Tag: formation

Is it time to release the Lion of Flanders: TV5 as DM?

TotalArsenal

One of my favourite Johan Cruijff sayings is: every disadvantage has an advantage and every advantage has a disadvantage. Although the loss against the Chavs still hurts, there could be an advatage to that ‘disadvatange’, as we are likely to be extra motivated to get back to winning ways on Satuday.

That ‘keenness’ should translate itself in our figthing spirit – never say die attitude – which will be an absolute prerequisite to overcome the currently confident – nothing to lose tomorrow – Hammers.

I have not seen much of West Ham this season, but the one thing I am certain about is that tomorrow’s meeting will turn into a very physical encounter.

The inclusions of Mertesacker and Giroud seem inevitable, and once again our midfield will hold the key in taking control of the game. With Diaby out, Coquelin still learning the ropes, and Arteta having to play his third game in seven days, I am worried about both our ability to dominate the midfield area and avoid further injuries.

Ooh, how different I would feel if we could start the departed Song on Saturday: this encounter is crying out for him. Alas, Song’s gone, and what’s done is done, and this game will tell us everything we need to know about our strength in depth in the midfield area.

I reckon we need muscle and height in our midfield for this game, and if there ever is a game in which we could/should try out TV5 as a DM then it is this one.

The Lion of Flanders (naming rights belong to LB) has been rightly criticised for his mad-dog, testosterone over-dosed performances recently, although we should take into account that he was most probably instructed to do so by Wenger/Bouldozer.

TV5 has got drive, stamina and all physical and footballing attributes to help boss the midfield against WH. Combined with either, and ideally, Arteta, or Ramsey, we would be able to gun the Hammers down in midfield.

I know it is unlikely that Wenger will go for it tomorrow, but I certainly hope he will. Whatever he does, he will need to make sure that our two deeper laying midfielders are up for the battle. And I will say it again, the key for success lays exactly in that area tomorrow.

Predicted line-up: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Arteta, Coquelin (but I hope TV5), Cazorla, Gervinho, Giroud, Podolski.

COYRRG – we need a win!

Total Arsenal.

Will Ramsey get another chance in the ‘Diaby/Wilshere’ position?

TotalArsenal

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So, with Diaby confirmed out for at least three weeks, Arsene faces a difficult decision with regards to who should replace him tonight and on Saturday.

In the system that Arsenal plays, the ‘Diaby/Wilshere’ role – one of the two deeper laying midfielders positioned between the defence and our attack minded players – is one of the most unconventional in football. A large variety of skills are required and the success of the team depends for a considerable part on how well that role is performed.

Arteta and Cazorla – the former the deepest laying midfielder who shields the defence, and the latter mainly responsible for conducting our attacking play – have more or less clear, straightforward roles in our team. For the other deeper laying midfielder, the tasks and requirements are less clear-cut.

For the sake of not having to refer constantly to the ‘Diaby/Wilshere’ role or the ‘second-more advanced deeper laying midfielder’ role, I am going to use the term ‘the Lynchpin’ from now on in this post.

The Lynchpin links up our (mainly) defensive players with our (mainly) attacking players. If he does his job well then defence and attack are linked up seamlessly in the middle. The Lynchpin needs to be able to help out the defence when under extreme pressure: read the game well, positioning himself cleverly, win back balls, hold on to balls, simple and effective passing of the ball, and the most difficult skills of all: being able to break through a wall of oppositional pressing, move the play forward quickly with either a simple pass, a powerful run (utilising the space in front of him), or delivering a penetrating pass to an advanced attacking player as quickly as possible.

On a good day, Diaby can play that role to perfection. He was so good against Liverpool that I almost cried of joy. It seems a long time ago, but Jack Wilshere is another player who can play this role to near perfection. He was, for example, one of the key players responsible for that memorable home ‘turn-around’ win against Barcelona two seasons ago.

Although we are blessed to have two such great players, we all know that they are both very prone to injury. I am convinced that if either of them had played for us the whole of last season, we would have done so much better. And their fitness is likely to make or break our season also this time round.

Diaby is out for three weeks and JW10 is still not ready for full-on first team football; so who should Arsene select in the Linchpin position for the next two games against Olympiakos and West Ham?

Rosicky is also still injured, so he is not an option. Coquelin is a possibility but he is still inexperienced and I am not sure whether this role is the right one for him. Coquelin could be slotted into Arteta’s deeper laying role and Arteta could move into the Lynchpin role. But we need the security and stability of Arteta as the main protector of our defence and I am also not sure he has all it takes for the Lynchpin role.

The Ox is an option but I reckon he is still too inexperienced for such a big role, and he is probably not strong enough (yet) defensively.

The most obvious candidate is Aaron Ramsey, but he struggled to get a grip of the Lynchpin role against Chelsea on Saturday. I reckon Aaron is the perfect attacking midfielder in a classic 4-4-2, but in our system he is not allowed enough time and space to control our games. I like Aaron, though, and he had a good game against Citeh in that position, especially in the latter stages of the game. So maybe he should get another chance against Olympiakos and West Ham in that pivotal position.

A good alternative to consider is moving Cazorla in the Lynchpin role, and play Podolski or Arshavin in the creative midfield position. I personally like the sound of that, although I am not sure how he would cope with the defensive side of things, especially against a very physical side like West Ham on Saturday.

And then finally, we could consider moving Vermaelen into midfield as a classic DM ‘bruiser’, and play two attack-minded midfielders in front of him; say, Arteta and Cazorla, or Cazorla and the Ox. It would be just like we did against Milan at home, with Song in that role and both the Ox and Rosicky in front of him. Although I would like that very much, I cannot see Arsene changing the system so much right now.

