Bergkampesque

What is the point of having the PALs Firepower without the King of the Key Pass Silver-serving them?

It is still early in the season which makes it hard to pull conclusions. But still, for the sake of having something to talk about during the inter-lull, let’s have a look at our attacking and defending stats until now.

Arsenal played four games and despite our awesome attacking options with the power of PAL, we managed to score just 1.5 goals per game. The whole team scored as many goals as MC’s Aguero, and one more than Sterling and Finland’s finest and surprise of the start of the season, Pukki, until now. We have some heavy hammers in the team but who is providing them with the nails to bang them in? For this we need assist-providers and, as we all know, it’s key passes that lead to assists.

At Arsenal the key passes providers until now are:

1. The underappreciated Xhaka (1.7 per game);
2. The explosive Nicolas Pepe (1.5);
3. The currently dumped Nelson (1.5);
4. The fastly growing in status Ainsley MN (1.3);
5. New boy Ceballos (1.3).

Liverpool and Man City have each two players in the top ten of PL key passes providers, with Kevin de Bruine producing a dizzying four per game at the moment (and leading all in the PL). He sent Ozil, this decennium’s PL King of the Key Pass, a message the other day saying ‘hey it is lonely at the top!’ 😉

I bang on about this, but it really is no point to have a great attack without having a great midfield as well. And the same goes for the defence…

We conceded six already: 1.5 goals per game. Okay that includes the Pool away game and if we take that one out of the equation, we are conceding a goal per game. Emery wants to play attacking football and outscore our opponents, so conceding a goal per game on average is not the end of the world, but then we really have to step up the goal production.

What is interesting is that according to Whoscored there is not a single Liverpool or Man City player in the top-10 for the categories of ‘Tackles’, ‘Interceptions’, ‘Blocks’ and ‘Clearances’. Yet they both conceded only half the number of goals Arsenal conceded: 0.5 goals per game.

Their best defence is of course their focus on attacking and keeping the opponent hemmed in their own half. City have the highest ball possession and pass accuracy stats of all the teams, which will come as no surprise. But it is also their ability to defend as a team and control space that makes them so solid at the back; they don’t really need to make a great deal of tackles and blocks but simply force opponents to make mistakes by crowding them out/denying them space. Arsenal, as was so painfully obvious again during the first half v the Spuds at the weekend, just don’t know how they deal with turnovers and counter-attacks AS A TEAM, leading to kamikaze defending and individual mistakes. We are a world away from Pool’s and MC’s approach to team-defending.

Our next game is at Vicarage Road against relegation-zone placed Watford: how many of you feel comfortable that we will get a win there?

For me it will be the biggest test until now. I was happy with the opening win against Newcastle and the hard-fought victory over Burnley, and the Pool loss and Spuds draw were predictable and somehow acceptable. Our top-four finish competitors (excluding Pool and MC) have done worse than us, which is of course welcome.

But it is games like our next one that will show what we are worth. Arsenal need to leak less  goals and score more and for that we need to get the midfield right. It’s time for no more nonsense re Mesut Ozil and the likes of Nelson and Ceballos also need to get more chances. We are desperate for better and more key passes and thus providing the PALs with much better service.

Emery has a fantastic squad of players to work with and now it is time to get the balance in midfield, and with that in the whole team, right.

By TotalArsenal.

…. For Better or For Worse?!

GN5 posted this list of ins and outs at Arsenal this summer:

OUTS: Aaron Ramsey, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny, Cohen Bramall, Julio Plegezuelo, Charlie Gilmour, David Ospina, Daniel Ballard, Jordi Osei-Tutu, Ben Sheaf, Xavier Amaechi, Krystian Bielik, Takuma Asano, Carl Jenkinson, William Saliba, Danny Welbeck, Dominic Thompson, Vontae Daley-Campbell, Eddie Nketiah, Alex Iwobi, Nacho Monreal, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mohamed Elneny, Kelechi Nwakali.

INS: Gabriel Martinelli, Dani Ceballos, William Saliba, Nicolas Pepe, Kieran Tierney, David Luiz

Now I totally understand that in order to give young players a chance and to offset money spent on new players, we have to let go some players. But sending 25 players away, either for good or on loan, is quite something. If you look at this list, you will see a lot of youngsters who simply need a chance to play football which Emery just could not offer them this season. Fair enough, and hopefully a few will come back better, wiser and stronger.

