Chivas de Guadalajara v Arsenal Pre-season Friendly: 1 – 3
Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Bellerin, Chambers, Holding, Monreal; Xhaka, Coquelin; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Iwobi; Walcott
Tag: Arsenal
Arsene has his new Arteta, but better!
Granit Xhaka – a name of steel to motivate the troops!
Arsene has his man for the summer. Granit Xhaka is the second central midfielder we signed this year and it will be very interesting to see where and how Wenger wants him to play. Xhaka, like our January signing Elneny, is a very fine passer of the ball. Only Bayern’s Alonso has more average passes per game in the Bundesliga, but unlike the Spaniard, and any of the other top-ten passers in Germany, Granit the Gunner (what a name!) is not afraid to play a long ball or a more risky pass….especially from deep. Xhaka has an average of 83 passes per game with a success rate of 85%, but he also executes a whopping seven long balls per game.
YouTube videos give indeed the impression that he loves to spread the game with pinpoint medium to long distance passes and with a good eye for a quick through ball. He does not linger on the ball either and, just like Elneny, he likes to find an efficient ball forward to create quick turnovers. He is confident on the ball and able to find or create space for himself constantly.
However, Granit also has the second most average fouls per game (2.6) in the Bundesliga and he loves the colour red, with three sendings-off last season in the league. With 2.4 tackles and 2.7 interceptions per game he does well in terms of his defensive duties, but he will have to balance his desire to get stuck in with a bit more discipline going forward. At just 23 years of age this will come, no doubt, and a bit of fire in our team will not go amiss either of course.
The more I look at the footage the more I believe we have signed a better version of Arteta – at least long-term. His ability to pass the ball forward from the back quickly and accurately, short, medium AND long distance will add another dimension to our play. IT will enable us to produce more deadly turnovers, I reckon. Rambo is not accurate and quick enough in this department and Santi misses some of Granit’s physical attributes. The Swiss young maestro seems to be a mixture of Santi and Coquelin or indeed a better version of Arteta. It leaves us with the opportunity to mix and match in the double DM pivot: we can pick two from Coquelin, Elneny, Santi, Rambo, Jack and Xhaka to create the right balance in the team depending on the opponent we are facing on the day.
Granit is already an established international with 41 caps (five goals) and has both top league and CL experience with 140 games under his belt (nine goals). Wenger paid a lot of money for him and there is no doubt that the former Borussia Monchen Gladbach captain will constantly feature in the first team next season, if fit. I have a feeling this will mean that Le Coq will not be an automatic choice next season. Francis, one of my favourite Gunners, is a more traditional DM with a more limited passing ability and Wenger seems to prefer to play more all-round midfielders with a strong emphasis on (forward) passing. This does not mean we will not see much of le Coq, as I expect Wenger to use him in games where we need to be defensively solid, or when we need to see games out.
I also feel that Wenger will play Elneny in the first team a lot and that we will see an Egyptian-Swiss partnership gradually flourishing in the double DM pivot. Granit and Mohammed, with their athleticism, natural physicality and superior passing ability, will allow the four attackers in front of them, as well as the full backs, to attack with intent and without worrying too much about the holes they are leaving behind them. I reckon that either Elneny or Xhaka will regularly join the attack, with the Swiss more likely to stay behind.
The question is what this would mean for the likes of Jack, Aaron and Santi. I reckon we will see Arsene play three attacking midfielders in front of the double DM pivot and with either a holding CF – Ollie – or a fast a furious CF – Alexis/new buy – up-front. It opens up the opportunity to play 4-2-3-1 – or 7-4 that can turn into 4-7 in just a handful of seconds – for which we can pick three from Santi, Jack, Aaron, Mesut, Alexis and Iwobi; and Theo might get another chance in this formation as well, although it looks like his time is up at THOF…
With Danny out for a long time and Theo possibly going, we need more fire power up-front, but with the signing of Xhaka we have just added a gem of a player -and with that another dimension – to our midfield play.
Granit the Gunner Welcome to the Home of Football!
By TotalArsenal.
El-Super-Neny MOTM, Giroud-Welbeck the Future, Alexis’ Last Game? Arsenal v Norwich Afterthoughts
Happiness is a warm, yes it ihihihiss, Gunner!
While for some, especially the lazy side of the media, this was about ‘the protest’, for many others we were playing a crucial game for staying in the top four and secure Champions League football once again.
I have nothing against fans protesting and demanding change as long as it is done appropriately. Doing it in our very own stadium and when we need to win is, in my opinion, not appropriate but at least it was done in a tasteful way. I am also aware that there are not many good opportunities to protest, so I understand why it was done yesterday, even though I don’t agree with it. The sense of a lack of progress and seeing patterns being repeated every season has made a lot of fans hungry for change. However, I never doubt Arsene’s and the players’ passion to win and give their all to win silverware, and as long as that is the case I will back them all.
