This week could define our season with regards to Champions League football. It starts today with the match at home against the in-form Manchester United. We were unlucky to have been pegged back to a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture but at the Emirate in the FA cup tie, despite dominating them in possession and territory, they beat us by 3-1. I expect that they would be trusting on the same tactics of sitting deep and countering to do the job for them again. They have devastating pace in the persons of Lukaku, Rashford and Martial, their front three. A high line by our defence would be us inviting trouble. For that reason Emery might choose not to press too high in order not to oblige their attack with so much space to run into as high press goes with high defensive line.  Such a tweak from Emery would set the stage for the battle to be won and lost on the flanks. Still, don’t rule out somebody pulling a rabbit out of the hat.

We haven’t been able to find the effective replacement for injured Bellerin in our right flank. Not Lichsteiner. Mustafi is a good winner of the ball but a poor quick-passer whose overlapping runs and crosses as a wingback aren’t of the finest quality. If only Maitland-Niles can resolve to employ fully and proactively his great athleticism, Bellerin wouldn’t be missed all that much. I expect his great promises to get him a start today. I also expect rested Kolasinac (our flanking tank) to also start which would suggest that Emery is likely to opt for a back-3.

When would Man United’s run of six EPL consecutive away wins (10 in all competitions) come to an end? No better day than today in a loss at the home of football. We have been neck to neck with them and Chelsea for the last Champions League spot. It is a fierce race that has already sucked in the Spuds who bottled it against Southampton yesterday. It is now four teams for two CL spots and there is no gainsaying it, the more the merrier. Lacazette is rested and roaring to go. Ramsey is crucial as a midfielder who offers a late body in the opponent’s box. The Greek god Sokratis would be available. Torreira is starting a three-match suspension. Mkhi could do with a little rest by joining the fray from a strong bench.

Predicted line up with 6 changes made:-

~~~~~~~~~~~Leno~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Sokratis. Koscielny. Monreal.~~

M-Niles. Xhaka.  Guendouzi. Kolasinac.

~~~Ramsey.  Lacazette.  Iwobi.~~~

Bench:  Cech, Mustafi, Elneny, Suarez, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Aubamayang.

From now to the end of the season every of our match is a cup final. How much our team can cope with that pressure would prove critical to our fortune which surely would have a bearing on how much voice our fans are able to give to the team particularly when at home …..

COYRRG!!!

By PE.

Tonight is another big game for the Arsenal: Rennes away in the Europa League. Rennes is an old and fine city and have a more than decent stadium. I have no doubt that tonight we will see a good game of European football. A win over two legs will get us into the quarter finals and for this we will need of course a good performance during the first leg.

Rennes had a requested league-football rest over the weekend and will be fresh and focussed. Arsenal, on the other hand, played in a tough NLD last weekend and are awaiting another top-four battle on Sunday. Luckily, we played really well and are starting to get back into a winning groove, and with the right focus and energy we surely should be too strong for our inexperienced, low-flying opponents?!

Arsenal took a strong squad to Western France and we should expect Unai to pick a very competitive team. Yet I also expect him to initially leave out a few players who will start v MU – one or two in each section: Leno, Koz, Kola, Xhaka, Rambo and even Auba?? This would allow us to have a fresh, strong spine which we surely will need on Sunday.

So what does this leave us with (bearing in mind that Lichtsteiner and Elneny have not travelled)?

Predicted/preferred line-up:

 

• Cech instead of Leno!

It would be good to give Kola a break and allow Monreal to get further into shape and form. If Ainsley is fit it would be good for him to get a start. Torreira has to play and I have a feeling that Suarez may start next to him in the Double DM-Pivot (resting Guendouzi, at least initially).

Iwobi could be rested too but I reckon we will need him to start in this one as Laca is not available. Ozil in the hole and Mkhi on the right, with Auba in attack as we do not really have much choice. Eddie may get a chance in the second half and I, for one, would love to see him in action again.

Should be a good game as long as the team treat it with respect from the start!

COYRRGs!!!

TotalArsenal.

