Tag: premier league

Alexis out-stings the Hornets, Xhaka and Ozil pure Class, Holding Firm: 8 Positives

TotalArsenal

Watford 1 – 3 Arsenal

We desperately needed a win more than anything else today. But we also needed to play some very good football the Arsenal way’ to get the supporters properly excited again… and luckily we got both against the Hornets. On top of that we had verbal confirmation that two new players, Mustafi and Lucas Perez, will be added to the squad, so every reason for us Gooners to be happy. And if not you may want to give the Samaritans a call… 🙂

It was of course a game of two halves, to use the nr.1 cliché in football. Arsenal were full of life and brutally lethal in the first the half and we saw out the second half with a few bumps but nothing too drastic. It would have been great if the boys had continued in the second half with the same intent and tempo of the first half, but it was also important to not get more injuries. Therefore, taking the foot of the gas and making some timely tactical changes and substitutions in the second half, was just what the doctor ordered.

Eight positives from a vital win:

  1. Alexis was superb especially in the first half. I love the ‘second’, alternative away shirt the boys wore today and especially Sanchez looked like the mini-hulk in it. Our Chilean firecracker was unstoppable through his movement and aggression all over the pitch. Two assists and a goal are a fantastic return for his efforts but it was also his overall team play that impressed me a lot. Supported by Theo and the less effective Ox on the wings, he offered great movement and availability to which the Watford defenders had very little answer. We will need more end product from the Ox and Theo going forward as Wenger is playing Alexis not like a typical super CF but more of a mixture between Giroud and say Aguero – a combination between hold up play and speedy penetration. The signing of Perez makes a lot of sense therefore, as he will add goals (and assists) on a regular basis, which is needed to make the system a success;
  2. Mesut Ozil scored! He also had the ‘assist’ for the penalty given early in the first half: a superb ball aimed at the space in front of Alexis from which he surely would head the ball home. Alexis was hacked down before he could score and the referee awarded the penalty after some initial confusion on the pitch. Santi took it well and that was a relief to us all. We need more goals from midfield this season and Mesut made a Lampardesque run into the box to head home with venom and precision. Great stuff and let’s hope there will regular goals to come from our midfielders this season.
  3. Xhaka carved the hornets nest open without mercy. I reckon Wenger is building a team that can add a few dimensions to their football. As per my first ‘positive’, we need goals from a number of attackers rather than rely too much on the one super CF. But we also need key passes and assists from a number of players, and playing Xhaka, Cazorla AND Mesut clearly gave us that. Xhaka did this regularly from deep, allowing us to attack with speed and precision and not give the Watford defence a lot of time to regroup. Some of Granit’s through-balls and diagonal thunderbolts were sublime today, getting the balls into the pockets like the best snooker player…
  4. Arsenal played a very attack minded formation today. I cannot remember the last time we played with so many quality, attack-focussed players: Xhaka sat deep but was constantly feeding our attackers; Santi sat also deep(er) but was mainly focussed on attacking Watford, and then there were the foursome of Ozil, Ox, Theo and Alexis attacking relentlessly, whilst being supported from behind by the Spaniard and Swiss geniuses! On top of this the full backs, especially Bellerin, kept bombing forward to support the attack. As a result, we saw an awesome black and yellow attacking machine, especially in the first half. Theo played with aggression and intent and produced a peach of an assist for Alexis’ goal – the all important second goal for us.
  5. Good substitutions. Of course such an attacking formation only works well if the tempo is high and we manage to keep our opponents hemmed in in their own half. In the second half we dropped the tempo and discipline a bit and gradually we allowed them back into the game. We sat too deep and allowed them to have players in and around the box and this led to a number of half-chances for the Hornets. They scored a typical ‘lucky pinball goal’ for which I cannot blame the defence too much. But after that we allowed them more chances and looked a bit vulnerable at times. Luckily, Wenger had good options on the bench and gradually both Jack and Elneny were able to bring a bit more calm and control back in to our play. It was really good to see Jack back on the pitch and let’s hope we will gradually see more and more of him. Elneny was great – what a player!
  6. Cech was solid. He made some good instinctive saves and oozed confidence and calm in our defence. Nothing more to say about him.
  7. Holding and Koz had another good game and could have had a clean sheet if a little bit more lucky. Our young England CB looked in control throughout the game and his height and strength were great assets today. Wenger will have to decide whether to keep playing him for a while and then introduce Mustafi gradually or to establish the French-German CB pair asap. I am really pleased for Holding and I hope he will get twenty of game time this season.
  8. The final ‘positive’ is for Wenger. He has had to work hard to get the signings he wanted and he has succeeded. There was also a lot of pressure on him to win this away game and he delivered in style. I have said before that we should make the first proper analysis of our chances to win the league after ten games, and I now believe we have everything in place, bar a lot of bad luck on the injury front, to fight for three points in every game and push upwards in the table. Let’s see where we are in a few months time.

