Is Thierry Back For Good?

February 20, 2015February 20, 2015TotalArsenal

I hope everyone is still riding on the buzz of our previous performance. This is going to be a short post.

So King Henry finally decided to hang up his boots. Everybody knew the day would come but that doesn’t make the hole he has left in world football any smaller. Arguably the best CF to ever grace the English shores. He is now a sky sports pundit, but more importantly, he is helping out Trevor Bumstead with the under 15’s. He really did mean it when he said he is a Gunner for life.

I am sure there is absolutely no doubt in anyone’s mind that Thierry has a wealth of knowledge to share. It makes total sense that he is being given a chance to blood his managerial skills with the next generation. The biggest advantage about that is that he can get to learn how to spot and nurture talent (kind of like what Arsene did with him), which is a very important skill to have in modern football. Just ask the coaching staff at Southampton.

The aim of this post though is to try and establish how Arsenal can get maximum value from him.

Both aforementioned jobs are part time (I stand corrected) and, therefore, he still has plenty of time on his hands to take up a more involved role at the club. I was really thinking about it and what if (on top of his current obligations) he is given a few sessions a week with our strikers (and attacking midfielders) so he can give them some coaching on movement & finishing.

Really, just think about it: players like Welbeck, Oxlade, Gnabry & Wilshere need to contribute more goals than they do now to really propel them to the next level. If we examine each player’s shortcomings, you can see these are all things Thierry can help to fix.

Welbeck – His movement is great but he lacks confidence in his finishing. The skill & talent are there but maybe he needs a few sessions with the master to really come into his own.

Oxlade – For me the Ox doesn’t get into scoring positions often enough. He is more of a touchline hugging winger, but in a system like ours, where our attackers are given the freedom to roam, he needs to be scoring more. Again, maybe the master can coach him on his movement.

Gnabry – I think he is similar to the Ox in terms of what he needs to learn.

Wilshere – He really needs to learn how to shoot/finish. For a player who gets into the box as often as he does, he surely does not score enough. Maybe this is something a few sessions with the master can fix.

This is not limited to just these four; I am just using them as an example. Also, I have no knowledge of what Henry’s schedule is like, so from my end this is just a suggestion.

I am, of course, not opposed to having a team of players who can score given the opportunity…. What do you think?

COYG!!

By Marcus

Theo/Ozil represent 0.6 goals & assists per game: Season starts here!

January 30, 2015TotalArsenal

Unless absolutely everything goes our way in the next four months, I reckon this will become a season of which we will ask ourselves what could have been if we had not had so many injuries during the first half of it.

Now that Koz is back and back-up has been brought in (Paulista), Coquelin is 99% close to signing a new contract, Ramsey is getting back to the engine we know him to be and Super Jack is back in training, we are looking strong at the back and in the middle of the park.

Furthermore, and even more excitingly, our attacking options are back to full strength now, with Ozil and Theo fully back and Giroud having totally settled back in again. Our superstar Alexis has been phenomenal and held the fort whilst the others were recuperating. Of course, he had help from the likes of Welbeck and Ox, but they are both work in progress, especially when it comes to the bread and butter stats of goals and assist.

We know that these are all very good players, but the beauty is that Wenger can now choose from his very best attackers, both in terms of producing assists and scoring goals.

These are the assists v games played ratios (data from 2009/2010 season to now, source ‘Whoscored’):

	Total games / Assists	Assists per game ratio
Walcott	162/34	0.21
Ozil	222/90	0.41
Giroud	176/21	0.12
Alexis	205/45	0.22
Carzola	213/43	0.20
Ramsey	161/21	0.13
Welbeck	157/12	0.08
Ox	95/10	0.11
Rosicky	149/13	0.09
Wilshere	130/16	0.12

So, in terms of our strongest team in attack from an assists producing point of view, we would aim to field Walcott, Ozil, Alexis, Santi and Ramsey in our five directly attack-involved positions.

And these are goals v games played ratios (data from 2012/2013 season to now, source ‘Wiki’).

	Total games / goals	Goals per game ratio
Walcott	67/28	0.42
Ozil	103/19	0.18
Giroud	111/46	0.41
Alexis	131/51	0.39
Cazorla	126/25	0.20
Ramsey	102/24	0.24
Welbeck	99/19	0.19
Ox	83/7	0.08
Rosicky	69/8	0.12
Wilshere	84/8	0.10

So, in terms of our strongest team in attack from a goal scoring perspective, we would aim to field: Walcott, Giroud, Alexis, Ramsey and Cazorla.

Surprise, surprise almost the same players who produce the most assists per game also score the most goals per game, with Ozil producing significantly more career assists than Santi, and Santi scoring a tad more goals per game than the German. Between them, these five to six players produce on average 1.17 assist and 1.66 goals per game.

Our current PL goal tally is 39 from 22 games, 1.8 goals per game and that includes the entire squad of course. I predict that we will see a steep improvement in goals per game in the last four months of the season: by possibly a third, meaning an average goals per game ratio of 2.4.