However, the bloodletting of experienced Gunners on our left side worries me a lot, but also excites me a bit. Left back Nacho especially will be missed; it puts a lot of pressure on Tierney and the more-winger-than-left-back Kolasinac. It is a long season and I reckon Emery may come to regret this decision… if indeed he was involved in it.

But there is more left side player-depletion to deal with this season: Iwobi is gone, Mkhi is gone, Koscielny our LCB is gone, Welbeck is gone. You could also argue that Elneny and Ramsey played a lot on the left side of the team and they are also gone. Together these players wore the Arsenal shirt for well over a 1000 games (I would imagine), and they will be missed.

So we got new signings Tierney and Luiz to support the left side of the defence and we should be really pleased with them. In attack we added Pepe, Ceballos and Martinelli, and I reckon only Martinelli will re-strengthen the left side a bit. I say a bit because he is still young and it will take time for him to settle in and become effective. There are also high hopes for Saka and Nelson but also they are young and it will take time  before they can make us forget the goals, assists and key passes of the likes of Iwobi, Mkhi, Welbeck and Ramsey. The cup games cannot come soon enough for them.

What’s interesting, though, in the last game Emery opted for a flat-three in midfield with Guendouzi on the left, and maybe that’s a sign of what is to come. He certainly had his best game since joining Arsenal and was much more effective than when he was played on the right v Pool the weekend before. I also reckon we will see more of the PALs starting games together with Auba on the left wing. I am still not sure whether this gives us the best attacking balance – a creative midfielder who is comfortable on the left wing may still make us stronger, and I believe the letting go of both Mkhi and especially Iwobi may bite us in the backside sooner or later – but to go out All Guns Blazing is attractive and will put fear in many opponents. It also seems to totally fit Emery’s ‘5-4’ philosophy.

So thinking about this, we may well end up with a left side of Tierney(Kola), Guendouzi, Auba, and LCB Luiz this season, with cameos for Nelson, Kola (once Tierney has established himself), Martinelli, Saka, and possibly ESR and Ceballos.

That is quite some change on the left side and we will lack a lot of experience – and that includes our back-up options – but it will also bring freshness and, with a bit of luck with injuries and especially Tierney hitting the ground running rather sooner than later, it could make us stronger this season. 

By TotalArsenal.

Arsenal 2 – 2 Spuddies in a nutshell:

• A game of two halves, as so often under Emery;
• Great fight back and spirit from the boys; 
• Great support from the home crowd;
• Tactically all over the place but full of NLD passion and commitment; 
• Hate the former, absolutely love the latter;
• I remain unconvinced by Emery’s tactical ability and use of our fabulous resources.

Eight observations from a frantic, cup-final-kind-of-a-game that felt both like a win and a loss after the final whistle:

1. Whilst we sat back against Pool and invited their pressure with hope to beat them on the break, against the Spuds at home Emery wanted to attack relentlessly from the start. The result was a tornado of a game with a restlessness that never subsided. It was brave to play the PALs from the start; a shame, though, Emery did not dare to add a proper nr10 to that lethal trio. Ozil started on the bench and never came off it. Instead, we played with a flat midfield-three in which everyone seemed to be allowed to play anywhere they liked, and, especially, anyhow they liked. With Emery, Arsenal have a very busty/sexy top, a lose/wobbly core of a midriff and some fine legs that are nevertheless left to fend for themselves. The Spuddies like to absorb pressure and play on the break and they punished us severely for some limpid defending; with 2-0 up they almost made it to the break, and Pochettino must have thought ‘how easy is this?!’; his tactics were the superior ones during the first half.
2. This style of midriff-less football does not suit the likes of Xhaka and Torreira at all. The last gasp defending and getting back in some sort of position is a nightmare for them, and I can well imagine they do not like how Emery is setting up the team and his ‘tactical’ instructions. Xhaka DID make a bad mistake and all the Xhaka-haters will see their one-dimensional views confirmed. They will not have seen how he recovered in the second half and how some of the best passes came from his foot. The Xhaka-hatred will not go away after that avoidable penalty give-away, and he will have to cut out fast such mistakes, but with 1.7 key passes per game he remains very important for us (and no doubt will remain the first on the team sheet for Emery).
3. The second half was much better as Arsenal pushed the Spuds more in their own half and left far less space behind the attackers for them to play the ball out from a turnover. The midfield played much more disciplined and our attackers got much better service. I was pleased that Emery did not make any changes at half time but decided to talk to his players instead, much helped of course by Laca’s late first-half goal – without that it could have been totally different half time tactics and offerings to the Gods by the wizard from the Basque country. The final part of the second half was something else, though, and, as much as I liked our desire to win the game at all costs, the space we gave away for the Spuds to win it instead was just mind-blowing and an attack on my vital organs.
4. MOTM by a mile was our First Warrior of last season, Laca. He single-handedly saved us from a thumping by scoring a great, Messi-esque goal just at the right time. What a fine control of the ball and powerful finish with his left foot. I also liked David Luiz positioning and organisation of his often unprotected defence, and I thought the full backs had a very effective game. A special mention should also go out to Guendouzi who was allowed to move all over the pitch in Emery’s approach and therefore looked often good. He made some good interceptions and blocks and of course he produced a fine assist for Auba that he finished exquisitely. At just 0.5 key passes per game (13th in the Arsenal team league for key passes), Guendouzi has a long way to go, but he now has his first assist of the season and hopefully many more will come.
5. Big point is, though, that Emery kept Ozil on the bench and yet the game screamed out for him. I really don’t get what is going on with the Spaniard: wanting lots and lots of passion and drive is great but football is still a game in need for calm and intelligence – for silver-serving the PALs. Guendouzi is doing relatively well for his age but we have the king of assists and key passes rotting away on the bench (if he is actually picked to warm it).
6. Leno needs to get those wrists sorted so he can push away further the low shots fired at him. The first goal, despite bad defending by a number of our players, was avoidable with a stronger push out by our nr1 goalkeeper. But it must be said, he also kept us in the game with a couple of fine flying saves and a strong personality in and around the box.
7. What a baptism of fire for Pepe this home-NLD was and how well did he do?! I absolutely loved his drive and involvement and it is really great that he produced his first assist. He just has to find a little bit more composure before he pulls the trigger. As an attacking trio the PALs will have to get used to each other, though, and I am not sure whether playing all three of them is the best option for us. We should note that our attackers managed to get just under a third of our shots on goal whereas the Spuddies had two third of their shots on goal. But Pepe was not intimidated and took full part in this topsy-turvy derby game  (is that a tautology?), and that goes a long way.
8. Finally, a few quick and dirty observations. Kola replaced the sadly missed Nacho and he did a good job. Mkhi was brought on and clearly was rusty and had issues with his first touch, but he still added a bit of intelligence to our potent attacking threat. Is Nelson – a half time Emery ‘sacrifice’ v Burnley – totally out of favour now? In my view, Reiss could have made the difference at the end of the game as the Spuds were weak on their right side and we were breaching their defence quite well there. A winger with close ball control was missing though and Nelson could have made the Spuds pay for it. Ceballos brought more energy and a bit more intelligence too, but I do worry about his risky ‘keep hold of the ball for too long’ style of play that leaves us vulnerable to turnovers. Clearly, Emery also rates his fellow Spaniard higher than the king of the key pass which baffles me beyond belief.

By TotalArsenal.

There’s nothing like a North London Derby and Unai Emery has pulled out the stops to try and restore the balance of power in this one.  Here are the line-ups:

Arsenal: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Luiz, Kolasinac, Torreira, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Pepe, Lacazette, Aubameyang.

Subs: Martinez, Mkhitaryan, Ceballos, Ozil, Chambers, Nelson, Willock.

Spurs: Lloris, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Rose, Winks, Eriksen, Sissoko, Lamela, Son, Kane.

Subs: Gazzaniga, Lo Celso, Alli, Aurier, Moura, Skipp, Davies.

I’ll be attempting to describe what I see but I can use all the help I can get so please (PLEASE) chime in with what your hot takes.  My views on Emery’s Arsenal are not so rose-tinted, but I’m trying.  You should too…

Please join me in the comments section and don’t be shy.

Go on then…

by 17highburyterrace

LUIZ MAJESTIC IN A BACK-3 AS FANS FAVOURITES LACA, TORREIRA  AND PEPE START.