Happy Interdull! 🙂

By TotalArsenal.

Left Footer Lucas Perez the Perfect Partner for Giroud and Alexis

TotalArsenal

We know that we should not take the gossip re Arsenal signings too seriously, but if both the Guardian and the BBC report that we are interested in a player then I guess we are getting close.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/aug/25/arsenal-set-to-beat-everton-to-signing-of-lucas-perez

Lucas Pérez, centre, in action for Deportivo la Coruña against Eibar in La Liga last week

So who is this Lucas Perez playing for the beautifully named Deportivo la Coruna?

From the video below you can see he is not the tallest but neither is he small at 1.81m. The almost 28 year old seems very left footed which would suit us fine as he could play on the wing, supporting either Giroud or Alexis in attack. And Ozil seems to work best with fellow left-footed players.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lucas+perez+martinez+youtube&&view=detail&mid=33B2776F844E41922B1F33B2776F844E41922B1F&FORM=VRDGAR

He played 35 League games last season, with a total of 3141 minutes on the pitch. Lucas scored 17 league goals and produced an impressive eight assists. His pass success percentage is 79% and he produces two key passes per game on average. Those are the sort of stats that would suit Arsenal very well. I know that many a Gooner is dreaming of a super CF who scores 25+ PL goals a season, but I reckon Wenger has long ago decided he does not want to be too reliant on a single CF anymore. And it is about time that we follow suit…

Spreading the goals makes us less predictable and dependable on the form and fitness of one super player, and I am confident that between Alexis, Giroud, Theo, Danny and possibly now Lucas Perez we can score 50-60 PL goals per season. The rest will come from our midfielders and defenders, and our wider squad players in attack.

Lucas Perez had an average of 126 minutes between goals and assists in the league last season, and this is better than for example Alexis who needed 144 minutes between goals and assists in the previous PL season, and a lot better than any of our other options on the wing or in the CF position. I have a feeling that Wenger could play all of Perez – Giroud – Alexis, with the Spaniard and Chilean on either wing and interchanging regularly, in some of our games. Alternatively, he could rest any of these three and give the likes of Ox, Iwobi, Gnabry, Theo and Akpom a chance to shine.

Wenger is also likely to continue with Alexis in the middle during a number of games, and then play Lucas Perez and one of Ox, Theo or Iwobi on the wings. I don’t know about you but that gets me quite excited too.

By all means, Lucas Perez could also play as our CF as he reportedly is good at hold up play, which could mean he could be a good direct replacement for Giroud in certain games. However, I cannot tell from the footage I have seen whether the holding CF role would fit our apparent transfer target.

I have a feeling that this signing will go ahead, as it totally makes sense from Arsene’s perspective. Of course it could also be a typical Arsenal decoy for another signing in attack the club is hoping to make.

Let’s wait and see. 🙂

By TotalArsenal

One Day every Gooner Will Realise that Arsene Wenger is a Saint

TotalArsenal

So we gained a point in hard battle against the Foxes and also got our first clean sheet of the season. After a false start against Pool, I reckon an away point against the Champions is not a bad return. We all wanted more as we needed to bounce back straightaway, but we will have to wait for it. I can live with that – many fellow supporters, it seems, cannot.

It is a natural law that when Arsenal are not performing to expectations the fans will get out their personal theories, pet hates and simple solutions to solve all our problems once and for all. Furthermore, speak to any supporter of any club and they usually tell you that their team are two players short to become a super team, especially if they are not top of the league.

I have some of these theories, pet hates and simple solutions myself, but never do I believe that I actually know more than Wenger. Yet when you read the blogs and comments there are thousands of key board heroes who reckon Arsene is a fool and they could do much better.