The thing is Ozil, Theo, Alexis, Santi, Giroud and Ramsey are now all fit to play together, and there is every chance that between them they will improve each others contributions, in terms of assists and goals, even further. And the longer they play the more effective they can all become.

You can also see from the stats above that the return of Ozil and Theo is absolutely paramount to the success of the team: together they can contribute 0.62 assists and 0.6 goals per game. It will take a bit of the pressure away from Santi and especially Alexis, and give us far more balance in terms of spreading assists and goals throughout the team.

The stats also show why we should expect (and want) the likes of Ox, Welbeck and Rosicky to provide back up rather than be first choice. Rosicky is of course a very strong option to have on the bench, and both Ox and Welbeck are still young and hopefully will develop strongly in the next season or two. Jack might also struggle to get back into the team as a regular first starter once he is back.

Let’s hope we can see these five to six top assists and goals producers play together very regularly from now on, so the fun can really begin.

By TotalArsenal.

76 scoring opportunities in one season: Arsenal’s master creator is back!

January 13, 2015TotalArsenal

Bang that head that does not bang for Ozil! :) — Bang that head that does not bang for Ozil! 🙂

Two summers ago Arsene Wenger did something we had never seen him do before: he spent record bucks on a world class player, Mesut Ozil. It was greeted with widespread cheer among Arsenal fans even though at the time, it was a signing that defied the deficiencies of the team.

He had a dream debut at Sunderland where he created a goal for Giroud. If Walcott had his scoring boots on that afternoon, it would have been a hat trick of assists for our creative maestro. He went on to have a run of good games but then ran out of steam, and suddenly £42.5m began to look like a lot of money.

He then went on to have an average world cup (by his standards) with one goal and several assists. When he came back he looked jaded, just like all the German players did. Critics went on and on about how Ozil wasn’t worth his price tag. I would like to explore this.

Ozil is one of the best, if not the best, number 10s in the world. Arsene certainly believes so, and if you no longer trust his judgement, as I know many no longer do, then trust Mourinho. The problem is that we Gooners are trying too hard to compare him to Cesc, Oscar, Silva etc etc.

What we are failing to understand is that Mesut Ozil is Mesut Ozil and at his best, he is a contender for player of the year.

Many of his critics argue that he does not put in enough effort and I disagree. Yes, he does not put in enough effort DEFENSIVELY, however when you look at his play in the attacking half, you realize that Ozil is a very hard working player. He pops up everywhere in search of the ball and in a bid to create space for his team mates. He is always on either wing or in the middle trying to look for a decisive pass.

Here is an interesting statistic: Arsenal created a total of 406 goal scoring opportunities last season. Ozil created 76 of them – a massive 18.7%. That means Arsenal were more reliant on Ozil’s creativity than any other Premier League team were on any other player.

Let this sink in a it. 76 scoring opportunities for a player many view as mediocre. I believe that what many saw as a lack of effort on Ozil’s part was really him feeling a bit frustrated. Here is someone who creates chances for fun in a team where nobody, not even the main striker (Giroud) was making any decisive runs into the opposition box.

That statistic proves Ozil did not lose his creative nous, but that the Arsenal team were not able to capitalize on his efforts. This has changed now with Theo back and Alexis in the team. Ozil is primed to step into the fore as he now has proper goal scorers to feed. He already has created for Alexis, Welbeck & Theo individually. Even giroud will be a beneficiary of Ozil’s talent.

What is even more encouraging is that with Santi’s form, he will have to fight for a place in the team. All that is left is for Arsene to bring in a defensive shield (and my first choice is Morgan Schneiderlin), and then we can really see what Ozil is made of. I for one am excited to see him back in the team and cannot wait to see him properly link up with Theo, Alexis & Giroud.

He created 76 scoring chances last season when he was adjusting to the BPL, what do you think will happen when he is back and he is playing alongside ruthless goal scorers?

COYG!!

Written by: Marcus

0.38 goals per game, lethal as hell: Why did Wenger let him go?

January 9, 2015January 9, 2015TotalArsenal

It is a new year, and to us football fans that means it is transfer season. Uncharacteristically, we have started our business before everyone else albeit a departure. Podolski, who has endeared himself to all Gooners through his thumping goals when he did play and, more prominently, through his social media endeavours, has been loaned out to Inter Milan until the end of the season. Something tells me that this move is more permanent than the deal suggests, but we will have to wait and see how things pan out.

So the big question is, was Le Prof right to let him go?

Lukas Podolski is one of the most lethal finishers in world football. There aren’t many players who can strike a ball with as much ferocity & accuracy as Podolski can. He is always a scoring threat when he gets anywhere within 30 yards of the goal. Plus this is the kind of player who was willing to bleed for the shirt. In fact, I believe that if circumstances were different and he had the kind of impact on the club that Alexis is having now, he could have very easily inherited the Mr. Arsenal title from Tony Adams.

