Author: TotalArsenal

Arsenal have been awesome against the top teams under Arteta with wins against MU, the Chavs, Pool and Citeh in various competitions, but there is a feeling amongst some supporters that we have struggled against the ‘lesser’ teams (and absolutely no disrespect to them!). Recent lost games v Aston Villa, Spuds and Brighton are often mentioned by supporters, and they may – or may not – have a point.

I thought we were quite unlucky against Brighton and the injury to Leno unsettled us as a team. Furthermore, Guendouzi lost his focus and so did we as a team, and we lost the game very late on when the thorn in our side – who was the main reason for Guendouzi’s ‘losing it’ – scored the undeserved winner.

We were poor against Villa, probably our worst game of the Arteta-era, but the boys were knackered after a heroic FA cup win against Citeh and these things just happen now and again.

But there is a bigger question regarding our 3-4-3 formation and potential lack of creativity in midfield. Unless we push up high and hem the opponent into their own half, which let’s be honest is not our natural game right now, we leave a lot of space between the midfield and the attackers in the central part of the pitch. Under Arteta, we have developed very strong wings, especially on our left, but through the middle we lack that bit of bite and invention.

And when we play the ‘lesser’ teams i.e. those that prefer to sit deep and let’s us come on to them, we can look a bit one-dimensional. So you would say, those are ideal games for Mesut’s magic, but that boat seems to have sailed – and probably with good reason.

I feel strongly that when Arsenal play 3-4-3 with adventurous, attacking wing-backs, Arsenal need to keep it tight in the middle. I think Arteta recognises this too (and much better than he predecessor). This means a disciplined midfielder next to Xhaka is required – the pivot in the team; one who can either defend very well (Elneny, AMN?) or defend reasonably well but can also move the ball forward well through passes, runs with the ball or dribbles (Ceballos, Willian, AMN, Partey?). I think Arteta is almost there; and surely, if we were to sign Partey and keep Auba we are in super fine shape next season – I would even argue that the Partey signing is not really essential and may hold back playing time of other good alternatives, but there you go. Happy if we get him/ okay if we don’t.

The one thing that could make us more balanced and more creative is to make a change to the three attacking positions. Do we really need three attackers without a ‘traditional’ nr.10 to feed them? Do we need wingers – Auba and Pepe – without a typical strong-in-the-air CF in the middle whilst we have fabulous wingbacks to feed the central attackers with quality crosses and passes?! I don’t think so.

Laca often moves into the ‘hole area’ and is effective in disturbing opponents’ midfield play and winning the ball back, but he is a CF and not an advanced attacking midfielder and we suffer from this. Now I would imagine that if Ozil were to put in the sort of shift that Laca does, he would have featered in many a game since the lockdown, but love him or loach him, Mesut is just not that sort of player. And that is why the Spaniard was keen on getting Willian from Chelsea on a free.

So to cut a long story short, if we play Willian in the hole/as a false nr9 and play with two attackers with loads of freedom to play on the wing or centrally, we should become much more effective in attack yet lose nothing in terms of denseness of our midfield and protection of our defence.

This would be the team I would LOVE to see getting starts against teams who will sit back and play us on the counter:

A relatively simple adjustment if you ask me, but what are your thoughts?

By TotalArsenal.

Ooh to, Ooh to Be…

Yes fine fellow Bergkampesquerers, it is great to be a Gooner again. Imagine being a Spud and having to contemplate travelling to Bulgaria for an EL pre-qualifier after another trophy-less season: BBC a few days ago: “Tottenham will play Romania’s Botosani or Macedonian club Shkendija in the third round of Europa League qualifying if they defeat Lokomotiv Plovdiv.” How sexy does that sound, hey?!

Or put yourself in the shoes of the red Mancs who have won nothing and limped out of the EL competition only a few weeks ago. The Chavs also won nothing and were easily brushed aside by the Southern Germans in the CL and then by us in the FA Cup final. The Blue side of Manchester did win a mini-trophy back in the olden days prior to C19, but have also imploded post the lockdown. Even Pool supporters had little to enjoy since the return of the beautiful game. They already knew they would win the league but their team’s recent performances have hardly set the world on fire. But yes I would swap trophies with them to be fair.

But, since the lockdown, we Gooners have had the tremendous pleasure of beating Pool twice, Citeh and Chelsea in the FA Cup (and fair and square) and picking up a big and small trophy in the process. What looked like our worse season in decades turned into a feast of football in the final stages, which has given us real hope for better times ahead. Nobody had predicted this quick and joyous turnaround during those dark lockdown months.

There is no doubt that beside a few dollops of luck (we always need those in life), we should fully contribute this change of direction to our new manager, Mikel Arteta. We have seen him in action as a manager for about five months now, and I have been wondering who he most resembles: Guardiola, Arsene or Klopp. 

Pep Guardiola

Mikel has the same sort of attention to detail, tactical nous, ability to motivate his players and at least as good as communication skills with the press. But I have been really impressed with his ability to give individual players confidence and improve their performances, especially with the likes of Luiz, Xhaka, Mustafi, Elneny etc. Pep never had to work much with good players who need to be coached into excellent players; his cheque book offered a much quicker solution. And then Mikel has this ability to play a much more defence-minded kind of football and out-think fellow top managers, whereas Guardiola struggles at times to adjust his default style of high press and quick passing football. I have no doubt that Arteta also wants to play that sort of football with Arsenal eventually, but for now other tactical approaches are required. And he gets a 10 out of 10 for tactical adjustments.

Arsene Wenger

Arsene achieved so much with Arsenal and not just in terms of silverware won; he also changed the culture and turned the club in one of the most loved clubs in the world with a style of football that was both easy on the eye and, especially initially, very successful. Despite his young age, Mikel is equally confident and ‘in control’ when speaking to the press as Arsene was, which is really impressive. Arsene liked to give his players freedom of expression on the pitch as to sort out between them how they were going to get the best out of themselves and beat the opponents. He made the broad tactical strokes and allowed the players to do the colouring in.

It was highly successful in his first 10 years in charge but less so when the competition became much stronger and the money ran out. Wenger used to focus hard on the whole culture of the club with a strong focus on values for every employee. It looks like Arteta has a similar total-culture approach, which is great. But where Mikel is fundamentally different to Arsene is in his strong focus on tactical discipline and individual roles in the team. Mikel runs his team and performances more machine-like with less individual freedom and strong focus on a set of tasks and responsibilities. In the process, Mikel can turn players into confident high performing individuals, and that is a quality I associate mostly with two other managers than Pep and Arsene… 

Jurgen Klopp

Yes I reckon Arteta is more like Klopp than his former boss/mentor and manager. They both have that ability to get the best out of players they have and turn them into a very well-oiled machine-players. What Klopp has done with the likes of Henderson, Wijnaldum and Milner is very, very impressive. Yes he also was able to spend big on a top defender and goalkeeper but the majority of his players were good players that were turned into excellent team players by the German. It is early days but I reckon Arteta is just as good in doing this.