We thought the Liverpool match would have told us how far we’ve come. It told us very little because we played against a team that must have been possessed. They were relentless in their intensity forcing us to rope-a-dope. To the credit of our response to their bullying, just a wee shift in luck would have seen the encounter end so differently.

The Tots play with intensity too, but they are no tropical hurricane. However, the NLD is a game where prisoners are not taken and it is this game, more than any other, that will tell us where we are. We know what our target is.

This is a home derby. We must play as the protagonist and with aplomb but first of all we need to get our set up right and everything is pointing to a back-3 outing, and this is why:-

1). Nacho Monreal seems to have played his last match for us at Anfield. It is only fair and wise that the most we should demand of him is a bench appearance seeing we are very short at the back.
2). Kolasinac who replaces him is a wingback (back-3 set up), which luckily only demands a more peripheral role in playing out of the back. We all know Kola isn’t such a great passer of the ball.
3). Luiz is a lot more effective in a 3-man central defence. It’s a well documented fact and we want him at his most convincing.
4). Mainland-Niles attacking talent is better utilized in a wingback role.
5). At Anfield we played narrow and found it difficult to break the Liverpool’s mid press through the centre. A back-3 gives additional outlets through the wide areas.
5). The Tots like attacking through the middle and 3 at the back is suited to combating that.

With a back-3 (back-5), the back-6 has picked itself.

Contrary to the expectation of many I doubt Emery would ever start the PALs together against the bigger teams. Against such teams I expect the balance of his selection to always tilt in favour of upping the midfield as to leave only two of the PALs up front. We now know Pepe. He is as good as he is billed going forward but tracking back to help in defending isn’t his forte, neither is Auba’s. This weekend I expect Lacazette to start and Auba to sit on the bench as our super sub.

Who will be picked in the midfield provokes the most division in opinion amongst the fans and possibly also with Emery. Against the Tots, who are good at passing in small spaces as they attack, Torreira should be a starter in my opinion. He has the 4 meter burst of speed. Ceballos has given us two opposite stories of himself. I believe in the better story but in this NLD I’d prefer we don’t take that chance.

As for Ozil, I don’t feel qualified to bring his name into the conversation as I can’t still quite fathom what’s  going on. My gut feeling, however, tells me that Emery has revised his pressing demands on the team enough to have a place in his plans for Ozil.  With Ozil uncertain, that leaves us with Mkhitaryan at the apex of the midfield in a role which happens to be his preference. One more name from Xhaka, Guendouzi and Willock completes our 3-man midfield. Here, Emery might be minded to bank on experience or would he opt for Guendouzi who seems to have the best skill for passing out from the back.