However, that was not the case and I would like to determine why. Poldi’s biggest undoing was his one dimensional nature. His best and arguably only attribute was his finishing/shooting/scoring, which presented a serious dilemma to the coach. Poldi is the kind of player who would be anonymous for 90% of the game but then finish the match with a brace. He did not influence games.

Poldi is not an out and out striker. He lacks the movement and awareness to be trusted with the CF role. In fact, I will go a step further and say that he was wanting in this respect. The few times he was played as a CF he was almost completely anonymous. He lacks the awareness to read the game and therefore doesn’t make telling runs or position himself in scoring opportunities. He also lacks the pace to run past defenders or the skill to beat them one on one. This, effectively, ruled him out as a winger.

With all this in mind, it is fair to conclude that his best position is as a second striker. This is the position where he excelled at Koln and Germany (occasionally). Unfortunately for him, that only works in a 4-4-2 formation which was long ago phased out at Arsenal. This means that as hard as Poldi tried, he was never going to fit in at Arsenal and at 29 years old, changing his game is out of the question. So as much as we love him, it was time he tried his hand elsewhere. I wish him all the best at Inter Milan.

COYG!!

Written by: Marcus.

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Debuchy CB, Theo Starts, Coquelin for Ox? Liverpool Preview & Line-Up

December 21, 2014December 21, 2014TotalArsenal

Let’s get cool in the pool: Preview & Line-Up

After two great results and fine attacking football, in Istanbul and THOF, confidence levels are high and so are our expectations. Pool are a shadow of their former self and have become a team without bite: last season they scored for fun and now they hardly get more than one goal per game. We could be on the up now and Liverpool are struggling. Losing out to Basel for the CL will have hurt them badly and their league position is even worse than ours (given expectation levels at the start of the season for both clubs).

Yet, I am nervous about this one. I guess the ‘good’ thing is we got an awful hiding from them last year, which will help Wenger to point out the importance of defending well in this game. We remain vulnerable at the back though, especially with Koz still unavailable. In a way, Liverpool have nothing to lose and will still have the sweetest of memories of last year’s encounter. This combination, further fuelled by a loyal and vociferous home crowd and a good away win mid-week, could be a dangerous one for us. Let’s pray they don’t score early and the team suffer from a horrible deja-vu experience.

I have seen Arsenal a few times at Anfield. It is a great, traditional stadium with a fantastic atmosphere, and there is a lot of respect for Arsenal, both for our football and the way the club is managed. It was at Anfield where I first saw Cesc Fabregas in action. He played next to Vieira and opposite of another great midfielder, Gerrard. I will never forget that game for Vieira’s and Gerrard’s goals, and especially for Fabregas’ incredible ability to read the game and anticipate where the ball would be in the next few seconds. I knew straightaway he would become a great footballer.

I also will never forget how Thierry Henry got a standing ovation from the Pool and away supporters at the end of the FA cup game that we won there (1-3). He had scored the last goal in real style, out-pacing and out-smarting Jamie Carragher from the centre of midfield with a fabulous run and a very composed finish. It was so great to witness this with my own eyes.

Liverpool is a fine football city and nowhere in the country, other than the good parts of North-London, is there more respect for good football – and therefore Arsenal – than in Merseyside.

But tomorrow we will play there a very important game and for ninety plus minutes there is no time for sentimentality. A win would put a lot of distance between them and us and would be a perfect start to the congested Christmas schedule. We have a bit of momentum now and it is important to keep it going.

In order to do so, we need to stay cool in the pool. I reckon Wenger will opt for 4-2-1-3 or even ‘6-4’, with a split in responsibilities between the ‘6’, mainly responsible for defending, and the ‘4’, mainly responsible for attacking. Only the FBs will have a bit more freedom to support the attack – one at a time – but the rest of the ‘6’ will be tasked to keep it tight – at least for the start of the game. Wenger really does not want to give Pool any encouragement that we will leave a lot of space for them to attack us. We want to control that game, and with our superior strike-force we can and should be patient, as our chances will come.

My predicted line-up is:

I reckon Le Coq will play instead of Ox, unless the latter is fully fit. Even then Wenger might opt to play the Frenchman next to his fellow countryman, Flamini, against Pool. Arteta is still not available and Ramsey is out too, and Coquelin comes closest to Arteta’s style of play (and has more experience that the popular options on this blog of Chambers or Hayden).

At the back, I reckon Wenger will stick with Debuchy as CB partner to the BFG, with Chambers (available again) replacing Bellerin as RB. With Chambers, BFG, Szczesny and Gibbs we have four out of five players playing in their best positions, and only MD is out of position. Debuchy is versatile and experienced and I reckon he is the better option at CB than Chambers (or Hayden). It is not ideal but it will have to do…

Up-front is where it really gets exciting. Theo could be back, but I don’t think he will start. It would be great to see him on the bench though. Cazorla picks himself for the hole position and I reckon it will be Welbeck and Alexis on the wings, with OG in the middle.