 

 

Eight observations from a season-defining game for both North-London teams:

1. We are right to feel disappointed not to take the three points from our second home in London and the Spuddies will feel relieved that they got away with it, but the big picture is that we were stronger and out-classed them, AND that they have now been dragged into a top-four fight rather than a title-fight/ sitting comfortably in third place, as they were just a week ago. It was really important not to lose this one and a win would have been great and just, and had the refereeing been up to European standards we certainly would have won. This is Emery’s best away performance of the season; let there be no doubt about it, this is a big milestone for him at Arsenal.
2. Emery got the tactics about right. Starting  with Guendouzi instead of Torro seemed a bad decision, and was enough for me to fear the worst. It is almost like Unai wants us to be vulnerable as to entice our opponents forward and have a go at us, which then leaves space for us to attack in; would we have scored our goal if we had started with a more solid midfield set up? Still, I was pleased to see Emery plug the midfield gap after half time, as we were struggling towards the end to get them away from our box. Emery’s changes were all spot on imo; we were more solid throughout the second half, controlled the game and had very good chances to win it. The fresh legs of Ozil and Auba kept our momentum going, which was of course vital in an away-derby.
3. This was also a big game for Leno. His second stop late on in the first half, was de Gea-esque. It is one thing to anticipate were the ball will end up and to put your arm there, but then it needs a lot of strength to push it over the bar. It was a magnificent stop at a crucial moment in the game.
4. The KosSok partnership is working very well. At last we have two central defenders who combine calm with craft and operate in partnership. They are leaders both physically and verbally and let’s hope we will see them combined for the rest of the season.
5.  The Spuds missed the aggression and forceful runs of Dele Alli through midfield; we, on the other hand, had such a player on the pitch in Aaron Ramsey, yesterday. It was a good, mature Lampard/Gerrard-esque goal by Ramsey and a reminder of what a player he could have been had he been more consistent for us in recent years. Am I said to see him go? No, but thanks for that one, Aaron.
6. Laca worked so hard based around his energetic, sometimes frantic, approach to the game. Auba is by nature calmer, stealthier and more calculated in his efforts. Together they prepare and score a lot of our goals, and we are blessed to have them. Unfortunately, yesterday the apparent character traits of Laca and Auba did not work so well at the crucial moments: Laca fluffed two very decent chances where a little calm would have served him better possibly; and Auba could have done with a bit more aggression/energy both for the penalty (which seemd v soft to me) and the rebound that came his way.
7. It is a real ‘varce’ that the PL is still without VAR. I am not saying it is perfect, but the linesman and referee made a few poor decisions that would have been overturned in no time. As Unai said to the men in black: VAR is coming for you.
8. The Torreira sending off is a costly one for us. Although there were no bad intentions, his leg and boot were high and could have caused a bad injury and so I believe it was a correct decision. Not having El Torro against the Mancs in a week’s time is a real concern, and it may well be that we will start once more with the Xhaka-Guendo combo. First we are off to Rennes, though, and that will be another fine challenge for our boys in red and white.

By TotalArsenal.

A pivotal NLD awaits us. The Spuds lost two in a row and we won two. They still had a chance to win the league but needed at least four point to stay in touch with Pool and Citeh. They could be three points behind Pool but now look at a nine point gap; they could be ten points ahead of the mighty Gunners but now the N-L rivals are just four points apart. It has been bright and sunny over the last week and, as we all know, the Spuddies only thrive when it’s dank, dark and miserable. It will be relatively warm and dry this afternoon, so let’s finish the gap-closing job in style.

A Gunners’ win would reduce the gap to just one point and that just over six calendar days! It would be THE turning point in the Spuds and Arsenal seasons, as that would condemn the knuckle-draggers to a dirty top-four fight with us, the Mancs and Chavs; and it would give us the belief and further impetus to finish in the top-four. Today is crucial for both teams, let there be no doubt about it. It is a six-pointer game with our most detested rivals; it is a battle that is very likely to determine the outcome of the war. Let’s get the cannon loaded; it’s time to blast the silly skinny chicken of the ball. 🙂

Which team is going to do it? It depends whether we play 4-2-1-3 (4-3-3) or 3-4-3. I reckon Emery will go for the latter, with possible these starting 11.

