Giroud and Alexis up-front, Holding and Mustafi CBs, Coq and Xhaka to get new chance: Preview

Sutton United v Arsenal – FA Cup fifth round Preview

I am not sure whether to spend many words on this must-win game. Sutton United deserve all the plaudits for getting through to the fifth round by eliminating Leeds United. they will play us at their stadium, the Borough Sports Ground, on their artificial surface and will want to give us a game of course. And what is there to lose for them? These are the sort of games the players and supporters dream of, and even if the former lose handsomely against us, the latter will still see them as heroes. And if they were to manage to beat us tomorrow night, the local hospitals’ midwifes will be in overdrive come November this year. 🙂

Arsenal’s only real enemy are themselves. After that utterly demoralising second half against BM last Wednesday, there is a chance of a lack of focus or appetite for tomorrow’s game. That would of course be unforgivable, so it is quite unlikely that the boys Wenger will select for tomorrow’s game against the U’s will not be really up for it. This is about pride for the shirt as much as anything else. And with a more than doable home tie against Lincoln City next up, there is an additional incentive to play well and make winning the FA Cup a big priority for the remainder of the season.

Wenger finds himself in a difficult and dark corner right now, but he knows that nothing more will bring back the light than winning games again. He also needs to re-balance the team as to get back a better spine and resilience, which should form the basis of a strong run towards the end of the season in both the league and FA Cup. I am not sure he has the players for this right now, but by playing Elneny and Xhaka in the DM-pivot and playing a bit deeper and more compact, we should see a much needed improvement. Well, that is what I would do, but not necessarily against Sutton. Reintroducing Giroud, who luckily cannot be blamed for our recent disasters this time round, seems also a good idea. Welbeck played today so is unlikely to play again tomorrow.

Looking at the training pictures on Arsenal.com, I reckon this could be the line-up:

Iwobi and Alexis are likely to swap positions and fill the space in the hole. Ox (or maybe Theo instead) will also be allowed to move into the hole regularly, and Giroud will become a strong central pivot to create space for the team and connect with fellow attackers as much as possible. As Sutton are likely to park the bus, we also need Ollie’s aerial presence to add variety to our attacking play.

As long as our attackers play with a high tempo, passion and concentration, which means helping out midfield and defence as much as possible, we should create plenty of chances and then the goals will come.

Let’s get behind our team once more. COYRRGs!

By TotalArsenal

 

Rambo and Xhaka DMs, Iwobi and Ox on Wings, Gabriel for Kos? Match Preview | Predicted Line-up

ludogorets-arena

Tomorrow Arsenal play a crucial game against Ludogorets Razgrad in the CL. A win and qualification for the next round should become a formality, if it will not be in the bag already; a draw or a loss and we will be up against it with hard games against PSG (at home) and Basle (away) to come. Add to this that Arsenal will have tough fixtures in November, and it becomes obvious that Arsene would love to secure early next round CL qualification tomorrow evening.

Wenger also seldom or never plays a weakened team in CL games, especially not when there is still something to play for. From what we saw in the home fixture, Arsenal should be able to win tomorrow, but this will not just happen by itself. The home crowd (about 9000 seats only) will be behind their team, and they will want to revenge the dreadful 6-0 defeat a few weeks ago. And if we play with a low tempo and lack of intensity and aggression, it could become quite difficult for us to secure the three points. They definitely have players that can hurt us and are pretty strong in midfield to give us a game.

I reckon we have too many ambitious and proud Gunners in the squad to be at risk of underestimating the challenge, and Wenger will select the right team to achieve victory. But he also needs to guard for fatigue and keep an eye on Sunday’s big NLD encounter.

As always, predicting the exact line up is not easy, but a mixture of what I reckon will work and what Wenger is likely to do leads me to the following starting eleven:

Predicted starting 11:

submit football lineup

Ospina in goal is more or less a given. Gibbs to continue on the left and Jenkinson on the right in defence as Bellerin is ruled for tomorrow’s game. Mustafi starting once more and I reckon Koscielny could do with a rest and Gabriel with a game, so I am going for a MusGab central defence duo.

There are a lot of training pictures of Xhaka on Arsenal.com and this seems a great game to reintroduce him. I also feel that Rambo will get a start which will allow us to rest Coquelin and Elneny, who will be desperately needed on Sunday.