My prediction for the line up is:-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Leno~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~Chambers~~Luiz~~Sokratis~~~~
M-Niles~~Torreira~~~Xhaka~~Kolasinac
~~~~~~~~~~~~Mkhitaryan~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~Pepe~~~~~~~Lacazette~~~

Bench: Martinez, Monreal, Guendouzi, Willock, Ceballos, Ozil, Aubamayang.

Ali is available for the Tots and the possible involvement of Erikson remains unclear. Not that we give a damn about whom they field. This is not a game Emery should be too reactive to. We need to take it to them. High time, also, the Emirate is turned into an unforgiving place for visiting teams.

I suspect most Gooners would want to see the PALs start, to see the 5-4 Emery introduced himself as. Who knows, Emery might be in the mood to oblige. Let’s have your opinion on formations and player selections.

COYRRG!!!

By PE.

Arsenal v Tottenham – September 1^st, 2019

The two teams met for the first time in the United League November 9^th 1896. The match took place at Woolwich Arsenal’s Manor Ground in Plumstead and Arsenal won, 2.1.

The United League was founded in 1896 to provide additional mid-week fixtures for teams drawn from a number of leagues including founder members, Woolwich Arsenal from the Football League, and Tottenham Hotspur from the Southern League.

The teams first met in a Division 1 Football League match on December 4^th 1909 it was watched by a crowd of 18,000. Woolwich Arsenal won 1- 0 with Walter Henry Lawrence scoring their first league goal against Spurs.

Some key games between the clubs.

Tottenham 0–1 Arsenal (3 May 1971) The final match of the 1970–71 league campaign, with Arsenal needing a win or a goalless draw to take the First Division title (a score draw would have meant Leeds United won on goal average). The game was tight with few real chances on goal, until the very end. With three minutes to go, John Radford’s shot forced Pat Jennings into a good save; George Armstrong got to the rebound and chipped the ball across goal and Ray Kennedy headed home the winner. Spurs desperately tried to get a goal back but to no avail; Arsenal held on to win the title (the first half of the Double that season).

“I tried, in vain, to get into White Hart Lane for many of our away games and I was desperate to get in to watch our title winning game on May 3^rd 1971 but I was among the thousands left outside the ground – Erik the Red was a lot smarter than GN5”.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/4hl7xr/on_may_3_1971_a_ray_kennedy_header_secured_the/

Tottenham 1–2 Arsenal (4 March 1987) Arsenal and Spurs had drawn 2–2 on aggregate in the League Cup semi-finals; with no away goals rule in force, the match was replayed at Spurs’ home ground of White Hart Lane. Spurs went 1–0 up through Clive Allen but Arsenal substitute Ian Allinson equalised and David Rocastle scrambled home the winner to send Arsenal through to the Final, where they won their first trophy since 1979.

Arsenal 1–0 Tottenham (4 April 1993 at Wembley) The second FA Cup semi-final between the two, in which Arsenal sought revenge over their North London rivals for the 3–1 semi-final defeat two years earlier. Tony Adams scored with a header from a Paul Merson free kick for the Gunners in the 79th minute; Arsenal prevailed despite Lee Dixon’s sending-off, and went on to win the FA Cup in May and complete the first ever domestic cup double.

Arsenal 2–1 Tottenham (8 April 2001 at Old Trafford) – the third FA Cup semi-final between the two. Gary Doherty gave Spurs the lead, before Patrick Vieira equalised for Arsenal. Robert Pires scored a second half winner to send Arsenal through to the first FA Cup final to be played outside England, where they lost 2–1 to Liverpool in Cardiff. 

Tottenham 2–2 Arsenal (25 April 2004) Arsenal were unbeaten in the Premier League and only needed a point to secure the title. The Gunners were 2–0 up after 35 minutes thanks to Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires’ goals. A famous win looked to be on the cards, but Spurs restored some pride by denying Arsenal victory; in the second half Jamie Redknapp scored from long-range, then Robbie Keane converted a 90th-minute penalty to give Arsenal their second and, as of 2018, last league championship won at their rivals’ home ground.

Arsenal 3–1 Tottenham a.e.t (31 January 2007) Arsenal booked their place in the 2007 League Cup Final, for the first time since winning the competition in 1993, after this extra-time victory. The teams drew the first leg 2–2 at White Hart Lane where Tottenham threw away a 2–0 first half lead, eventually drawing the game. The return leg game was goalless until the 77th minute when Emmanuel Adebayor gave Arsenal the lead, before Mido equalised for Tottenham five minutes from time. Jérémie Aliadière restored Arsenal’s lead in the 105th minute and the game was eventually won by Arsenal after a 113th minute own goal by Tottenham’s Pascal Chimbonda, sending Arsenal through to the final, 5–3 on aggregate. Arsenal, however, would eventually lose the final to Chelsea.

Spurs have only beaten us at home in the Premier League on two occasions namely April 15, 1996 and the last time on November 20^th 2010 – we peeled the Spuds 4-2 on their last visit to the Emirates Stadium.

Home games are when we need our supporters to stand up and be counted; they must become the very vocal 12^th man and create an intense/hostile atmosphere to spur our team to victory. I was at Highbury for dozens of games between the two clubs and perhaps surprisingly (for the younger supporters) I don’t recollect a lot of hostility between the two sets of supporters in the 40’and 50’s but that definitely changed in the 60’s when it started to get ugly.