Emery’s 3-4-3(?):

I am not sure who he will play on the right in midfield, but reckon it will be either Licht or Rambo (not sure how fit AMN is but that could work too). I have a preference for Rambo but only if he fully commits, which I have not seen him doing since he signed for the Italian barcodes.

This formation would give us attacking options on the left – where the partnership between Kola-Iwobi is blossoming – and right – where Mkhi has made a big difference recently. The only problem with this formation is that it will ask a lot from both Xhaka and Torreira. They will need to play with discipline and protect the back-three; yet they also need to provide the midfield creativity and attacking passes. It also means that either Iwobi or Mkhi – or indeed Laca – will need to make themselves available in ‘the hole’ area to fill the gap there, and this may not be ideal for us against the Spuds.

Emery’s 4-2-1-3(?)

The alternative is to play 4-2-1-3 and allow either Rambo or Ozil (my preference all day long) to boss ‘the hole’. This would allow Xhaka-Torreira to boss the midfield without taking too much risk, and against the Spuds it is all about winning the midfield battle. It would still allow us to operate our wing-partnerships, even though it would be with different personnel. It would give us that extra bit of creativity in front of the Spuds’ ‘D’ and therefore make us less predictable. But it requires our ‘wingers’ to support the full backs and central midfield players constantly, and Rambo/Ozil to go deep now and again and support midfield.

It could look like this (4-2-1-3):

I believe the above 11/formation would suit us best to conquer the Spuds at Wembley, as long as the instructions are clear to cover the space left behind when we are attacking. It would have been great to have Bellerin available for this one, but other than that we are lucky to have such a good starting 11 fit and available in early March.

Emery’s 4-3-3(?)

Alternatively, we could see a 4-3-3 with either Rambo or Guendouzi next to Xhaka-Torreira and that would definitely strengthen the midfield from a defence point of view.

It could look like this, and the more I think about it the more I believe Emery might go for it (4-3-3):

I have a good feeling about this one: 2-1 to the good guys (Auba, as a sub, to do the manage in the last 30 minutes)!

What would be your preferred formation and starting-11? What is your predicted score?

COME ON YOU RIP ROARING GUNNERS!!!

By TotalArsenal.

With the sun shining warmly even here in Northerly Edinburgh, I felt it was time to put a new post up. The Cherries are coming to town and three valuable points can be earned tonight. With three points already gained at the weekend, a win would make it six in just a few days and that would be ideal preparation for the NLD, no doubt. But that is the last thing said about that game as it is, as always, OGAAT for us here at Bergkampesque.

Must-win, predicted-to-win home games, are never as easy as they sound. Yes, Bournemouth have a few key injuries and have been weak in recent away games, but E Howe will prepare well tactically for this one, and with our wobbly defence and a few bad bounces of the ball, we could be up against it tonight. So there is no place for complacency and we cannot afford to rest key players: all our focus needs to be on doing everything possible to win this game.

So who should start? Depends on who you ask. For me it is the same eleven as on Sunday against the Saints, but with Mesut in the hole and Koz instead of Licht. I really enjoyed our first half and felt that for the first time in a long Emery had the balance right. Xhaka and Torreira bossed the midfield and the Swiss’ genius controlled the flow of the game. But there was also plenty of movement up-front with Rambo, Mkhi, Iwobi and Laca making it easy for Xhaka and Torreira to pick the right pass time and again. We had plenty of the ball too and our passing was sharp, and had we been sharper up-front we would have scored up to half a dozen.

So my preferred eleven are:

I reckon this will give us both defensive solidity – for which the combos of KoSSoK and TorXhak are crucial – and plenty up-front to never let the Cherries’ defence settle. Will Emery go for the above eleven? Probably not. He may give Laca a rest and play Auba, but with the latter being our only experienced CF available for the UEFA games this may not be a wise thing. He probably will want to squeeze Guendo back in in the double DM-pivot, which is a bad idea imo. If he has to play him then do so instead of Ozil or Mkhi, but it would still make us less effective. However promising Guendouzi looks, we have stronger players in the squad for this crucial game.