Mesut Ozil struck his first professional hat-trick as Arsenal thrashed Ludogorets

Either Iwobi or Ox should get a rest as they both looked knackered after playing 60 minutes on Saturday. However, Wenger has not got too many options right now with both Welbeck and Perez injured and Theo not fully fit either. So I reckon both Ox and Iwobi will have to start even though it is unlikely they will play the full 90 minutes. Ozil in the hole and Alexis up front for at least 70 minutes, but maybe Arsene will start with Giroud instead. I have no doubt that Ollie will play at least 20 minutes tomorrow and let’s hope he can add another goal, or two, to his impressive tally.

Come on You Rip Roaring Gunners!!

By TotalArsenal

 

KosMus: The Arsenal CB Pairing that Rule Time and Space

Until recently, I have always believed that a good defence consists of a centre back pairing of an organiser type and a wild ‘kuitenbijter’, a carve biter, type. One has the overview and organises their defence and the other one operates as the first soldier of the defence, with ferocious energy and an unrelenting desire to win balls in the air and on the ground, and defend the box area with whatever it takes. The former is usually calm and tall and physically very strong and the latter is simply an energetic, fast, beast of a defender.

We all know the Arsenal pairings we have come to love over the years. For me the dream couple was probably Campbell-Toure from the INVINCIBLES (see below) but Adams-Keown were also brilliant of course. I am sure those who go back a lot longer than me will come up with some other fine Arsenal CB pairings. 🙂

Arsenal "The Invincibles" XI

In recent years, we have struggled to get the CB pairing totally right. The BFG-Kos combo did come close to a King’s couple of CBs, as they fitted the above mentioned short role descriptions to a large extent. Especially if and when we played in a more compact formation and game plan, Koz and BFG made us look solid and in control for many a game. Unfortunately, the BFG’s extraordinary ability to read the game and organise his defence was occasionally undermined by his Achilles’ heel: his slowness in turning around his own axis and lack of recovery speed. And Arsenal are not the sort of team to sit back a lot and absorb pressure: we love a high line and hemming the opponent into their own half.

The downside of this style is of course the space left behind the highline which makes us prone to deadly counterattacks/balls over the top; and boy have we suffered from this at times in the past. Last season, I regret to say, the BFG was our weakest defender in for example the key seasonal games against Chelsea and Barcelona at home. This is what Wenger, who will never directly name and shame a player, had to say after the Barcelona game: “Barcelona is a great team, we knew that. Nothing new. We put a lot of energy in the game. Technically we were very average. Once we look like we dominated the game in the last 20 minutes we gave the goal away, similar to Monaco. Very naive. Two goals makes it realistically very difficult if not impossible. We will have to go out there and fight. There was room to score but we didn’t. And they are lethal. One thing we could not afford – and we knew before the game – was to let them counterattack”.

I had a feeling back in February that Per’s time as first choice CB would be up in the new season. We don’t really know what Wenger’s plans were regarding the first choice CB pairing for this season, but the bad injuries to first the BFG and then Gabriel, before the season even had started, forced his hands in the transfer market anyway. He had already bought Holding – ‘one for the future’ – in the summer, and the young Englishman impressed us all with some fine performances. He also gave Chambers a few  games to show him that he could be ready for regular PL starts, but Calum was not up for the task unfortunately.

Wenger then bought Mustafi from Valencia and rushed back Koz to make them his first choice CB pairing. And what a difference they have made. They have played five times together now, two CL games and three PL games, and conceded just two goals in total. Of course, it is still early days and we have to give it at least 20 games before we can say that KosMus are the perfect rulers of space and time, but the first signs are very promising.

And this is not just reflected in our fine, post-Liverpool, defensive record – to which Holding has contributed as well – but also in the style of play it has allowed us to play as a team.

Neither Koz nor Mustafi are the embodiment of Campbell or Adams; it is more like playing two perfect Koscielnys, or two beastly Toures, with both players happy to push up high and having enough confidence in their recovery speed and ability to intercept and deal with any counterattacks coming their way. Together they organise their defence very well, lead the team all over the pitch, and give away very few chances: they have been in control, sometimes in total control, in almost all games, except the PSG game perhaps.