Would I be adverse to a new manager for next season? NO, but I am just as happy to see Arsene try to get us the shiniest silverware once more. After four cups in two years this is a disappointing year, but let’s keep things in perspective…. we are still a very, very good team with tons of potential for improvement from within as well as cash to spend to add super quality. There is no need for despair.
The game was predictable as in Norwich parking the bus and us trying to find a way through with blood, sweat and tears. What is worrying is the number of chances we keep giving away even though we dominated possession and were in control of the game for large parts. Teams seem to counter easily against us and a bit of pressure on our defenders often leads to defensive mistakes and embarrassing moments in front of our goal. 69% possession only led to three shots on target (out of 14 shots) – the same as Norwich (from 12 shots). We won 1-0 but it could easily have been different, and that has been the story of our game since the start of the new year.
There is no doubt in my mind that we are struggling to break down the PTB teams due lack of cohesion within the attacking team. I cannot put my finger on the exact reasons for this. The lazy, one-dimensional supporters just want to point their fingers to Giroud. If only he was replaced by Aguero, we would be winning the league by ease, they keep telling me. For me it is more complicated than that. Ollie is definitely not himself at the moment, but he also is getting quite poor service by his fellow players. Furthermore, fellow attackers are not playing near enough to Ollie to benefit from his hard work to make space for, and connect with, them. He may be Wenger’s number one CF but some fellow attackers may see it differently; at this stage of the season, we should see a lot more joined-up attacking play between Alexis, Giroud, Rambo and Ozil but it looks like they are four talented individuals not conversing in the same footie language.
Welbeck’s arrival brought new energy to the team and his running hurt the tired Norwich defenders and midfielders a lot. But Danny was also keen to work with Ollie in setting things up and he was rewarded for this by a fine lay off from the Frenchman that led to the only goal of the game, worth a priceless three points. I reckon there is very little cohesion between Alexis and Giroud, and this seems a structural problem; and I would not be surprised to see Wenger start Welbeck and Giroud together in the last two games of the season, as this will give us the best attacking balance and potency.
Alexis, who had another game in which the quality of his passing and final ball is not matched with his enormous energy and willingness to come for the ball, did not have much impact on the game. I had lost count of the number of times he misplaced a pass, which clearly is not his strength, even though he never stops trying. Just a handful of PL assists (4) is not good enough for a player in his position and of his stature, and his lack of accurate passing, especially with his final balls, is probably the cause of this.
Wenger also needed to strengthen the midfield as we needed to get a better balance between going for a second goal and defending our slender lead. To take Alexis off and bring on Coquelin made sense, but Alexis clearly thought differently. This is fine, but given the circumstances of this match it was very poor of him to ignore the beleaguered manager and stomp off for an early shower. I would not be surprised if we see Alexis start on the bench during the next few games and possibly not play part at all anymore. It would also not surprise me if we see Arsenal cash in on the 27 year old Chilean this summer, although I sincerely hope that is not the case.
I loved what Danny brought to the game and I am happy he found the net again. Was he MOTM though? Not for me. The best player on the pitch was Elneny – closely followed by Mesut, Cech, Koz and Danny – who did half of Rambo’s box to box job as well as his own deeper DM role. He hoovers up around his fellow players continuously with unrivaled energy and passion; he keeps it simple yet always wants to move the ball forward when he can and with seldom or never making a mistake; he fills important gaps in our defence but also penetrated the opposition’s box regularly, and was very close to scoring yesterday with a fine, composed effort. What a beast of a player and the thought of him working with a fit Jack or Santi, or Le Coq when we have to play more compact, is mouthwatering. It is early days but this seems to be as good a midfield signing as Mesut Ozil was a few seasons ago.
I was also proud of Ozil, Koz and Petr, and indeed the rest of the team, for their drive and fight during the entire game. Mesut never stopped trying, Koz was beastly in defence and brought the ball forward well and Petr’s saved us a few times when required.
Three points and the supporters doing their job by supporting the team and the manager during a meaningful game and a crucial period of the season. Plenty of positives but also lessons to be learned from our recent games, and getting the balance right against Citeh next weekend will be paramount to where we will end up in the PL table. Let’s give the Northern Oilers a proper game!
Arsene having the final dance? 🙂
By TotalArsenal.
COME ON YOU FOXES!! 😀
BFG, Cech and Giroud back to rule the airways and provide backbone?
Short Match Preview today, as 17HT and I are busy. Crystal Palace are coming to the home of football and like our previous opponents Everton, Watford and West Ham, they have FA cup footie on their mind. Palace are almost safe in the PL so a chance to make it to the FA cup final, against fellow Londoners Watford next weekend, will be featuring strongly on their minds.