They also have in common this ability to focus hard on individual roles and responsibilities within a certain style of football and based around tactical instructions before and during the game.

Klopp is the more extravagant of the two but I like Arteta’s zen-like/Arsene-like calm even more. Klopp like Guardiola, as far as I can tell, can play only one kind of football: total domination, ‘strangling’ of the opponent in their own half, passing them to bits and dealing with any escapees through (small) fouls and fast, big, scary defenders. Arsenal were lucky to win the first game against Pool post the C19 lockdown but in last Saturday’s game Mikel showed us he had found a tactical way in dealing with Klopp: we allowed just four shots on goal, one every 22.5 minutes, and created the better chances ourselves overall.

Louis van Gaal

This sort of tactical adjustment reminds me actually a lot of, in my opinion, one of the best managers ever, Louis van Gaal. The fellow Dutchman was awkward with the press and struggled with some of the top quality players, but his ability to build teams around a style of play with specific roles and responsibilities for each position on the field was amazing. I never liked the guy and he should never have gone for the nr1 teams in the various counties where he managed at the time, but what he did with Ajax in the mid-nineties with a bunch of average, young-talented and good but not great players, was unbelievable. And what he did with an average Dutch national team in 2014 was equally impressive. Mikel is showing a similar ability in building a team from a mixture of good, young and a few great players, which is very promising.

His Own Man

Mikel is made for Arsenal in the 2020ies. He has the ability to get the best out of individual players, is tactically astute, great motivator for the players on a fair but firm basis and represents the club very well in front of the media. So I guess he has something of all these great managers, but most of all he is his own man. Glad to have him… Ooh to Be.

By TotalArsenal.

Arteta got his Beast of a Defender!

Gabriel Magalhaes has finally signed for the Arsenal and according to Arsenal.com he is all that we want in a left-sided and left-footed defender:

Gabriel is a tactically-flexible defender. He can perform as the proactive or reactive centre back, performing in any system that he is instructed to a high level.

He has a real knack for out-muscling opposition forwards off the ball, using his 190cm frame to shrug off physical strikers with ease. He is also blessed with natural speed, making him a tricky opponent for any striker.

The 22-year-old won more than 67 per cent of his ground duels last season and 70 per cent of his aerial duels, illustrating just how impressive his defensive skills are.

His intelligence cannot be underestimated either. His reading of the game is an undeniable strength, consistently positioning himself to block cutbacks or crosses, something Arsenal’s defence is crying out for. He is no stranger to putting his body on the line either, blocking 18 shots in Ligue 1 last season, a stat bettered by just five players.

And that is just about his defending. For more on him click on the link:

https://www.arsenal.com/news/analysis-gabriels-key-attributes

A strong left-sided centre back was a big priority for us. Of course we have Luiz but the former Chav just seems to be at his best when he is played centrally in a three at the back. We also have TIerney but again he is of course best suited to be the left back, or even better, the left wing back. We also have Mari but he is still injured, and if we are going to play with three at the back as our main formation this season, which I expect, then we need at least two players who can play there. And a bit of competition is not a bad thing either.

From the little I have seen of Mari, he may well be suited to be cover for both Gabriel and Luiz, and that is exactly what Arteta needs with another grueling season about to kick-off. The biggest gap we had is now covered and anything on top of this- other than Auba committing to the club – is simply a bonus for me.

Gabriel’s inclusion could even allow Arteta to rest Xhaka regularly and move Luiz into his position in midfield. Options, options, options!! 

I guess we will see something like this at the start of the season (I am making the assumption that Bellerin will leave now and either Soares, AMN or Willian will play as wing back):

Or something more radical, when Xhaka needs a break:

Time will tell but for our game v Liverpool in exactly four weeks time, I would like to see us line-up as follows..:

This would give us solid AND adventurous left and right wings, with a no-nonsense midfield to protect the back four and feed the wings. Saka and Willian can provide the creativity, whilst Auba and Pepe can scare the living daylight out of Pool’s defence!

But those are just my musings… What do you think?

By TotalArsenal.

The dilemma of squad size: rich tactical and rotation options vs. access to playing minutes.

This post is not about statistics, but will involve some – very basic – calculation.

Don’t worry if you don’t like playing with numbers, that will not be the heart of it.

In this article I would like to discuss how the minutes on the pitch could contribute to the development of the players, and analyse the actual figures from last season.

For this purpose I will consider competitive games only, so club friendlies and fitness checking PL2 games will be excluded.

How many – competitive – games are there in an average Arsenal season?

As a rule of thumb, I will calculate with 50, but every year we manage to compete in Europe the figures are 48-56.

In fact it was 54 last season, but we had an exceptional run-in the FA Cup.

So what is granted?

38 EPL games

6+ UCL/UEL games (we had 8 last season as after the 6 group stage games we lost against Olympiakos in the first round of the knockout phase)

1+ League Cup games (we had 2 last season)

1+ FA Cup games (we had 6 last season as we won the tournament)

Charity Shield (we had zero last, but had 1 this season, and while it is friendly, I consider it competitive because of the trophy and the prestige)

So, with the guaranteed 38 Premier League games and 6 group matches in Europe, the 50 games is a safe bet.

In every game there are 11 players on a side. A single footballer plays 90 minutes, thus the whole team plays 990 (11*90).

In the season there are 50*990=49500 minutes. Let’s round it up to 50k taking extra time and stoppage time into account as well.

With the tools of rotation and substitution the manager divides this amount among the players. With a squad size of 25 this equals 2000 minutes of playing time on average.

Why do players need playing minutes?

Mostly to gain experience and for their skill and tactical development, as well as morale (mental hygiene), as the lads obviously like to play football and give their best.

They obviously want to increase their market value as well as negotiation power in a future contract extension; they can also achieve it only by playing many – excellent – games.

Furthermore, they want to call the attention of the public and the national team’s manager to their abilities.

When they play a lot on a consistently high level, they also get access to lucrative sponsorship deals, advertisements, etc.

If it was up to them, they would play as much as possible, but for fitness, tactical, rotational, stamina and other reasons they cannot always start and cannot always remain on the pitch until the final whistle.

We have to also take into consideration that most of these guys are close friends to each other. If more of them are dissatisfied due to his lack of playing time it not only decreases the individual’s morale, but in some extent reduces the team mood as well.

How to read the actual playing minutes?

Well, I have never played football on the highest level, so the explanations above are the mix of my amateur experience, opinions of sporting and medical experts and some common sense. But don’t hesitate to challenge them if you disagree. However for simplification purposes I will not differentiate according to age, assuming that the bodies of 19, 25 and 32 year-old players are equally capable of dealing with the workload.