The past and present are coming together for Arsene on Wednesday night.
He got his man! Well done Arsene and team to get one of the very best in the world to the home of football and so early on as well!

Making suggestions on how to do things different and better for the purpose  of discussion is of course absolutely fine: where would blogs be without it? But the lack of humility and delusions of grandeur by so many fellow supporters is at best frustrating and at worst depressing…. especially if the comments and posts are full of derogatory terms about Wenger’s age, intentions, capabilities etc.

I can tell everyone that a manager who won the FA Cup twice and finished second last season in the last three years, deserves respect and support on its own. But for some reason, this does not seem enough for so many fellow supporters. With or without Wenger we may not win the league again for the next twenty years or so: this is a strong possibility as the PL has become so much more competitive over the last ten years – a period in which the BoD and Arsene invested in the long term future of the club  through building a big, modern stadium that will bring in the necessary revenue to compete with the national and European elite clubs for decades to come – and this is likely to become more challenging rather than easier. It makes the PL such an exciting league compared to the monopolies of Germany (Bayern), Italy (Juventus) and duopolies of Spain and the Netherlands.

I can live with the knowledge that it will be tough to win the league again, let alone regularly in the next ten to twenty years. The only thing I can hope for is that the club can fight for the title with a realistic chance of winning it, every season. And that we do/ will do without any doubt.

I hope that we will keep doing this through building the team with a long term philosophy and strategy, rather than trying to buy and let go lots of players every season. I like us to be great through a set of values and principles the Club, and all its 599 employees, will treat as holy.

I want us to continue to develop our own from the youth teams and from those bought around 16-20 years old from other clubs, home and abroad. I also like us to add experienced players to fill first team or back-up gaps, and I like us to add real, top-gem quality when possible. And that is exactly what the club is doing.

I have no doubt that we will bounce back soon and that Wenger will get the team to compete for the title once more this season, with or without adding the magic ‘two players’. This does not mean that I am convinced we will win the title, but we will have a decent chance to do so.

But what I also feel really, really good about is that the club is now well positioned to compete at the top year in year out, and as soon as Wenger decides enough is enough there is a good structure in place to continue our philosophy and strategy for years to come, which will be very attractive to whoever will succeed the great Arsene.

One day there will not be a single mentally well-functioning Gooner left who does not believe that Wenger was the best thing that ever happened to the club, and that him dedicating such a large part of his football management career to the club is why we are now always fighting for the top prizes. One day every Gooner will realise that Arsene was, and is, a Saint.

By TotalArsenal 

This post was inspired by Terry Mancini’s Hair Transplant’s superb post on ArsenalArsenal:

Transfers? Leave it to Arsene

Koz-Chambers, Coq-Elneny, Theo-Alexis-Ox, Santi nr10: Predicted Line-Up and Tactics

TotalArsenal

Leicester City v Arsenal – The Champions and Runners-up meet early in the season for a feast of football?

Predicted Line-up and preferred Tactics

It is hard to predict how Wenger will line up against the Foxes this evening. In my previous post I picked my favourite 11 to both win the match and make a strong statement in the process. Having read Arsene’s comments over the last few days, I now reckon he will line up something like this:

submit football lineup

It looks certain that Koz will start and Wenger also seems to be indicating that Alexis may start again up front. I am in favour of  both decisions as Koz brings confidence and Sanchez has been a really good alternative to Giroud in the last two games. We scored six goals against City and Pool and that is a fine start to the season, especially as Giroud and Ozil – our top-scorer and top-assister last season – have not been seen on the pitch until now. Alexis is due a goal or two himself, and playing him central means that he does not have to work too hard and can ease himself back into top form.

With Ramsey out it is to be expected that Wenger will pick Santi for the nr10 position. On the wings, it is a choice between Theo, Ox and Campbell, as Iwobi is injured and Jack is probably not match-fit enough to start there. I would prefer the Costa Rican, but it looks like the speedy Englishmen will be preferred for this one.

This will be another battle of midfield and I wonder whether Wenger will stick with the ‘Dogs of War’ Elneny and Coq rather than introduce Xhaka from the start. My feeling is he will go safe and opt for the Swiss Maestro to come on later.

At the back the team picks itself, although some will argue that Gibbs should start ahead of Nacho. I reckon Wenger will stay loyal to Monreal, and he is also the sort of player who gets better and better the more he plays. I feel Wenger will not give up on Chambers easily and prefer him to Holding for today’s epic battle.

