Robin Van Placenta and Man Utd vs. Arsenal Squad Comparison, Part 4

All the news today is about Robin.

 Mr. Period foot this. Abortion Ankle that.

Sheesh you´d think he´d killed a baby!

Hilarity aside. Robin is off to Serbia - probably to some obscure technological dungeon where they harvest human bodies for energy and use them to power a gigantic city of supermachines.... Wait... That´s the Matrix 3 - What a disappointment!

But SERIOUSLY! Robin has gone to Serbia for some lady to massage Placenta fluid into his bummed ankle. That should be interesting. Apparently it worked for PSV placentaplayer Lazovic, and what´s good for the goose!

News today is Robin is out for 6 weeks. Probably will be mid-January before he is match fit again. If we can cope it without him until after Christmas it might actually be good for us. He might be fresh again for the final leg of the season. Or maybe Sanchez Watt will actually turn into a SatanSpawn and score 4 goals a game for the rest of the season. Or Maybe that´s just the optimist in me trying to tear his way out of the closet.

WHO KNOWS!?

SQUAD COMPARISION - PART 4 - Comparing Centre Strikers

After some discussion in the comments section of one my blogs, I felt it appropriate to do a little squad comparison in which I evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the Man Poo and Arsenal squads and then compared the two teams in 6 different areas, with 1 point available to the team with the better players in each of the 6 areas.

Thus far the battle has been tight. I believe Manchester United to have a better goalkeeper and centre backs, Arsenal to have better wide players and centre midfielders, and the two to have comparable quality in the full back positions.

Therefore the Official Squad Points (TM) are level at 2.5 OSP each. Let´s see how the Striking Showdown turns out, and then I hope you will all give me your educated opinions (Aka. Endless list of hateful profanities) about my analysis over the last 4 UptheArse blogs.

Strikers

Goals, goals, goals. We all love 'em. We all love players who score 'em. And in principle it is the team's strikers who should score their goals. Arsenal an the exception to the rule. Arsenal score goals from everywhere and are averaging 3.2 or 3.7 goals a game this season, or something absolutely retarded. RETARDED! However in recent weeks we have seen our main striker hit form, although he still only has 19.4% of the goals compared to Wayne Rooney's 30.4% of the Utd goals.

Unfortunately RVP has become injured. His foot is hurting him.

Now normally I don't compare squads with injured players, and I don't like to speculate how good squads COULD be if everyone was fit. Injuries happen and you can only work with what you've got.

HOWEVER! I am going to make an exception since Arsenal and Manchester have not played a game since Robin's injury, and because if I do not include Robin van Persie in our list of strikers Manchester United will slaughter us. And I know none of you want to see that happen.

 Robin van Persie/ Eduardo/ Bendtner v. Rooney/ Berbatov/ Owen

Arsenal

Well I must admit. When you look at that on paper you have to think. Manchester United all the way. Ok now I know we are playing with a front three, so we could include Walcott or Vela in that list, but fact of the matter is -- those two players haven't played a hell of a lot of football up front for Arsenal FC.

However, I don't like evaluating teams based on paper.

Robin van Persie was/is in the form of his life. He has scored 8 goals and provided 8 assists in 14 appearances for Arsenal this season (7 and 7 in 11 in the league!) That is fucking fantastic. Some of the Dutch players were talking about RVP today and saying that it is sad that he will be miss 6 weeks of Premier League action.

"

"It's hard for a team, but harder for himself as he has been playing well for the last couple of months and he was one of the best players in the Premier League," said Heitinga.

"

That's really just it ? He is one of the best players in the Premier League. Full stop.

Eduardo is a bit of an enigma. He is fantastic on his day, but he has been so often injured over the last couple of seasons that it is impossible to know how much he is capable of. One thing is for sure before his injury he was on fire. He was netting tons for Croatia. Forming a good partnership with 'theonewhosenameshallnotbespoken ', and in great form.

He tends to score when he plays, but he hasn't started a hell of a lot of games. HOWEVER again I'm going to say from what I've seen of him for Croatia that he is a serious threat in front of goal, and I have no hesitation about bringing him in for Robin van Persie in my fantasy team.

