I have left Saka off this title list because I want, eventually( and sooner rather than later) for Mikel to go to four at the back as his norm and Saka IMO, should then hold down the left wide position in the “midfield”.

But my question to AAers is how does Mikel fit in to “the/his system” the other five?

And just to add to the dilemma, I want Partey and would not turn down Aouar( even with too many vowels) because from what I have seen and read, I believe in his “creativity”.

The problem, for me, as a long time demander for ‘giving yoof a chance’ is that I don’t want, at the end of this season, the horrifying prospect of five disheartened young talents angling to get away.

So, my initial, perhaps controversial , thoughts (as always)………..

Laca, for me should not be a starter. A fit Martinelli and Eddie should be given their chance up front alongside Aubang. Smith-Rowe can learn from Willian and perhaps Aouar about the No10 role. That leaves Willock and Nelson, who, if we get the two possible outstanding transfers, I have great concern for. Haven’t even mentioned Elneny and you all know my opinion of X! Over to you folks!

LBG

Three young coaches that had the chance to play in the EPL relatively recently and under some of the best coaches…They were all given a chance as head coach this year in the EPL and here are some concluding remarks:

1. These young coaches seem to have a knack for man and team management;

2. These young coaches are not afraid of bold choices, of calling a cat a cat and in calling out the pundits whenever they can

3. They all have pretty clear game plans:- Arteta is keen on high intensity and pressing game and very much about managing spaces. – Lampard and Ole are more on the side of quick transition game as well as on stretching teams out wide so a lot of crosses going in the box and a very active role from the full backs.

4. Lampard and Ole reached Top 4. Arteta did not.

5. Lampard has really put his trust in young players this season and was rewarded.

6. Ole was able to rely on his experienced players and the eclosion of Greenwood and confirmation of Bissaka.

7. Lampard and Ole are backed by strong financial commitments from their owners and Lampard has already made some astute acquistion for next year. What about Arteta? WIll he get financial backing?

In any case – I am annoyed we finished behind Tottenham, Chelsea and Man Utd. Cannot have any complaints about LFC, Man City nor Watford. I feel sorry for Rodgers – it seems he never gets his team to finish the job…

I feel like Arteta is building his blueprint for AFC success:

1. The non-negotiables: commitment, working for the team and club success

2. Fair and performance-based squad selection

3. Growing some young players into our starting XI (Saka, Martinelli…)

I did not like Ole as a player – with RVN and Roy Keane, they really annoyed me as Man Utd players. I always liked Lampard’s game but could not stand that he played for Chelsea. However, we have to admit they did a good job and we also have to admit that Arteta has brought belief and stimulus to our team – he ll definitely need to work on game management and keeping victories (we dropped too many points from a winning position under him). Most importantly, I hope that the owners will give him the necessary means to compete next year so that he can finish in the Top 4. LFC, Man City, Utd, Chelsea, Tottenham and Everton will all inject serious cash to strengthen their squad.

Given our needs, we need to inject more to catch up…One of the major key to Arteta’s success is the financial backing and I hope that the owners will live up to their promises to Arteta otherwise, he is the type of coach that will leave at the end of next year if he does not feel supported and he will have plenty of suitors within and outside the EPL.

Come on Arteta! COYG!

RC78

I managed to see the Sheffield game and the City one, but didn’t see the Brighton game. I look at the team and currently feel contrasting emotions. It still feels like something is missing but at the same time I feel we don’t look far away either. Maybe a couple of vital cogs in the wheel still need to be addressed.

My over-riding feeling still seems to be that we lack dominance in central midfield. They are the shield to the back 4 and the link to supplying the attack. They are vital in the recovery of possession and in retaining possession and making dangerous use of it when we have it. In other words, dominating the central midfield

Both the use of the ball when we have it and the recovery of it when we don’t, seem to be a tad under par, but the latter still feels like the most deficient. The lack of dominance in midfield still seems to be our long running Achilles heel. We have had many different decent central midfielders recently but seem to have gone a long while without finding the right combinations with these midfielders. It never seems balanced

I noted with interest that the most damning stat from the Brighton game was how our central midfielders compared to theirs in successful tackles and ball recovery. Our stats were very low compared to theirs. It was suggestive of us losing the midfield battle and maybe, once again, the combination wasn’t complimentary. I think Torreira is the current key player that would make a difference and he seems to make any of the other central midfielders play better alongside him in a way that the others can’t do for each other.

I have often wondered whether we lack the pace and athleticism in too many of our central midfielders. This is perhaps why we need a player like Partey so desperately, but I also wonder (Torreira aside) if we have another solution right under our noses. This time I am not talking about Luiz because it seems he is not destined to be used in this role but I am thinking along the lines of a player that has more pace and athleticism than our other current incumbents.

A brief foray into the overall defensive stats of all our central midfielders vs Ainsley Maitland-Niles sees him coming out near the top in most defensive areas including tackles, tackle success rate, interceptions, recoveries, and duels won. He has strong stats in all of those defensive areas whereas the others (Ceballos, Douzi, Xhaka, Willock) seem to have decent stats in some defensive areas but are weaker in others. In other words he looks to be a more rounded defensive player than those others and his stats sit favourably alongside Torreira and partey himself.

I know he has played in a different position recently, so it is hard to fully compare stats with other central midfielders, but I wonder if his stats might even improve further if he was in the thick of the midfield battle. He has more pace and athleticism than the others so is it time to give him a run of games as a deeper lying midfielder whose primary job is in ball recovery but also with the ability to bring it forwards from deeper areas?

GoonerB

This was a tough but overall well deserved win. I thought the team showed some real cohesion when we did not have the ball and we had some good movement too moving forward. We, obviously, had to concede a stupid goal but we showed spirit to reclaim our lead. We were also our usual vulnerable selves on set-pieces.

The positives:- Pepe had a MOTM performance, not only for his goal and offensive contribution but for his defensive contribution. The guy tracked back and then he was available to receive the ball when we recovered it. – Tierney had another spirited and quite solid performance.- Holding coming back to form and showing some solidity.- The overall team work and in some cases, we moved the ball really well. Pepe could have grabbed a double but he skewed one of his efforts slightly to the left of the post.- Martinez distribution was quite good – he has definitely improved but I’d like him to be a more commanding

The not-so positives:- We are still vulnerable on the right side with AMN, Willock, Mustafi not doing great…- AMN looks lost and it is sad to see because I think he has got the engine and the skills to succeed at our club. He looks like he is constantly interrogating his positioning, his dribbling or passing. He needs to play with a free mind…- Willok had an absolute blank or bleak performance. He needs to really make sure that he has the engine to play day-in day-out at a high level. – Mustafi and Kola – great fighters but Mustafi always struggles with pacey forward and Kola can sometimes be a bit rash with his decision-making as proven by the silly goal conceded- Besides the great goal scored, Ceballos was really transparent too. – We are playing City next – not gonna be easy…Dr Bruyne and Mahrez are really at the top of their game these days and Sterling is coming back to form.

Player Ratings:

Martinez  7……. Mustafi  6 ………. Holding  7 ……….. Kola  5 

AMN  5 ………. Willock  5…………. Xhaka  6 ………….Tierney  6

Pepe  8 ………….Laca  6 ……….Saka  7 ……….. Ceballos  6

In any case, I am looking forward to the Semi-Finals at Wembley! The opposition will be ferocious and the ambiance odd but we are two games away from the Cup and who knows, we may be able to grab the trophy! So as I am having my coffee in Brussels, here is my order “Another FA Cup to go, please – make it smooth and sweet”.
Hope everyone is well! Keep on blogging and above all, keep safe and healthy

RC78