Give the new guys a try, Unai!

September 5, 2018

Hopefully most AAers are prepared to give Dick a real chance to get things right before they decry too much his tactics or methods.

I for one am looking for, amongst many other things, a change in attacking style. For many of the last five to ten years of the Wenger era we heard regularly from pundits and other “experts” the phrases……..

“typical Arsenal trying to walk the ball into the net”

or

“Arsenal – always trying to score the perfect goal”.

And as we know occasionally we managed to do just that!! Witness Jack W. against Norwich. But, for me, in the last two seasons we often seemed to do away with the “ball into the net” bit entirely!

Passing for passing sake drives me mad! If you receive the ball over a short distance as, say a midfielder, from a defender or fellow midfielder, it’s not compulsory to play it back to him, once, twice, three times. You are not playing that one touch game in a circle where you try to make twenty passes, or nutmeg one of the players in the middle, so you can then make a high pitched stupid noise in unison to ridicule him.

Instead you have a choice. Receive the ball on the half turn, sense where the nearest opponent is and sometimes “turn”, then get your head up and look for a pass forward with a sense of urgency. This is one of the reasons I loved Santi so much, and felt of all the players missed most in those two seasons, his was by far the most serious loss.

I nearly left the conversation on the site post Sunday’s game to the regulars, as I didn’t feel I could add much to the debate. But then, like some kind of soft drug addict, I was suckered in by two things.

Firstly, LB’s question to himself,  which player “is decisive and moves the ball forward quicker than most any other player?” (like Manshitty and to some extent, Totteringham, I thought)

………the answer he said, was Guendouzi.

Added to this I have my own question. Who does the same, and is also more accurate than both Ramsey or Xhaka?

……….and the answer for me, is Torreira.

Play them both and alongside each other.

The second trigger for me was the degree of praise offered by a number of respected regulars to both Xhaka and Ramsey for their Sunday performances. I have a follow up question to any and all, but especially the statisticians. Of the 162 total passes made by Ramsey and Xhaka on Sunday, how many had no influence whatsoever on the game whether successful or not?

Play the new generation Dick, as part of the new chapter for our Club, and see how it goes.

Written by LBG

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Posted by Bongo

Who partners Torreira? – Poll

August 29, 2018

Having sorted out Arsenal’s right side rearguard and assisting flank provider yesterday, today we turn our attention to the midfield pivot.

Everyone is clamouring for Lucas Torreira to start just in front of the back four. Surely the only reason for this not happening so far is due to fitness and/or acclimatisation. So Torreira is a given.

The question then arises, ‘who partners him?’ or, in fact, ‘can he handle the job on his Jack Jones?’.

Let’s take a look at the candidates………………..

Granit Xhaka – building up some decent experience of Premiership skirmishes, Granit possesses a fine left foot. His passing range is good though eye of the needle passes are rare. He’s more of a spread it wide to the wingfenders kind of midfielder.

Mo Elneny – economical, functional and effective, Mo does his job with a minimum of fuss, shifting the ball to others in better positions to deliver a telling pass. Has a great engine and is very mobile.

Matteo Guendouzi – his storming pre-season earned him a place in the team for our opening fixtures. Has a keen eye for a pass and really does like to play the ball forwards into dangerous positions which makes him stand out. Let’s hope the occasional misplaced pass so far, doesn’t knock his confidence too much and he continues to shine.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles – it has been mooted that A M-N could be an effective element of a double pivot. Fast, confident and excellent in the tackle, he does seem to possess the necessary attributes. Has become a bit of a utility player with Arsenal’s need for an auxiliary left back and others suggest his natural position is further up the line providing ammo for the strikers.

Aaron Ramsey – could Aaron find the discipline required to remain in that central area of the midfield? Or maybe Lucas requires a partner with more of a box-to-box feel.  Perhaps Aaron might partner Torreira against particular types of opposition? Though maybe Rambo’s creativity and eye for goal are wasted playing in a deeper role.

Mesut Ozil – perhaps Unai has asked Mesut if he fancies becoming more of a Pirlo-style midfielder, conducting the whole orchestra from a deeper podium and that has caused some consternation. Apparently Mesut has had the highest number of turnovers so far of anyone playing in Emery’s new Arsenal high press.

What do you think? Perhaps you don’t think Lucas Torriera will be the first name on the team sheet even when he has got used to London and the English Premier League?

Maybe Unai Emery already has a good idea of his ideal team members and all with be revealed in the fullness of time.

chas 

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Posted by Bongo

How Did you Rate our Debutants?

