything good to celebrate. The stadium is no longer an excuse.

Aside from obvious differences in playing ability between Lukaku and Costa (which others have gone into in detail), Costa is a team player unlike Lukaku. Lukaku is too arrogant for his own good and thinks he is Ronaldo or Messi or something. Look at the way he just stood in one place with narcissistic self content after the Everton 2nd goal. You will never find a player on our team that does that, not even Hazard. Every player should be humble enough to at least celebrate! Lukaku's attitude stank of "of course we would score, I did all the dribbling". I don't know, I am rarely this severe but I wouldn't have him anywhere near our team until he starts to show some humility. He will not cut it in a team full of class players with this attitude.

And Barkley, what was that about... Imagine if he had missed.

To be fair, most Arsenal fans I know have wanted Wenger sacked for the last 3-4 years.

Just now, ashwin said:

To be fair, most Arsenal fans I know have wanted Wenger sacked for the last 3-4 years.

 

5 minutes ago, bluelion111 said:

Can't believe there are any Arsenal fans that still back Wenger given that it's been over a decade since they last had anything good to celebrate. The stadium is no longer an excuse.