It is fair to say they also get great help from the full backs and the deeper laying DM (Coq or Xhaka) for which they deserve massive credit.

There are promising signs that KosMus is the CB pairing for the future: the rulers of space and time Arsenal have been needing for so many years.

By TotalArsenal

Starts for Ox, Gibbs, Perez and Xhaka? Arsenal v Basel Preview and Line-up

A home game in the CL is always something to look forward to. Wenger picks his best players and the quality of the football is usually very high. I don’t know much about the current Basel team but I expect them to be well organised and well drilled to defend as a unit and not give away much space where it matters most. I don’t expect them to totally park the bus and to press us high up the pitch regularly, though.

SONY DSC
The home of football.

If Arsenal can start with the same focus, intensity and tempo as we did on Saturday, we should be able to control the game and hopefully create, and then take, the same number of opportunities. Key is of course not to underestimate our opponents and give our all to win this game.

It is always hard to predict a Wenger first 11 and I have no doubt that he will tweak the team a little bit to allow for some rotation and keep his wider squad players happy. Will Gibbs or Ox get a start against Basel for example? Hard to say. It is important that we do everything to win our home game against Basel as we need the points, so the first eleven should not differ much from Saturday’s team. I expect us to line up as follows:

arsenal-v-basel-cl-1st

Ospina in goal, same back four but with maybe a start for Gibbs, Xhaka to replace the injured Coq (potentially not more than just three weeks out), Alexis up top, Ozil in the hole, Theo on the right wing and either Iwobi or Ox on the left wing. There is a small chance that Perez starts instead of Alexis, but I don’t think the Chilean will allow it! 😉

Looking forward to this one.

images

Come On You Rip Roaring Gunners!

By TotalArsenal

 

Akpom CF, Ozil nr10, Perez and Ox on the Wings: Arsenal Predicted Line-Up

Did Arsenal ever have such a deep squad as we have currently? Well I don’t know about you but I am looking forward to how our current ‘second choice’ players will do against the Tricky Trees, or is simply ‘The Reds’ more appropriate? You tell me.

We will be meeting two ex-Gunners at the City Ground tomorrow: Henri Lansbury and Lord Bendtner. One just did not make it to the top level but looked promising for a long time, and the other one has tonnes of talent but lacked the focus to make it at THOF. Nottingham Forest is still a famous name in football and we all know why, and there is no doubt that the locals will be looking forward to playing Arsenal at home and give us a hell of a game tomorrow.

Image result for nottingham forest football ground images

17HT, the one who used to do match previews for us for a while, and I watched a similar game live last season; Arsenal were abysmal and Sheffield Wednesday knocked us out of the League Cup. I hope we will play a lot better tomorrow and do the away support proud. To achieve this we need to field not just a strong team but, even more importantly, a committed team. For me, that means we need to select those players who are hungry to play. And there are plenty who are desperate to play some meaty football tomorrow.

NF made it to the next round by beating Doncaster and Millwall away (both 1-2), but they are not doing that well in the Championship with just three wins out of eight, and currently sitting in 13th position of the league table. This weekend’s loss against the Canaries at home is further evidence that they are there for the taking.

So how should we line up? It is hard to predict the line up but if we base it on a combination of players who need a game and anticipated appetite to give their all, I reckon we could see something like this:

ars-v-nf

Ospina seems to get the cup games, Gibbs, Holding and Debuchy all need a game and will be hungry. Arsene has said that Gabriel could play which I reckon means he will play. Elneny and Xhaka need a game and will be very hungry. Ox could do with another start and, to please some of the regular BKers here, I have put him on the right wing. Perez needs a game and could well start up front, but as I reckon Wenger wants to play Akpom as well, it is more likely that the Spaniard will start on the left – with a licence to move centrally as a second CF regularly.

I also think Ozil will start tomorrow. Mesut has yet to hit form and started to play club footie again only recently, so another game to get him up to speed and get the best out of Akpom, Perez and Ox should do him good.

Let’s hope our boys do us proud.

COYRRG!