August 15, 2018

How would you rate our summer signings in their first appearance?
This is meant to be a bit of fun; mainly for Eddie who loves a poll!
It’s obviously too early to make any decisions about our new signings but first impressions often linger.

 

Sokratis Papastathopolous – looked a wee bit slow in pre-season but seemed more commanding in his first competitive game – Cretan rock face.

 

Stephan Lichtsteiner – adapted well (as the seasoned pro he is) to making his debut at left back rather than in his natural position – not short of cojones.

 

Matteo Guendouzi – a little shaky to start and then he seemed to realise he could play at Prem level – “I am not calling another man Matteo. Ever.”.

 

Lucas Torreira – only had 20 minutes or so but seemed to have an immediate impact on our midfield shape – terrier or pit bull.

 

chas

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Posted by Bongo

More Gears to Come – Arsenal beat Lazio

August 5, 2018

Going into the game, expectations were high with the prospect of a debut for Lucas Torreira and a return for the Albanian Eagle. Impressions after the match were dominated by the impact second half substitute Matteo Guendouzi had on the look of the Arsenal team.

The match began as if it was a training scenario, Arsenal having virtually 100% possession and Lazio making thousands of small shuttle runs denying space and chances.

Laca was on target from a fine volley; the dinked pass from Lichtsteiner a real treat and in complete contrast to his ebullient roughhousing. I really enjoyed watching an old school defender employing the full range of tricks of his craft. Stephan Lichtsteiner won’t be bullied this season, that’s for sure. It would have been very interesting to see how he would have coped with Hudson Odoi the other night. I’d imagine the chav may have found himself flying into the first couple of rows of seats at some point!

Reiss Nelson was sharp to follow up Alex Iwobi’s effort off the post giving the boys in the “peacoat navy” (seriously ) shirts a deserved lead. Lazio finally woke up, finished the half stronger and were, perhaps, a little unlucky not to equalise with both a chip on to the bar and a clear header.

Auba scored after fine work from Elneny and Lacazette on the edge of the Lazio area. The intensity of the game dropped after numerous substitutions and Lazio clearly lacked the sharpness a tougher preseason might have given them.

The final 20 minutes was my favourite part of the game with all the big hitters, Mesut, Micki, Auba, ESR and Matteo on the pitch at the same time. Arsenal became a purring Rolls Royce coasting to victory. Whether the Premier League will allow us the luxury of seeing so much skill and pure talent on the pitch at the same time is another matter entirely.

Guendouzi was majestic, playing with the unabashed confidence of youth. Mesut loved his cameo and the highlight came from Micki with a sublime turn and nutmeg.

Calum Chambers played particularly well in the first half. He really seems to be maturing into a fine defender and his passing from the back adds a level of calm we didn’t see against the chavs on Wednesday.

Lucas Torreira’s debut was pretty quiet. His rapid shifting of the ball forwards was very pleasing to watch. More to come from the Uruguayan undoubtedly.

All in all a very decent, if not spectacular, run out, though which players will make the cut against City next week is anyone’s guess!

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Posted by Bongo

Last Gasp Laca – Chelsea Chastened by Iwobi pen

August 2, 2018

Let’s just cut to the chase, dive straight in and talk about the best part of the ninety four minutes, no I don’t mean the last gasp goal from Lacazette that saved us from one of most horrible feelings that there can be no matter what the competition – losing to Chelsea is never a good look and never a good feeling; no, I am talking about something so much more uplifting, what is it, what is it, all this build up, is it going to be worth it? Oh yes it is – Guendouzi’s body check on Hudson-Odoi. The irritating upstart had been messing Hector around all game when suddenly bosh, have some of that you dirty chav; Guendouzi who is rapidly coming one of my favourite players showed him what is what and left the annoying blue mess writhing on the deck.

It is staggering that he is only 19 and has been playing in French lower league. There is no doubt in my mind that he has made Elneny redundant and some may say Xhaka too. Granit is a bit of a marmite player so I understand where some people are coming from but it is a bit early for that. Incredibly there is a lot of similarity in their style play but if anything the young Frenchman moves that ball around just that bit quicker, so although, I don’t expect that it will be long until Granit returns he will know he has serious competition for his place and he will not have the protection of being a shiny new Emery signing: Xhaka is a product of the old regime. Should be interesting, we shall see. Can’t stop thinking about that body check – love it.

