WenGermans – Bergkampesque

Forget Cesc – Ozil is the player Arsenal needs!

June 11, 2014TotalArsenal

There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the future of Cesc Fabregas and how he is the missing piece of the puzzle for Arsenal to return to Wengerball – however, I disagree and believe a second season from Ozil will simply be all we need.

Aside from the fact that Cesc may be abandoning his promise to only ever play for Barcelona and Arsenal, and is apparently willing to go to Chelsea to reinvigorate his career, he should still not be a priority signing. We have an embarrassment of riches in the creative midfield area and he would simply block the progression of players like Wilshere, Ramsey, Zelalem, Eisfeld and even Ox (since one of Ozil, Santi or Jack would likely be pushed wide to accommodate Cesc in the starting 11). There’s a necessity for depth in any team’s lineup, but center attacking midfield is certainly not one where we are lacking options. Factor in a likely improved second season for Ozil and a rebound year for Santi, and we’re beyond set for creativity.

Ozil often receives misguided criticism for his lack of emotion, relatively carefree motion on the pitch, subpar finishing and inability to constantly influence a match. I challenge those that condemn our most expensive signing ever by highlighting that Ozil is simply more intelligent than the majority of footballers that play the game. His lack of emotion can be attributed to high composure and keeps him out of trouble with fouls; his relatively carefree motions on the pitch are a result of the grace he plays with and not needing to expend the extra energy to make his presence felt; his subpar finishing is an area he can obviously improve upon, but he did score a respectable 1 goal every 5 matches in the league last season; his inability to constantly influence a match is a testament to his understanding of the team game and that other players also need to be involved in the creative aspects of a match, in order to inspire unpredictability and true team unity.

Ozil can change the outcome of a game without a moment’s notice with one decisive, splitting through ball. He will be more familiar with both the league and his teammates and also have better outlets to pass to in Theo and hopefully a new striker capable of scoring at will. The catalyst in playing Wengerball is the ability to transition the ball quickly from defense to offense – this is often not the responsibility of a number 10. A number 10 is expected to be able to find his teammates in the final third and produce as many clear-cut scoring opportunities as possible. There are few, if any, better at this than Ozil.

The most shocking revelation is how little faith Gooners have shown Ozil after just one season. Fans continue to give Giroud the benefit of doubt, yet do not afford Ozil the same, even though he produced 5 goals and 9 assists in his Arsenal debut season. At the conclusion of next season, I have no doubt in my mind that Ozil will be one of the most influential and effective players in the EPL and those questioning his ability to be Arsenal’s number 10 will be regretting they ever did.

Written By: Highbury Harmony

Let’s pull those Lederhosen down! Bayern preview + Line-Up.

February 19, 2014February 19, 2014TotalArsenal

Santi had one of his best games ever in Munich, but will he start today?

Duke Senior:
‘Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.’

By Shakespeare.

‘Ieder nadeel heb zijn voordeel’ (Every disadvantage has its advantage)

By Johan Cruijff.

Whilst Bayern have to come to terms with their current unbearable lightness of being, Arsenal have actually been facing some severe adversity.

The big loss against Pool was a huge shock to the system and put our feet firmly back on the ground. Subsequently, Arsenal played more compact and disciplined against the Mancs, but our ‘safety first’ approach led to not enough chances to get all three points from the game. It was progress nevertheless. And then came the Pool FA cup game and further progress was made: a solid and disciplined performance saw us edge through to the last eight and give the Dippers one on the nose. Sweet indeed.

Today, we are hoping for one more step forward from those last three games. Only if we are at our very best tonight (and the referee does not spoil it) can we get a result against Bayern. We need to be disciplined throughout the team and concentrate for 90+ minutes. You only have to look at the Martin Demichelis incident yesterday to realise that the previous sentence, despite stating the bleeding obvious, is never truer than in a CL game.

Guardiola does not want us to have the ball tonight, as he believes we can hurt them if we do. The idea that this true gentleman – the antithesis of Maureen in almost everything – is combining the best of Bayern and Barca into something even better than its parts – Bayerlona – is very scary. I have not watched Bayern a lot this season, but we can expect a physically strong team with an even better ability to pass the ball round and not give it to us.

Key to our survival is therefore to hold onto the ball when we have it and impose our own game on them. This is something we have not been good at recently, especially against the top teams who have pressed us high up the pitch. We also need to protect our ‘D’ with a solid wall and our CB’s and ‘DMs’ have had some very good games to practice on this recently (this was one of our weaknesses in our last home encounter against BM).

There is no Ribery and no Shaqiri, but Schweinsteiger is back after an injury and they are pretty spoiled for choice in midfield. Muller, Robben, Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Martinez etc are all fantastic footballers who will press our midfielders hard.

It is also key to start both compact/disciplined and with a high tempo, not allowing them to settle easily and, at least now and again, force our game on them. This will not be easy, but our recent games against Pool and the Mancs have been very good practice sessions, and as such we actually hold an advantage to Bayern who have not had a challenging game for a while now.

So how will we line up?

This is a question of choosing for compactness (4-5-1) or speed/counter-attacking football (4-3-3). The Back-Five is very likely to be Sz, Sa, Me, Ko, Gi and the double DM is likely to be manned by Flam and Jack; and Ozil and Giroud are also likely to start. This leaves us with the ‘mid-wings’. In one way, I would like us to start with Ox AND Gnabry and really take the game to them. Just go out there and enjoy ourselves… But that would leave the likes of Cazorla, Podolski and Rosicky out and we need their experience and maturity….

