The Shoehorn Stratagem … which of Arsenal’s ‘Non-Homegrown’ Players Should be Sacrificed?

August 3, 2019

We are now approaching the climax of the silly season, or transfer window as it is wont to be known. Soon all the supporters of all the clubs in all the land will have presented to them their shiny new toys (SNTs). A Rodri here or a Ndombele there. Or not.

Many will be cursing their clubs for not buying the right toys, or sufficient new recruits.

Meanwhile, management everywhere will be vexing over the problem of fitting the SNTs into a squad that is already full of Johnny Foreigners, or non-Home Grown as we must refer to them. It is not my place, nor I’m sure is it necessary, to lecture fellow AA-ers on the Home Grown rule, on the squad size of 25, of which up to 17 can be non-Home Grown talents.

However, there are some on here, and indeed prevalent throughout the blogosphere, who recklessly demand the acquisition of countless new players who do not conform to the HG Rule, without considering the consequences. I just feel the need to focus for a moment.

Who do we already have? How many? Here’s a list, as far as I understand it:

Leno

Monreal; Kolasinac;   Koscielny;   Mustafi;   Sokratis;   Mavropanos

Xhaka;   Torreira;   Guendouzi;   Elneny;   Ceballos

Mkhitaryan;   Ozil

Aubameyang;   Lacazette;   Asano (!)

 

That’s seventeen. The full quota. No room for further additions.

But wait.

Pepe is here now. Tierney may be on his way (as a Scot he counts as a Johnny F). But still the mob demands more – Dani Alves, Rugani, Everton.

I read the transfer gossip and guffaw/chuckle/snort and chortle. For every one that comes in, one must leave. There are those we’d like to see go, and there are those it might be possible to transfer out.

Our Home Grown numbers are fine. We have seven (Martinez, Bellerin, Jenkinson, Holding, Chambers, AMN, Iwobi) supplemented with under-21s like Martinelli, Nketiah, Willock, Nelson, Medley, Olayinka, Thompson, most of whom seem near readiness for at least riding the pine.

But still the likelihood is the club already needs to shed players in order to conform.

I therefore suggest that for every Shiny New Toy you beg the club to acquire for you, you suggest who should be dumped to make room for them.

By the time the Newcastle game kicks off, we should know the 25. For you, who should be missing from that list?

Maxwell

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Arsenal 1 Angers 1 – Player Ratings

August 1, 2019

This was the seventh game of our preseason and we fielded a mixed side of …….

Martinez, Chambers, Mustafi, Medley, Monreal, Burton, Guendouzi, John-Jules, Martinelli, Nketiah, and Nelson.

My initial thought was I was excited about the lineup but would have preferred Thompson over Monreal. Also there has been a lot of debate about Mustafi recently and I would have preferred to see him at RB and Chambers at CB.

 

First Half

Unlike majority of our preseason games we started rather slowly not doing much pressing from the get go. Martinelli was released by Chambers down the flank as he cut inside instead of looking for a team mate opted to shoot but his shot was blocked.

Nothing much happened until in the 13th minute a ball is misjudged by Medley and Martinez who sense the danger rushes off his line but is rounded by the attacker making it 1 nil to Anger.

For the rest of the first half both sides were feeling each other out with some balls over the top to NKetiah but  they were easily dealt with. Jules also tried to slip in Nketiah in but again nothing come of it. We went into the half 1 nil down and a lot to be desired.

 

Second Half

Second half we made some substitution bringing on AMN, Sokratis, Willock, Thompson, Xhaka. The quality didn’t take to show with Guendouzi doing some great work on the right hand side then sends in a cross which was slightly deflected causing some confusing in the box and Nelson tucking home the equalizer 1-1.

Nice to see Nelson score his first goal of the preseason. Willock was lively, as always, and won a free kick which was taken by Nelson with Xhaka attacking the ball which flew over.

Eddie and Guendouzi came off, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan came on. Thompson had a good break down the wing and put in a good cross into the area but there were no takers as usual.