But I by no means recommend any athlete to play 4500 minutes (50 games) a season; in fact my recommendation is in the 2000-3000 range. That should be handled easily in all relevant ages.

0-1000 minutes: Unless there is a proper justification of long or recurring injuries this is a major management failure. The development of the player is seriously hindered, and reduces the morale big time. Should be avoided.

1000-1500 minutes: Not desirable. Not much improvement there, probably no deterioration either, still a missed opportunity for both the player and the club. This could be alright in the first season of a youngster with the first team as well as last season of a senior player before retirement.

1500-2000 minutes: This is the reality of a squad player. 18-20 full games of the 50+ or around 8-10 starts and 15-20 substitute appearances. The player would surely demand more, but his excess motivation could provide healthy competition to the position, so this is not a manager’s failure by any means.

2000-2500 minutes: Needs no justification, as the athlete played about 50% of the available minutes. This provides proper development, yet still not poses a fitness threat. In this rage a player is respected, but not indispensable. If the majority of the players of the team falls to this range then you have a beautifully balanced squad and a talented professional coach on top of that as well.

2500-3000 minutes: That would be my preferred range. Albeit these extra minutes don’t contribute to the individual development any further, but the enjoyment of playing a lot of games and the increase of jersey sales and interviews make this interval slightly better than the previous.

3000-3500: Sign of a slight overuse of the player. Could be due to the lack of proper alternatives, or the player might be competing for a record. Maybe from leadership purposes must the player be on the pitch so often. I would try to avoid it, but if a couple of players fall into this range that is not a catastrophe either.

3500-4000: This is unhealthy. A significant injury risk for outfield players, that could also lead to mental overload or even burnout. Could also happen because of a long qualification season, but otherwise there should be no excuses. Or maybe the squad is too thin and all alternatives are injured.

4000-4500 minutes: Since the league games amount to 3420 minutes only, this range often shows a megalomaniac attitude, where the player wants to play every minute in every competition (Pickford, McGregor, ter Stegen, Moutinho.

4500+ minutes: Hell no! (Coady, Maguire, Patricio)

Let’s see, how are players “performed” in this department in the 2019/2020 season!

Yes, it was a crazy year, but the coronavirus only impacted the crowd and the schedule, but not the minutes (except for the last stages of the UCL/UEL).

Goalkeepers

This is a big kudos to Arteta (but maybe Leno’s injury played some part here). Leno competed 2860 minutes, while Martinez also had the opportunity to shine for 2030. They both improved, and had nice runs. Well done. (The only exception to the above rules is the #3 goalkeeper, as he should be somebody who is patient, not ambitious, yet reliable, because basically he is the contingency to the back-up plan. Macey played 720 minutes – of limited competitiveness – and sat on the bench 13 times. Furthermore he made valuable contributions to our trainings.) We are very well equipped and perfectly managed in the goalkeeper department.

Central defenders

Well, Luiz played 3640 minutes which is more than my liking – and has nothing to do with his personality, defensive or leadership skills. Sokratis played 2320 minutes, majority of it in the first half of the season (where he was overused), but the handful of minutes since mid-March understandably made him disappointed. Mustafi had a similar 2250 minutes, but more evenly distributed throughout the season. That’s a perfect run considering his late injury, and he needs the minutes more for consistency than for skill development anyway. Chambers’ 1380 minutes looks too few, but he had a good start to the season followed by a serious and long injury. This has nothing to do with the manager. That excuse doesn’t apply to Rob Holding, as his 1280 competitive minutes cannot be explained by injuries. He was available in the majority of the season. I am disappointed on his behalf (mostly in Emery and Ljungberg). Finally, Mari played only 200 minutes, but he joined in January and suffered a long injury too. If 500-800 minutes from David would have ended up in Rob, then the overall picture would have looked better, but it is not too bad at all, and Luiz is the leader of our defense anyway.

Full and wingbacks

Tierney played 1710 minutes, but came injured and suffered another long injury. He progressed alright, and if he manages to get 2800 minutes under his belt this year that would be a major improvement to him and the club as well. To my surprise Kolasinac played 2040 minutes this season, so there is no need to complain. Bellerin played 1800 minutes only, but whenever he was fit, he started, so I don’t see any flaw here either. Ainsley Maitland-Niles was the other senior of the group with his 2030 minutes. He was always fit and played in many positions, but couldn’t apply much competitive pressure on those who were ahead of him in the pecking order. (That can change in the next season in both directions.) Cedric Soares played 250 minutes in his half season with us, but he (similarly to Kieran) had a couple of nasty injuries, so his minutes are justified, especially as he played additional 1510 minutes for Southampton earlier this season.

Midfielders

Lucas Torreira played 2040 minutes. And apart from his injury he was properly rotated in the squad. His disappointment has probably little to do with his time on the pitch and more of the roles and the quality of his play. I hope he stays though. Xhaka was the other player to get above 3k (in fact 3430), but he provided stability to our engine. The coaches made experiments, but at the end of the day without Granit we simply suffered. Guendouzi played a healthy 2380 minutes throughout the season, but not equally distributed. According to Transfermarket he suffered an Achilles tendon injury after the Brighton, which sounds bullshit to me, but who am I to challenge the portal? Anyway, Matteo is an undoubtedly talented young player, but he is not yet the saviour of Arsenal’s midfield. Him grabbing Maupay by the throat is a big whoGives’aSh*t, but his attitude and discipline could be a liability. Ceballos had 2340 minutes under his belt, which is a good figure considering he was out for 2 months with a torn muscle. He became an important part of Arsenal, I hope he returns. Joe Willock played 1860 minutes, but was more effective as a super-sub than as a starter. That’s not bad for a 20 years old, however he couldn’t convince Aidy Boothroyd to select him for England U21. Finally Ozil. He played 1810 minutes which is more than I remember, still about half of how much someone is supposed to play of his calibre. But that is a different story, we debated about it in this blog a few times already.

Wingers

With 2700 minutes young Bukayo Saka is one of the winners of this season. He often played at left (wing)back, but managed to grab the opportunity with both hands there as well. He was talented in the first place, but he progressed the most in a year among our players. A similar trajectory was expected from Martinelli, but he suffered an unfortunate injury limiting his playing minutes to 1460. This is still not bad for a 18-year old in his debut year in the first team, but with some luck it could have been a lot more. And to make it worse he loses a few months in this season as well… Nicolas Pepe didn’t take the Premier League by storm, but his 2720 minutes and 18 goal contributions are not bad for a debut season even for a record signing. Similarly to Tierney, I expect more of him this season, hoping that he will prove that he has a seat among the very best. The other victim of the pecking order as well as head coaching mismanagement (besides Holding) is Nelson with his 1040 competitive minutes. The arrival of Willian and the prospect of Coutinho don’t look promising for him either. And unlike the 2.5 years older AMN, Reiss has (had?) a real chance to become one of the finest players in his position.