Therefore, I expect Wenger to go half way with one of either Gnabry and Ox and one of Cazorla, Podolski and Rosicky. Rosicky offers both compactness and decent speed, but he seldom scores (or even assists). Pod scores when he wants but does not offer the compactness and required stamina for a game of this stature. Santi likes a free role and is great support for OG and Ozil, but not so much for his full back…. Not an easy choice for Arsene to make.

With Ox in scintillating form, I expect him to play ahead of Gnabry tonight. He could offer the X-factor tonight, but he will need to play with full discipline and composure throughout the game, and let’s hope he learned from his lucky escape on Sunday…

So, here is my predicted (and preferred) line up for tonight’s super clash:

It could be Rosicky for Ox, Santi, or even Jack, but I reckon this will be close to our starting eleven. Will it be enough to beat Bayern? Aber sicher! :) — It could be Rosicky for Ox, Santi, or even Jack, but I reckon this will be close to our starting eleven. Will it be enough to beat Bayern? Aber sicher, jawohl mein Herr! 🙂

I have a good feeling about this game and Flamini is right that we have momentum again. Let’s hope that our recent adversity will have strengthened the team’s resolve and desire to finally claim a big CL scalp once more. Now that would be sweeter than sweet!

COME ON YOU RIP ROARING GUNNERS!

Time to pull down those Lederhosen and show them who is top Arse! 🙂

TotalArsenal.

Arsenal full of WenGermans? Cannot play without DM? Growth between Jack & Ozil.

January 25, 2014January 25, 2014TotalArsenal

Last night game at and around the Emirates was a feast of football, and both the Coventry players and fans played their part in it.

Arsene decided not to play with a more conventional DM and put Ox and Jack in the deeper laying midfield positions. Both young Englishmen did not fancy sitting back too much, especially in the first half when Coventry sat very deep themselves. Our defence pushed up high and Jack and Ox were free to join Ozil up-front. Add to that Pod and Gnabry, and a relatively hard working Giroudesque Bendtner, and you can see how we basically played close to 4-6-0. The result was almost total dominance and some beautiful moves for us to enjoy.

The first goal came from a quick rebound, with Mertesacker robbing the ball high up the pitch, Jack passing it on quickly to Ozil, leaving the latter with the sort of situation he craves more than anything else: space, forward momentum, and passing options. His pass to Pod was class – how nicely he moved the ball from under his feet to his fellow countryman – and the man with the best smile in football (other than Zorro) showed us how much composure and technical skills he still has, with a cool go-around-the-keeper and precise finish.

The second one was a training move engineered by Germans, between corner-taker Ozil, header-onner BFG and fox-in-the-box finisher Podolski. They were very pleased with themselves, and rightly so. 2-0 to the good guys and time to relax, they thought.

Yesterday, we played four Germans from the start, and when Zelalem joined another one was added. With rumours about Draxler joining us growing day by day, it looks like Wenger is shifting more and more towards a German-English-(Spanish/French) first team composition. If Bender is to follow as well as at some point, we could be fielding a majority of Germans in the team anytime soon with six/seven WenGermans in all areas of the line-up. All good stuff, if you ask me.

The second half showed why we cannot really afford to play without a DM. Coventry pressed higher up the pitch and passed the ball very well at times. They penetrated our high line cleverly on a few occasions and we were lucky to escape. Our back four looked very exposed at times and I, for one, will be very happy to see Flamini, or at least Arteta, restored to the first team on Tuesday.

It took a couple of substitutions to punish Coventry for not taking any of the chances they had and put the game to bed. Giroud and Cazorla took their chances well and will have enjoyed this easy shot in the arm to keep their confidence high for more challenging encounters.

The Coventry Fans showed class with their timely, collective protests and we should wholeheartedly support them in their quest for returning to their roots.

I would like to point out how Jack and Ozil seem to be growing closer and are producing a lot of magic between them. They have a lot in common and the more they develop an automatic understanding between each other the better our team will play football. Going forward, they will both benefit enormously from a strong DM behind them, so they can play together in front of, as well as inside, the opposition’s ‘D’, where together they can do enormous damage to whoever/whatever is put in front of them.

Ozil’s quality is beyond doubt and Jack is visibly learning from him quickly. Regular BK readers will know that I am huge fan of Jack, and I am one of those who believes he will become the best English player of his generation when he reaches the age between 25-32. He seemed to have lost his touch and precision in his passing at the start of the season, but it is all back now.

He has such a great overview and his box-penetrating passes are once again of the highest order. If we keep the triangle of Flamini(Arteta), Ozil(Rosicky, Cazorla) and Jack(Rambo) – with both the point pointing forwards and backwards at times, as the total football crazed Dutch say – fit and developing further, we have a real chance of finishing the season on a high. I don’t think we realise enough how much creative/penetrative quality we have in midfield right now.

Finally, I would like to say how impressed I was with Ozil yesterday. He has played in so many games already for us this season, without having his seasonal winter break this time round. Yet, he gave his all against Coventry and for the full 90 minutes. Of all the WenGermans, Ozil is our most talented star but the fact that he works so hard is what really makes him stand out right now for me.

All good stuff. We are now OGAATing towards Tuesday, where the Saints await us. Bring it on!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

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