Xhaka took a free kick but Aubameyang hit it wide. Then an Arsenal player put in a great sliding tackle and the ball fell to Mustafi, why is he even that high up the pitch is beyond me, who then slips the ball to Martinelli who has acres of space. This has to be 2-1 surely, but Martinelli decides not be selfish and tries to pick out Aubameyang but the pass is block which lucky falls to Nelson and I don’t know if he was trying to shoot or pass but it fell to Aubameyang who was in an offside positon. There were a few more chances to win the game but they weren’t taken. Penalties were pointless but like Xhaka in the Real game Mkhitaryan wanted to see which one of them can take a worse penalty.

Conclusion

The youngsters didn’t do much in the first half, Jules wasn’t able to create for the front 3.  Played much better second half when the experience players came on.

 

Ratings

Martinez – Save a penalty controlled his area well … 6

Chambers – was solid at RB … 6

Mustafi – Caught out of position for the goal … 5

Medley – Didn’t look good for the goal … 5

Monreal – didn’t offer anything today … 5

Guendouzi – lively today and his crossed help with our only goal … 7

Burton – looked out of his dept today … 4.5

John-Jules – worked hard but couldn’t create much for himself or his team mates … 5

Martinelli – lively as usual … 6.5

Nketiah –  looked out of it today … 5

Nelson – scored a goal, missed a sitter hence why I say waiting for him to impress me, one of our few youngsters you played at a high level last season so expected a bit more … 6

 

Subs

They collectively made a difference to the game, stand our performers were Willock and Thompson … 6.5

Fred1266

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Pepe to wing it for Arsenal

July 30, 2019

We have been renowned as a predominantly attacking club ever since the start of the Wenger era, but over the last few years we have arguably seriously overlooked one area of our attacking department within the squad.

Earlier Wenger teams seemed to be bolstered by high quality, attacking, goal-scoring, pacey wide players, but for the last number of years this position has seemingly been overlooked at Arsenal to the point it almost appeared as if it was deemed non important to us in the modern era. However, a good look around at the other top sides seemed to highlight that all other clubs deemed these positions to be of high importance, and most often set up with these players in a 4-3-3 system, or a close variation on this.

Fingers are currently crossed throughout goonerdom that Pepe will be the new man to wing it for Arsenal.

The modern wide player seems to be something between a winger and a wing forward that operate either side of a lead striker most often, with the majority of the top clubs, in a rotating front 3 sharing goal-scoring responsibility. These wing forward players also give the attacking width that can stretch the opposition without relying solely on the full-backs for width, so arguably also provide extra problems for the opposition in wide areas, with the wing forward and the overlapping full-back combining during the game.

Another factor in having specialised attacking wide players is that the full-backs don’t need to be permanently camped high up the pitch, and can therefore choose the right moments to get forward and join the attack, thus ensuring they are still, for the most part, covering their defensive responsibilities as part of the back 4.

I feel we have suffered a fair bit at times in not having these players in recent years, preventing us from being able to deploy a more balanced, but still attack orientated, formation. It is why I am excited this forthcoming season by the prospect of young players like Saka and Nelson coming into the first team environment and giving us something I feel we have missed for many years. If we were also to add one more top established attacking wide player, like Zaha or Pepe, to this then my legs will start to literally quiver in anticipated excitement.

One big question though is how should these wing forward players be deployed? Which particular player should line up on which side? Here are a few comments from yours truly, Fred, and LBG to get the thought process going.

Fred says:

Yea Nelson hasn’t impressed at all with Eddie I actually think je should be playing on the left on the 433 to start the season, I know it isn’t his natural position but he is a rich vain of form

GoonerB says (in response):

Fred, I had always assumed that Nelsons natural position was on the left side of the striker. I have still to watch the last 3 games which I have got recorded. Does this mean that Nelson has been operating from the right side? I seem to recall that most of the decent footage you see of him when he has done something in games, either in our academy matches or last seasons loan, seem to show him operating from the left. Either way Fred, I would agree with you that Reiss Nelson is a left inside forward predominantly, and should be utilised this way.