Tactics

We know that LC prefer to play on the counter and I hope we will not make it that easy for them. They will sit back and absorb our pressure and then spring the counter with their new signing Musa, Vardy and Mahrez, supported by the impressive Drinkwater whenever possible.

I don’t want us to expose King Koz like that in his first game. It is likely to cost us dearly and lead to injuries, and not just to Koz. As the Foxes are at home, it is easier for us to sit back and force them to come out and play, and then we can have fun on the counter instead of them, with the likes of Ox, Theo and Alexis offering a great threat, especially if they are fed by Cazorla and Elneny (and by themselves of course).

So let’s play compact and with real discipline and not allow them space behind our midfield that leaves the defence exposed. Let’s also be patient and professional, with the aim to take all three points back home – even if it is ‘just’ with a 1-0 to the Arsenal.

Come On You Rip Roaring Gunners!

By TotalArsenal

Ozil, Theo, Alexis behind Giroud | Koz back | Xhaka/Elneny DMs: Big Guns to blow the Foxes Away

TotalArsenal

After a week of navel gazing,  dreaming of new signings and analysing the Liverpool defeat to death, it is time to look forward to the next game. In the end there are 111 points to play for, yet some make you believe it is already doom and gloom with Arsenal. There is no doubt in my mind that we will learn from last Sunday’s game and that the team will also sooner or later accept that they were simply blitzed in a short period of time. This sometimes happens in the game and overanalysing the, in the end, narrow defeat does nobody any good.

Upwards and onwards, and time to get the big guns out and make a statement.

The Foxes have two players it appears we have been interested in, and they both decided to stay with their club. An admirable decision in many ways as loyalty is such a rare thing nowadays, but it is now up to our boys to show them once and for all what they have missed out on.

I am all for giving players a rest, but after seeing the BFG get badly injured after a whole summer of no football, we have to conclude that avoiding injury is no hard science. We often rest players for a long time and then they still get injured almost as soon as they appear on the pitch.

What we do not want to do is send out a team that has confidence issues, and we need to give a strong performance on Saturday evening as well – and ideally come away with three points – so it is time to bring out the big Euros’ Guns and fire from all cylinders at the Foxes.

This would be my team for Saturday: 

submit football lineup

It is time to re-establish the Nacho-Koz partnership on our left hand side, as it was there where we were penetrated at will and which cost us very badly. Of course, I am worried that Koz might get injured but, as per above, there is no guarantee that he will not get injured straightaway if we rest him one or two more weeks.

On the right hand sight, I would keep Holding as he seems more assured and stronger in the air than Chambers. I also feel that the former Southampton man is struggling to make it at Arsenal and the next game is not one to grand him for gaining more confidence and form. I would also be happy to start Debuchy next to Koz, and this may well happen.

In front of the defence I would opt for the wall of Elneny and Xhaka, with the latter playing deepest and Elneny giving us extra protection whilst supporting our attackers as much as possible. Wenger may well opt to play Coquelin again, but I would love to see Granit start and spread his diagonal balls with the finest Swiss precision.

Up front it is time for Sanchez – Ozil – Theo and to put Giroud back as our holding CF. From a fitness point of view this might not be our strongest eleven to start with, but it would give the whole team a psychological lift from the start. And that is what we need more than anything else. After 45 or 60 minutes we can take off Ozil and Giroud and replace them with either Akpom, Campbell or Santi (moving Theo central); and if Koz gets tired we can bring on Gibbs and move Monreal into the left CB position.

With thanks to the best paper in the country, The Guardian, for the picture.

That is what I would do, but I am not sure Arsene will go down the same path. However, I don’t think I will be far off.

What would your first eleven be for Saturday’s crunch game against the Foxes?

By TotalArsenal

Holding Surprises, Sanchez the Team Player, Wingers on Fire: 5 Positives

TotalArsenal

Arsenal 3 -4  Liverpool

A bonker’s game with a bitter aftertaste, but the positives are sweeter than our senses allow us to register. 