Strikers

While Aubameyang mostly played on the left wing I list him here. Our captain racked the most minutes under his belt (3725), I assume partly due to his leadership qualities and partly because he wanted to retain the Golden Boot – as well as our most clinical striker. His 36 PL games (was suspended for the other 2) and his FA Cup appearances are perfectly justified, but his involvement in 6 EL games was a bit too much to my liking. Lacazette’s 2580 minutes fall into the perfect interval, and albeit his 12 goals seem a largely inferior return to Auba’s 29, if we take the net goal contributions into account (goals + assists – penalties) then his record of a net goal contribution every 136 minutes is quite close to PEA’s 128 minute figure. Eddie’s 1510 minutes are acceptable for a youngster playing his first (half) season with the senior team, but could have been a lot more if his loan spell in Leeds would have been more efficient. He managed to play more in the PL and the FA Cup than in the Championship and the Carabao, which is quite a performance from a 20-year-old. His development is fortunately still fast.

Coming back to the title dilemma

Shall we have a large squad with rich tactical and rotation options, or a skeleton crew to maximize individual development through a high volume of playing minutes?

There is no correct answer; this is not science, rather a matter of values and philosophy. But let’s not forget that when we divided the 50.000 minutes by a hypothetical squad size of 25, the 2000 minutes result was the average value; and remember that according to yours truly the ideal threshold of playing minutes to maximize experience and skill development is between 2000 and 3000. As you could guess from my past comments as well as the paragraphs above I am an advocate of youth development, thus in favour of a smaller squad – aiming for 58 games to increase the average playing minutes of 24 footballers (3 GK + 5 CB + 4 FB/WB + 6 DM/CM + 4 W + 2 ST) to 2400. Because currently Arsenal has 30 players, which reduces the fraction (the expected average) to less than 1700 minutes. And while the club is trying to offload a few players, simultaneously working hard on signing new guys, so this 30-figure is a realistic squad size after the transfer window closes. Which is 20% more than my preference, but don’t hesitate to challenge or criticize my stance.

As long as we don’t have the funds like Chelsea to spend 150M on new players every transfer window, I would go for maximizing individual development – the best XI and the secondary team players equally. How about you?

By PBarany

Arsenal 1 – 1 Liverpool: Arsenal win 5-4 in Penalty Shootout.

After having had some great momentum towards the end of last season, it was important to not get embarrassed by Pool in this game for which they were the obvious favourites. In contrast, the Champions really needed a pick-us-up game as to get back in that winning mood and regain some energy.

Klopp’s Liverpool is all about suffocating the opponents in their own half, pass them dizzy and then dance the ball into the net. They bully opponents and are fully focused on not letting you out of their iron grip. But Arteta has found the antidote to these tactics and had his team fully prepared and instructed to get through Klopp’s Berlin wall, and then do some damage to them. In the first half we played almost faultless, our only weakness being our right flank where we gave away too much space for which we could/should have been punished: Robertson produced from there a number of peaches of crosses but with good defending, wasteful attackers and a bit of luck no goals came from them.

Funnily enough, our best attacking moves also came from our right flank, and so we should say that getting the balance right there remains a work in progress. Our first goal was a beautiful, well-rehearsed team effort: it started with Martinez playing it out to our right flank: Bellerin played in Saka and then Bukayo switched it with his left foot sumptuously to the left where Auba was waiting… Tierney and AMN made runs into the box, thus distracting the Pool defenders and allowing PEA to free up his right foot and then to place-shoot the ball from outside the box high into the right corner.

1-0 to the Arsenal.

Pool tried to increase the tempo and hem us into our own half even more, but we kept controlling the ball well and finding a way out of the red maze regularly. Bukayo played at times Ozil-esque football: he has that ability to create a bit of time and space for himself and then he makes such mature decisions. There is so much feeling in his foot as well and he just found fellow players in tight space with relative ease. The hard working Eddie probably should have scored from one of those passes, but we forgive him.

In the second part of the second half we started to sit back too much, no longer able to release pressure by playing out the ball from the back. Legs and heads were tired and Arteta did not have much experience on the bench (Laca, Willian, Torreira, Pepe etc were all left at home for various reasons). They deservedly equalised but we were the stronger team again during the last ten minutes and Joe had a good chance to get us back in the lead again. Alas, it was not to be but then we scored all our five pens and earned the right to kiss and then lift the Community Shield for the 16th time in our history.

Player Ratings:

Martinez – Happinez: 9 – assured, large as a brown bear with eight legs and arms, some vital stops.

Tierney – Mini-Tornado: 9 – so at home at Arsenal. Such focus and presence and some peaches of crosses too.

Luiz – Leader of the Pack: 9 – Imagine being a Chav and watching their former CB play like that twice this month? Hahahaha

Holding – Man(e)ater: 8.5 – All pressure came from Pool’s left side but he handled it well time and again. Had Mane in his pockets for most of the game.

Bellerin – Nutmegger: 8 – Some great attacking contributions and defensive interventions but allowed too much space in front and next to Holding in the first half, which could have cost us (see also Saka).

AMN – Mobile WALL: 8 – Together with Tierney and Auba he bossed our left wing. Apparently some very good Egyptian attacker played there for the opponent, but he must have been in AMN’s and Tierney’s constant shadow, because I did not see him! Final attacking ball is still in need for improvement but that will come. Please keep him, Mikel.

Xhaka-Elneny: 9.5 – Men of the Match – the Alcatraz in midfield: The least sexy players on the pitch (together with Holding) but they denied the Pool midfield to ever get into their game, which is key in winning a game against them. Kept it simple but their positioning when defending and their passing out from the back was simply awesome. Just watching them play such disciplined football was a joy for me.

Auba: 9 – Black Panther – So efficient, just strikes when the iron is hot. Class Act.

Nketiah: 8 – the (almost) golden nuisance – Excellent in the ‘Laca-role’: never gave Van Dijk any time to control the game from the back and was always a danger when  we were attacking. Probably should have scored but Allison denied him with a first class stop low to the ground.

Saka: 8.5 – our ‘new’ Ozil – half a point deduction for leaving too much space in front of and next to Holding in the first half, which could have cost us (see also Bellerin), but he produced some first class key passes and crosses and was vital in us releasing the presure Pool liked to put us under.

Subs:

Cedric: 7 – struggled to get into the game and looked lost at times, but good effort and peach of a cross for Willock to make it 2-1 to the good guys, but it was not to be.

Other subs: Joe, Kola and Reiss. No scores as not long enough on the pitch.

By TotalArsenal.