LBG says (in response):

Nelson is a left sided wide attacker, but as is customary left sided players nowadays are often used on the right and cut in to hit shots with their left foot. I personally want wide players to go round the fullback and cross from the byline, like olden times.

GoonerB says:

Wilf would really take up the position of Nelson while Pepe would take up the position of Saka but as I say pepe looks like he could move in centrally behind a single number 9 as well which may give us the better balance and also squad options.

Fred says (in response):

Think u got that wrong Saka plays on left and Nelson on right

So with the inside forwards, or wide attacking players, (or whichever other description you prefer), it would seem the jury is out as how to best deploy them. Academy players that are still developing should arguably spend time playing in 2-3 positions to develop their all round understanding, but I would suggest that once a player starts to become more of a first team regular that they should have a preferred specialist position (or side) where most of their play takes place.

Both Nelson and Saka, at their still tender ages, seem to have played both sides at different times, if you watch any footage of them. Maybe to date Saka has had more time on the left and Nelson on the right, but as a left footer and right footer, respectively, I would suggest it is now time to deploy Saka from the right and Nelson from the left if they are to become top class prolific goal scoring pacey winger / wing forward type players.

Why do I say this? Well if you were to make a list of all recent (maybe last 10 years) top level attacking wide players, at the top clubs, it is nearly always right footed players on the left and left footed players on the right. However I would love to hear your thoughts on this AA’ers.

GoonerB

 

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Arsenal 2 – Real Madrid 2 plus penalties and Player ratings

July 24, 2019

We started really well. Were deservedly 2-0 up inside 20 mins. First Laca scored from the spot after a clear handball on the line resulting in a Real red card. Auba made it 2 after a sublime flick from Laca and a neat if somewhat fortunate finish in the end.

We won the ball well in midfield, particularly Willock who’s touch sometimes portrayed his youth but his work rate more than made up for it. I remember thinking I wonder if I’m going to report a comfortable win against admittedly not a very good team, or how we managed to blow it. Unfortunately it was the latter as Sokratis got himself sent off with two quick and somewhat ridiculous challenges.

Even if you agree (and I do) that the first yellow was a little harsh, knowing you’re on a yellow should stop you committing a body check on Modric that leaves the ref with no option. Very stupid.

The rest of the half was fairly uneventful and we went in ahead 2-0, 10 against 10. I want to do player ratings for halftime and add that nothing in the time the players rated did in the second half changed their score except Jenko who was probably our best player over the 90 mins, Martinez who was a little unlucky and to be fair, did enough to maintain his overall rating and Xhaka who (apart from one fabulous ball to Eddie that should have won us the game), generally got worse.

Player ratings for the First Half

Martinez 8. Made a couple of smart saves and actually commanded his box on one set piece with a strong punch. Should have done better with the first goal but wasn’t helped by some weak defending.

Jenko 8.5. had a fantastic game overall. I will comment on him a little more at the end. Great effort.

Kola 6.5. Started well especially going forward and was a lot of the reason we dominated early. Faded in the 2nd half but a satisfactory pre season performance.

Chambers 7. Played well, especially in the first half. or at least I don’t remember thinking he was a weak link in any way. I would not be scared to play him in central defence during the season on that performance.

Sokratis 4. Disappointing, especially as my pick for captain. Very unintelligent and we’ve seen a lot of stuff like that over the years, I want to see different.

Xhaka 3.5. I really tried to be objective but I thought he was awful. If this is our captain, God help us. Sorry but that’s how I feel. No Xhaka Mk 2 unfortunately just more of the same. Also more to say about him at the end.

Willock 7. A bright spot for sure. How you could even compare him to his central defensive midfield partner beggars belief. But he got taken off, Puzzling. But he may be ready for the PL.

Ozil 6. I just didn’t think he was very good. Not just by Willock or Jenkinson standards but by $350k/week. Again sorry if I offend but this is all too familiar.

