So basically we have three players that have met expectations this season…Tierney, Saka and ESR

Some that have done relatively OK in Holding, Xhaka, Laca, Mari and we may be able to add Pepe, Gabriel, Chambers, El Neny

Some that have failed to live to expectations in Partey, Martinelli, Auba, Bellerin, Leno, Willian

I am not looking into our loanees (Ceba, Ode) or youth that has not been really used like Nelson, Balogun or Azeez or players that have not been used much like Nketiah or Cedric.

Our stand out performers are clearly young, talented and ready to work their socks off for the team so they are the first three names on the sheet for me. The strike force came together when Laca was on the pitch and I must also admit that Xhaka in most games did well in solidifying our midfield when paired with Partey so this year and just based on performance only especially in 2021, my starters would be:

Ryan – Chambers, Holding, Mari, Tierney – Partey, Xhaka – Saka, ESR, Pepe – Laca

but this first XI does not get you in the top 4 for sure next year…so the idea is to build around our top 3 performers and to make sure that:

1. We are hard to beat so we need defensive solidity
2. We can win games so we have the capacity to a. score one more goal than the opponent and b. manage games properly.

In terms of solidity and attacking threat, we do need a better RB and I would say a more industrious Left Forward too. Now if we want to manage the game tempo better and create more chances, we also need a better central midfielders.

In any case, the good things is that we have 3 young British players including 2 that came through our ranks and have basically been our stand out performers this year. This is something to celebrate. Now let us build a team in which they can flourish and take us back to where we belong, namely to the trophy winners’ group.

COYG

Emery’s Villareal beats Arteta’s Arsenal logically over the two legs. We had some hope at the end of the first leg with Pepe scoring that PK that kept us in the tie but overall, we were outplayed in Spain. At the Emirates, we did not manage to take control of the game and had a very timid first half. In the second half, we started to play with poise and purpose but we were too scrappy to create real chances and when we did, the posts denied us. Auba very unlucky tonight and our club with him…

My generous grading mostly based on the second half because I do not want to think of the first half again

Leno – 6 ;

Bellerin 6, Holding 7, Mari 6, Tierney 6.5

Partey 5, Odegaard 4

Saka 6, ESR 6, Pepe 6.5

Auba 6

Martinelli – 5

Willian – 4

Laca 6

So what is next for us? There is no more real reason to play this season…except to prepare next season…

So I am hoping to see more of Balogun, Martinelli, ESR, Azeez in the starting line-up and less of Luiz, Willian and Odegaard especially…Let us give playing time to players that will be with us next year and can start positively next year. Let us focus on next year already

ESR, Partey, Saka – Pepe, Balogun, Martinelli – why not?

A sad end to the evening and really to the season but let us build for next year already.

So the past week, we have been debating on whom should play against Villareal…The results were quite interesting and at times even astounding…

Ryan – Bellerin, Holding, Mari, Tierney (or Cedric) – Partey, Xhaka (or El Neny) – Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli (or ESR) – Auba

was the most likely line up based on your inputs/votes and comments.

Will Arteta follow your suggestions to start with Ryan and Bellerin? Will he stick to playing Pepe as a false 9 up front? Will he finally start Martinell in the Europa League? Will Auba be our saviour tonight? So many unknowns…

What we know for sure is that Emery’s team will play like they did in Villareal. They will try to score a goal in transition. They will play through balls behind our DMs and they will ask their strikers and wingers to then populate the box…We know how Emery likes to work, although in the end he lost our team but I think it was more due to the over tactical sessions and his man-management skills…Anyways…

To counter an Emery’s team, one has to be good at keeping the ball or at counter-attacking. Arteta wants us to keep the ball so we better be good at it tonight or else, we will be punished on quick transition counter-attacking plays…

