Arsenal's tiredness to be dealt with and transition counter attacking the new way

By 1970's Gooner

I was very pleased and encouraged by the Arsenal players' performance against Crystal Palace. They moved the ball about very quickly, hunted the opponents all over the pitch and counter attacked with pace and venom (hence the scorpion kick...).

The urgency shown was something that was distinctly missing from previous recent performances with the known negative results.

However this will be difficult to replicate against Bournemouth as this game comes only 50  hours since the final whistle of the Palace game.

I watched the Sunderland vs Liverpool game and it was obvious that Liverpool looked tired and off the pace which allowed Sunderland to gain a good foothold in the game.

Consider the following:

The Arsenal players looked tired against Everton on the Tuesday after having played Stoke three days before on a Saturday (a game which came four days after the away Basle game).

They again looked even more tired, especially in the second half against Man City, a game played five days later on a Sunday.

Taking this into account I would expect that for a game coming after about a day and a half since the last one that jadedness will be a major factor affecting the players performance.

Arsene Wenger will therefore have to introduce fresh legs but at the same time keeping the core important players so as to avoid disrupting the rhythm of the team.

Lets start with the undroppables.

In defence Cech, Koscienly, Monreal (as Gibbs is injured and not ready yet) and Bellerin.

The major decision here is whether to keep Gabriel or bring Mustafi in. I think Wenger will play Gabriel so as to keep the same defence, who have not conceded in 2 games, together but also to make sure that Mustafi is fully recovered from his hamstring.

In midfield Xhaka with his excellent performance against Palace should keep his place. Elneny is away and I fully expect that Coquelin will come in.

Iwobi will definitely keep his place as Ozil is still ill but also because he was instrumental in moving the ball in transition quickly and accurately to the on running forward players. He also scored. Funny that I am not worried about Ozil's absence....

On the wing I don't see Walcott making a comeback as he has been out for a few weeks and in any case I don't think he has been declared fit yet.

Sanchez is undroppable full stop and so is Giroud. There is therefore only one other place left and this will be between Ramsey, the Ox and Perez. The latter two have a better chance to start as they are faster and more fit than Ramsey who is only coming back from an injury.

The boss will want to select a pacy winger as our counter attacking has been a feature that has worked well recently. Perez did well vs Palace but he is very one footed and since he cannot play on the left, as Sanchez operates so well from there, I can't see him starting. The Ox will also bring fresh legs in the team.

This is the probable starting 11:

Cech

Bellerin  Koscienly  Gabriel  Monreal

Coquelin  Xhaka

Ox Iwobi  Sanchez

Giroud


Prediction: Bournemouth 0  Arsenal 1