Miki 5.5. See Ozil except for less money. Still overpaid and underproducing.

 Auba 7. Laca 8. I’ll put these two together. What we would hope for and expect from a pre season game from out better players. Both were solid, enthusiastic and worked hard. Also did what they get paid to do.

My son (Liam) has written the 2nd half review so I could make sure this is as objective as possible.

For as good as we were at times in the first half we were equally as poor for much of the second half.

Monreal came on for an unlucky Joe Willock to replace the void left by Sokratis. Unfortunatley, the void left in the center of midfield was glaring and forced Mkhitaryn to move more centrally and pushed Özil out on the wing. We also decided that with a two-goal lead, it would be best to sit deep, soak up pressure and counter. The combination of these two things allowed Marcelo to wreak havoc by attacking Özil and ultimately led to some combinations between he, Isco, and Asencio before Bale tapped in for their first (56th min).

The pressure continued to mount down our right side and it only took three more minutes for Marcelo to again work a ball inside, this time for Asencio to tap home the equalizer (59th min). Shortly after that, Asensio went down injured and their attacking threat dwindled a little as he went off and both teams made late second half changes. Nketiah, Saka, Burton and Nelson all came on in the 75th minute.

Nketiah had a couple of chances to score late but missed both a 1v1 with the keeper after a heavy touch let him down and glanced a fairly open header wide. The aforementioned combined well during their limited time on the pitch and really looked like our only attacking threats. Ultimately, the score ended 2-2 and we went to penalties.

Penalties Summary: Nelson led off and placed a solid strike in the bottom right corner. Bale missed his, before Xhaka passed a tame effort straight to Courtois. Isco converted his and we were tied after two. Saka converted his spot kick next and Real responded to make it two all after three each. We were then 3-2 down after Monreal hit the post and Varane confidently put his away. Robbie Burton then put his effort high and we were handed our first loss this preseason.

Nacho 7 – see Chambers

 Gang of Four youngsters – 7 all looked good especially Saka. Eddie should have scored at least once but still looks good.

Caution to those that think these guys are ready for week in week out premier league. They have a little growing to do.

Just a couple of takes from this (the Old Man !!) To qualify, I still see this as a pre season friendly and don’t want to make too much of it.

 

However, I feel compelled to say that I would take Carl Jenkinson any minute of any day over Granit Xhaka based on their respective attitudes, leaving aside their performances. Quite what Unai was thinking both tactically and pulling Willock instead of the Pillock is just mystifying to me. That bothers me. The result doesn’t, but the resigned manner of the eventual loss, the inevitability of the lack of execution and the overall lack of committment by some of these players is troubling. But it’s pre season so I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed and hope things change for the better.

 Mike (and Liam) M

 

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal 3 Fiorentina 0 Match report and Player ratings

July 21, 2019

This was the fourth game of our pre season and, as expected, we fielded some of our young players.

The team lined up as follows Martinez, Chambers, Jenkinson, Mustafi, Monreal, Kolasinac, Olayinka, Burton, Neslon, Saka, and Nketiah.

At first glance it would seem to be a 343. I didn’t realize we were still changing formation? I thought we would be sticking with the 433. One reason I can say the 343 is a good formation for us to play is because of Monreal as is he is too slow. I would have preferred to see Thompson over Kolasinac and Medley over Mustafi.

First Half

Nothing particularly remarkable from Arsenal in the first 15 minutes, Monreal being sloppy and Mustafi being Mustafi. Florentina were defending really well as a unit and Arsenal were shifting the ball left to right then right to left looking for an opening. Until eventually a brilliant move from Saka (Zaha who steups) playing in Kolasinac who lays on a plate for Eddie who was cool as ever rifling the ball into the net. Some more clumsy defending and more Monreal being sloppy. Olayinka and Burton needed to offer some support to the defense, Nelson to show a bit more probably it was because of Jenkinson Arsenal not getting the same dynamic on the right hand side as they are getting from Saka and Kolasinac on the left. First half ended 1 – 0 and we were fortunate not to have conceded, Martinez really proving to be a great keeper.