Well that was some game of football and what a shame we did not at least take a point from it. First half was Arsenal’s and the key thing to take is that we dominated Pool for 46 minutes, and mostly in their own half. With a sumptuous free-kick Pool managed to equalise before half time and that made all the difference. At half time, the Arsenal players will have felt very badly done to: how could they be level after such a strong showing? The focus will have been on regaining a lead as soon as possible and for that all players have to push up… and for this we paid… 😦

On the other hand, the Pool players will have been feeling very high on getting away with a bad performance and the joy of such a fine free-kick going in at an away ground. Klopp then said to his attackers that they have to force themselves closer to Arsenal’s ‘D area’ and get in  between the CBs and the wall of CoqElneny. He also will have told them to target Arsenal’s left flank as much as possible…. and as we know, it worked a treat for them. Bang Bang BANG, three goals in quick succession and we all felt sucker punched in our reproductive area. Everything that could go right for Pool went right and sometimes this happens in football (we had it against MU at home last season).

It was a clever tactical adjustment by Klopp and he deserves credit for it. It also exposed a weakness we were aware of: a young CB pairing of Holding and Chambers would not have the experience to deal well with the initial blow, something that would not have happened with Koz and/or the BFG in defence.

However, credit to the team for fighting hard and getting two goals back, and with a bit more luck we would have gotten what we deserved.. a draw. At the start of the season it is quite normal that a game goes out of control, especially with a makeshift central defence. Of course it is very attractive to come up with all sorts of ‘I told you so’s’ and ‘we should have done this or that’ but it is just the opening game of the PL for us and things went off the scale after the break. I have seen enough – especially based on our firs half – to believe we will have a very good chance to win the league this year. I predict two clean sheets in our two coming games in August, and plenty of goals.

Five Positives from the game:

  1. Holding and Bellerin held their side of defence really well and had a good connection. I don’t believe our loss was all down to Chambers and Monreal failing the left side of defence, as all defenders have a duty to defend our  box when the ball gets played in, but it was quite obvious that we were porous from the left, and the Pool attackers, just like the MC attackers did last week, penetrated us there time and again. This needs immediate attention. But Holding was calm and classy throughout the game and as it stands it looks like Chambers is the one who will lose out when Koz returns.
  2. We scored three times, and could have had more. I am pleased to see our goals being scored by different players and that we did not just feed the ball to Sanchez time and again to produce them for us. Alexis worked hard and created space for us, just like Ollie so often does, and we found the net through Theo, Ox and Chambers. Many will miss the importance of Alexis’ selfless team play yesterday, but Wenger won’t.
  3. We are getting goals and assists from our ‘mid-wingers’. This is the one position where I felt we needed to improve the squad, but with goals from Theo and Ox from the wing and a peach of an assist by Iwobi, we had a very nice return for those positions.
  4. The wall of Elneny and Coquelin did very well, especially in the first half- my favourite match reviewer on the ‘ArsenalArsenal’ blog called them ‘the dogs of war’ which is exactly what they were. I feel that they were also at fault for Pool breaching our defence so devastatingly in the second half, so a bit more work needs to be done. But I loved the way they bossed the midfield in the first half and supported the attack in putting pressure on Pool’s defence. Le Coq’s tackle that led to the first goal was a pure delight.
  5. We had a good bench, especially in midfield, and bringing on Santi and Ox made an immediate difference. With Mesut, Ollie and Koz joining the first team soon, we will be very strong in almost all areas… except the obvious one 😉

Not the start we wanted, but still some good positives to take from the game. Let’s hope we will get a good CB to strengthen our defence and/or that Wenger and Bould find a way to steady the ship this week.

All to play for.

By TotalArsenal.

 

Confirmed Line-up: Holding/Chambers CBs, Theo/Rambo/Iwobi/Alexis attack, Coq/Elneny DMs

TotalArsenal

Here we go with a live blog fine fellow Gooners.

Wenger has opted for youth in defence with both Holding and Chambers starting today. A big gamble if you ask me, but let’s get behind the boys.

In midfield, Arsene has gone for steel and PL experience with Coquelin being pared up with the reliable and defence-minded Elneny. Will we see Xhaka come on later on?

Up front we start with Theo as our CF? and Alexis and Ox on the wings, with Rambo in the hole. Or will it be Alexis up front and Theo on the right? I am going for the latter.

This is the line-up:

submit football lineup

Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Wilshere, Xhaka, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Akpom

Liverpool XI: Mignolet, Clyne, Lovren, Klavan, Moreno, Henderson, Lallana, Wijnaldum, Mane, Coutinho, Firmino

Subs: Manninger, Can, Origi, Matip, Stewart, Grujic, Alexander-Arnold

Come on you Rip Roaring Gunners – Fight for the Shirt!