Wenger will pick his strongest team after they all had eight days of rest and this surely is the biggest test of the festive season (with the Hammers away game coming close though). He is also likely to opt for the above mentioned initial division of a defending and an attacking team, in order to keep it tight and calm, whilst waiting for our opportunity to pounce. Not everyone will like a more defensive approach but I reckon anything else is likely to cost us badly.

I expect it to be tight with one to three goals, unless one of the teams scores early….. and let’s hope it will be us if this were to be the case.

Come On You Rip-Roaring Gunners – Let The Canon Roar!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

What to do with the Ox?

December 4, 2014TotalArsenal

Let me start with saying that I like Alex a lot. He stole thousands of Gooners hearts with THAT spirited, this-is-my-moment, CL performance against AC Milan a few years ago. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has not just a posh name; he is one of the elite talents in this country, and indeed in Europe. The Ox is only 21 years old and yet he has played already 84 times for Arsenal (8 goals, 8 assists).

Here is a nice summary of what he has to offer:

Our nr.15 has played 20 games (12 starts) in all competitions this season, and he clocked up about 1100 minutes of football (for comparison, Alexis played 1475 minutes in all competitons). It is fair to say he has been given a proper chance now to proof himself. Yet, despite some spirited, encouraging performances, he only scored twice; and more worryingly for the roles in which he played, he only has a single assist to his name this season.

The Ox has good spells in every game during which he adds a lot of thrust to our attacks. But he also seems to disappear for long periods in each game. We have to remember that he is still only young and needs a good run of games. However, I feel he has partly failed to take the opportunity to really demand a place in our first team this season. And nobody can say Wenger did not give him a chance.

Now that Giroud is back and Theo is also close to full fitness, the Ox might find himself more and more on the bench. Wenger is likely to play Giroud as his holding CF and then pick two ‘wingers’ from Alexis, Theo, Welbeck, Ox (and possibly Gnabry and Pod).

I can see the Ox missing out on many PL/CL starts during the remainder of the season and wonder what would be best for him:

Keep him in the team and use him as a super-sub regularly?
Start him regularly with Wenger rotating his players more proactively and frequently?
Send him out on loan, say to Everton or West Ham, where he would be guaranteed regular first team starts?
Cash in on him in January/Summer?

Ooh, and what do you reckon the Ox’s best position is?

Over to you, fine fellow Gooners: What would you do with the Ox? 🙂

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Welbeck is a Winger

November 12, 2014November 12, 2014TotalArsenal

….Well at least for a while to come.

Like many fellow Gooners, I was very excited when we signed Daniel Nii Tackie Mensah Welbeck back in September. We were desperate for new firepower up-front and Danny seemed the right man for us. He was further in his development than Sanogo and would be able to compete for the CF spot with Giroud, and there was also potential for both Giroud and Welbeck to start in a more traditional 4-4-2 formation.

Welbeck was pushed out at Manure as LvG was looking for more established firepower… Their current combined strike force share between them about an eye-watering million pounds in wages every week, but they have been very net-shy this season – and long may it continue. 😀

The 1.84m tall attacker was very keen to join us. He wanted to play football regularly, in the central role and with a lot of creative players around him, who are able to launch him into space. The arrival at the home of football gave him a spring in his step, resulting in fine and effective performances for England and Arsenal. He scored five goals in twelve PL and CL appearances for Arsenal and he produced two PL assists as well. However, it has been a while since he hit the net as it looks like he is struggling to get himself into scoring positions at the moment, as well as taking the few good chances that come his way.

This seems to coincide with Ozil’s injury, and it did not help either that Jack has been injured in the last few games. A player like Welbeck is highly dependent on creative midfielders who can anticipate and pick out his runs, and we have lacked that to a large extent. Only Alexis, as a fellow striker/winger, has been picking him out regularly and effectively during the last few games.

I watched Danny on a number of occasions and cannot help but feel that he is not ready to be our CF on a regular basis. In fact, I think he would be a lot more effective as a winger.

I am convinced that the injury to OG has cost us badly this season. Not just for his goal contributions, which, let’s face it, is not his strongest attribute, but especially for the shape his gives to the team and the link-play he provides for the rest of the team. For Wenger’s current preferred – but temporarily abandoned – system of 4-1-4-1, OG is very, very important.

I don’t think this role fits Welbeck, even though he is working very hard to be effective in it. Danny is best when we regain the ball in midfield or defence and spring a counter-attack: when there is space to run into and there are midfielders who can pick him out. Manure have always played this sort of football under RedNose and you can see Welbeck has been properly schooled in it.

Danny is a total athlete, and it is great to watch him run with or without the ball at defenders, when there is space and real momentum.

But we do not play that sort of football very often and we face a lot of park the buses teams. We need either another Giroud-type, OR a predator in the box, and, from what I saw of him against Burnley, he is neither, AS YET.

Of course, he will only become 24 this month and Wenger has had very little time to work with him. I am convinced he will be a success at Arsenal, but not so sure whether that will be as our big CF.