Villareal does not have better players overall than our team. They may work better as a team but the second half when we played 10 vs 11 gives me confidence that we can actually put them under pressure and win tonight. My main concern is our ability to shoot ourselves in the foot through silly mistakes and tonight, there is no room for even one silly mistake. We need a clean sheet or 3-4 goals and I am hoping for a clean sheet as I am not sure we can ship more than goals tonight…so here is my predicted line-up and my preferred line-up

Predicted line-up if Tierney is injured: 4231

Leno – Chambers, Holding, Mari, Cedric (or Tierney if fit) – Partey, El Neny – Saka, Odegaard, ESR – Auba

My preferred line-up – 442

Leno – Chambers, Holding, Gabriel, Cedric (or Tierney if fit) – Saka, Partey, El Neny, ESR – Martinelli, Auba

Predicted score at full-time: 2-1 to our boys and we take it to extra-time or even PKs…then it is the lottery…

Let us see what Arteta has in store for us…In any case, it does not have to be pretty, it does not have to be fast but we need a win tonight just to keep our hope for a good season alive…otherwise, there is no need to continue watching AFC the rest of the season as we will not qualify for the CL or EL through the EPL and we are not playing any Cup finals..

So COYG! We need you to win, we need to believe until the end of the season that AFC can win major trophies

So for this exercise, we will imagine a 4231, which is the most used formation by Arteta…but bear in mind that we could end up playing as a 433 or 442…so in your post, feel free to put your ideal set up…

So who would be our double-pivot

Who will be dribbling on our wings and who will play the astute pass in the middle of the park?

So blog away my friends…

At this stage, the voted squad is:

Ryan – Bello, Holding, Mari, Tierney (or Cedric) –

So a thin majority wants to start the game with Ryan between the posts…why not? I doubt it will happen but who knows…

We are setting up the team as a 433 or 4231 and in any case, 4 at the back. So who starts for you?

Right back: Bellerin, Chambers or Cedric

RCB: Holding

LCB: Gabriel, Mari

LB: Tierney, Cedric, Xhaka, Saka

The big question mark is over Tierney’s fitness but if he is fit, I think he will start…

Seems Holding and Mari have Arteta’s preference to start as CBs in the Europa League

while Chambers seems to have taken over the starting position as RB…

Who would you like to see on your side?

So who would you like to see as our back four?

Our Villareal game is definitely the most important game of the season so far…If we quality, we would get the chance to play against Man Utd in the final of the Europa League and earn 1) A major European Trophy ; 2) A spot in next year’s Champions League.

In the recents posts, comments have been raging on whether we should keep Leno as our Nr.1 or whether Ryan’s few but confident outings have given him a real shot at starting against Villareal.

We all know that Leno is very good on his line but he is rash in the air and is not great with his feet. There is always an error in him too and he still does not seem like he is commanding his defense. Ryan also has an error in him but he seems more confident in the air and better at deciding when to play short or long but he is not as good on his line…

In any case, we do not have a great GK in our squad for sure…

As according to you,

and why?

So we lost against Villareal, away. We conceded two super soft goals within half an hour and when we were down to 10 men thanks to Ceballos’ idiotic defending, I thought that we could just have lost our chance to reach the final…but no, we actually played better with 10 men – with more intent, purpose and pace. With Leno keeping us in the tie with two key saves, we were able to sneak a PK in courtesy of Saka’s smart moves and Pepe’s cool shot. Luckily, we did not concede another goal and if Auba didn’t slip, we could have had an equalizer too!

So while the loss was bad, the fact that we scored one back and dominated Villareal when playing with one-man down, there is room for optimism. We will concede a goal at home for sure so we gotta hope that we will score 3…

The team set-up was strange indeed with Ceba and no real CF. I think that it is very clear that we will need Laca leading the forward line next week and he will need to be flanked by Saka on the right, supported by Emile in the middle and then either Pepe, Gabi or Auba on the left. I hope that Tierney will be able to start at LB and that we can have El Neny-Partey or Xhaka-Partey in the middle.

