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Friday, April 17, 2009

Toure Vs Drogba and where should Fabregas play against Chelsea?

By 1970’s Gooner

There are two major reasons behind Chelsea’s revival since Scholari was moved on.

The first is the arrival of Hiddink who has managed to breathe a new found enthusiasm among the players. The second is the reinstatement of Drogba as the main attacking man (rather than the more delicate Anelka) in a familiar 4 3 3 formation.

This formation needs a strong and dynamic man up front who will receive the ball, hold off defenders and lay it off to a team mate or even turn and go for goal himself.

Drogba’s resurgence is, to my mind, a very important reason behind Chelsea’s success recently.

It was Drogba that scored the first goal against Liverpool and it was Drogba that run into the area and laid on the assist for Lampard to score Chelsea’s third goal.

And in previous Arsenal Chelsea encounters it was Drogba that created the most damage (usually against the hapless Senderos).

When this player is on song then the whole of Chelsea functions well.

Mark this man out of the game and you have made headways towards subduing the opponents and thus improving the chances of victory.

Kolo Toure’s new found form in recent games has come at the right time. I would think that Wenger will instruct him rather than the slower Silvestre to mark Drogba.

And Kolo will need to use not only his pace but his strength and tenacity to thwart a player that will use his power to create openings for his team mates.

Chelsea’s formation for the game will probably be their familiar 4 3 3. But Arsenal’s is not that easily predictable. This is because Wenger has used both 4 4 2 (as in the second game against Villareal and against Wigan) and 4 4 1 1 in the first game against Villareal.

The decision will be based on where Fabregas will be deployed. Will he be in the hole behind Adebayor or back in his usual position in the central midfield areas.

The real question underlying this decision is whether Wenger wants to approach the game cautiously or not.

If caution is the order of the day then he may prefer to deploy Song and Denilson (or for me Diaby) in a more withdrawn protective role in front of the defence and play Fabregas in the hole behind Adebayor.

Apart for it’s defensive qualities this formation will also be more appropriate for a midfielder to pick Lampard’s runs into the penalty area.

This formation will probably keep Van Persie out and provide Wenger with a viable option from the bench if he needs to change the formation or add another forward in the mix late in the game.

It will also give Van Persie a rest as according to Wenger he would not want the player to play every three days especially with the Champion’s League Semi Finals coming up.

The downside to this formation is the possibility of Fabregas being man marked and thus starving Arsenal of the creativity that the little maestro can provide.

And don’t forget that Essien, who did a very good job on Gerrard at Anfield, will be patrolling the areas that Fabregas will be operating in.

If Wenger will be bold and go for the more adventurous option then he will play Fabregas and Song in central midfield.

Adebayor will be up front and Van Persie (or even Eduardo) just behind him.

Arshavin and Walcott (or Nasri) will be the wide men.

I personally like Fabregas where he belongs.

In the central midfield area where he can weave his magic and be able to create.

And Chelsea have been leaking goals recently so let’s attack them and play not only to our strengths but also to their weaknesses.

My formation will therefore be:

Fabiansky

Eboue Toure Silvestre Gibbs (if fit)

Walcott Song Fabregas Arshavin

Van Persie

Adebayor


The other selection headache for Wenger will be in defence.

Sagna has already been ruled out. If Gibbs does not make it then Silvestre could be moved to the left and Song brought back to partner Toure.

I would prefer Diaby rather than Denilson, who has been of form recently, to be brought in to play along side Fabregas in central midfield.


Fabiansky

Eboue Toure Song Silvestre

Walcott Diaby Fabregas Arshavin

Van Persie

Adebayor


13 comments:

Greg said...

If Cesc plays in the "hole" he will be marked out of the game by Essien. He must play deeper and pick up the ball from the CBs and initiate the attack. Chelsea's greatest threat is set-pieces and aerial balls to Drogba. I think we should be mindful of defending those types of balls and attack attack attack Chelsea's reargard.

Anonymous said...

Well.. I seriously think that we should play 4-5-1. With Adebayor as the lone striker. Walcott or nasri to be on the right while arshavin will be on the left. The attacking central midfield, would not be Fabregas, instead if possible, I would like to put RvP, or maybe even Diaby. Song and Fabregas would be the 2 midfielders just infront of the defence. This would most probably take up Essien (by marking out Diaby) and then leaves Fabregas free to pick his passes in a more withdrawn role. Further more Fabregas has great awareness of the game and therefore would be able to track Lampard's run into the penalty box (just like how he did when he scored against liverpool, the liverpool player did not check Lampards run, thus Lampard was totally free). I couldnt bet on Song or diaby to mark Lampard out given their frequent lapses in concentration.