In a dream world, we will have all our attackers fully fit and really give opponent teams the creeps. For me, and I reckon Wenger, this means OG in the centre and Alexis and Theo on the wings, with both Ozil and Jack providing the through-balls and central box penetration. Welbeck could be our super-sup up-front, just as Calum Chambers will be at the back (once everybody is fit there, sigh, sigh!).

As you can tell, I am not so keen on Danny being our CF right now. He still has a lot to learn in terms of anticipating crosses and owning space around defenders in the box. Crossers of the ball don’t find him enough, and he does not anticipate their crosses enough either…. And a deadly CF demands the former and is brilliant at the latter. They also often are, instinctively, in the space were rebounds drop. And when he gets a chance he tends to lack the ‘cold-bloodedness’, often not keeping his shots low, thus giving the keeper a chance.

In my view, Danny is not doing well enough to warrant the CF role going forward at the moment.

But as a winger, with a licence to position himself centrally on a regular basis, I can see him do really well. He has the power, speed, hunger and physical strength and endurance for it, and I can see him give Theo a real run for his money. I can see him give Alexis and Theo a break now and again, or allow the Chilean to play more central, if required.

Of course, as long as Giroud is out it will be Welbeck up-front, but once the French Lighthouse is back, I would love to see Danny play on the wings for a while. I think then we will see the very best of him this season.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Be Kind to Yourself

Does Arsene finally, finally have his new Bergkamp?

October 27, 2014TotalArsenal

Sanchez and the 4-4-2

With a whole week off before the next game, I thought a fluff piece may be in order just to get the discussions and debating back in full swing.

Watching Sanchez playing at Sunderland, everything about him just screamed “number 10” more than it has ever done before with Ozil, or even my man Jack. It got me to thinking though, could we play an old fashioned no.10 – you know, to its fullest potential, in that crazy formation that won us so many accolades and silverware – the 4-4-2?

Do we have the quality to make this system work once again, and really provide for such an excellent player like Sanchez?

I thought I would have a go, do my best at being ruthless concerning quality and athleticism, see what I could come up with and ask you any important questions that arose during the process.

Defence:

Debuchy, BFG, Koscielny and Gibbs: to be honest, apart from a lack of pace by our big man I cannot fault the defensive solidity that this group should bring to the team. With such a lack of options here though, they are largely uncontested places and with the exception of Monreal all other options are either prospects or loanees.

Monreal, Chambers, Ajayi and Jenko would make up my reserve back line for the future, and I hope Jenko keeps up the good work he’s doing at West Ham atm.

Midfield:

With Cazorla, Rosicky, Arteta and Flamini all being fringe players (at best) in most midfields across top clubs in Europe, Diaby only ever one training session away from being injured and Coquelin AWOL most of the time, I decided to be ruthless and cut the lot; but who’s left as the engine room in midfield?

Wilshere and Ramsey have to be the first choice pairing for our future, with OX and Hayden representing exciting and solid prospects respectively.

For those who don’t know Hayden, he has excelled both in ability and leadership and captained at every level he has played at, both domestically and for his country.

Wingers:

Do we have any old style wingers left now? With OX constantly showing he prefers creeping inside over hugging the line, I can think of only two. Luckily, one is right footed and the other left, so it makes a good pairing. Walcott and Campbell, plenty of pace and goals in both which is a benefit. Future prospects would have to include Gnabry and Bellerin as both are again bursting with pace and goals.

Number 10:

Ozil, once the wonderkid of this position, has now got his work cut out to defend his place here by the excellent (and in my opinion the more exciting prospect) Sanchez. Both still have much to offer though, so no departures in this area anytime soon I hope, but who does the starting place go to?

Strikers:

I’m looking for pace in this type of formation, like the kind Henry used to have with the strength he also used to show when needed. With this in mind, I am afraid Giroud and Podolski are out, but Welbeck is in. Future prospects include Akpom who has all the attributes Henry used to have and now needs experience and Sanogo who is a bit hit and miss at the moment to say the least but could be great.

What do we end up with then?

The Blueprint:

The starting XI:

The second (substitution) XI:

Questions:

Remember the Invincibles used to play week in week out, almost the same starting line up every game, would these resulting teams have the physical endurance to do that?
Our midfield was once known for its aggression and strength, although many agree that this is not needed so much in the modern game, it is interesting how the modern day users of this system (Man City) have adopted an almost carbon copy of our template from days gone by, with excellent results. Do we have this type of steel in midfield from the options we have? Do we need it? Are our options better?
Do you feel any of the players I so callously call “fringe players” could perform better in any of the positions, and if so: who, where and why?
Are there any other players I have missed that you think deserve a place?
With so many favourite names cut from the teams, producing a second XI that looks more like an U21 side than a premiership team, do you think we would have enough quality and depth in the squad to make this work?
Are there any players you would simply like to replace with new arrivals in January? I know BFG’s pace has become a topic for debate but are there others?

