Are Arsenal Players Still Lightweight? (Comparing the Arsenal of 2004 and the present batch) « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade

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Are Arsenal Players Still Lightweight? (Comparing the Arsenal of 2004 and the present batch)

By Nitesh Padhi

A common complaint against this present Arsenal team is that they are too lightweight. Of course, we can never ever forget the Invincibles and the Tony Adams era, men who were known to be tough ones who would sooner murder you on the field than concede defeat. This puzzled me, so I decided to do a little more research.

Goalkeepers

Season	S. No.	Name	Height	Weight
2003-2004	1	Jens Lehmann	190	87
	Average		190	87
Present	1	Lukasz Fabianski	190	83
	2	Wojniech Szczesny	196	75
	3	Manuel Almunia	191	86
	Average		192	81

All goalkeepers certainly seem to be tall enough. A bit low on the weight, which enables them to be roughed up by teams like Blackburn and Stoke. But their performances this season have been much better than earlier. I would say that they are very close to Lehmann. Not quite there, but no one can be. Jens was absolutely cracked, and that’s what we loved.

Defenders

Season	S. No.	Name	Height	Weight
2003-2004	1	Sol Campbell	188	91
	2	Gael Clichy	175	70
	3	Ashley Cole	176	66
	4	Pascal Cygan	191	87
	5	Martin Keown	185	79
	6	Lauren	180	71
	7	Kolo Toure	183	76
	Average		183	77
Present	1	Gael Clichy	175	76
	2	Kieran Gibbs	178	65
	3	Bacary Sagna	176	72
	4	Emmanual Eboue	178	72
	5	Thomas Vermaelen	183	75
	6	Laurent Koscielny	185	75
	7	Johan Djourou	183	87
	8	Sebestian Squillaci	184	76
	Average		180	75

The defenders seem to be doing okay. But we need to see that Clichy (2003-04) and Lauren didn’t play week in week out. Take them out and the average increases. Also Sol Campbell, the giant, would play every week. The only one close to Sol in the present batch is Djourou, and he cannot play nearly as many games, with injuries weighing him down.

Midfielders

Season	S. No.	Name	Height	Weight
2003-2004	1	Edu	185	72
	2	Gilberto Silva	185	78
	3	Robert Pires	185	74
	4	Fredrik Lundberg	175	69
	5	Ray Parlour	178	75
	6	Patrick Vieira	192	83
	Average		183	75
Present	1	Francesc Fabregas	175	69
	2	Samir Nasri	177	75
	3	Alex Song	184	76
	4	Abou Diaby	188	75
	5	Jack Wilshere	170	65
	6	Neves Denilson	178	68
	7	Tomas Rosicky	179	68
	8	Theo Walcott	176	68
	Average		178	71

We have a couple of midfielders more than before and still we occasionally fall short in numbers. Thuggery is rampant in the premier league, but I don’t think we can just blame this on it. In both cases, we fall short by exactly 5. What’s it with that number?

Forwards

Season	S. No.	Name	Height	Weight
2003-2004	1	Jeremie Aliadiere	183	70
	2	Thierry Henry	188	83
	3	Dennis Bergkamp	183	79
	4	Nwankwo Kanu	196	83
	5	Jose Antonio Reyes	175	71
	6	Sylvain Wiltord	174	76
	Average		183	77
Present	1	Robin Van Persie	183	71
	2	Marouane Chamakh	185	70
	3	Nicklas Bendtner	192	83
	Average		186	74

While the midfielders increased, the forwards have decreased. We went from a 2-striker formation to a single striker one. I do not feel you can count the wide players as forwards. They play a major role in tracking back and that’s a big part of their game.

Our forwards are taller? Way to go! But now also we know that in no way were Aliadiere and Reyes starters all the time. Take them out and the stats inevitably change. But lets leave that aside.

I guess all I can say is no, we are certainly not lightweight at all and no, we can certainly not be dominated physically all the time. It is time to let go of old stereotypes. Arsenal has moved on.

We do not need a massive, traditionally strong player to play for us in every position. Like the example of Barcelona [forgive me Lord for I have sinned, I have actually praised the apocalypse!!  A team doesn’t need Shawcross’ and Robinsons’ and huge players to do the job. We can dictate teams in our own sweet way, and that’s what we love.

Nitesh

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