However if Song plays in Defence alongside Toure, then I would prefer Diaby to play along side Fabregas in the 4-5-1 formation. The attacking midfielder would then be either RvP or Arshavin.

4-4-2 might not work as well because Chelsea is playing with a 4-3-3, and we need more cover over the flanks and middle, especially since our defence are down to bare bones. By using 4-5-1, we could also play on the counter and uses the speed of Adebayor and Walcott.

Play 4-4-2, would most simply allows Essien to mark out Fabregas effectively. He did it to Gerrard, and there is a great possibility that he can do it to Cesc. Furthermore, Diaby alone cannot do the work of a Defensive Midfielder as effectively as Song. He needs a partner. And worst if Wenger plays Denilson, he is too light weight against Chelsea and Lampard will definitely outsmart him.

Anonymous said...

Even I can not believe what I'm gonna say, but Cech is now the weakness point in Chelsea's defense. He seems lost all his ability and confidence. They conceded 7 goals in two match with Bolton and Liverpool, most of them look very unharmed. So 2-1 for Arsenal would be the final score IMO. Drogba will have the opening goal, then we will come back with 2 (maybe 3).

Jav said...

............Fabianski..............
........Toure.......Silvestre......
...................................
Eboue.........................Gibbs
...................................
.........Song......Diaby..........
.............Fabregas..............
...................................
.....Walcott.........Arshavin......
.............Adebayor..............

Subs:
Mannone
Bendtner
Eduardo
Vela
Denilson
Nasri
Van Persie

Jav said...

Chelsea will most probably play a 3 man midfield of Essien, Ballack and Lampard.

Playing with two in the middle against these 3 and I fear fabregas would be overrun no matter who partners him.

I think it would be best to play a 4-3-3 system which can quickly revert to a 4-2-3-1 when defending.

Anonymous said...

1970, you still have not read Wenger's recent comments on Fabregas's position. I am sure Wenger knows which is Fabregas's best position. Besides, there is AA23 and Samir Nasri to play in the hole behind Adebayor, and for tomorrow I think we will see Diaby play there with Nasri or AA on the left and Walcot on the right of midfield (remember when Man U visited the emirates last year). If Gibbs makes it then Song will play where he played on wednesday against Villareal, otherwise he will be in CD and Denilson will partner Fabregus in central midfield and Diaby in the hole. Wenger will not play Diaby and Fabregus in centre midfield at present.

Anonymous said...

Great contributions on here -- a tactical discussion that puts the 'professional' English media to shame.

For me: 4-5-1 defending, 4-3-3 attacking. I love it (keeganesque now), just love it that AW has a big enough squad nowadays to have tactical options!

Diaby in the hole on form and Essien will have his hands full. Diaby on his day is probably as dangerous as Gerrard in all but the finishing and the timing of his intervensions. But can Adebayor and Diaby link well together to manuever past Carvalho/Alex and Terry???

If Song is in defense, Denilson can't lose Lampard's forward runs.

Anonymous said...

Denilson offers tenacity. So that's why he partners Cesc, not Diaby. I think RVP will play in the second half, we might start with Diaby in the hole, Walcott on the right, AA23 on the left.
Now, don't you go start worrying, because i think we will win 2-1

Anonymous said...

i find it incredible that no one has mentioned 2 put arshavin in the hole if rvp needs resting and then play nasri on the left and walcott on the rite. the hole is his best position by and he can inflict real damage there.

Anonymous said...

i think bendtner will play as the only forward

Jithin said...

By the way I see things, Fab should play behind the lone striker. We all know Essien will mark him. We also know the threat of Essien when it comes to short passing n long range shots. So if Fab plays an advanced role we'll be having Denilson n Song as tacklers or interceptors. And Fab with his ball retention can keep Essien engaged in his own half for long time. So the gunners can can nullify the threat of Essien with six free to defend the attack from Chelsea, n may be we can catch them on the break coz our wings are fast and ade is tall n strong. Then maybe after tiring them, we can introduce RVP and Eddie for Denilson n Ade, which will give us four creative players upfront and a lethal finisher. This may work or maybe will collapse us. Feel free to comment on my opinion also. Gooner4life.

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