My answers:

With the exception of Koscielny (with his continuing Achilles problem) and BFG who is beginning to age a little I feel the whole starting XI have shown they have the athleticism to play week in week out.
For most games I think an on form Ramsey and Wilshere pairing would excel, watching them run rings around Toure and Fernando in the Charity Shield was a joy to watch. I would be slightly worried that there is no G. Silva type option available at all other than Hayden. I would love to see Schneiderlin added to the squad to give that option if needed, but would he move for a seat on the bench at Arsenal until needed in a particular game though? Maybe relying on an untested (at this level) but patient and willing to wait Hayden may be the more realistic choice – though not my preferred one.
I obviously don’t, all seem leggy and are nearer the end of their careers rather than their prime.
Coquelin could do a job in midfield as a more defensive option but it seems (at least atm) the boss has lost all faith in him.
Apart from Ajayi. who I have never really seen play, I would say yes, as a substitute XI I feel it is still brimming with talent and all would be willing to wait for their chance which means no shuffling of the starting XI just to give players game time .
In that starting line-up, I see only three players who are only even slightly suspect; Campbell has yet to show his true potential, but I don’t think he’s been given any sort of chance to do so yet. Then there is Koscielny, with his ongoing injury but a warrior nevertheless, and I feel Chambers is already the perfect candidate for his replacement when needed. And BFG, having reached his potential a few years ago now, I feel (tough as it is to say) a big name replacement here would be an excellent addition – we are talking Varane level though.

I guess the question I have to ask myself is, would I swap Cazorla, Rosicky, Arteta, Flamini, Diaby and Coquelin for just one class CB and one class DM – probably, at the moment I could see Schneiderlin and Varane offering a lot more to the team’s structure than all those players combined.

My point of view is that we need goals, we are just not scoring enough. There was a time when we used to score for fun and it was back when we used this system. It takes special kinds of players to make this system work though but for the first time in ages I really think we have those players in the squad now.

When I look at the Invincibles line up, I see goal scoring options from FIVE positions in the forward line, with G. Silva the only player not guaranteed to add attacking threat. Likewise, when I look at the new starting XI I have made above, I also see goal scoring options from FIVE positions in the front line, with only Wilshere lacking in that department.

I have to contrast that with what I saw at Sunderland on Saturday;

Arteta and Flamini – not goal threat there

Cazorla – has scored 4 goals in the premiership in the last 2 years

OX – Looks threatening but is not producing for one reason or another

All it takes is for your only striker to have a slightly off day (not unusual against a team set to defend), and it’s no wonder the only goals came from Sanchez excellently capitalising on two mistakes from the opposition.

Better teams won’t make those mistakes, so where are the bloody goals going to come from?

Is it any wonder we are not scoring atm, should we really expect any different?

I feel, whether it is because of injuries or a lack of faith in the midfield pairing to produce without the safety net of Flamini behind them, that the boss has played it safe and is largely underutilizing the squad we have at our disposal. Players are coming back from injury, we are lacking goals: it is time to take the safety net away and let the lads produce!

4-4-2 with Sanchez tip toeing in Bergkamp’s shadow.

Could we make it work, would we even want to: Invincibles or Impossibles? Tell me what you think.

Written by: Steve

Note from the Blog owner: if you want to follow Bergkampesque and/or receive an email every time a new post is issued, you can sign up: see right side of blog ‘Follow Blog via Email’. Cheers, TA. 🙂

Gibbs-Alexis, Ozil-Welbeck, The Chambers: With Arsene We Thrust?

October 3, 2014October 3, 2014TotalArsenal

Is Triple Thrust the future?

It often amuses me when I speak to Gooners, on and off-line, about Arsene Wenger’s management style, and they tell me that Wenger has no ‘plan-B’ and never prepares tactically for a game. It is most probably true that Wenger does not prepare for every game tactically in great detail, and he also likes to play the same system from one season to the next; but that does not mean he has not got another system of football, or Plan-B if you want, if need be. Just think back to our home game against the Chavs, when he shut the door and played not to lose (as we were still licking our wounds from a heavy defeat at the Northern Oilers).

As I wrote recently, Wenger has a deductive style of management: he thinks things through, produces a plan of how he wants to set up the team (at least in his head), talks to his coaching staff and off he goes implementing it. The plan or system of football and formation is key, and from this he will buy, train, and mould players in such a way that they bring his vision/plan to live. It usually takes time, but once the players get it and start to work as a team, some of the finest football can be enjoyed by both Gooners and non-Gooners. And what he develops is often copied by other managers, even though he has usually already moved on to the next system of football, as he is into perpetual improvement, it seems.

It looks like Arsene is developing two massive new weapons (three actually, but I will come to that later): the combo-wings within his 4-4-1-1 formation, although this could also apply for the former 4-2-1-3 system (to which we might still revert back to). On the left we have Gibbs and Alexis, and on the right, at least for a little longer, we have the Chambers: the Ox and Calum. As others have pointed out, the Ox-Calum train is moving quite nicely right now, and the longer they play together the better their partnership on the right could become. Both are very promising players and have the hunger and talent to make that wing theirs.