Let’s hope for a committed and focussed performance and three points in the bag.

CoyRRGs!!

TotalArsenal.

Announcement

Bergkampesque is having a break.

After six and a half years of blogging, it is time for a break. A blog takes a lot of time and effort and there are a few other things I need to focus on.

Thank you all for commenting and writing blogs on Bergkampesque over the years – it’s been a pleasure. 

I will decide over the coming months whether to restart the blog again, but for now it is au revoir, tot ziens and goodbye.

Best wishes and COYRRGs!

TotalArsenal.

Happy New Year fellow BKers!

I was ‘at the world’s biggest New Year’s Eve street party’, so they told us, at the foot of the wonderful Edinburgh Castle – one of the world’s most beautiful city-settings, I am sure you’ll agree. Tickets at £75 a head, taxis double the price, buses triple the price and two cans of beer, a red wine and bottle of water an eye-watering £22… but it was totally worth it.

The Hogmanay party had two highlights: the fireworks which were simply godly and Franz Ferdinand’s 1.5 hour fabulous performance on stage. I didn’t expect too much from FF, but boy did they give a show on the night: true entertainers who live for the music, and, all together, performed ‘in the moment’! Going since 2002, so 16 years and counting, and they still love to be on stage; and that happiness gave us all a buzz on the night. Alex Kapranos, Lead Singer, kept asking us ‘Are you with me, Edinburgh?’, and yes we ‘were with him’ all the way.

It made me think again that what’s is so important in anything that is being done by humans, whether it is serving food in a restaurant, driving people from A to B, managing an organisational change process, operating on a patient, selling fish from a market stall, performing on stage, or indeed, manage a sports team, is threefold: focus, energy/joy, and team work. Talent/know-how help too, but most things can be learned through hard work, education/training and tenacity; and relying on talent alone will not get you far. Without focus, energy/joy and team work there will not be real success, it will not be very enjoyable and you will not be adding much, if anything. to the job at hand.

And that is what I would like to see at Arsenal – on all levels – in 2019: focus, passionate commitment and VCC.

Yes I like some new good players too, but let’s not believe too much in shop-therapy. Just look at Manure and you know we cannot just buy ourselves out of a ‘crisis’.

Despite some personal irritations about Unai’s team selection and handling of players, I have no doubt that Unai offers Arsenal all three aspects in abundance. He is focussed: knows his targets, knows how he wants to play and knows what needs doing to make progress. He has tons of energy and really, really enjoys managing our club: his energy is infectious and he lives for football. And he is also a real team player even though certain players do not seem to fit into his team for the future, which is natural when a manager takes over.

Fact is it is going to take time. But let’s not forget Unai beat the Spuds already, we drew at OT and got close to winning there, gave Pool a real game at the home of football and could have won that one too, and we had a 23-game unbeaten run and are just a handful of points behind the fourth-placed Chavs (who were a bit lucky to beat us in the second game of the season). These are all signs that Emery has what it takes to make our club great again… eventually.

As JW1 keeps reminding us perspective is required, and we, as considered yet passionate supporters, need to trust the club and Emery and be patient in 2019. I have been critical about some of Unai’s player choices and decision making until now but am also aware that he is leading the troops from the front, and I am not. It takes time to reach a true crescendo of fireworks, and let’s see where Emery will take us in (just) 12 months from now.

Line-up for today’s game?

Hard to predict but this is of course a must-win so I expect the strongest possible team out (with the exception of Ramsey who has his head turned by five ‘big’ clubs who have a space on the bench for him to keep warm apparently – the sooner he sods off the better).

My line-up would look like this:

Let’s get the job done in the first half/60 minutes. Play with the strongest team and aim to score three before half time. High tempo, crisp passing, good movement, Ozil as the conductor (aligned with composer Emery), Auba with focus, Laca to get the service he deserves, Iwobi to do the penetration, Xhaka-Torreira to boss the midfield again, and Nacho to bring back balance on the left side and in defence.