Chelsea put out a pretty strong side and carved our defence open like a Sunday roast. You can say that with Monreal, Torreira and Xhaka in the mix things might have been a bit different – perhaps, but even with all three of them there I don’t think we would have stopped their goal and what’s more I predict we will suffer an awful lot more of that kind. Koscielny might have done something about it but that is a long way off.

The best form of defence is attack, well it is going to have to be, although, fortunately we are blessed in that department. And there is Iwobi – Barn Door meet Iwobi, Iwobi meet Barn Door, no Alex it’s over there; he should have scored and given us a slightly calmer finish.

But cometh the, (how on earth am I going to make this one work? No idea.) cometh Lacazette. We all saw it; he was more potent in 5 minutes than the rest of the attack had been for seventy minutes. The Butcher’s Dog got himself on the score sheet again and has surely earned himself a starting berth against City.

Cech was awesome. The step up for Smith-Rowe was a tad far; I bet he regrets not taking the shot on when that golden chance appeared. Kolasinac: we have done this one, he is just filling in. The central defence pairing, well if you can see some upside please let me know?

Mah, it was only a friendly and we avoided losing which no one likes. Next up, the caring sharing, kind hearted souls from Italy’s capital – Lazio. Onwards and upwards.

Written by LB

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Posted by Bongo

Arsenal v Chelsea – plans firming up

August 1, 2018

Apparently today’s friendly in Dublin is still part of the International Champions Cup so it’s all to play for!


New chav manager Maurizio Sarri will be at a similar stage to Unai with ideas forming as to who will be playing for him in the new look West London set-up.

With only today’s and Saturday’s game in Stockholm against Lazio remaining, time is running out for Unai Emery to decide which players are edging towards his first Premier League selection.

Even before this week’s return to training of Granit, Nacho, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Lucas Torreira, there appeared to be a multitude of options. Now is the time for those to be whittled down.

Historically, the youngsters who impress on pre-season tours often get moved to the sidelines once we get down to the nitty gritty of the League. In a way I’m hoping that Matteo Guendouzi and Emile Smith-Rowe are, at least, given the opportunity to claim a spot on the bench for early Prem games. They’ve been like a breath of fresh air.

Regardless of that, I’m sure Emery, Carlos Carcedo and Stevie Bould will come up with the right players and formation.

COYRRG

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Posted by Bongo

That’s Entertainment – Arsenal thrash PSG

July 29, 2018

If football is meant to entertain, lift the spirits and make us happy then watching Arsenal beat PSG in Singapore on a Serbian stream while sitting on my sofa in London ticked all of those boxes.

It was good fun wasn’t it? Something new is happening, it may not be the much talked about high press, well not yet anyway, but there is something. Maybe there is a new found determination, maybe there is a new found freedom I can’t quite put my finger on it yet. It’s like Unai Emery has added oil to where oil was lacking and the whole thing seems to be flowing much smoother.

The format followed that of Atletico: there were three parts to it. In the first 60 minutes UE played a sort of serious team, this gave way to half a dozen changes for what seemed like giving certain players game time and then the third part in which the remaining academy players got a run out.

There is no doubt that up front we have an abundance of riches — and we have Iwobi. Özil was playing with a smile on his face as wide as the Bosphorus; that would be the same Özil that was playing with the body language of a dead frog only a month ago. (That description makes me howl) His goal was superbly taken.

Taken that is from a beautifully weighted pass from Aubameyang who was (if I am not mistaken) playing out on the right this time. Mkhitaryan looked as classy as ever and all this without Lacazzette who not only turned up in the second half looking as fit as a butchers dog he had sharpened his shooting boots as well. Two really good goals, the first being the peach of the pair which I had to watch at least five times to see just how he had made Buffon look — well silly.

Guendouzi was the standout, I am afraid to say it but I think he has made Elneny redundant already. Xhaka with a Side Show Bob hair do? The young Frenchman seemed to be everywhere and he is never going to be accused of not wanting the ball. There was a touch of show boating in the Atletico game which had vanished this time againsd PSG after what must have been a stern word in the ear.

Hector looked sharp; in fact the whole squad looked hot damn fit and ready to go. Kolasinac was left wanting for pace when conceding a penalty; he is surely only filling in for Monreal who himself is just filling in for what must almost certainly be the next heavy weight signing. No offence Nacho, love you to bits, it’s an age thing but fear not there is will be a role for you for quite some time just look at Lichtsteiner.

Goalkeeper looked ok; he made one clearance that we nearly scored from which I was impressed with. Good to see Eddie get on the score sheet again.

Yeah, all in all a fun day’s viewing and looking forward to the Chelsea game.

Written by LB

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Posted by Bongo

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