Nevertheless, we have to be careful as Pardew is a wily fox who is good at team tactics and game strategy, especially, it appears, in away games against the stronger teams (on paper). He will have noticed how badly we dealt with the neanderthal approach to attacking football by the Hammers last week, and with Adebarndoor and Wickham they have two guys who could rule the airways against us once again. So time to restore some balance in defence and in the spine, and add some vital inches to the team, with the reintroduction of Cech, the BFG and Giroud.
I love Ospina but Cech is calmer and organises his CBs better. I like the dynamism of the Koz and Gabriel combo, but they lack organisational control between them and have to work far too hard to control the aerial threat of opponents when constantly put under pressure; so reintroducing the BFG makes sense to me. Welbeck is a mobile CF and his mobility and unpredictability allow others to shine, but at set pieces I prefer Ollie any time. The Frenchman is also a lot more clinical and will be hungry to start.
Best all-round CF in the PL, Giroud bags two more goals! Thanking The Guardian for picture.
You could argue, why should we be so defensively minded for this game: we are the Arsenal playing at home; let’s get at them and constantly attack. But playing for the home crowd can be a nervy business, especially if and when the opposition keeps pumping balls into the box and one of those Adebarndoor or Wickham headers goes in. So a sensible approach with the aim to keep a clean sheet and score at least a goal is what we need.
A win today and a loss by the Foxes, and then an Arsenal win against West Brom midweek, would mean a reduction of the gap to ‘just’ six points. A lot to ask for but definitely not inconceivable, so let’s focus on our part and play with focus and deadliness.
My Arsenal team for today:
Alexis and Iwobi have to work hard to link up with their fellow FBs, by playing close to them in defence and tracking back constantly. But we will also need the full backs to support the mid-wingers, by providing width and penetration from the flanks. So for me, these four positions and players are key today. The rest is there to keep the spine strong and defend calmly and decisively, as well as provide the creativity and forward thrust from the centre.
Really looking forward to seeing the boys in action again, and if we can win today and follow it up with two wins in the next seven days, we might get very close to the leaders. Let’s make sure the fat lady will not be singing for a while longer, at least. 😉
COYRRG!
By TotalArsenal
Arsenal: Frequently Kind and Suddenly Cruel but Always a Woman to Me
The art of enjoying football is hard to grasp. I reckon my 70+ old man gets it about right: do not support a team but just look for the beauty in each and every game is his mantra. There might be a few teams he likes to do well but these change as much as the seasons in a year. He can watch – and enjoy – up to eight games in a weekend and tell me about each of them in surprising detail, whereas I can only really talk about the Arsenal game.
I used to be like him till about my late twenties, when Dennis joined Arsenal and I gradually became a monogamous lover of the mighty Arsenal. I would not change this for anything now and I am happy I found my red and white footie woman for life. When she spoils me with her attractive and winning moves I am happy, and when she disappoints me with her shortcomings I am saddened; but that is life. Arsenal, like in the Billy Joel song, is always a woman to me.
“She will promise you more
Than the Garden of Eden
Then she’ll carelessly cut you
And laugh while you’re bleedin’
But she’ll bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself
Cause she’s always a woman to me”
I have some sympathy for those who want Wenger out. We are humans and do not look at what we have as much as what we could have. Under Wenger we have done remarkably well, especially given the economic/financial changes the club had to endure both as a result of building THOF and managing through a severe, worldwide economic crisis.
We are witnessing progress now but for some it is not (fast) enough: their vision of the Garden of Eden is simply more rosy. We are keeping our stars now and add real gems if and when we can. Cech picked us and not any of the other clubs out there desperate for such an experienced and professional world class goalkeeper: that in itself is an achievement. We won the FA Cup twice in a row and beat the Chavs and Citeh for the season-opening Charity Shield twice in a row as well. We are still in with a shout for this year’s league title.
But some gave up on the latter months ago: they are having that deja-vu sensation of having seen it all before – of that ‘same old Arsenal’ experience. A few cuts and we are bleeding, and then fear the worst.
Arsenal, just like Billy Joel’s woman, is frequently kind and suddenly cruel, and, whether we let Arsene go or not, this will not change. Support for your team comes with joy and pain, and hopefully with more of the former and less of the latter.
The art of loving this woman is to take her as she comes and enjoy the beautiful moments as much as possible, without looking too much ahead or having too high expectations.
I loved our fightback against the Spuds. A twenty year old nearly-man passing a beautiful diagonal ball to Alexis who takes an instant diagonally placed shot past the surprised Lloris. Ten-men Arsenal pushing on for the winner at WHL and almost getting it but for a tired Rambo opting to take another touch and letting the Spuds of the hook – but then there is that cheeky back-heel by our Welsh-Wizard to make up for this. Ospina taking his chance and fighting off any self-doubt with two outstanding performances. The composure of Elneny and dynamism of Iwobi against Hull on Tuesday. I can look at Theo’s and Ollie’s goal time and again: the quality of our own Joel’s assist for Theo’s first goal; the fine first touch and cool finish by Theo; the anticipation and positioning of Ollie for both goals; the sound of the net when Theo’s second hit it.