I was praying that Mustafi and Monreal would come off for the second half and we would revert to a 433, letting Medley show Mustafi how to defend.

Second Half

Well Emery listened to half of my prayers by reverting to 433 which made us definitely looked much better. Nelson was move to the left flank where he began showing his quality and on one occasion using his smart feet to cut inside and get a shot off but it curled straight at the keeper. Mkhitaryan’s first contribution in the game was to get booked, his second one was to pass the ball to Lacazette who laid it off to Eddie making it two nil, One thing you have to admire about Eddie is his ability to get space in the box. Willock held his own again when brought on and was smartly set up by Lacazette making it 3 goals to nil

Conclusion

One of the Star performer so far for me was Saka, I wouldn’t have any qualms him starting in the opening game. Eddie has a great ability to create space in the box. Mustafi is woeful and I hope he is frozen out just as Emery did with Mesut. We played much better when switching to 433/4231. It was nice to see us continue our fine form and the youngsters taking their chances.

Ratings

Martinez – Was able to keep clean sheet not matter how hard Mustafi tried … 6

Carl Jenkinson – Struggle in 343, looked better in 433 still can’t cross … 5

Mustafi – Another horrible game from Mustafi … 4

Monreal – Struggle in 343 a lot of silly turn overs, looked better in 433 … 5

Sead Kolasinac – Looked solid again today … 6

Olayinka – Didn’t protect back 3, but was solid when we changed to 433 … 6

Burton– Didn’t protect back 3, but was solid when we changed to 433… 6

Chambers – another solid game … 7

Saka (Zaha who steups) – Another great game … 8

Nelson – Was invisible first half, came alive when he went to left … 6

Eddie Nketiah – great positioning in the box and took his 2 goals wonderfully … 10

Subs

Leno – Was able to keep clean sheet not matter how hard Mustafi tried … 6

Lacazette – Much more lively than in the previous game, came up with 2 assists … 7.5

Mkhitaryan – had an ok game but did we really need to see him play … 6.5

Megan Rapinoe – had an ok game but did we really need to see him play … 6 

Willock – is this Ramsey 2.0? … had another great game … 6.5

Xhaka – Gets his customary yellow card and turns the ball over … 3

Thompson – Only a cameo but am really liking the look of him … 6

Other Subs not mentioned …5

Manager

Emery – Has the team looking sharp, his 343 experiment failed and he still doesn’t realize mustafi will cost us goals against better teams… 5

fred1266

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Maitland-Nyles … The New Vieira?

July 15, 2019

Seems that many bloggers are keen to integrate young players into our team…getting excited about Tierney and Martinelli…others are making the point that we also need experienced players to help grow the younger players.

As mentioned (too) many times, I am a firm believer that some of our younger and home-grown players should be integrated in the first team but they must be played in their best position. Bellerin, Holding, AMN are starters for me and I believe that there is case to be made for Chambers if we get a very strong CM next to him.

I think there is no debate about Bellerin and Holding. I want to make a case for AMN as our new PV4.

AMN

He played 11 games as a starter in the EPL:

  • 5 in defensive midfield (or right full back in a 3-5-2 set up) for 1 assist
  • 3 as right back
  • 1 in right midfield
  • 1 as an attacking midfielder on the right for 1 goal
  • 1 as left full back
  • He also came in 5 games as a sub.

Performance analysis averages:

  • 2.1 tackles per game
  • 1.2 interceptions
  • 0.7 clearances
  • Executes 1.2 dribbles per game
  • Gets dribbled past 0.9 times a game
  • Fouled 0.8 times per game
  • Dispossessed 1.1 times per game
  • 1.6 instances of poor control per game.
  • 0.5 key pass per game
  • 1 cross per game
  • Completes 0.9 long ball passes per game

AMN is 21, he is fast, rather athletic and has demonstrated a good attitude – I think he has all the attributes to develop into our new box-to-box midfielder. He needs to improve but he should be given a chance – he has the engine and the desire to be a strong player for us. He also is rather good at going forward.