By TotalArsenal

 

Xhaka/Elneny in DM Pivot, Alexis CF, Ozil to Rule, Theo/Perez on wings: Preview and Predicted First 11

We love the group stage of the champions league as some of the best games are being played in this competition every season. It is quite special that the two favourites of the group meet each other in the first group game, rather than in game three and four as usually is the case. PSG are yet to hit form and the same goes for us to some extent, so both teams could do with a very good match of football and three points. A good performance and a draw would also probably suit both clubs. With a bit of luck we should witness a feast of attacking football tomorrow.

For Arsenal this is an opportunity to lay down a marker in Europe, England and for ourselves. We need a good game and I reckon Wenger rested Sanchez, Giroud and Xhaka so he can field a very strong team in the capital of his home nation, even though I don’t expect Ollie to start. A good start is not crucial in this competition, but as we are playing the favourite team to win the group stage, a win tomorrow would give us a strong position to win the group eventually: an absolute necessity to get far in this year’s CL competition.

PSG like to play football and push opponents into their own half. If they do that we will have the weapons to punish them on the break. Arsene could start with Giroud and play a France national team style formation with Alexis (as a Griezmann) behind our solid Frenchman. He could also opt for pure speed up-front with Alexis as our ‘holding CF’ and with a licence for him to take on defenders left, right and centre.

I have a feeling that Giroud will have to miss out on a start in Paris. Wenger would be sentimental enough to allow Ollie to shine in their joint capital, but this is too important a game to not do the right thing. And against a team that is able to push us back into our own half, it is better to not start with a slowish holding CF. So I reckon we will start with Perez – Alexis – Theo, but would not be surprised if Iwobi gets a chance instead of Perez or Theo.

At the back, I think we will see the same GK and defenders as against the Saints. This leaves us with midfield and this is a game for Xhaka, no doubt. His ability to launch our attackers and get Ozil involved as quickly as possible, should be absolutely key tomorrow. Who shall we play next to him then: the steel of Coq or the immaculate passing of Elneny; or is Santi ready to start once again? Really hard to predict who will play in the double DM pivot, but I feel Xhaka and Elneny will get the nod, with both Coquelin and Santi coming on at some point in the second half to shore up the game and/or replace tired legs. And tired they will be tomorrow evening.

So my predicted starting eleven looks like this:

submit football lineup

What do you think fellow Gooners: Will we win this game and is this the starting eleven to do it?

COYGs!!

By TotalArsenal.

 

Arsene’s Dilemma: Perez or Giroud… or ‘Peroud’?

 

Vardy is 5ft 10ins. Perez is 5ft 11 1/2ins. Vardy is right footed. Perez is left foot. Vardy is at his best motoring the left channel. Perez is at his best motoring the right channel. Discount these mirror differences and you couldn’t tell one from the other in terms of playing style. Same pharmacokinetic data, different trade names. To Wenger, Perez is what the doctor ordered. He tried to sign Vardy but it did not work out. No hay problema as he crossed over to Spain and bought Lucas Perez.

What does it all tell us. Well, well, well…..Wenger’s mind is very crafty and we might all still miss his point, but to my inquisitive mind he seems to want his team to be the king of the quick transition, like his teams of the invincible era. Giving more credence to this belief is the fact that he has installed in deep midfield a bloke called Xhaka who pings accurate 30yds plus passes several times per match. In the Bundesliga he was second to Xavi Alonso in long accurate passes last season.

To fortify this belief even further we have to remember that already in the team is a Mesut Ozil, the best through ball provider in Europe. Apart from Perez, Òzil also has the trickery and pace of Sanchez as well as the exquisite off the ball runs in blistering pace of Walcott, all to feed.

All these, however, is hearing one side of the story only. If we don’t hear the other side, our logic would land us in dreamland.

Last season there was a disproportionate number of matches in the EPL that ended in favour of teams with less possession than should normally be expected. Leicester City won the league with 44.80% possession sitting at the 18th position on the possession table. Epl teams have learnt how to sit deep, frustrate and counter. I really wonder if our Invincibles wouldn’t have found the proposition a lot tougher now.

Do we begin to sit deep? Sitting deep is essentially a tactics fashioned for neutralizing superior fire power. Arsenal is a highly technical team, one of the best in the league. It stands to reason that its philosophy must be hinged on the utilization of its superior weapons i.e. to attack and dominate games, of course without prejudice to being committed to defending as a team.