By GunnerN5

It has been a few days since we lost at Anfield, but it may still be worth making some observations (further to the very fine ones by Djifa/Gino in the previous post).

Eight Observations from a game that simply came too early in the season for Emery:

1. I liked Emery’s initial strategy of sitting back and playing with two fast and furious CFs, both positioned on the wings/away from each other to give the Pool defence something to think about. If and when we got the ball forward both Auba and Pepe used the available space well and they had decent chances to put us in front. A bit more sharpness and calm and they could each have scored. If they had done so, it could have been different. Setting his team up to absorb pressure and play on the break, Emery made a good tactical start with the team;
2. But it remains to be seen whether scoring first would not have led to the same outcome: a thumping loss. Betis had a similar tactics v Barcelona this weekend and THEY did manage to score first… but they also still ended up losing big (5-2). Pool were clearly the better team both in terms of organisation and individual sharpness, and an early goal against them would probably have spurred them on even more. The issue I have from a tactical point of view is that before and after Pool scored their second goal, we did not see a meaningful Plan-B from Emery and the game was lost in just 10-15 minutes early on in the second half.  After the third goal Pool took the foot of the gas and we fought well to somehow get a goal back. But it was this ability of Pool to see the game out and to some extent play with us that I found most deflating (even though they conceded an avoidable goal late on).
3. Now many have said that ‘Champions of Europe’, Pool, are a great team and were playing at home so let’s not be too hard on Emery. I respect that point of view. I did not expect us to win but wanted to see the tactical strength of Emery and his in-game tactical decision making; and although Emery made a promising start we withered away as the game went on and the full strength of our squad was never on display. It was also clear that Pool had targeted our right side (tactically) and especially AMN and Guendouzi were put under tremendous pressure to hold the fort… We somehow got away with our lack of defensive strength (numbers of players to prevent a breach of our wall there) but Emery should have intervened. This worried me but there is still time for Emery to get the tactical decisions right this season. And a big test awaits him against the canny Argentinian coach of our bitterest rivals this Sunday.
4.  Luiz was good, almost great. I know he was involved in the second and third goal by Pool but David gave us structure, believe and leadership in defence. The penalty he gave away was a reflex, he said; and Salah would probably have scored if Luiz had not pulled him back (it was a quick and clever move by the Egyptian after all). I was actually impressed with Luiz for not making the foul on Salah for the third goal. I have no doubt that Koscielny (who?!) or Mustafi would have risked a foul/yellow card and have been sent off as a result. There was still time and space for his fellow defenders to block Salah but Big Sok hesitated for half a second and came too late to the rescue.
5. Torreira is back and he looked awesome in our new away shirt. It was important to score a goal and not just for the away fans. We needed that sort of determination from the start and Lucas made a difference when he came on. Play Xhaka as our pivot and the indispensable Torreira next to him in each and every big game, is all I want to say (again and again).
6. The big question to ask Emery is of course why did you not play the experienced midfielders of Torreira, Ozil and Mkhi in this game. Guendouzi, Willock and Ceballos were started instead and collectively they were well out of their league. If this is Emery’s attempt to put his own identity on the team – his trademark – he will be out of a job soon. Playing one of these players in an otherwise experienced team is okay, but all three is plain silly. when we face a team like Pool away. Xhaka-Guendouzi does not work: they do not complement each other at all. Willock tried hard to fill in the large spaces in midfield but was lost and poor Ceballos looked like the court jester. We did not display our full potential (and lost the game so easily) once again because of lack of balance in midfield, and Emery’s team selection choices remain a big concern.
7. How sexy is the football of Pepe? He makes me think of Donna Summer but that’s for another post! It was nice to see Van Dijk being given a proper game by our new signing and he looks so determined to attack and destroy opponents. Ten games in, he would have scored at least once but he will need to settle in a bit more before we get the full value out of him.
8.  The away support was great: made themselves heart throughout the game and stood right behind the team, and we are going to need this badly for the 17 remaining away games of course.

By TotalArsenal

…Nelson and Lacazette out from the group that beat Burnley.

Record signing Nicolas Pepe joins youngsters Dani Ceballos, Joe Willock and Matteo Guendouzi in midfield with Captain Granit Xhaka tasked with organizing the lads against a far more experienced and very strong Liverpool group.

Here are the line-ups:

Arsenal: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Luiz, Papastathopoulos, Monreal, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Willock, Pepe, Aubameyang, Ceballos.