Of course, at one point the more experienced pair of Theo and Debuchy will be ready to take over, but one is out for a while and the other will need time to get back to full match fitness after a serious injury. So let’s see whether the young ones can make further progress in the next month or so.

On the left side, we have either Gibbs and Alexis, or Gibbs and Ozil, with Monreal coming back soon as well. Especially the Gibbs-Alexis combo is looking very promising: two very talented, athletic and hard working players who seem to be able to work very well in tandem, and who have no apparent problem with staying put on the wing. I have high hopes that these two can become the deadliest wing-combo on the left in the PL, if not Europe.

The good thing is, as we saw on Wednesday, both wings give us thrust and creativity, and plenty of options for our central midfielders – two of: Ozil, Jack, Ramsey, Santi – to make the play. It remains to be seen how effective they are against the park the bus teams; but even then, the best way of cracking these open and smash them is to stretch and attack them from all sides. And both Ox and Alexis have the additional ability to dribble past defenders, as well as receive a ball in space and power forwards to the goal.

And if we add the central partnership between Ozil and Welbeck to the mix, you can see we will have even more thrust and invention in the team. The first two goals against Villa should give us real hope that this partnership could flourish very nicely this season.

Having these three options to attack our opponents will make us very hard to defend against as danger will come from all areas, and this has been lacking for quite a while now.

Of course, there is a lot more to football than the vertical partnerships on the wings and in the middle. Partnerships between Alexis and Danny, Alexis and Ozil, Ox and Ozil, Ozil and Jack, etc, are just as important. And then there are the horizontal lines of partnership, partly depending on the formation we will be playing during the rest of the season. But this is for another time.

It is also key that the DM and the box to box midfielder are of high quality to both facilitate the attackers and protect the remaining defenders (with FBs often venturing forward, leaving their colleagues exposed). Some of us have argued that we really need to play with two DMs in order to not allow all that thrust up-front to backfire on us.

To be frank, I am not sure what Wenger is trying to achieve exactly. No doubt, it is the big battle between thrust and rebound/counter-football on the one hand, and totally controlling play on the other hand (both styles of play we have seen at the home of football during the Wenger era).

Ideally, we will combine the two into something very special, but this is by far the hardest thing to do. My money is on Wenger trying to achieve just that, as that is what he is like. It might frustrate us at times, but ultimately it will come good. Or not, but then at least we tried to be different and exciting.

And for those who doubt whether Wenger can still pull it off – and some doubt continues to linger in me as well – let’s take Sir Winston Churchill’s wisdom into account:

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm”. 🙂

Or, as a friend just emailed me, ‘No moss gathers on a rolling stone!’.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

A Mere Papering of Cracks? Villa v Arsenal afterthoughts

September 21, 2014TotalArsenal

On the heels of Arsenal’s first defeat since (Everton away in) April, many an observer–even would be supporters–have trotted out the usual narratives. Wenger has lost the plot, we’re playing the wrong players in the wrong positions, there’s no tactical flexibility, our record signing Ozil(shaven) can’t be arsed and the sky is–literally–falling.

We’re entitled to these reactions and living in the moment, but scanning my science blogs, I could find no evidence that the sky was–literally–descending upon us. Could it be that daylight is waning and the weather merely getting a bit worse in on our part of North London? It may, of course, have something to do with the calendar. Still with only a single match remaining before the official start of Autumn, the trip to Villa Park loomed larger, perhaps, than it might at another time of year. That we couldn’t match their current point total in the league–no matter the result–also did not bode well.

Admittedly, the defeat at Dortmund did feel a comprehensive one and many suggested the 2-nil score-line flattered us. Another narrative is that Arsene’s Arsenal simply cannot play against the bigger teams. With Villa having beaten Liverpool at Anfield and having the week off (whilst we took our full body blow), nerves amongst Gooners were understandable. Looking at the table alone (which, I’ve been told, “does not lie”) they had to be considered as one. With our next two league matches being derbies–Spurs at our place, Chelsea at theirs–the result, at the very least, seemed, er, rather consequential.

Here in the mountains of California, the smoke from our annual wildfires only barely clearing with a little lucky wind, I awoke to a line-up I liked. Alexis Sanchez, even if he’s already become a huge fan favorite, was rested in favour of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Santi Cazorla came in for Jack Wilshere (who took a knock late on at Dortmund). Calum Chambers, recovered from his sore throat (tonsilitis), was the preferred 19 year old at right back (over Hector Bellerin), and both Kieran Gibbs and Mikel Arteta (both just back from injury and/or a respite…) kept their places.