I am hoping for more beauty against Watford at the weekend and that our woman will be kind to us again. 😉
CoyG! 🙂
By TotalArsenal.
Time for Change: Alexis CF, Rambo Left Wing, Elneny box to box Mid
HOW TO FIX IT……….RAMBO OUT!………RAMBO IN!………AND WE ARE IN BUSINESS!
Once again the dream seem about to be shredded and Arsenal fans are huddled together seeking warmth from their very cold bodies. The sky is overcast, and dark shadows of doubt are beginning to appear. 11 games to go and many have started looking nervously over their shoulders wondering if its another nail biting struggle for a fourth place finish. “Can it be fixed?” they are asking as they search each other’s faces, eyes refusing to meet eyes.
Per is way way safer than Gabby. Raw determination pales before intelligence. I here rest my case on this issue.
Rambo’s will and determination to run into the opposition’s box creating a sudden overload is without equal within our squad. It is a vital attribute treasured in football. Rambo also has a wide range of technical skills as well as a huge engine. Because of these latter qualities we, including apparently Monsieur Wenger, were shepherded into believing that a versatile role ( B2B) hangs perfectly on him. B2B is a role that is delicately poised between defensive and offensive duties. What many of us don’t fully recognize is that defensive ability has everything to do with attitude, almost.
First and foremost a defender must be able to recognize danger to his team, actual or potential. Secondly that recognition must cause energize the defender into a countering initiative. Observe Rambo very well and you will see clearly that energy courses through him when he is pushing forward into enemy territory, but tracking backwards he looks drained of energy. In contrast, think of Bellerin tracking back, or Nacho, or Coquelin, not to talk of the CBs. The difference is stark. In short, Rambo, despite his large repertoire of skills lacks the true defenders awareness and attitude and instead is an amazingly committed attacking beast. Playing him B2B therefore means the balance of the team is skewed very much against defence. We all know that the possible costs of one man less in the defence far out ways the possible gains of one man extra in attack, so that if there has to be any such skewing it ought to be in the other direction.
Is it a glass half full or half empty? Is it Rambo out quickly or Rambo the unfortunate victim of a gross misuse? Just imagine darling Ozil given a huge defensive responsibility or rather don’t try to imagine it. Is Rambo a hero vilified? It’s all balanced on a knife edge. I want thim out and I want him in!?? That’s me of course.
Quite often in solving one problem, another is created. If Rambo is removed who can effectively replaces him in that pivot role, Santi being still unavailable. If he has to be reintroduce somewhere else where is he to be placed and who goes. The latter task appears easier, so I will start there.
I have made reference to Ramsey’s impressive qualities capped by his fairly unique (as far as our team is concerned) ability to cause unexpected overload by his intelligent late runs into the opposition box. He definitely is a good material for a place in our front four. #10 is out because the untouchable Ozil is there. #9 is also out because his skill sets don’t tally with that position. Wide right? Ramsey hasn’t got pace( speed). He also likes drifting inside which leaves the ball on his weaker left foot. The high point of his play is his runs into the box, but having to come from the right side of the field constrains his ability to finish a ball laid to him with his stronger right foot. Wide right therefore does not maximize his huge potentials. The only position remaining (front 4) is wide left but Alexis is there!
Alexis is yet to find his form with nearly thee quarters of the season gone. Or is he actually fully in form but completely neutralized by epl defenders who have wizened up to his game from the wide left position? The defenders know that he would cut in. They also know that they cannot do anything to stop that. So they leave him alone to cut in. Then they pressure him, quite often from all over the places knowing fully well that he is unsighted to give a pass with eyes fully on the ball, fruitlessly intent on forcing out a space to have a crack at goal. This play repeats itself with such monotonous regularity it’s now almost painfull to watch.
Sanchez has a wide range of mesmerizing techniques and it is a pity that he is constrained to operate in a narrow band that has been so well found out. From the center as a front man Sanchez would be able to employ his full range of dazzling techniques. Those tecniques heighten in potency in high pressure areas of in and around the box, and because his style elicits fouls from the opposition, penalty kicks in our favour, amongst other calls, would to be regularly guaranteed.
Sanchez can also operate effectively from the wide right position where he has to employ a different set of skills, that the opposition is yet not familiar with. You have noticed that his sideway-swing footed shots are much weaker than when he puts his laces on the ball with forward-swings. It Is of interest to know that different groups of muscles controls those two different tecniques of hitting the ball, and that one group of muscles might have gotten better developed in him than the other. Cutting in from the right Alexis hits the ball invariably with the sideway-swing footed shot. Striking at goal coming from the right creates better chances for putting his laces on the ball with a forward-swing footed shot. His high shots rate at goal would, most likely, yield more from the right. His crosses that we have seen from that side are also quite difficult to deal with for the opposition.