Bendtner for me, is the one who is going decide this little competition. I think he has played very well this season. He is a 6'3 or 6'4 striker who is not known for his footwork, but he's playing on the wing, and doing a fine job of it.

Last season he was booed repeatedly by our own fans (which is disgraceful behavior) but he got his head down worked hard and ended up being our 2nd or 3rd top scorer with 15. Not bad for a 20/21 year old. I also don't think he necessarily NEEDS to score a huge amount of goals for us. He is wonderful in the air, and he is learning at an exponential rate how to hold up the ball and bring other players into the game. I also think he's got real pace for a big man and I've seen him score some fantastic goals which are just pure pace and power, and some typical CF goals where he uses his aerial ability and finishing prowess to bad a goal. Think against Roma in the CL last year, and against Portugal in World Cup Qualifying.

He like Robin is injured right now, but I don't think it's an injury which is going to keep him out for more than another month. Furthermore, he is certainly not injury prone. I can't recall him being out for more than a couple of games before this little niggle.

 Manchester United

Rooney. Well he's pretty good. He's probably in the top 5 strikers in the world. (I think Robin is as well.)

Wayne has also scored 7 in 11 in the league, and 8 in 15. However he has contributed the same amount of assists to his team, and while one may speculate this is because Arsenal score more goals than United, I think it also has to do with the two different player's style of player, and Robin's ability to pick a pass as well as smash the ball into the net.

Rooney also is a wonderful defensive player. So often when CR7/9 was at United you would find Rooney at the edge of his own area doing a heap of defensive work for the team to ensure United kept the lead, or got back in the game.

Robin doesn't do this so much, however I think this is because he is not asked to do this, and not because he would be willing to.

Berbatov - Well as much as it pains me to say. He was a splendid player for Tottenham. He scored buckets of goals, and his elegant play drew comparisons to Eric Cantona. HOWEVER, at Manchester United he has been a disappointed, only showing flashes of the brilliance he is capable of.

Whereas Eduardo hasn't been played much over the last couple of seasons, but has chipped in with a few goals. Berbatov was played week in week out for Manchester United until the end of the season, and only managed to bag 14 in all competitions. It's a poor return for a player who cost 30 million pounds.

This year Eduardo has 3 in 13, but has played mainly off the bench. Whereas Berbatov has started almost all of his 15 games and only managed 4. It's weird to give the advantage to the injured player, but Berbatov has had his opportunities to demonstrate his ability and come up short, often strolling around the pitch pouting and demonstrating little emotion or desire to improve.

Michael Owen may turn out to be the signing of the summer, although I'd say Thommy V will have something definitive to say about that, however I think his biggest contribution to Manchester United's success this season may have already happened.

He, unlike Bendtner, but like Eduardo is injury prone. He spent most of his time for Newcastle in the recovery room, and is yet to demonstrate the form that he showed during his brief stint with Madrid at the Bernabeu.

He has scored 4, most of which off the bench and Bendtner has scored 3 and provided an assist. Comparable figures, but the two players are not comparable figures.

However, Bendtner is 21, 6´4 powerhouse who has been forced to play out of position in a role which he´s never played before this season, whereas Michael Owen is an injury prone 29 goal poacher who´s entering the twilight of his career.

I know who I´d rather have who you would you rather have right now? (Today´s question)

Verdict

I think Rooney v. Van Persie is pretty much a toss up. I think both of them are perfect for their respective teams, and I think they will score a similar amount of goals come the end of the season (despite Robin´s forthcoming injury absence).

Eddie and Berba are both kind of anomoly´s and I think as it stands, they cancel each other out, however I think when Eduardo is fit he is the player I would rather have in my team perhaps on the basis of attitude alone (but also considering the price of these two players, and the fact that Berbatov has had numerous chances to prove to us he can be a Man Utd great)

Bendtner wins it for me against Michael Owen. Owen is historical a better player, and Bendtner has been booed in his career, but I think the best is yet to come from Nicky B whereas Owen is past his prime and I would be surprised if he reaches 15 goals this season.

 Official Squad Points (TM) Final Score

Arsenal 3.5 - Manchester United 2.5

Later Gooners,

ArsenalAdam