Please join us in our live blog.

By TotalArsenal.

How to Line Up against Liverpool: 4-6-0 with Xhaka, Elneny, Iwobi, Rambo, Alexis and Campbell in the ‘6’

TotalArsenal

Here we go again. A new season, new hope, light after darkness and all that… Enjoy the ride and who knows where it will all end.. 🙂

We already published a pre-preview a couple of days ago, so let’s be brief with the preview (and it does not look that 17HT is doing a preview for today’s game).

The problem with being title contenders, well maybe not according to the all knowing pundits but definitely if you listen to the majority of the fans, is that every game becomes a must win. Yet we are entertaining one of the best footballing teams of the last five years, and an English football giant, in Liverpool. Who knows how the game will end, and of course I am hoping for a thumping win to shut the front door on the digital and paper pundits properly – and reunite Goonderdom in the process.

Oh how the ITV reporters were having a go at Arsenal not investing in the squad when we were losing to the Northern Oilers (£150m on players just this summer alone), and oh how quiet they became once Iwobi and Theo put us ahead with decisive and beautiful goals. But more than a win, I also want to see a fantastic game of football in which two teams give their all and show what they have got.

It is the start of the season and teams have to find their form and shape, so we have to see how it goes today. We played well during the friendlies but nothing fully prepares a team for the real stuff. An early goal against might disrupt or galvanize either team, and a rash challenge might lead to a straight red early on…. it is all possible.

I like Klopp and the way his teams play, and it seems that he is the perfect match for Pool, both for the football club and the city. There will be no Mourinho like sitting back and absorbing pressure and pounce on the counter from them; in fact, we may be forced to play like that with Pool pushing us back into our own half. With Giroud and Ozil out, I reckon we could play a 4-6-0 with the aim to not let them dominate us, but instead make Arsenal dominate Pool in their own half.

I don’t think Wenger will go for this, but when I do match previews I don’t want to predict what Wenger is going to do. Instead, I want to look at the team and see how we can  best attack our opponents.

Given the injuries at the back, I am tempted to play a style of football that keeps the opponent away from us, rather than sit back and absorb pressure.

This would be my preferred line up for today’s fab battle against Pool:

Arsenal v Pool ideal

Iwobi, Rambo and Ox/Campbell can sit next to Elneny and Xhaka and squeeze the life out of the Pool midfield, and then we can attack in their half with our passing game and Alexis working as a false nr.9… yep the Barca-esque way. That is what I would do, but what would be your formation and starting eleven?

By TotalArsenal.

 

Wenger and Wilshere are Right, and Xhaka Will Make the Difference

TotalArsenal

Whether we agree with Arsene or not about his performance in the transfer window (which is still open – so I reserve judgment), it is the lads on the pitch that will need to give it everything this season. Like many supporters, I would like one or two more faces but there is no doubt we have a super, top-talented squad.

In my view, the main thing last season acting as the undercurrent of our weak performances was mentality and leadership. I think that by correcting this, other aspects of our game such as conversion rate will improve as well.

I get the impression Xhaka has been brought in as a key part of improving the team’s leadership mentality, which feeds into our team spirit. Granit strikes me as someone who possesses the key ingredient of a leadership mentality: a great focus and seriousness of effort he puts into each and every moment he is on that green turf. This also refers to Wilshere’s reflections that this was a weak point in the team, which needs improving: see his latest Arsenal.com interview of 1 min 30 secs in: http://player.arsenal.com/interviews/video/8099/-we-can-t-wait-for-the-new-season).

I think it’s not too far a leap to ascribe this weakness as part of a cultural disease: the ‘sign him up culture’ that football, and English football in particular, is corrupted by and that breeds a self-entitled, ‘I want it now’ culture among the fans. Signings are great, but as Arsene knows it is not always the answer. The self-entitled man who finds a solution with money and not through hard work and dedication.. in the players’ case playing great footy; and in the fans case, believing in and supporting the team.