With our superiority, it is inevitable that we would dominate most of our matches. That means that most of the teams would pack buses against us. With teams parking buses when they play us, where would we find the spaces for the quick transition machine that we have assembled? Where do we find the spaces for the fleet-footed anchor legs, except when we are countering the opponents’ counter?

Countering the counter, equipped with this machine that he has diligently contrived, must be making Monsieur Wenger salivate. But expect them to come few and far between. We, however, should not forget that there are teams and situations where toe to toe would be inevitable. Xhaka, Òzil, Sanchez, Walcott, Perez…….that’s awesome. Something tells me that a great number of such teams would live to regret. Still there remains this big task of the unrelenting parked buses teams. Stubborn, dogged, unyielding, well organized.

Giroud is a denizen of the box, both ends. His mailing address is ‘The Box’ and the boxes are where the goal posts are. Got that? In the box Giroud enjoys air supremacy. He’s got wonderful box flicks and box knockdowns. His box positioning is second to none. He is a right box bully. Ask defenders. A bulldozer for the buses.

Herein lies Wenger’s dilemma. Giroud the box bulldozer versus Perez the fleet-footed anchor leg. We wait to see what the wily old fox will do. I will give you a tip. He might do all. Giroud now, Perez then, Giroud and Perez also.

An exciting season awaits us. Bring it on!

By Pony Eye

Holding/Koz, Xhaka/Santi, Perez/Giroud/Theo to Start v Saints: Predicted Arsenal Line-Up

I guess the one good thing about the international break is that we look even more forward to the weekend Arsenal game than normal. Add to this the fact that Mustafi and Perez have been training with the team this week, and with that prompting rumours of them both starting, and we are even more excited about our home game against the Saints.

I watched Southampton against MU a few weeks ago and was very impressed with their style of football. They had plenty of half-chances but lacked the quality up front to hurt the Mancs. For a long time the Saints were in the game but then fellow Dutchman, Jordie Clasie, gave away a very bad, unforced penalty and the game was lost. Let’s hope they are as generous with mistakes on Saturday as they were then.

The Saints pass the ball round well and will give us a game in midfield: a battle we must win if we want to take three points from this encounter. So it is important to get the double DM pivot right. I am tempted to play Elneny next to either Xhaka or Coq as he is brilliant in terms of making himself available for a pass and then not losing the ball. For me this will be key.

Having said that, I reckon we could start with Santi as we are playing at home, as long as he is prepared to stay deep when required. Getting this balance right will be vital. I am going to go with both Xhaka and Santi as they add so much to our attacking play and I am hoping we will be able to press Southampton well back into their own half for most of the time. This would suit the three football geniuses Granit, Santi and Mesut very, very well.

I have a feeling that Alexis will be on the bench for this one. After such a long flight it would be wise to rest the Chilean firecracker as we have a massive CL game in midweek. This should allow Arsene to give Perez a debut, and I reckon it will be on the left, with Giroud as our CF and Theo on the other flank. Wenger may start with the Ox on the left and then give Perez a chance later on, but I somehow feel he will opt for the newly acquired Spaniard.

submit football lineup

At the back I reckon Wenger will stick with Holding and Koz for this one. Young Holding has been doing very well and I think Wenger will want to ease Mustafi in. I guess it will also be a nice confidence boost for Holding if he is not taken out of the starting eleven straightaway.

So there you have my predicted starting eleven for Saturday’s game. Of course we will find out more about fitness levels and injuries of our players during tomorrow’s press conference, which may change my predictions, but for now this is what I am going for.

How would you line up the team?

By TotalArsenal.

Arsenal don’t Need a Super CF: Giroud, Alexis and Perez can score 50 PL goals and win us the Title

“Behind what hills does happiness hide, to lurk and plot its return?” Andrew Greig.

With Lucas Perez Arsenal have added a very interesting player. This is a bit of a Wenger gamble but if Lucas can add similar league goals (17) and assists (8) per game as he did in Spain, he could make the difference this season… and the difference is not finishing second but first.

We missed about 10 goals last season to clinch the title, and although I am aware that every season has its own dynamics, I feel we will go one higher if we keep our defence as tight as last season, or ideally a bit tighter, and score about a dozen more goals.

Wenger can now mix and match his attack per game if he so wishes, only to get to a regular strongest three up front eventually. Will it be Alexis – Perez – Theo, or Perez – Alexis – Theo, or will it be Perez – Giroud – Alexis?