So, plenty alternatives, but who do you think should get the all important Lynchpin role in the next two games?

Total Arsenal.

Arsenal – Chelsea: may the battle of the midfields begin!

TotalArsenal

Just a quick post to kick off the day. Individual player ratings will follow later in the day.

I don’t know about you, but I could hardly sleep last night; entirely caused by the excitement of the anticipated battle that lies ahead for us. No doubt there will be battles all over the pitch, but whoever wins the battle in midfield will surely win today.

And what a battle lays ahead for us.

Arsenal’s most selected midfield this season has been: Arteta, Diaby, Cazorla. But with Chelsea likely to just play Torres up-front, their midfield will consist of five players: two ‘holding/deeper’ midfielders – most likely to be Fat Frank and Mikel – and three multi-disciplined attacking/creative midfielders – most likely to be Mata, Oscar and Hazard. If we are not careful the Chavs will dominate our midfield today and I cannot imagine Arsenal starting with just three in our midfield.

As per my post yesterday, I reckon that Ramsey will start again. It worked very well for us against the Nothern Oilers and we need him again against the Southern Oilers imo. But will that be enough: our four of Cazorla, Arteta, Ramsey, Diaby against their five: Mikel, Lampard, Oscar, Hazard and Mata? I think it will; especially if you take into account both Gervinho’s and Podolski’s ability and willingness to help out in midfield.

But, I would also not be surprised to see us start with five in midfield, with just Giroud on top, and Ramsey, Diaby, Arteta, Cazorla and Podolski all behind him. It would totally overpower Chelsea and all these midfielders can both create and score goals at this level.

Whatever our formation, we need to boss Chelsea in midfield from the start, so they don’t get into any rhythm of attacking football. We need to bamboozle them from the moment the ball is kicked,  and to take at least one of our early chances as soon as possible.

My prediction: 3-1, but I settle for a dry 1-0! 

COYRRG!!!!

Total Arsenal.

Arsenal – Chelsea: Three Selection Headaches for Arsene

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Hey Arsene, how many selection headaches are you facing on Saturday?

We always knew the start to the season was a tough one. Away games to Stoke, Liverpool and ManCity are not to be pooh-poohed at, and it will all come to an early seasonal crescendo on Saturday, when we play the current leaders, Chelsea, at the home of football.

Before the start of the season, I wrote a post for ArsenalArsenal.wordpress.com in which I stated that the tough start to the season was actually good for us: it would help us to focus, and to hit the ground running from the first match day.

Given the circumstances of having to integrate a Frenchman, Spaniard and a German into this season’s team, and having to learn to live without the services of the traitorous Dutchman, Arsenal has done really well until now. We remain unbeaten, have only conceded two goals, and the atmosphere and believe in our club has, thank goodness, transformed during this relatively short period.

However, a win in the next game against Chelsea, the last match in a fabulous September for Arsenal, could really catapult us towards the top. This will not be easy though, and we have to be careful not to underestimate the challenge we face on Saturday.

It remains to be seen what sort of Chelsea we will face at Ashburton Grove. Will it be last season’s park the bus formation/strategy or will Chelsea come to us with the full intention to have a go at us. The latter would be welcome, as it would provide us with a lot of space to attack them, if and when we regain possession. The former would be okay too, as compared to last season, Arsenal has more players who have the ability to deal with ‘parked buses’ now.

I reckon Chelsea will aim to attack Arsenal and we will have to face up to three creative/ attacking midfielders, with just Torres alone up-front and two holding midfielders behind them. This will be a big challenge for our midfield, our ‘back-five’, as well as our ability to defend as a team.

So, assuming Chelsea will come to play football on Saturday, Arsene has to make a decision about three selection challenges: each one of them a headache, or a so called ‘luxury problem’, as we are lucky to have a lot of fully fit players in various positions at the moment.

Selection Headache One: which two CB’s from TV, Koz and Mertesacker?

This must be causing Arsene a headache at the moment. TV is our captain and has had ten days rest, Mertesacker is playing his best football since joining Arsenal, and Koz had a tremendous second half against Citeh and is freshest of them all. I really don’t know who he will choose, but if I have to make a guess: Koz will end up on the bench again.

Selection Headache Two: Giroud to start or back to a fluent/interchanging three up-front: Podolski, Gervinho and either The Ox or Theo?

If Arsene opts for a typical 4-3-3 formation, I expect us to start with Giroud in the middle, and Podolski and Gervinho on the wings. This seems to be our plan-A this season and we can always change to plan-B (Gervinho-Podolski-Theo/The Ox) if we need to.

Selection Headache Three: four or three in midfield?

The inclusion of Ramsey in our ‘4-3-3’ against Citeh – which was effectively more like a 4-4-2 most of the times – was a great tactical move by Arsene last weekend. Chelsea play not that dissimilar to Citeh and my guess is Aaron will get another start ahead of Theo or the Ox. Ramsey played very well and, especially in the latter part of the second half, his drive and incredible engine made a big difference.

Selection headaches two and three are obviously interlinked and my gut feeling is that, in order to deal with Chelsea’s creative strength in midfield, we will start with Plan-B on Saturday.

So, based on the above deliberations, I reckon our starting 11 on Saturday will be:

Mannone – Jenkinson – Mertesacker – Vermaelen – Gibbs – Ramsey – Cazorla – Arteta – Diaby – Gervinho – Podolski.

Total Arsenal.