 

Arsenal v Liverpool – 2020 Community (Charity) Shield

The FA Charity Shield was founded in 1908 as a successor to the Sheriff of London Charity Shield. It was a contest between the respective champions of the Football League and Southern League, and then by 1913 teams of amateur and professional players. In 1921, it was played by the Football League champions and FA Cup winners for the first time.

Here is Arsenal’s history in the Community (Charity) Shield.

Our first Community Shield appearance was in 1930 and resulted in a 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday. The Arsenal team was full of legends of Herbert Chapman’s1930’s squad – Keyser, Parker, Hapgood, Seddon, Roberts, John, Hulme, Brain, Lambert, Jack and Bastin – our goals were scored by Hulme and Jack.

After a ten-year absence due to the suspension of football during the Second World War, the Charity Shield made a return in 1948.

During WW11 no less than 9 of the 42 professionals on Arsenal’s books in 1939 failed to return home, the highest loss by any Club. The nine players to lose their lives were, Sidney Pugh, Harry Cook, William Parr, Leslie Lack, Bobby Daniel, Hugh Glass, Cyril Tooze, Herbie Roberts and Bill Dean. 

Arsenal qualified for the 1948 FA Charity Shield as winners of the 1947-48 Football League First Division.  It was the club’s sixth league title and striker Ronnie Rooke scored 33 goals in the campaign to become the division’s top goal scorer. The other Charity Shield place went to Manchester United who beat Blackpool to win the 1947–48 FA Cup final.

This was Arsenal’s eighth Charity Shield appearance; prior to the game they had won five Shields (1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938), and lost two (1935, 1936). By contrast Manchester United was undefeated in the Charity Shield; the club won their previous two appearances, in 1908 and 1911. Watched by a crowd of over 30,000, Reg Lewis, Bryn Jones, and Ronnie Rooke each scored for the league champions inside the first 15 minutes. Manchester United responded by scoring twice before the half-time break through Jack Rowley and Ronnie Burke. Lionel Smith’s own goal in the 53rd minute made the scoreline 4–3. Arsenal was awarded the Shield by A.V. Alexander, the Minister of Defence.

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The 1952-53 Charity Shield game was held at Highbury Stadium on 12 October 1953. The game was played between Arsenal, champions of the 1952–53 Football League and Blackpool, who had beaten Bolton Wanderers to win the 1953 FA Cup Final. This was Blackpool’s first FA Charity Shield appearance to Arsenal’s ninth.

In the match, Blackpool started strongly and scored first with Stan Mortensen’s goal in the 30th minute. Against the run of play, however, Arsenal equalised through Tommy Lawton and in the second half they went ahead when Doug Lishman reacted first to a rebounded shot. Lishman scored his second of the match in the 80th minute, which sealed a seventh Charity Shield honour for Arsenal.

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Arsenal lost their next two Charity Shield games in 1979 (3-1) & 1989 (1-0) both to Liverpool.

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The 1991 Charity Shield was between Arsenal and Tottenham, the only time we have met in the Shield. Arsenal began the match the brighter of the two teams, dominating in possession and the number of chances created. Tottenham created their best chance to score in the first half, but struggled to find a breakthrough in the second half, hardly troubling the Arsenal defence. With neither team able to score after 90 minutes, the match ended in a draw, meaning each team held the trophy for six months each. This was the last Shield edition to have shared winners.

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In 1993 we met Manchester United. This was Arsenal’s 12th’s Charity Shield appearance and Manchester United’s 17th. The 1993 staging of the event was the first to feature players wearing permanent squad numbers; this became common practise in time for the 1993–94 season.

United began the match the brighter of the two teams and scored after eight minutes of play, through Mark Hughes. Striker Eric Cantona spurned two chances to extend United’s lead, by which point Arsenal’s midfield started to assert themselves. Five minutes before the interval, Ian Wright capitalised on a mistake by Ryan Giggs to score the equaliser. As there were no further goals, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out. Wright and Denis Irwin missed their penalties; the decisive penalty, taken by Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman, was saved by his opposite number, Peter Schmeichel.

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Our next shield game in 1998 was also against Manchester United. Manchester United began the game more strongly, but Arsenal took the lead when Marc Overmars scored 11 minutes before half-time. They extended their lead in the second half, as Overmars and Nicolas Anelka found Christopher Wreh, who put the ball into an empty net at the second attempt. In the 72nd minute, Arsenal scored a third goal, when Anelka got around Jaap Stam in the penalty box and shot the ball past goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.

Arsenal’s victory marked Manchester United’s first Shield defeat in 13 years.

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In 1999 for the second year in a row and the third time in six years we once again met Manchester United. The severe heat on the day meant Manchester United and Arsenal found it hard to find any rhythm early on.  Beckham was booked by referee Graham Barber for dissent. Moments later Nicky Butt was involved in a brawl with Martin Keown, after the defender nearly caught Butt’s face with his boot. Both players were booked for confronting each other, as was Vieira for getting involved. United performed better the longer the match went on and scored the opening goal. Beckham’s 30 yard free kick hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced out; Yorke headed the rebounded ball past goalkeeper Alex Manninger.

In the 64th minute, Arsenal was awarded a penalty. Vieira, chasing down the ball was adjudged to have his shirt tugged by Irwin in the 18-yard box. Kanu converted the penalty, sending Bosnich the wrong way. Arsenal scored what proved to be the match winner in the 78th minute. A goal-kick by Bosnich was headed back into United’s half by Vieira; Kanu controlled the ball “deftly” and set up Parlour, whose shot went into the net.

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The 2002 shield was contested between Arsenal and Liverpool. The only goal of the match came in the second half; Arsenal substitute Gilberto Silva on his debut collected a pass from Dennis Bergkamp and struck the ball through goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek’s legs. The result meant Arsenal was the first team to win the Shield outright 11 times, while it marked Liverpool’s first defeat at the Millennium Stadium.

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The next year 2003 Arsenal met Manchester United for the 5^th time. Goalkeepers Tim Howard and Jens Lehmann made their competitive debuts for their respective clubs in the match. Ole Gunnar Solskjær started in midfield for Manchester United and Paul Scholes played behind the main striker, Ruud van Nistelrooy. For Arsenal, Kolo Touré partnered Sol Campbell in central defence as Martin Keown was absent. Mikaël Silvestre gave Manchester United the lead in the 15th minute from a corner, but Thierry Henry equalised for Arsenal five minutes later from a free-kick. In the second half, substitute Francis Jeffers was sent off for kicking out at Phil Neville. Neither team was able to score in the remaining time, so the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out. Howard saved the decisive spot-kick taken by Robert Pires.