We got a kicking at Anfield and nobody likes to experience this. But real winners don’t doubt themselves too long and definitely don’t become all self-deprecating. No they get up again, lick their wounds and go and win the next game.

Hope 2019 will bring you health, happiness and joy/success at whatever you do.

By TotalArsenal.

We need to delve into the market for the right buys. At the same time these group of players we have should be able to give us more. There is this feeling that they are stuck in gear 1 afraid to venture. Its all sideways and backwards and two meter passes in our own half. However there are some players who have the right heart.

GUENDOUZI …  the youngest but the bravest. He is always searching for the penetrative pass. He wants to be the protagonist. He is so keen to take it to them. No wonder, in spite of his inexperience, Emery loves to play him.

LACAZETTE …  is an angry man on the field. That is a right attitude. This team needs fighters. I mean the fight that is a fight for the ball and for a win. Emery should play him more often. Without him to engage the defenders, Aubameyang is a lonely and fairly ineffective man.

TORREIRA …  might not be the player that we hoped he is. Yes he’s got the garra charrua, plenty of it but his inability to run fast and particularly his small size work against the beast of a defensive midfielder that we have been dreaming of. In my thinking we still need to acquire that beast and one of it’s fallouts would be to liberate Torreira into becoming not only the team’s metronome but also the deep lying playmaker. There is so much intelligence in his use of the ball that he needs a more influential role going forward.

SOKRATIS  … the armband should be his for keeps. He embodies the fact that football is a serious business. He gets angry not dejected or nonchalant when things are not going right. It is easy to see that the players would respond to him. What the team needs to know more than anything else is that from the tunnel it is nothing else but hostilities. Papas would ram that message home.

There are one or two other names but these four represent the bench mark we should always aim for.

Liverpool walloped us 5-1. Give it to them. They are fighters. They fight for the ball. They fight for victory for the team. Individual egos have merged into the group will. When a player is substituted his faith in the larger design is evident. There is no sulking. No display of rebellion. No me, just the team. It is admirable and in these areas exist the main gulf between them and us. They are a wonderful orchestra under the maestro Jurgen Klopp who even knows how to play the willing Anfield voice. But it must be said that behind him are forces full of ambition. I salute the Fenway Sports Group, USA.

We are stepping into the January window. My worry is that our club is getting satisfied with just getting bye or just missing to get bye. The men at the top should be ambitious and bold and the quicker their response to the hard facts the better because our rivals are not resting on their oars. We start today otherwise tomorrow would be a steeper hill to climb.

We like to talk about the Liverpool three-year revival under Klopp. That is all fallacy. Mighty Liverpool have been in the wilderness for 28 years. That is the number that should be scaring us and it is that scare that should be fuelling our ambition. Do the men at the top have in them the penetrative passes of Guendouzi? Or would it be the sideways and backwards passes in the form of cheap nondescript signings? The January window is upon us. When the bell rings the ring shrinks and there will be no place to hide. We’d soon know if they have any fight in them.

By PE.

Rest in Peace Peter Hill-Wood and thank you for all that you did for the club – including all the silverware and the new stadium. Our thoughts are with his family.

Match Preview and Line-Up

Liverpool v Arsenal, forever a ‘classic’, is our second hard away game during the Christmas period, whilst our opponents tomorrow play their second home game in a row. The mood in that proud city could not be higher, now that Citeh has lost twice in succession and the red supporting side of this small city is becoming the favourite to win the title this season.

In recent seasons, Arsenal have struggled at Pool and there is every chance that we will be at the end of thrashing once again tomorrow. Having said that, Arsenal are only one of three teams not to be beaten by Pool, and it can be said that we could have won the home game. So there is some hope that Unai can get the tactics, team instructions and first eleven right and go home with one point, or even three points.

High confidence can sometimes lame a home team as we have seen so often during the Wenger glory years, and post-glory years. If we beat Pool and they then drop points at Citeh, we could even be back in the title race… but let’s not get carried away.

I guess our big issue will be once again the lack of quality in defence, further hampered by fitness issues: Monreal, Mustafi and Bellerin are all doubts for example (and Holding is out of course).