Anyways…not a good result but not a bad one

Leno – kept us in the game – 7

Chambs – nothing bad, nothing good – 5

Holding – nothing bad, nothing great either – 6

Mari – unusually shaky and slow at the beginning but then did fine – 4

Xhaka – struggled tonight at LB – 4

Partey – lacking edge – 5

Ceba – why? – 3

Saka – combative, inventive and cunning in the box – 7

ESR – a weird role for him…he is no KDB yet… – 6

Pepe – a stern performance with another EL goal – 6.5

Arteta – 4.

All to play for still…COYG!

LBG on the Laca debate: “Lacazette is finishing the season on a high. He may even lead us to glory in the Europa Cup and the Champions League next season. Should we extend his contract ( like Aubang, please not like Aubang!!) or cash in on a player who could otherwise be holding up the development of Martinelli and Balogun?”

Maxwell’s response: “LBG – a difficult one. Laca is my favourite player over the past three seasons. He rarely leaves anything out on the pitch. My preference would be to move Aubamayang on, not because he’s done anything wrong, his current slump notwithstanding, but as many have observed on here, he doesn’t fit well with Arteta’s design. I would then offer Laca a limited extension, maybe two years, but heavily incentivised, so that the base number wasn’t too eye watering. Mind you, I wish they’d do that with ALL contracts! He seems to have such a positive effect on the young players, he’d be worth retaining as they develop.”

Interesting debate started by LBG and a very interesting response from Maxwell…

Here is my 2 cents:

1. Auba will not be moved on and will not want to move so that’s settled…I am hoping that he rediscovers his form so that we avoid another “Ozil” saga
2. Laca will also stay. Arteta really rates him, He likes his ability to bring the team together and his leadership qualities. He is also liking Laca’s goals so I can see him getting a 2 year extension, indeed.
3. Martinelli will also stay and he will be competing for the LFW position rather than the CF. Arteta is really working hard with him also on the personality aspect and everyone knows he is our future starter as LFW so no chance that he is leaving.
4. Balogun has been extended and Arteta and Edu really rate him. I think he may be allowed to go on loan next year if we can’t give enough playing time in the first half of the season.
5. This leaves us with Nketiah who I think will be allowed to leave and he may joined by Nelson, Willock and maybe AMN too.

So here is our forward line for me:

CF: Auba, Laca, Balo + 1 recruit a la “Giroud” (An aerial threat)

Wingers: Saka, Pepe, Martinelli and maybe Willian (?) although would be nice to replace Willian by F. Kostic for example.

What about you? Does Laca stay? Does he leave? Does Nketiah stay or does he leave?

A strange feeling during and after the game…We managed the game well, we controlled the game and we scored some nice goals. Ceballos had a good game – it has been a long time coming! Xhaka didn’t disappoint. Partey bossed the midfield. Pepe was running back. Martinelli scored. Holding and Mari were solid and Leno didn’t do anything wrong…What happened?

We won the midfield battle and Ceba was key to this together with Saka and…Laca. Once you control the midfield, the game is easier and the passing flows. Martinelli and Pepe made themselves available through their runs and Laca by dropping back. It was quite a good display and the first goal was very nice to watch but I also liked the last one with that beautiful Partey turn and assist and Laca’s cool finish. The second one was not bad as Pepe got the ball back, drove it forward, forced a good save from the GK but not good enough to keep Martinelli off the score sheet.

Only issue with yesterday’s game is Saka’s injury. Other issue that nobody wants to dwell on is that the team does relatively well without Auba starting. I also agree with Arteta that Laca seems to be in a good place at the moment. I am hoping that he will score 2 goals vs Slavia this week with Pepe assisting at least one of them…

Leno – 6

Chambers – 6

Holding – 6

Mari – 6

Xhaka – 6

Partey – 7

Ceba – 8

Pepe – 7

Saka – 7

Martinelli – 7

Laca – 8

To AFC: More assured displays like this please!