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In 2004 Arsenal appeared in the Charity Shield for the 3^rd consecutive year and once again it was Manchester United that we faced.  This was Manchester United’s 23rd Community Shield appearance and Arsenal’s 18th. Manchester United was without seven of their first-choice players for the game, which meant David Bellion and Eric Djemba-Djemba came into the starting 11. Cesc Fàbregas started alongside Gilberto Silva in midfield for Arsenal as Captain Patrick Vieira was absent. After a goalless first half, Arsenal took the lead when Gilberto scored in the 50th minute. Striker Alan Smith equalised for Manchester United soon after, but José Antonio Reyes put Arsenal back in front after United’s defenders failed to clear the ball. Mikaël Silvestre scored an own goal 11 minutes before the end that ensured Arsenal’s victory.

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2005 was our first meeting against Chelsea. This was Chelsea’s fifth Community Shield appearance to Arsenal’s 19th. Relations between the two clubs were hostile before the match, given Chelsea’s illicit attempts to sign Arsenal defender Ashley Cole. In the game Chelsea took the lead when striker Didier Drogba scored in the eighth minute. He scored again in the second half, before Cesc Fàbregas replied for Arsenal with a goal in the 64th minute.

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In 2014 we met Manchester City. Alexis Sánchez was one of three players who made their competitive debuts for Arsenal in the match; for Manchester City, goalkeeper Willy Caballero was selected ahead of Joe Hart. Arsenal began the game more strongly and took the lead when Santi Cazorla scored in the 22nd minute. Their lead was extended two minutes before half time, as Aaron Ramsey finished off a counter-attacking move. Arsenal scored their third of the match soon after the hour mark; Olivier Giroud’s shot from outside the penalty box dipped over Caballero and into his goal.

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2015 was our 2nd with Chelsea in the Charity Shield. Petr Čech made his competitive debut for Arsenal against his former team, while captain Mikel Arteta and striker Olivier Giroud were named as substitutes. Gary Cahill was passed fit to start for Chelsea alongside Captain John Terry, and Loïc Rémy started up-front as Diego Costa was absent.

The only goal of the match came near the midway point of the first half; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain collected a pass from Theo Walcott from the right and scored past Thibaut Courtois. Both managers did not shake hands after the game, which drew media attention. Arsenal’s victory was their first against Chelsea in over three years and manager Arsène Wenger’s first over José Mourinho in 14 attempts.

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It was Chelsea who we met for the 3^rd time in the 2017 Shield. This was Arsenal’s 22nd Shield appearance to Chelsea’s 12th. For Arsenal, Alexandre Lacazette made his competitive debut, while Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott started as substitutes. Their squad did not include Alexis Sánchez, Laurent Koscielny and Mesut Özil – all absent for differing reasons. Midfielder Cesc Fàbregas started against his former team, playing alongside N’Golo Kanté. New signings Álvaro Morata, Antonio Rüdiger and Willy Caballero were all named on the bench. Striker Diego Costa was omitted from the Chelsea squad as he did not feature in manager Antonio Conte’s pre-season preparations.

After a subdued first half, Chelsea took the lead in the 46th minute when Victor Moses scored. A late challenge by Pedro on Mohamed Elneny resulted in the Chelsea attacker being shown a red card; from the free-kick Arsenal were awarded, substitute Sead Kolašinac scored on his debut. As there were no further goals, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out. Thibaut Courtois and Morata missed their penalties, leaving Giroud to score the winning one.

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Arsenal Community Shield Record
1930	Arsenal	2	–	1	Sheffield W.
1931	Arsenal	1	–	0	W.B.A.
1933	Arsenal	3	–	0	Everton
1934	Arsenal	4	–	0	Man C
1935	Sheffield W.	1	–	0	Arsenal
1936	Sunderland	2	–	1	Arsenal
1938	Arsenal	2	–	1	Preston
1948	Arsenal	4	–	3	Man U
1953	Arsenal	3	–	1	Blackpool
1979	Liverpool	3	–	1	Arsenal
1989	Liverpool	1	–	0	Arsenal
1991	Arsenal	0	–	0	Tottenham
1993	Man U	1	–	1	Arsenal
1998	Arsenal	3	–	0	Manc U
1999	Arsenal	2	–	1	Manc U
2002	Arsenal	1	–	0	Liverpool
2003	Man U	1	–	1	Arsenal
2004	Arsenal	3	–	1	Manc U
2005	Chelsea	2		1	Arsenal
2014	Arsenal	3	–	0	Man C
2015	Arsenal	1	–	0	Chelsea
2017	Arsenal	1	–	1	Chelsea
2020	Arsenal		–		Liverpool

Next up we face Liverpool in the 2020 Charity Shield our record against them is:-

W1, L2, GF2, GA4.

Our overall record In the Charity Shield is: – W15, L7, GF38, GA21.

GunnerN5

TA’s Predicted Line-Up v Pool (if two players are mentioned, the one on the left is most likely to start (or has my preference 😀 ) :

The word that springs to mind when describing this game vs MK Dons is perspective, because it was in their previous friendly that MK conceded six goals against Norwich, so let us be supercool about what we saw. It was a case of practicing pressing, passing and playing out from the back, getting match fitness and sharpness and it was therefore a good workout.

Mistakes were made, passes went adrift, chances weren’t capitalised on and some players missed their opportunity but in general it encouraging.

Arteta will have used this game to try out some new ideas like Willock at right wing back, Smith Rowe on the left and then the right wing, Nelson in reverse, Elneny in the Ceballos role, Saliba in a trio with Holding and Tierney, plus a whole host of new youngsters – the next generation – from our talent machine at Hale End.

For many of us it’ll be the first time we’ve seen some of these players so, given the circumstances, it’s really difficult for me to give them a mark; and I’ll leave that up to someone else. But this is how I felt they played:

Leno: made one really smart save from a free kick and looked completely over his knee injury. Didn’t have much else to do as MK were poor in attack but was generally steady in all he did.

Saliba: very assured, very composed and comfortable among his new team mates, was never stretched and controlled pretty much all that came his way. A good debut.

Holding: with the exception of his spectacular diving header he had a good game as the senior centre back, coped comfortably throughout his 60 minutes on the pitch but unfortunately most fans will remember the own goal.

Tierney: another faultless performance from our left back, he never has a poor game and I’m very glad about that. Keeps everything simple and under control, is fast becoming my favourite Arsenal player.

Maitland Niles: nothing too eye catching just did a solid job, it’ll be a shame to see him leave if he does in fact leave because he is such a versatile and valuable player.

Soares: had a steady 45, didn’t get forward that often, tended to hold back and keep us in a back four shape when we attacked, in fact the defensive organisation of the team was actually what really impressed me; the improvement in that area of play is remarkable.

Xhaka: good old steady Granit just keeps thing ticking over especially in this new age of Arteta organisation. Everything looks like a fine Swiss timepiece, Xhaka knows exactly what he has to do and where he has to be and that’s his job – a job he does to perfection. It just goes to show what some thoughtful coaching can achieve.