You must have already guessed that I want Alexis moved either wide right or center as a striker, and the vacancy at wide left filled by Rambo. Rambo loves the central attacking area of the pitch. So when he cuts in from the left he is moving towards his comfort zone with the ball on his right foot. Furthermore the space created behind him allows our left full back to overlap, and I believe Rambo will interact better than Alexis with that overlapping. Finally and maybe most crucially Rambo’s unexpected runs into the opposition box from the left allows any well placed ball to be finished with his better right foot. Some of his loveliest goals have come that way.
Walcott has been given a long long rope which he has only used to hurt his standing. His overall work rate is so low that only efficient utilization of his opportunities would have compensated adequately. Sadly that is no longer forthcoming and in this last stretch of the race it makes no sense risking using him.
Welbeck has been impressive since his return. People describe him as a hybrid of Giroud/Walcott. I see him more as a midfielder/striker hybrid. With his high pressing energy, he fills in well in any of the front thee positions.
Giroud is amazing in the air both offensively and defensively. His holdup play is sufficiently impressive. Still, somehow, you go home with the nagging feeling that a team aspiring for the very top needs a little bit more.
Back to the nearly forgotten task of filling the vacancy of who plays with Coquelin in the double pivot role vacated by Rambo. Santi is the obvious choice followed by Jack, but both are unavailable. Other contestants in my opinion are Flamini (not a great passer), Arteta (must have lost too much form), Elneny and Chambers. I am yet to put a label on Elneny but one thing I already know is that he is not a DM. He is a tidy pass and move player but I worry if he has got much else beyond that. Chambers deserves more credit for his ball playing ability, but his poor head must be spinning by now having to play in so many different roles. If I have to place my money somewhere, it will be on Elneny with Coquelin mopping up behind him. Thus;
——————Cech—————-
Bel———–Per——Kos———Nacho
————–Coq——–Eln————-
Alexi/Wlbk——–Ozil————–Ramb/Welbk
—————OG/Alexi/Wlbk————
I am seeing shafts of sunlight breaking through the dark clouds. Gunners let us get from you how you feel our day can be cheered.
By: Pony Eye
A right-winger, DM cover and CF short of Victory: Arsenal v Barcelona Afterthoughts
The morning after the night before, and I cannot help but feel a bit melancholy. The head says the boys gave their all and we were beaten by a stronger team, but the Gooner heart is bleeding nevertheless. For seventy minutes we played well, as in we were disciplined and stuck to the un-Arsenal-like game plan. And then we became ourselves again, wanting to play the sort of football that our opponents do and which is so ingrained in our on-field philosophy. Self-denial can only last so long.
I cannot really blame the crowd and the players to forget themselves – or should that be ‘become themselves again’? – after seventy minutes of holding back our instincts, only then to get cruelly punished for it by the three-headed strikers’ dragon (at a vulgar street value of say £250m!).
We all knew that Barcelona getting the vital ‘away goal’ – an archaic rule that should be scrapped immediately – was a hammer blow we were unlikely to recover from. To get caught on the break like that, after seventy minutes of disciplined defending and careful attacking, is just nasty. It is easy to blame somebody for it, but it looked like the whole defence and midfield cocked up badly. I wish Koz had taken one for the team when he was dealing with Suarez early on of that counter-attack, but it is easy to say this in hindsight. Not long after that, Flamini, not even on the pitch for a minute, conceded a penalty after being short-changed by the until then immaculate, omni-present in the box, BFG, which Messi did not mess with.
0-2 with only little time to get back into the game, and, in fact, it could have got worse for us as our opponents were pushing hard for a third goal. A harsh and hard reality check for the Gunners and Gooners, but, on the plus side, we got a good demonstration of what we are still missing to make it to the very, very top of world football – and with us the other 99.9% of football teams in the world.
It could all have been different if we had taken our big chance when the ball fell to the Ox just three yards from the goal line and enough time to take a touch and focus on a clinical finish. Unfortunately, he did not make a good contact and played the ball meekly into Verstegen’s grateful arms. It seems typical of games like these that the best chances fall to the least strong attackers – remember Flamini’s recent chances against the Chavs?
It should have gone in but it did not, and when we play opponents like last night’s it always feels like a double miss when this happens – remember Ozil’s missed penalty against Bayern at home? I don’t want to blame the Ox too much for this as he is still at an age when these sort of opportunities often get wasted. I don’t think Wenger should have combined Ox and Bellerin, two promising youngsters, on the right wing, though. Against this sort of opponent experience and confidence is key, and one youngster on that wing was risky enough; two was asking for trouble imho.