I have no clue how Emery will set up the team and who he will pick, but I reckon we have to play 3-4-3 – or 3-4-1-2 to be precise – to have a chance.

My ‘dream’ starting 11:

Leno in goal but Cech would be good too. I guess Leno is the nr.1 now so let’s go with him.

A back three of Koz – Sok – Mustafi is ideal but it will depend on the fitness of Mustafi. I have a feeling he will be fit for this one.

The Wing-backs for me are Kola and Rambo, with both under strong instruction to be defenders first. Pool will press us into our own half and we need experienced players with speed and aggression (Kola) and good passing (Rambo) to beat the press and get the three front men into play. Rambo will also strengthen the central midfield which is key when playing Pool: we must not let them settle there.

Please let it be Xhaka-Torreira in the centre of midfield again. If not, I have no hope whatsoever for a positive result. This is not a game for the adventurous Guendouzi in deeper midfield.

Up-front it has to be harasser Lacazette to give the Pool defence something to worry about. We all know that Auba loves to run into space and that Ozil is the man to find space and spring the counter-attacks for us – and Pool will leave space behind their defence. Absolutely key is for Emery to trust Ozil and to give him a free role in das Loch.

Both Xhaka and Torreira can also quickly switch-over from defending to attacking, and if we start with Auba and Laca there is every chance that we will score at Anfield. Having said that, I would also be happy for Auba to come on in the second half and Iwobi to start. The Nigerian is good at controlling the ball in tight spaces in our own half and help us spring counter-attacks.

I think we would have a decent chance with the above team, subject to fitness of Mustafi. Will Unai have similar first-11 thoughts? Doubt it.

By TotalArsenal.

 

ARSENAL MUST HAVE THE WILL TO MAKE EMERY SIGNINGS THIS WINTER WINDOW.

Against Brighton we had 68% of the possession. That domination is a farce. We had only 7 attempts on goal the whole of the 90 minutes. Brighton with 32% had 12 attempts.

We had 68% of possession yet in terms of territory only 25% of the action was in the opponents final third while 26% of the action was in our defensive third. Are we scared or incapable of transitioning the ball to the forward areas or is it part of our game plan?

Our deepest 4 outfield players(back line) of Lichsteiner, Sokratis, Koscielny/M-Niles, and Kolasinac had a total of 335 touches of the ball. Our 4 most forward players of Auba, Laca/Ramsey, Ozil/Iwobi and Torreira had 256 touches. That tells us where the dominating possession comes from.

If it is in accordance with our game plan then we are a disguised counter attacking team. As TA always says the whole idea might be to draw opposing players out to create spaces in their rear for our quick vertical thrusts. Nice idea but I wonder if the lack of a creative defensive base is a chink in the armor. Holding is being missed. He was by far our best creative passer from the back.

Such a game plan easily explains why Emery seems so eager to play Xhaka in the defence. He sees more of the defender when with the ball than when without it. That must be the reason too why Emery appears so keen on Guendouzi who actually plays as our deepest midfielder. He has penetrating forward passes. Unfortunately Douzi like Xhaka doesn’t know the first thing about defending.

Meanwhile I wonder why we bothered to bring in Lichsteiner even on the free: am yet to see the wise head. Chambers would have deputized better for Bellerin. Mainland-Niles who is so talented is too laid back and am beginning to doubt that he can rise to the top. He lacks that proactive quality that is propelling Guendouzi forward and that is visible in players like ESR, Nelson and Saka. I was so appalled when after he lost the ball in Brighton’s box, he chose to nonchalantly walk back as Brighton broke and this was in injury time. Yet his biggest weapon is his speed. Please don’t plead that I should forgive him. I confess that I never new that Bellerin is so cute.

Ozil can be enthralling and frustrating in equal measure but the most defining thing is that there is nobody around good enough to take his place. Iwobi replaced him at the interval and contibuted nothing. As for Kolasinac, he is the best today the worst the next day. Emery’s revolution would only have begun if the club exercises the will to make his signings this winter window. Luckily, we are still on the tail of the top four.
By PE.