Elneny: put in an energetic 60 minutes with maybe an eye on impressing the boss and you certainly couldn’t fault his effort. He scored a really good goal by keeping  his head as the ball came to him following a defensive mix up, he didn’t try to lash it he simply passed it into the net, a very composed finish. He did a lot of good work but gave away far too many daft fouls and that in the Premier League would have seen him in big trouble. Overall a good performance.

Saka: his part in our 2nd goal was excellent where he took a smart pass from Soares in one of his rare forward sorties and turned a superb cross into the path of Eddie who did his thing. He was a constant threat and took a few heavy kicks for his trouble during his 45 minutes but just got on with it.

Nketiah: Eddie was all over the place continually pressing and chasing, he looks stronger and fitter from last season and looks well set to be having another good season. Took his goal with the minimum of fuss and seems ready and able to be making quite a few more of those mobile phone celebrations this campaign.

Aubameyang: if I was giving out marks I’d give him a 4 as he pretty much just strolled through his 45 minutes, that said he could have still scored a couple. He has nothing to prove, we know he’s brilliant now sort out the contract.

Willock: half time sub for Soares and did ok at right wing back, got forward a couple of times to good effect. I wonder if Arteta sees him permanently in this new position?

Ballard: half time for Saliba, a bit rough around the edges but battled away, he’d be just the right man for a wet Tuesday night up in Stoke as he doesn’t hide and given that he’s had to fight tooth and nail for his Arsenal career I’d never write him off. Needs to polish his act up a bit, but if determination gets you to where you want to be then this lad has it.

Bola: half time for AMN, had a very steady 45, he quietly got on with his job at one point saving our reserve goalkeeper from an embarrassment after he slipped over.
Not sure if he’s got what it takes but he’s certainly worth some more game time, maybe in the League Cup.

Smith Rowe: half time for Saka, big things expected from him and highly rated by Arteta but failed his audition. Didn’t do enough for me.

Nelson: half time for Auba, tried a few mazy dribbles and tricks but it wasn’t coming off. One of the few we have who runs at opponents and tries to commit them and it finally came off when he drove into the box and was fouled. Got up and calmly slotted home the penalty. I like Reiss, he gives us something different but he needs to deliver more often as patience isn’t in abundance with so much on the line and so much competition. He took a lovely corner though and plonked it right on the head of the scorer of our 3rd goal.

McGuinness: replaced Holding on 60 minutes and scored our 3rd goal when he lost his marker and thundered his header past a stranded MK goalkeeper. He look composed, read the game really well, came out of defence and into the midfield when he needed to break up opposing attacks. For a big guy he is very nimble on the ground, has a sound technique and actually looks a very promising prospect.

Cottrell: small, compact and like a terrier because he never stopped running, tackling and competing. Skillful in tight corners and he always tried to play his way out of situations. He tackles like he means it and definitely looks like he’s got something to offer.

Olayinka: I’ve seen him a few times before and he’s always done well but this time he seemed a bit off of the pace. Just my view but I still like him.

Azeez: very tall, strong and technical lad, he’s got that touch of class, you know always has time on the ball, only had 30 minutes but has 1st team firmly printed on his forehead.

John Jules: almost scored and linked up well with Nelson, he has a lot of talent but is probably a scorer of great goals rather than a great goal scorer.

Macey: he won’t be giving Martinez and Leno sleepless nights, but he made a couple of decent saves and almost dropped a couple of huge clangers. He’s a goalkeeper, it happens….

In the last 5 minutes George Lewis came on and Oyegoke came on, the former didn’t touch the ball, the latter looked pretty good.

Feel free to disagree.

By Allezkev

Rumours, rumours rumours. Apparently, we are on the verge of letting both Bellerin and Kola, two great Arsenal personalities, go. Is that a clever thing to do?

It all depends on what Arteta’s plans are regarding formation and roles within the starting-11. With such a short break, Arteta just cannot take the risk of changing things too much. I wrote earlier about the importance of the spine and Mikel needs to set up the team in a way that maximises the strength of it.

Leno/Martinez – Luiz – Xhaka – Willian – Auba/Laca, to me that is the core or spine of the team in the coming season. If we play Luiz we need to surround him with players who can play the game to their strength whilst also covering for David’s shortcomings. We know that the Brazilian powerhouse doesn’t like to be attacked with much space behind or around him; that’s when he tends to snap and do something stupid that leads to a penalty, a red card, or both. Therefore three at the back is ideal for him.

Luiz is a great leader and organiser: he has got good overview, gives clear instructions, motivates well and is the sort of leader other players want to go deep for. With the curly cannon in defence we have withstood the greatest levels of pressure in recent months. And I think we are yet to see the best of him in an Arteta-Arsenal side.

He simply has to play, and to get the best out of him he needs to be surrounded by two first soldiers: one on the left and one on the right. Arteta has good CBs to pick from now (if indeed the Gabriel signings gets completed this week). On the left he can pick from Gabriel, Mari and Tierney; and on the right it is Mustafi, Saliba or Holding. The latter is probably the best cover for Luiz himself as the central CB, if he had to miss out on a game. But he is also suitable to be the RCB. Arteta is spoiled for choice at the moment (and I have not forgotten about Big Sok or Chambers either..).

With three at the back, we need to play with wingbacks rather than full backs. What are the key requirements of a wingback? Big fecking engine, good runner with and without the ball, good positional play and defensive qualities, good forward play including crosses, passes and (ideally) dribbling skills, and production of assists and (ideally) close to double figures PL goals. In the modern game, these are among the most exciting and demanding roles on the pitch. They need to deliver on all aspects of the position for our team to flourish in a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 formation.

Arsenal are blessed with two great left wingbacks: fiery Tierney and super Saka – and there is Kola but he just has not made it Arsenal, has he? On the right we are less blessed. Bells had a few half decent games but never really set the world on fire on the right wing. Soares must have the confidence of Arteta and he may well become our nr1 right wingback.

If Hector was to leave, what is Mikel going to do? I don’t think he will buy a new nr1; that would surprise me. A nr.2 to Soares could be bought, but we also have a few youngsters with Saka-like qualities to make the right wing theirs: Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson, and of course Arteta bought the multi-functional Willian who could cover on the right wing… And then we have Big Sok or Chambers who may well get time in that position in the coming season.. Plenty of options.

And what about AMN? Is Arteta really going to sell both Hector AND AMN? I doubt it, but if he did he will have options to fill the RWB position with hungry and very talented players, and, and at least from a technical/tactical point of view, I don’t think he would be weakening our team much if both Kola and Hector would leave.

By TotalArsenal.