Danny Welbeck, who had spurned scoring opportunities in his first two matches for Arsenal, also remained the point of attack. Curiously, younger forwards, including Yaya Sanogo, Chuba Akpom and Joel Campbell and the all-purpose defender, Isaac Hayden, called for by many a Gooner in the wake of the Dortmund disaster, didn’t even find a place on the bench. Perhaps in the Capital One Cup to be played in midweek?… On my television feed, the line-up was even listed as a 4-2-3-1 rather than the much maligned 4-1-4-1 we’re (supposedly) playing even if Ozil persisted on the left of the 3 (Santi in the middle, Ox on the right) and Ramsey was the player (nominally) brought back to help out the Captain. I’m not a stickler for formations and I tend to buy the idea that the number of players at the back is (more or less) all that matters and all else flows from there. I’ll leave the discussion of what was actually played to others. To borrow my favorite English saying (heard mostly in the Tube…) “Sorry…”

The match itself started with Villa on the front foot and Arsenal struggling to string passes together. Ramsey looked a central figure but first touches appeared overly aggressive if not just plain heavy. Additionally, the air in Birmingham looked lighter than the players favour and several long balls flew into touch. As such, as in Germany, possession was lost cheaply and Villa looked to be creating more menace throughout the opening stages. That several corners were conceded (the source of the last league goal scored against us in the league) did not help settle nerves. Another set piece provided their most dangerous moment (in the 23rd minute), after an unwise challenge from Calum Chambers, which earned him a yellow for his troubles. The cross sailed over all defenders and allowed a well taken chance for Kieran Clark with a diving header. Szczesney moved out of his goal mouth but maintained his feet and used his entire frame to block with his left leg and right hand. A pivotal moment, especially given the way the opponent kept Liverpool at bay a week ago after an early goal.

The truly pivotal moment happened nine minutes later. Playing the ball deep out of our own half (Chambers protecting the ball like a more experience player and exchanging passes with Mertesacker began the move) a series of lightning fast one touch passes between Ramsey, Cazorla and finally Welbeck sprung Ozil off the shoulder of the Villa highline and he finished calmly with his better foot.

Now Villa had to attack, and the 2nd goal came almost instantly. The camera was actually on Wenger as Gibbs took possession and passed smartly to Ozil who one-touched to Ramsey before receiving a lovely return ball out wide. Scorer and assist maker reversed roles with an inch perfect cross from Ozil and an easy finish (no shin this time) from Welbeck to break his (Arsenal) duck. Ozil in the center, Ozil on the wing: the record signing who just doesn’t care, suddenly everywhere?

Narratives turned upon their heads as well as points secured. Villa, shocked by the turn of events were still unable to get back to work. Kieran Gibbs, who was key in dispossessing Villa to start the lightning move on the 2^nd, again played a key role, poaching another pass even deeper in their territory and crossing to rampaging Ramsey at the far post. Defender Cissoko, caught, needed the most precise of clearances, but found his own goal instead. 3 nil.

That would be all the scoring in the match but Arsenal would secure the points through possession and trying for more. Our best 2nd half chance was likely a throughball from Oxlade-Chamberlain to Ramsey but the latter’s first touch was a near whiff. Late on, after gorgeous one touch work on the left from Ozil, Cazorla and subs Jack Wilshere, Lucas Poldolski and Tomas Rosicky–What? 3 attackers subbed in when we have a score-line to protect?!? — I guess Wenger felt the need to get more attackers involved (and we have far more of them healthy as compared to defenders) and, maybe, the score-line was doing the protecting–of the manager–in this case.

So, a result to freshen the spirits after the poor showing in Europe or a mere papering of cracks?

That’s for my old friends, a certain blogger who confuses Cookies and Monsters (and knows his cracks, amongst other things) and the one who demands Victory Con Cordia… It’s a bit of a no-win for the club despite the fact that we’re still looking up at Villa in the table. They (and early season surprise club, Swansea City) lost today but they are traditionally a mid-table club (at best) and it all could have been a whole lot scarier if their early aggression had led to an opening goal. Our goal scoring happened so quickly that it’s almost hard to appreciate them and they can’t possibly suggest that our problems have been ironed out. Bigger tests await which will “prove” if we’ve turned a corner or merely gotten a fortunate few points.

Amongst the players there could be some realignment of opinion about our record signing, given that he both scored and assisted. Our newest signing might also gain a measure of confidence having done likewise. Already (previous post comments), we’ve seen some debate about the relative contributions of Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain. I’d give a shout out to the emerging right hand partnership of Chambers and the BFG and the two Spaniards who performed their duties well and showed a bit of their “technical superiority,” especially as the match moved on. Kieran Gibbs and Koscielny on the (much) pacier (left) side of our defense (American spelling there…) also had good matches. Szczesny stood tall in his one moment of true examination. Best of all, maybe, is that we appeared to finish the match without any fresh candidates for the physio room.

Of course, that’s only amongst the players who actually played. (Abou Diaby even looked alright after a full 90, even if it was only on the bench…) A new group will surely come in for the midweek cup match to reveal further truths about the depth of the squad… Do we move on to predictions for that one or continue to breathe sighs (of relief) or dissect this one?

What say you Fine Fellow (maybe not Freaking Out–if only for a moment…) Gooners?

😀

Written by: 17highburyterrace