He can only develop into our box-to-box midfielder if he is played day-in day-out and I think that in the right set-up, he could do extremely well. Henry said of him that he was the best one-of-one young attacking player he had seen in our team before he took over Monaco so…

Rewind to my first paragraph and project yourself to the beginning of the season and imagine the following line-up:

Leno – Bellerin, Recruit, Holding, Tierney – AMN, Chambers, Vidal – Pepe, Aubameyang – Lacazette

Ages: 27 – 24, ?, 23, 22 – 21, 24, 32 – 24, 30 – 28

We’d need an experienced CB but we can also live with Sokratis although not ideal. Vidal would play the experienced person in middle of the park and up front, we re OK.

So is AMN our next PV4 and can we succeed with a young, yet experienced team? My answer is yes.

Written by RC78

 

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Posted by Rasp

Liam Brady and me … a personal story

July 13, 2019

A personal tale of my earliest Arsenal experience, and my favourite  player.

“My first game to watch The Arsenal was in season 61-2, and the match programme was presented to me by Chas a good few years ago now. I stood on the South Bank, on my home made wooden stool, and waved enthusiastically to our Dad as he sat in his West Stand seat.

The opposition had two players who played a significant part in North London football in the years that followed. In defence was a big, blonde centre back called Ian Ure, and in attack a tall streak of p*** ( sorry, old habits) called Alan Gilzean.”

My blog initials stand for LiamBradyGod. Needless to say my favourite player of all time.

He signed this black and white photo for my Bros at an Arsenal event, but only if they could name the other players in the picture. They could. Can you?”

I have one other story about Liam that I would share since it also illustrates what a good lad he was/is.

Twenty years ago my son was travelling to Loughborough Uni for an interview and spotted Liam in the queue for a taxi to the University. ( He was going to a conference  himself at the University). Matt plucked up courage to talk to Liam mainly to tell him I was his greatest fan. Liam chatted with Matt about the Arsenal, offered to share his taxi (and paid for it), and wished him good luck with his interview on arrival at the University.

A story Matt relayed to me with glee on his return, almost surpassing for me the news he had been accepted to read a degree at the University.

Written by LBG

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

What can Arsenal Supporters Reasonably Expect Next Season?

July 11, 2019

Reasonable is a difficult word so I’ve decided to try to look at current elements from an Arsenal perspective related to how we think we can compete next season in the top 4, which is actually the short and easy part of this for me. If you don’t want a really long read, go to the end for that. I’ve also added a historical perspective because we are the Arsenal and hence have historically based expectations. So here it is:

15 Years ago (Boy were we spoiled !!)

Goalkeeper and Defence : Solid, commanding keeper with physical, fast defenders that were well organized, tactically savvy, good in the air and hard as nails. Also a consistent scoring threat at set pieces.

Midfield : Box to box midfielders, strong, physical skillful and hard working, good defensively complimented by fast skillful wide players who could beat a man. All of them were creative and could score for fun.

Forwards : Fast, devastating finishers, confident, creative and hungry.

The last 10 years (steady decline with odd flashes of brilliance)

Goalkeeper and Defence : No real commanding presence or leadership of the back line. Football playing defenders, physically unimposing and generally poor in the air, didn’t tackle very well and unable to hold a cohesive defensive line. Tendency to give away stupid free kicks which we were ill equipped to defend. Let crosses come in far too easily. (Sagna is exempt from all of this except the crossing thing).

Midfield : Defensive Midfielders were generally a bust (including Alex Song) and went missing at the vital moments. The rest were generally small tricky and very creative, held possession extremely effectively due to being technically sound, very good at short passing triangles and give and goes. Some good free kick technicians and ball strikers and generally a threat to score. Lightweight and unable to defend. (Santi – you’re exempt from criticism – what a tragedy. A complete genius).