That right mid-wing position is clearly still an issue at Arsenal. If Wenger feels that neither Campbell, Theo or Danny should start ahead of the Ox in a game like this one, we have some shopping to do in the summer.
On the left wing, we had Nacho and Alexis and I expected more from this duo. Nacho did very well defensively and tried to help out Alexis whenever he could. The Chilean firecracker really struggled to get a grip on this game and produce the sort of magic we know he is capable of (but we have seldom seen in 2016). That was one of the biggest disappointments of the night for me.
I thought Giroud did okay and worked hard to make things happen for the team, but it is fair to say that he also did not excel on the night. In our system, Giroud is not meant to be the lethal CF but a good CF and an excellent link-up attacker, who creates and scores in equal measure. In last night’s game we needed something special from our strike-force, and Alexis, Giroud, The Ox and Theo (who replaced the Ox early on in the second half) all played below par to make that happen.
There were plenty of positives though. Rambo played phenomenally well, showing us all what a great b2b he is and what an engine he possesses. The combo of Coq and Rambo were very disciplined and really were effective in stopping Barca play for 70 minutes or so; and how many teams can do that? Ozil was lively and always looking for attacking opportunities but was let down by the ball control and (lack of effective) off the ball running of many of his fellow attackers. Belerin had a fabulous game and so did Cech and Monreal. The BFG-Koz CB combo held out well for a long period of the game but suffered badly once the team discipline went out of the window – for which they are to blame as well.
In summary, we are still a little short of the very, very top level of football. There should be no shame in this: we are building a top, top team and this needs to take time, and our opponent are on a crest of long-term success, doped by continuous quality purchases that we cannot afford and/or attract as much as they do. In order to reach the European/World top level, we need to build further on the good basis of this team and we can do that by spending our money carefully in the summer. First we need to win the league and then establish a platform of squad quality and depth, confidence/belief and experience to beat the likes of Bayernlona, Barca or Madrid.
I don’t think it will be easy to achieve this but it is not impossible either – and we should not underestimate how much the German and Spanish Giants are ahead of the rest of Europe right now. We are lucky that we have the football ground – how fantastic were those aerial helicopter shots of THOF last night? – the financial structure and income, and a very decent, relatively young and still developing squad to make the leap forward.
But it also requires vision, guts and investment by the BOD, and, if last night’s game made anything clear, then it is where Wenger needs to strengthen the squad in the summer: a right winger/midwinger of Alexis’ caliber, possibly another CF (depending on the system Wenger wants to play), better DM cover/challenge for Le Coq and a quality CB to gradually take over from the BFG. On top of that, we need more leadership so we can last ninety rather than seventy minutes. Some will come from within and some will have to be bought.
But we don’t have to play one of the European super top-three teams every day and against Manure I expect us to bounce back to do the shirt proud. 🙂
“This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure” W. Churchill.
Bring on the Mancs!
By TotalArsenal.
How to beat Barcelona: Elneny, Le Coq and Rambo behind Ozil, Alexis and Theo
We will do a proper match preview tomorrow but let’s do a bit of tactics on our mega encounter with Barcelona on Tuesday night. We are lucky to have a large squad available, although it would have been perfect to have either Jack or Santi available as well. We can field a solid and experienced ‘back five’ and have many attackers available to find the right combination between helping out with defending and making things happen up-front. The latter has been a bit of struggle lately but this will have made our attackers the more desperate to find the net against such a high profile opponent; and I am confident that if we can create decent chances we will score tomorrow.
The midfield will be the key area for us and despite us missing two fabulous footballers in Santi and Jack, I still feel we could get the balance right tomorrow. Ozil is a given and will be key in linking midfield with attack: his running with and off the ball should form a constant positive for us. But who we will play around him, is still up for debate.
As Barcelona are likely to press us into our own half, whether we like it or not, we need to play compact wherever the ball is, whilst not leaving ourselves vulnerable in other areas. This Barcelona side is slightly different from the Guardiola era, playing more like a 4-1-2-3 with a preference to use the width of the field whenever they can. On the flanks they have of course world-class attackers in Messi and Neymar, supported by fast and furious attacking wing-backs. If we can prevent these players from getting behind our defence, we can achieve two things: stop them from being dangerous and force them into mistakes on which we can pounce, because we also have fabulous wing-backs and great attackers on the wings. Nacho-Alexis is a given, but who should be paired by the best 20 year old defender in the world? I reckon we should start with Belerin-Rambo and consider swapping Aaron with Danny Welbeck or Joel Campbell at some point in the game.
Rambo is normally my favourite box to box midfielder but I reckon we need to play him on the right for this one. We need to play with three central midfielders behind Ozil, who can all defend as well as play football to have a chance in keeping them away from our ‘D-area’: the other area we should not allow our opponent to get into.