I have just watched the pre-match press conference with Arsene, and am sorry to say I feel pretty disillusioned with the media and the culture of brainwashed consumer fans it has surely emboldened, if not produced. In what should have been an opportunity to explore Arsene’s thoughts on the actual football taking place over the weekend and beyond, about 90% of the questions fielded were about transfers and contracts.. Of course the media effectively are the mouthpiece of agents and some very rich men.. How much did Mr Raiola make from the Pogba transfer for example?

In the interview, Wenger said that football is about performance, not finances at the end of the day.

Of course finances have an impact on the performances but it is not the sole factor or deserving of 90% of the questions coming from the journalists today. I can see Xhaka (and other leadership initiatives/coaching) helping us overcome the mentality and leadership issues. But will it be enough come Sunday?

I trust they are doing their best and that they will knuckle down to some serious footy from the off this time. If we also do our best by believing in the team and supporting them all the way, then I think we will be in with a real chance.

COYG!

By FMJ14

How to Beat Pool: Rambo nr10, Alexis CF, Iwobi/Joel on Wings, Xhaka/Elneny DMs

TotalArsenal

And Chambers and the Nacho-Man as our CB pair!

Will we get a ‘Monreal style’ signing?

It is still too early to predict the team against Liverpool on Sunday with exactness. We will know more after tomorrow’s press conference – assuming there is one – and Friday is also a typical day for a new signing by Arsenal…. We live in hope. If indeed we do sign a defender or attacker by cop tomorrow, there is only a small chance that they would start in Sunday’s 4pm battle. But I reckon we will be able to field a strong team that can get all three points and give Pool an early nosebleed.

The obvious area of concern is our defence. We have not looked too good in defence during most of the friendly games, and especially the now injured Gabriel did not look fit or focussed during any of his outings. So at the moment, we have our nr1 defender Koz back in training but probably not fit enough to start, our nr2 and nr3 defenders BFG and Gab long-term injured, which leaves us with youngsters Bielik, Holding, and Chambers. The latter should take this opportunity to break through to the first team and Wenger will use the next few games as a big testing moment for the young Englishman – his first team future at Arsenal could depend on it. I reckon Callum will be ok as long as we partner him with a cool and collected, experienced defender. At this moment in time, this has to be either Debuchy or Nacho, and I am going to suggest the latter is the best option. A combo of Chambers and Nacho, with Bellerin and Gibbs besides them and the experienced Cech behind them, should form a very decent defence.

I was at last season’s Arsenal v Pool game and the visitors really impressed me with their pressing football, high tempo passing and great running with and without the ball. Even though they have changed managers, the style of play is not very different. On Sunday they will try to press high up the pitch and not allow us to build from the back. This will actually suit us, as we can play compact and deep and play on the counter regularly. And playing compact will also help the likes of Chambers and Monreal to control the box better.

What will be absolutely crucial is who we will select for the double DM pivot and our mid-wingers. They all need to be able to help out our defence and are key in winning the midfield battle. They also need to add the spark to our two main attackers and get themselves into scoring positions as much as possible. This is where we can make a difference, and our performance against MC last Sunday is cause for some optimism.

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I reckon we can win that battle in midfield and then there will be space and time to play some aggressive attacking football that will get the home crowd very excited. Regular readers know how much I rate Elneny and I simply don’t think we could do without him. Next to him it should either be Le Coq or Xhaka, and I believe the latter has that extra weapon that could bring us our win: the diagonal long-ball to our midwingers or CF from deep in our own half. Having said that, it may be that Wenger prefers to play Coquelin as he has more PL experience and adds that little bit extra protection to our defence (I would imagine).

In front of these two and behind the CF, I would play the One Aaron Ramsey: he can add that extra defensive support to Xhaka (Coq) and Elneny when required. He also can make those runs into the box and form a great partnership with my preferred CF for Sunday’s encounter: Alexis. Both have the quality and confidence to take our chances and their work rate is second to none. I can also see Wenger playing Theo up-front and Alexis on the wing, but I would rather bring on Theo in the second half to replace either Rambo or Alexis.

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On the (mid)wings, I would prefer to start with safe pair of hands Joel and the lively Iwobi. Both will support their FBs well and add real threat up front whilst also having the engines to keep going which will be crucial against Pool, as this will be a high tempo, very intense game for 90 minutes.

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I am not sure whether this will be our starting eleven but I reckon it would give us a really good chance to play some fine football and take all three points.

In just a few days the footie feast starts again – I cannot wait – COYRRGs! 🙂

By TotalArsenal