Forwards : Apart from a very injury prone RVP who left after his only outstanding season, only Alexis managed more than 20 goals in 2017 until Auba got 22 last year (Ade got 24 in 2008). Other than that, a string of inconsistent finishers often with pace but (other than Giroud) unable to score in the air. Most of these players looked a lot better than they were because of outstanding creativity in the midfield and a team built to attack. (Alexis was the real deal).

Today (Oh dear!!)

Goalkeeper : I think Leno can be the new Jens. Not because he’s German but he will command his defence if he has some support. Just what we need.

Defence : Bellerin, Sokratis and Holding are good enough to do what we need to compete in the top 4 race. We need 2 more to step up and a combination of Monreal and Koscielny to play bit part roles. AMN and Mavro look like good prospects.

Defensive Midfield : Torreira is good enough and will get better. He has all the tools but needs to stop falling over to try and win free kicks. Refs are wising up. Guendouzi is a good prospect. I don’t think Xhaka can do it unless he undergoes a major transformation (mostly in mentality but also agility). If anyone can do this, Dick can !! Need a couple of step ups. Unlikely to be Elneny so maybe Bielik or Chambers. The latter is also too slow at the top 4 level I think. Could maybe play a bit part in defence.

Attacking Midfield : I know this will be unpopular but Ozil is a liability, as is Mkhitaryan. But as sick as it is, without these two we have ZERO creativity. As a group,(including these two and Iwobi) we have ZERO midfield goal scoring threat at the top 4 level.  “ZERO” encompasses scoring the odd goal here and there but really means compared to the rest of the top 4 and how our opposition sees us.

Forwards : We have two of the better forwards in European football right now. Such a shame we have such little ability to create chances for them especially against good teams. They will need a little help throughout the season. Hopefully Eddie or Reiss might help a little but they’ll find it hard to compete against almost all of the Premier League.

What we need

Assuming not too many injuries – unlikely but you can’t plan for what you don’t know about – here’s hoping for some divine intervention !!

1) Some Balls !!!  Let Leno, Sok and Holding scream at the slackers. We need a strong captain. I think Sokratis fits the bill, Holding as a back up.

A solid centre back that can head the ball would be great as long as he can defend. Ditto for a left back.

2) Learn to defend properly without the ball !!! Team effort, tactics and desire along with improved fitness levels. Torreira will be good and hopefully inspire everyone else and lead by example.

A solid DM would be great.

3) Meaningful possession when level or behind !!! City had a difficult time last season breaking down a stubborn Leicester defence until Kompany scored “that goal”. For us it’s the norm and we seldom score that goal. It’s hard to see where the creativity will come from but we do have the goal scorers. We need to improve technically with the ball to avoid being beaten by the high press.

A fast, skillful winger and a #10 that’s willing to defend would be great.

4) To kill off games when we’re ahead and playing well !!! A major weakness of Arsenal since the mid 2000’s has been our inability to kill off vulnerable opposition. We haven’t been able to soak up pressure which is an essential element of counter attacking, which takes speed, desire and finishing. Laca and Auba need to be clinical especially against better sides. We need to transition quicker to defence in the event we don’t score.

A good finisher who can also score in the air would be great.

How can we achieve this?

A) Follow a plan designed by Unai.

I’ve read a lot about us not having a “style of play” or “certain way of playing”. Those observations are valid – to a point. I just don’t think we have a good enough squad of players to dictate games and be one thing, which might be the entire point of this extended article. Nor do I believe we have the resources or the reputation in Europe right now to bring in outstanding players. To compete in the top 4 this coming season, we need to deconstruct our opposition and make a fairly rigid plan for each game. That might be to increase possession or play on the counter. It might be different for every game, depending on who or where we play. Hopefully Unai is up to the task. And most of all, that the players, staff and fans respond to his methods.

… or … B) Change the structure of the club.

Buy everyone we need (see “would be great” above) and start winning immediately. 5 or 6 key 80m signings (and a new manager for some people reading this – but not me!!) would do the trick !! It’s that easy. It’s also never going to happen.