So who else should play behind the German master of creating chances and assists? Le Coq is almost a given but only Wenger will know whether he is now fully up to speed for this game. So if it is Rambo and Coq who else should play in deep midfield (and deep we will be forced to sit for large parts of the game)? My guess is that Elneny will be preferred to Flamini, as he is a very good passer of the ball and has also, just like Rambo, that burst of speed and close control to stride forward with the ball. And it is this ability to defend and switch over to attack as soon as the ball is won that will make all the difference tomorrow. We all know that Santi and Jack are brilliant at the latter; but Aaron and Elneny are also good at this and better at defending, which I reckon will be the most important requirement skill tomorrow.
With Aaron, Francis and Elneny in the centre of midfield, we should be able to play very compact and yet be able to spring attacks whenever possible. Getting the ball to Ozil will of course be key, but we need more players that can receive the ball and keep hold of it for a wee while. And that brings us to our two attackers, the ones who play slightly in front of Ozil, if and when we can afford it.
Alexis is another given. The Chilean, of course, knows better than anybody else what Barcelona are like and this game might just come in time for him to show us all again how good he is. Let’s not forget that Sexy Alexis already has three goals and four assists in five CL games this season, and, despite a lack of sharpness in recent games, I would not bet against him to score/assist for us once again in this CL round tomorrow. The beauty of Alexis is that he can defend too and hold on to the ball like a midfielder if need be; and he can also pick a deadly pass. He is also fast and very valuable in counter-attacks, and with playing three holding/passing midfielders, we should at times be able to play him quite close to our main attacker tomorrow. Moving between defence and attack, Alexis will have a key role to play tomorrow: from supporting his full back against Messi and co, to strengthening our wall in midfield, to supporting our CF and Ozil in making things happen up-front.
The main attacker is, at least for me, the hardest choice to make. Theo seems the obvious choice here: his speed and clever runs will make Barcelona’s high line approach vulnerable. The only problem with Theo is that he will not be much use in helping out the rest of the team when we are being hemmed in, which will affect our ability to link up with our CF and get our midfield to move forward. Theo needs to be launched into space, but we will need him to help out in creating time and space to launch him into it in the first place…
With Ollie almost the reverse is the case. He will link up well and allow our midfielders to get involved in the attack but he is too slow to expose the Barca defenders when being launched into the vast space available behind them. Barcelona will fear Theo a lot more than Ollie, unless of course they have to defend set-pieces. In an ideal world we would play them both, but this would weaken our midfield which we just cannot afford.
I hear you shout: play Wellbeck! He is fast like Theo and can do decent link up play ala Ollie. I don’t think that is a bad shout at all, especially in a game like tomorrow’s. The problem is that Ollie is less lethal than Ollie and Theo, with on average just one goal in every five PL games he played until now. He is also only just back from a long injury and this (extremely intense) game might just come a bit too early for him. Theo was very effective against high pressing teams this season, notably Bayern and Man Citeh, so I reckon he should start ahead of Ollie and Danny.
I reckon with this line up, a solid defensive performance lead by the BFG (who will be excellent as long as we play compact/deep for most of the time), a very disciplined performance by Aaron, Francis and Mohamed, and some re-found deadliness up-front, we could get a good result tomorrow.
Come On You
Rip Roaring Gunners!
By TotalArsenal.
Danny is Well-back, Giroud MOTM, Theo Delivers: 8 Positives from Arsenal v Leicester
Eight Positives from a potentially pivotal win.
I will need to watch the whole game again to do a proper tactical analysis. Such was the intensity of the battle with the Foxes, I was unable to analyse the match coolly at the end of it. So more tomorrow or Tuesday.
However, there are many initial positives I can think of:
- Energy and desire: the Gunners were up for this game and matched the Foxes’ intensity in every area of the pitch. Especially our spine is full of hard working, passionate players. You would expect this but it is not always a given (as sorry Man City demonstrated once more today) and it is what earned us at least two points today. Ozil, Rambo, Giroud, Koz, Sanchez and the full backs were our turbo engines today;
- Cech kept us from an early setback with a crucial stop from Vardy’s header at the start of the game – helped a bit by Bellerin who put the Foxes’ striker off by jumping into him. He oozed calm and control as always;
- Giroud was magnificent, with the only thing missing a goal or two. He gave the fine Leicester CBs constantly something to think about, linked up very well with his fellow attacking players and created space and chances for others. The Theo lay-off was clever and well-placed and his defensive interventions all over the pitch were exemplary. Is Aguero a better finisher than Ollie? Yes no doubt about it. But, as today’s key PL games showed once again, when the Argentine does not score Man City often drop points, whereas we will often win games even if Ollie does not hit the net. Giroud’s has so much to offer to the team and for me he was the MOTM.