It is also quite possible that the likes of Iwobi, Welbeck (once he is back), Akpom, the Ox or even Willock will play themselves in to the starting three up front. And then regular blogger Shard will, quite rightly so, point out that we also have Sanogo who seems to be good cover for Giroud’s holding/enabling CF role.

I know some wanted a super CF up front but I am really happy with the options we have in attack now. For sure, Wenger will change the starting three sometimes to deal with the tactics and strengths of the opposition and to keep everybody happy, but he will also be keen to combine the strongest three as much as possible. I reckon that would have to be Alexis, Ollie and Perez, and if together they can get 45-50 PL goals we will win the league this season. The rest will come from the other attackers, midfielders and defenders.

Although this firepower up front has the mouth water running, I am just as excited about the service they will be receiving from four super midfielders: Xhaka, Cazorla, Rambo and Ozil.

Normally only three of these four midfield maestros will play, unless Wenger opts to play one of them on the wing in tight games against strong opponents. With these midfielders anything is possible, and Coquelin and Elneny will add the necessary steel and composure if and when required.

Xhaka can turn the game from defence to counter attack with one diagonal long distance pass from deep. Rambo and/or Santi can add the integrate play to dominate the midfield and creatively find the gaps and passes to launch deadly attacks. Furthermore, Rambo adds his engine to connect the defence with midfield, and midfield with the attack. And Mesut is our third dimension of finding space and time to instigate the winning attacking formula time and again. Which other team has such a talented group of creative, visionary midfielders that add a number of dimensions to our attacking play?

Of course we will have to see how this will work out in practice now. But I reckon our options up front and in midfield are now very strong and will make us very unpredictable and thus hard to play against. Rather than a predictable, one-dimensional feed the super striker game like they prefer in Manchester, we will go for the title by spreading the goals amongst three or four attackers and feeding them from all angles.

Whether it will work out remains to be seen, but that is what the seasonal football journey is all about! 😉

By TotalArsenal

Jack to the Cherries, Gnabry Auf Wiedersehn, Who else is Going: Gibbs, Zelalem, Ospina?

Join us on the blog for Transfer Deadline Day Developments!!

This has been the best final deadline day for a long time.

No stress or desperation because we have already brought in extra defenders, an extra midfielder, and an extra attacker is in the bag. On top of this, we are not being linked with a potential departure of a star player and are getting some cash back by selling Gnabry and loaning out a few players who need to develop in order to make it eventually in the first team at Arsenal… or not.

I would have kept Jack but enough has been said about his imminent loan move already. According to the BBC the Cherries have the best chance of ‘loan-signing’ Wilshere and that would not be a bad place for him to play himself into form. I really like Eddie Howe: he likes his team to play passing football and survived easily in the PL last season by doing so. Jack will get a proper chance to shine there and then he can come back to join the mighty red and white in January or next season if must be.

It looks like Gnabry is not too unhappy to leave the Gunners behind and has signed for Werder Bremen. I guess Arsenal cannot keep all the youngsters and have to get some return on our investment in the youth academy, but I hope we will not come to regret this in a Pogbaesque way 😀

From what I saw of the young German at the Olympics, I don’t think he was ready to play in the first team regularly despite his impressive goal tally of six, but it would have been nice to see him play and develop in a red and white shirt. Ah well, at least the Ox-believers get to see him for another season at least 😉

It should also open space for the likes of Willock and Akpom to make the squad this season and they are easily as talented as Gnabry.

I have a feeling that we will still see somebody else leave the club before midnight. It could be Debuchy who will want to play more regularly, even though I can see Wenger not wanting to let him go until Jenkinson is fully fit again.

It could also be Ospina or Zelalem, although the latter might be encouraged to stay now that Jack is going out on loan… and Ospina may be forced to stay as we need a safe pair of hands on the bench in case Cech gets injured. Gibbs is  being linked with a move to Liverpool and again I don’t think we can let him go as an obvious replacement is not available from within the squad. Yet I feel there could be something in it somehow.

Let’s wait and see what happens in the most philosophical way possible. 🙂

Image result for Laid Back People

Join us on the blog for anymore note worthy developments!

By TotalArsenal.