So my answer to the question of what we can reasonably expect next season is, at best we can expect a tough season with a somewhat rugged team playing efficient if not always attractive football. But if we can become hard to beat and score a few goals, it opens our opposition up and often, that’s how you can win games comfortably. I think tactics, game planning and strategy are our only hope of competing effectively this season. But it will be a building block for next season and beyond if we can do it. One thing’s for sure, it won’t be easy.

Mike M

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Possession Football with a High Press is Arsenal’s route back to the top … if we can afford it!

July 9, 2019

The champions of 4 out of the 5 Major leagues have the most possession-based football in that league. – City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and PSG.
Only Juve is behind two rivals, namely Inter and Napoli.

So I would say that at the moment, possession football is winning. The philosophy being that if you have the ball, you can’t be hurt by the opponent and you can hurt your opponent. Now, you have to use the ball effectively and this is the key.

Interestingly in the EPL, the top 5 teams have the highest possession rate in this order: City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal.

You cannot play possession football all the time – I think all the teams mentioned above (except maybe PSG) are adept also at the high press. Again, if you get the ball in the opponent’s half, you can hurt them quickly because they have less time to react to the loss of the ball and if you do a good use of the ball, you will score or at least create chances. Barcelona is amazing at the doing that and so is City. Bayern and PSG slightly less so.

Basically, I believe Emery is more keen to turn us into a mix between Atletico and maybe Bayern type of team. The team that impressed me the most was the last Bayern Munich team that won the CL with Heinckes. They were lethal on transition and were good at possession but they were so balanced and so cohesive. The wings were very active – the mid was solid – the forward hard working and clinical. The only weak point was Dante who had that year an amazing season. Bayern is trying to recreate such a team now.

Possession football is very popular and effective these days. However, my feeling is that the teams with high possession are also the most effective at getting the ball back (hence the high possession as well). Unsurprisingly they are also among the richest clubs. The players in these squads can also adapt to these demanding systems – look at what De Bruyne, David Silva and Sergio Aguero do at City and what Sane, Wijnaldum do at Liverpool or Rakitic, Verratti…

We don’t have confirmed players like that but I am hopeful over Maitland-Nyles, Lucas Torreira, Guendouzi, Iwobi and Kolasinac within our squad so things are not as gloomy as some may believe. We will only know how strong we will be for sure when the transfer window closes.

RC78

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Did Unai Emery train the Pep out of the Arsenal players last season?

July 8, 2019

It seems like there’s still very much a verdict out on Unai Emery. Which is justifiable and understandable.

The players needed and probably got a bit of a culture shock. I don’t think he inherited a good enough squad to do it the way he would have liked.

Remember Pep’s first year at the Man City? I distinctly remember people saying he was training them too hard and he was going to burn out his poor millionaire superstars. I think he did too. They didn’t win much.

It appears we hit a wall and burned out too last season. So for me it bodes well. Ask any City fan, Raheem Stirling, David Silva, Fernandino, Kevin De Bruyne and I’m certain a few more how they feel about it now. Alternatively you could ask Joe Hart (learn to pass it Joe or you can’t play for us), Jesus Navas, Eliaquim Malanga, Samir Nasri, John Stones, Bernard Mendy etc. who may see it differently. I hope you get my point.

Obviously the big difference is what to do about it. City just bought better players for a shed load of money. We can’t. So one of our alternatives is to promote the youngsters, which is what recent posts have been about. It’s VERY important that we’re very careful here if we use this strategy. Reiss Nelson will not turn into Ryiad Mahrez in one season, nor Eddie into Sergio Aguero. As a believer in a much needed mentality shift, I can’t see a problem with bringing in a young player to replace some of our current squad who just don’t seem to have a good enough attitude and/or work ethic.

But if we do, just make sure we temper our expectations of the team and manager so we give them a chance to succeed. Because it took City 2 years and Liverpool 3 years to do it and I’m not sure we can compete with either one of them financially (certainly the City, but probably Liverpool now too).

Mike M

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