- Super substitutions by Wenger. Theo had not scored for a while so it was not without risk to put him into the team after sixty minutes, but he made a difference straightaway with positive, confident attacking play that was crowned by a very fine, super important goal. But the stuff of dreams was surely bringing on Danny Welbeck with less than ten minutes to go and for him to score the winner in the very last minute of the game. It worked out well for Wenger and I wonder how often we will see all of Alexis, Theo, Giroud and Welbeck together on the pitch. It all proved too much for the sorry Foxes in the end.
- Alexis’ work rate. Our Chilean firecracker is still shedding the rust of two inactive winter months, but he worked his socks off and always gave the Foxes’ defence something to think about. On a better day he would have scored a hat-trick but he never allowed his head to drop and that goes a long way for me.
- Ozil’s free-kick for the winner. Mesut gave his all again: always looking to add attacking value to the team by effort and invention. When he had to take the last kick off the game, he knew it had to be perfect and it was. He has produced many assists but this one was worth six points.
- Le Coq’s empathy for Nacho after Vardy converted the penalty that the Spaniard had given away. It was a harsh penalty to concede as Vardy, who had had a bad first touch, ran into Nacho and his outstretched leg to earn a penalty. More about Atkinson and his bafflingly poor refereeing tomorrow, but the pen was given and converted and Monreal had the weight of the world on his shoulder. It was really nice to see Le Coq console Nacho-man as a stadium can be a very lonely place at such moments. A touch of class.
- Our ability to get behind the Foxes defence. We all know that Leicester are solid in the middle and very hard to penetrate. Kante, especially, is a very fine DM and Drinkwater is also pretty impressive. When a team is set up like the Foxes, it is so important to use the flanks and get in behind them, and we did this time and again. Our FBs, Nacho and Bellerin, were a constant threat and Ox and Alexis were able to take on players and create chaos and space in their defence. We played a high tempo as well and this enabled Ozil and Rambo to keep finding players on the flank who then got in behind to create chances for us. We had 24 shots (six on target) which is a good indication of how many chances we created, and I reckon the use of the flanks was key in this, as this heat map of Arsenal (on left, on the right is Leicester’s – source BBC) shows:
I am sure there are many more positives and I invite you to share them with us.
By TotalArsenal.
Five ‘New Signings’: Le Coq and Rosa back, Jack, Santi and Danny to follow
All are fit against Barcelona in Nou Camp…. Who would you play?
Arsene announced today that Coquelin and Rosicky are available again and that Jack, Santi and Danny are a few weeks away – with the latter potentially nearer to a full come back than the others. That is about the best news we could have had: five very good Gunners ready to compete again for first team starts. They do not have to adjust to the playing football the Arsenal way… they are Arsenal through and through and will be fit again in no time. What is Arsene going to do with all those fine midfielders and attackers?!
We all know what Le Coq brings, and Rosicky is the sort of player we all enjoy watching: brilliant technically and tactically and he loves playing football, especially for the mighty red and white. And with the Spuds game not far away, we are lucky to have him back! 😉 Rosa will be able to give Mesut or Alexis a rest now and again and Le Coq will simply slot back into the double DM-pivot (after shaking Flamini’s hand for doing a sterling job over the last two months or so).
The news of Jack and Santi potentially returning towards mid to end of February is old fashioned heavy metal to my ears. Two very good midfielders who can play in various positions and fight for the course against any team. Fingers crossed their recovery goes to plan and we will see them in action soon.
The Welbz is also due back soon and, although I am yet to be convinced he has what it takes to make it as a CF at Arsenal, I am really looking forward to him injection energy and thrust from the wings into the team. His enthusiasm and extra goal threat have been missed over the last year or so.
I reckon these five returning is even better than buying five quality players, and there is little doubt that Wenger will keep his pennies in his pocket this January. Sorry other-people’s-money-shop-a-holics! 😀
Imagine that at the end of February we have indeed all these fine players fit and raring to go: finally Wenger will be able/forced (depending on how you view Arsene’s approach to rotation) to rotate his players in order to keep them motivated and fresh. During a midweek game we could field:
—————-Elneny/Flam——Jack———————
Rambo———————Rosa——————–Alexis
———————–Giroud—————————
And at the following weekend game we could field:
——————-Coq—-Santi———————-
Campbell—————-Ozil——————–Welbz
———————Theo—————————-
And these are just two examples…
Now when we are playing Barcelona at the open bath tub in March, and all Gunners are fit, who would you choose to start in midfield and attack…. and why?
By TotalArsenal.
Never commented on Bergkampesque before? Join us with a proper comment and you will be welcomed! 🙂
Bergkampesque 
Subs: Martinez, Debuchy, Bielik, Gibbs, Zelalem, Elneny, Campbell, Willock, Reine-Adelaide, Akpom
It is hard to review a match watched between 2 and 4am on a small Ipad screen, but let’s try to analyse the game and see whether we can pull some more conclusions.
Here are my eight observations:
What are your observations?
By TotalArsenal. — Thanking The Mirror for pictures.