Just five days before the season-opener v Pool and things are starting to move forwards. We are all hoping for the announcement of Auba finishing his career at THOF, but maybe he is waiting for some particular signings coming through before he commits to the Gunners for life. This is a big step for him and I would understand if he had some hesitations before committing to us. However, signs remain positive as nobody seems to be linking him with other clubs. But of course it ain’t done till the proverbial lady has sung. 

Auba will want to see a strengthening of the defence so the rumours that Gabriel Magalhaes is about to sign for the club could help him in his decision-making. The Guardian does not do the headline honey-trapping as much as most other major papers do, and they seem to be convinced Arsenal has won the battle:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/aug/23/gabriel-magalhaes-five-year-deal-arsenal-27m-lille-transfer-window

There are also strong rumours that young Greenwood is on his way to the club where Eddie warmed the bench during last year’s Autumn months. I do not know him but one of our keen youth-followers, Allezkev, had this to say about him:

Greenwood was the star of his year in the Sunderland academy so it was a bit of a coup when we signed him from the Rokerites. He is similar in style to John Jules in that he can play anywhere across the front three or in the hole, he’s a very technical player and I have to say that it’s a bit of a shock if we’re selling him?

He is a northern lad of course so maybe he wants to move back north?

Alternatively this could be Agent inspired as it was his agent I suspect who was behind him leaving Sunderland for Arsenal therefore Greenwood’s advisors could be behind agitating for this move as Leeds are reported to be offering him a 6 year deal and will probably give him 1st team football long before Arsenal would or could?

And then there is a rumour from Sky that will warm even the coldest Gooner-heart. The non-flying Dutchman is apparently on his way to THOF to work alongside Mikel… Could this be true? It doesn’t look like it with just some Bergkamp quotes from the past, but we can of course dream…

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/12479693/mikel-arteta-arsenal-dennis-bergkamp-freddie-ljungberg-replacement/

The really worrying bit of rumour that seems to be gaining momentum is the imminent sales of our very own Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53880967

He might sound like an MP for Kensington, but we have got to know him as a steely, multifunctional, intelligent, beast of a midfielder come defender who attackers of the opposition have come to fear. At Arsenal from the age of six, should we really let him go to say Newcastle or Wolves before Ainsley has had a proper chance to establish himself at THOF? No way! With Xhaka as our only established central midfielder, surely there is space and time to develop AMN into a good, solid midfielder? Don’t we owe him this after spending 70% of his life at Arsenal?

By TotalArsenal

 

 

Until now I have covered two dilemmas for Arteta: who to pick from Leno and Martinez and what to do with the xx-large talents of Saka and Martinelli. Both are in reality luxury dilemmas: we have quality in goal and quality up-front, and Arteta knows that competition will not harm the motivation of his players as long as he manages their expectations as best as possible.

A far more complex dilemma for Arteta is to get the system of play, formation and balance within the team right. This dilemma is all about playing football the Arsenal way, getting the best out of the squad AND gradually build towards something special.

Now that the fixtures list is out I think it is fair to say that we will start with a tough first third of the games in the PL, followed by a reasonably hard second third, and then a quite doable final third.

Therefore, I feel that Arteta could continue with the most recent and successful set-up of 3-4-3 in which we are good at absorbing pressure and focus on taking one or more of the relatively few chances we create. Nothing wrong with doing this during the first third of the season, as it might maximise our points return whilst keeping confidence high.

Then Arteta can gradually change things to a more attacking style of football that will make the in recent decennia acquired ‘purist-Gooners’ happy again (and I am one of them). But this is not easy: how does he transform a caterpillar into a butterfly?

Regardless of system of football etc, I believe Arteta has a clear picture of his favourite spine in the team: the very starting point of a successful team (or indeed organisation). The spine should be full of experience and players who understand what Mikel wants: they are the protectors of what Arsenal stands for and can carry the team through difficult periods. The spine is likely to be: Martinez/Leno – Luiz – Xhaka – Willian – Auba.

Xhaka is Mikel’s embodiment on the pitch: same style, same talents, same leadership and organisation skills and same limitations. If he can find cover for those few limitations he knows he will have a world beater in Granit. For me this is the biggest challenge for Arteta.

The same goes for Luiz in terms of talents v limitations. It is a team game and if the right people are put around Luiz he really can lift the team to great performances.

We have to hope that Auba signs a new deal and Arteta has said he wants to build the team around him. Furthermore, with Pepe finding form it is unlikely that Arteta has convinced Willian to come to Arsenal with anything else than a more central role for him. It would make no sense to let expensive Pepe and experienced Willian fight it out for the right wing position, if you ask me.

So Willian goes central and that is where he is needed most. The former Blue Brazilian is not as good as Ozil in terms of finding key passes but he offers everything Arteta is asking for: he is tenacious, energetic, aggressive, creative, and a good dribbler and passer with plenty of goals and assists in his locker. Some have remarked on the length of his contract, but Willian has the physique and stamina to go on till he is 36… and at the end of his contract he will still only be 34, so what is the big deal?!

The key question for me is where will Willian play: in the hole in a 4-2-1-3 formation or 3-4-1-2 formation, or next to Xhaka in the recently developed ‘Ceballos’ role? Or may we even see the very attacking formation of 4-1-2-3 with Willian and say Saka or ESR, or even the much rested Ozil in the ‘2’ behind three beasts of attackers?

Yes, with the signing of Willian and the talents of Saka, ESR but also Joe Willock and one or two others playing with two advanced creators is a possibility. And if Arsenal can secure either of Ceballos and Coutinho this would become even more attractive. But I am not getting carried away and realise that Xhaka is not the right player in that sort of formation, and that is probably too attack-minded for the premier league.

But hold on a minute… Arsenal are reported to be interested in Partey and would he be the player in the ‘1’ in midfield to allow everybody in front of him to dance the ball into the net? I doubt it. From what I have seen he is more of a B2B midfielder but without the goals etc.

What I believe Partey would be is the ideal partner for Xhaka in deeper midfield and the perfect link-up player for our attackers, with Willian benefiting most from his link up play further up in the hole position.

Xhaka needs an Alex Song next to him: Alex and Mikel formed a great partnership and one could only excel whilst being partnered with the other. I expect Partey, or a similar player if we cannot get him, to come and play in tandem with Granit and then Willian to play in the hole.

With two out of Auba, Martinelli, Laca, Eddie and Pepe in front of them this could lead to the transformation we are looking for, hopefully leading to beautiful yet winning football.

My dream team could look something like this in the coming season:

 

If we keep Lacazette then we have even more firepower up-front. But what do you think:

1. How can Arteta turn us from a more defence minded, withdrawn team to a more attack-minded, forward-playing team without leaving our defence exposed?
2. What is the best formation for Arsenal to get the balance right?
3. Who does Arteta need to buy to achieve this (one or two players)?

By TotalArsenal.