As the international break is coming to an end soon and as we edge closer to seeing club football again, I tried to reflect on which player has been our stand out performance this season so far. I came up with a preliminary short-list and please feel free to add more names and/or disagree:
Saka – This young man has been nothing short of phenomenal since he has broken into the first team. He is of course still learning but his work rate, decision-making and ability to attack with poise and create chances have impressed me.
Tierney – His work rate and the quality of his delivery are truly impressive and the best thing is that he is still improving. He has played well at LCB and at LB. A solid start of the season.
Gabriel – Who would have thought our summer signing from Lille would bring defensive physicality and solidity from his first start? Impressive start to a Gunner’s life.
El Neny – Seen by many (including myself) as a definite goner, he has come back with energy, enthusiasm and real purpose to end the opponent’s progression towards our goal. Mismanaged before or just a change in form due to better physical condition? Whatever the reason is, he appears to be the first name on the sheet in the middle of the park next to Partey.
So who is your MVP so far? The omission of Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah, Pepe, Willian, Ceballos would be explained by our lack of attacking edge and creativity so far this season but feel free to convince me that they are our MVP so far 😛
Hope everyone is safe and sound. Good luck everyone.
PS: Saka did well yesterday against Belgium but Grealish and Kane were really amazing. Shame that England won’t make the Final Four of the League of Nations.
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From LBG:
Thanks for the Post, Rocky!
Gone through the LB stage and out the other end. Hope never to be inflicted by Jigsol’s “indifference”, probably making me a delusional optimist by nature.
I have a small question for AAers. Is Partey more than a “holding”
midfielder and, especially if/when we have Gabriel and Saliba behind him, should he be given more of a Vieira free licence?
Sorry if this moves the footballing grief discussion on against wishes.
PS
Thought Saka was excellent last night. Use/gamble more on those dynamic forward passes. Believe in your ability to skin full backs either on the outside or with a quick one two, and tell Grealish to become a Gooner.
Partey is more than a Holding Midfielder and would be nice to see him move forward more, indeed. Also agree that Saka should try to lure Grealish to Arsenal 😛
Unfortunately I think our days of being able to attract Grealish have gone; he is Champions League level now, be it in this country or another.
Tierney was quality before he arrived and continues to impress.
Saka’s star just keeps rising and rising.
Elneny is probably Arteta’s biggest success, he was bang average under Wenger and Emery but has become an important part of the midfield.
Holding should not be forgotten.
But if you add all those together you get Gabriel, top, top drawer.
LB- I m hesitating between Saka and Gabriel. Tough choice.
Imagine if we also went all in for Fofana, our back 3 options would be:
Starters: Fofana, Luiz, Gabriel
Back-up: Saliba, Holding, Mari
I think our back 3 would then be amongst the most sound and promising.
I can’t believe I forgot the most exciting player of all
Martinelli……………
Excellent topic RC – well done!
I find myself unable to disagree with a single word of LB’s comment @3.40pm
Grealish to Arsenal? Dream on.
And our MVP by a decent stretch this season is Gabriel.
Nice one, RC.
In the league all you’ve mentioned have been great. A toss between Elneny who had to come from deep and Gabriel for storming fearlessly into the PL.
In Europe it has to be Joe, the rare gem of a scoring midfielder.
It’s interesting that none of our principal attacking players features on anyone’s shortlist.
Hardly surprising given how toothless we have been up front (although that is not just the fault of the attackers).
I know Saka can be considered as an attacking player but his flexibility makes him more of a midfielder in my eyes.
But Auba (runaway MVP of last season), Laca, Pepe and Willian have all disappointed to varying degrees. Of that bunch I think Pepe has been the most effective, although that’s not saying much.
I wonder if Arteta will start starting Pepe in the EPL.
Ceba also needs to get going. He is the main reason we don’t have space for Ozil in the squad 😛
Leno – ?, Luiz, Gabriel – AMN, Partey, El Neny, Tierney – Ceba or Willock, Auba, Saka
What about this line-up? Do you think Ceba or Willock could play as wide playmakers?
Thanks RC. Also thanks to Rocky’s post which on close examination and self reflection has me down as a delusional optimist who feels he has a better idea than the manager…….and on that note 🙂
My choice is Gabriel RC. Saka and Tierney are close runners but for me are playing out of their best position so haven’t been quite as stellar as Gabriel playing in his natural position.
Going off at a slight tangent, if MVP stood for most valuable person then at the start of the season I would have gone with Arteta. He has somewhat hit a crossroads with his development process recently though with the squad, and I don’t personally feel he is currently getting the best out of the squad at his disposal; something I also feel about Southgate incidentally despite being a very likeable chap.
They both seem to have remained slightly too cautious in their approach recently despite having better options. Both have the handbrake half on.
Arteta could be our MVP still and should be the overiding key factor that drives Arsenal back to the top tier again, but he has some serious immediate decisions to make in what he does with the squad at his disposal. I really hope he makes the correct choices moving forwards.
RC, Ceba or Willock as wide playmakers? My answer would be no. For me that is starting to head into the dangerous territory of playing players out of their best position, which I personally feel has been an achilles heel of ours for a number of years.
Now is the time to set up a strong formation with players in their best positions. We have the players and back up for every position now, so there is no need to have players in roles unsuited to them.
You could make a list of the players we have available for each position and for the most part players should only be selected in that position from that pool, unless there is a serious injury crisis or specific need to adapt the formation. There are always a couple of players, like AMN, who are adaptable to a few positions and more leeway can be given to them in different roles.
Number 9 : Lacazette, Nketieh, Aubamayeng
Attacking wide left : Aubamayeng, Nelson, Martinelli
Attacking wide right : Pepe, Saka
Attacking central midfield : Saka, Willian, ESR, Willock, Ceballos
Defensive midfileld (? 2 required in the line up) : Partey, Elneny, Xhaka, Ceballos, AMN
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