Subs: Mkhitaryan, Lacazette, Torreira, Chambers, Nelson, Martinez, Kolasinac.

Liverpool: Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk, Matip, Robertson, Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane.

Subs: Milner, Gomez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Shaqiri, Origi, Kelleher

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)

A final note: Mesut Ozil, training all week, doesn’t even make the bench.  Has Arsenal management found a way to off-load the mercurial midfielder–and his massive salary?

What do YOU think of the line-ups and Arsenal’s chances at Anfield?

To me, though this is our first real challenge, it is also a bit of a “can’t lose” proposition for Arsenal manager Unai Emery.  Those early results plus big spending in the transfer window–and attendant noise from a new generation of ownership–has brought a feeling of renewed hope in the Goonersphere.  (Is it enough to allow the dumping of a player like Ozil–alongside the likes of Skhodran Mustafi and Mohamed Elneny?)  We shall see.  As long as we improve on the result from last season’s fixture (a brutal 5-1 loss–after we got the opener) surely our “Summer of Love” ought to continue.  And then there’s the hope that we might even do a bit better than that…

I’ll be hitting the espresso machine one last time and then I’ll do my best to describe the action.  I can ALWAYS use help, however, even if today’s game–here in California–will be in 4K.  Everybody sees things differently and your view is no worse than mine.  (We’ll see how I feel about the commentary team: Arlo White always wants to stoke controversy, while Lee Dixon does his best to not be seen as favoring Arsenal.  Graeme Le Saux rounds out the group and generally seems fairly insightful–to me.  Often, I find I need to shut off the sound…)

So, who will join me?  What will the match bring?  Share it here (in the comments)…

Go on then…

by 17highburyterrace

LIVERPOOL v ARSENAL PREVIEW:  SHOULD EMERY MIRROR KLOPP?

A lot of our Arsenal faithful are scared of this fixture, Liverpool at Anfield. Zero points there does not worry them. They are anxious of yet another pounding.

My best pal is a football guru. He knows the game of football so well. He happens to be a fanatical Liverpool supporter. He has thought over the call from several quarters that Emery should mirror the Liverpool team with these players that he has and he tells me that this fixture against Arsenal scares him to death. There you are, this world of opposites. I go for the bottom line: mutual respect.

Should Emery build his team in the image of Klopp’s Liverpool? Mane, Firmino, Salah: Auba, Laca, Chili Pepe. These front threes are of course the bases for these calls. Is it enough a base for such calls?

Salah and Pepe are so similar: direct, quick feet, strictly left footed, don’t need a back lift, wide right, love to cut inside. One though is 3 inches taller and better with his head.

Mane and Auba are no identical twins: Auba’s game is based on movement and positioning, a genius at getting at the end of things. If he is asked to expand his game by for example stationing him as a winger, he goes like a bee line. Mane, Auba’s supposed image is so difficult to define, but he is ubiquitous, troublesome and dangerous.

Firmino and Laca: they are both supposed to be the point men but both love playing deep. That’s maybe as far as they mirror themselves. Forget the name tag, Firmino is a midfielder. He loves joining in building up play. He is the overload that Klopp’s Liverpool use in dominating the central areas, but give him one tiny opening and he is in the box banging in the goal. Laca is more of a false 9 who has it all too but who when he gets the ball deep is consumed by the vision of the space between the woodwork. That makes him a lot more direct than Firmino.

Terrific front 3 for both teams, but they are no spitting image of each other, neither are the other areas of the team. Liverpool have a very hardworking midfield but they don’t have an Ozil or a Ceballos. Their creative midfielder Keita is out of this fixture. However the creativity they lack in the midfield they more than compensate for in their full backs, Trent Alexander-Arnold (12 assists 18/19), Andrew Robertson (11 assists). When I think about Liverpool, I don’t think about the so called FAB 3, I think about these two British boys and a certain hulky Dutchman.

Talking about the defensive aspect of their back line, suffice it to say that they are mean at conceding goals except that for this fixture there would be a certain bloke by name Adrian who isn’t very good with the ball at his feet. Our boys would do well to be all over him the first 10 minutes to damage the confidence of the team playing out of the back.

My friend, the football guru, fears that Liverpool are playing with a phobia. Not the fear of Arsenal or United or Watford, but the fear of losing points. They might as well not be participating in the EPL. They are in a nightmarish two-horse race with a hydra-headed monster who sits the best players in Europe on the bench. This phobia my friend says is affecting their game. Am tended to agree with him and if we can simply play our game, the outcome would be anybody’s guess. It is important for us to stay aware that Josh has buried the £40m-inferiority-complex in a 6ft deep grave.

The way I see it, Emery is not going to ape something else. Arsenal is on its own journey.

I might have missed a trick or two so Emery, maybe should set up like Liverpool. What do you think? Give us your preferred line up.

By PE.