Arsenal’s squad is thin and unbalanced

By 1970’s Gooner

The most important characteristics to look for when assessing a squad is the following:

- the quality of the players

- the cover in each position

- the age structure in order to ensure that there is a number of younger and promising players who could eventually make it into the first team.

Have a look at the first team players on Arsenal’s books. The squad looks thin and unbalanced.

What is easily realisable is that there is a plethora of good quality midfielders but not enough strikers or defenders.

Let’s look at the squad:

Goalkeepers

Enough numbers (2) but they are both relatively young and inexperienced. They are promising however so they need to be complimented by an experienced goalkeeper who will either start games or provide competition for places.

Recommendation – Buy experienced goalkeeper

Right backs

There are two and they compliment each other well. Sagna is an experienced defender who is covered by Jenkinson who is an up and coming young right back of good quality.

Recommendation: No need to buy

Left backs

The same as for the right backs can be said for this position. There are two very good defenders. Nancho Monreal is the more experienced one and Gibbs is developing into an exciting left back with attacking capabilities.

Recommendation: No need to buy unless Monreal’s back injury is more long term (like Vermaelen’s)

Centre backs

The quality of the available centre backs has proved to be very good as the results of the last 10 games show (second best defence and the best away defence of the League).

However there are two major problems with these positions. 

The first is that there are only three experienced centre backs for the two available positions (Koscienly, Mertesacker and Vermaelen). So there is a need to add another and also of course there is Vermaelen’s long term injury (out for 3 months which makes the available centre backs as only two).

Yes I agree that Sagna will be a revelation at centre back if called upon (he has the heading ability and the defensive nous) but there is still the problem that we will only have 3 centre backs to cover for 2 positions. It will also leave the right back position with only one player available.

It is therefore vital to increase the available centre backs to four and to cover for possible injuries in this significant position.

Recommendation: Buy another centre back irrespective of Sagna’s availability and recall the decision to send Coquelin on loan to Freiburg so that he could cover at right back if need be (he proved very capable last season and I would trust him in this position).

Midfielders

A large number with good quality are available in these positions. Central midfielders of the likes of Arteta, Ramsey (I think he will be irreplaceable this season), Wilshere, Rosicky and if need be Cazorla and the Ox means that the midfield will be Arsenal’s high powered engine room for the coming season.

On the wings there is Walcott, Podolski, Cazorla and The Ox. No need to add there although you could say that a left sided out and out winger could balance the team much more.

Recommendation: On balance no need to add

Strikers

Which strikers? There is only one as far as I am concerned and that is Oliver Giroud. He will improve no end this his second season. But you can’t rely on only one out and out striker.

Sanogo is young and unproven. Gervinho, Chamack and Park are on their way out and would not have featured anyway.

Podolski and Walcott filled in last season but in my opinion they are either not ready or up to it to play in that position with the effectiveness required.

Recommendation: BUY BUY BUY

Wenger raises expectations for a star signing

 By 1970' s Gooner

It used to be that Arsenal did not buy the stars but made them. Do you remember? Arsene Wenger used to brag about it. But only a few days ago he made an exremely surprising statement. He said that we are now in position to buy the stars!

Not only has he changed his strategy he has raised expectations by making bids for 25m (Higuain) and 35 m (Suarez) for two players that are cosidered as stars! And as if this was not enough he announced that Arsenal want to buy Rooney and can afford his wages!

Forgetting the Rooney bid as a tactical non starter (he made it to make a point to prospective incoming players that Arsenal are in the market for the big boys) he is now running the danger that he may end up with nothing.

Real have agreed terms to sell Higuain to Napoli for 37m and then they may probably use the money to buy Suarez from Liverpool!

Arsenal and Arsene will be left with mud on their face.

And we will be sweating our squeaky bums for another tight finish for 4th spot again.

Higuain and the fixture list means Arsenal are gunning for the title

By 1970’s Gooner


Higuain’s transfer to Arsenal marks a definite statement of intent. At the reported 25m this is a deal that signifies Arsene’s will to go for the title in possibly his last season at the club. Just like Alec Ferguson went out and bought a 29 year old RVP to make sure he retired with a big bang.

Higuain is a typical Wenger buy bar one item on his check list.

He is 25 so he has a resale value.
He is a goal scorer with a goal to game ratio closing on 0.57 (good goal scorers are usually at 0.5).
He is fast and versatile, able to play in various forward positions.

The only thing that is not typical of a Wenger buy is the transfer fee and his salary both which will break Arsenal’s previous ceilings.

The positives of last season’s performance to take forward are:

The squad now has good depth in quality with more additions to come.
The three additions of last season, Cazorla, Giroud and Monreal have had a very good year and will be far more effective this.
Wilshere will, hopefully, have a full season ahead of him.
Arsenal had the second best defence in the League (and the best away defence)!

And then there is the fixture list.

When I looked at it I was overwhelmed with a feeling of optimism and confidence. This is because nearly all the fixtures looked realistically winnable to my eyes! If we can beat Spurs at home in the third game then we are on the way.

We will probably be top of the League or very near it by Christmas! Mark my words we are gunning for the title!



Aug 17: Aston Villa (h)

Aug 24: Fulham (a)

Aug 31: Tottenham Hotspur (h)

SEPTEMBER

Sep 14: Sunderland (a)

Sep 21: Stoke City (h)

Sep 28: Swansea City (a)

OCTOBER

Oct 5: West Bromwich Albion (a)

Oct 19: Norwich City (h)

Oct 26: Crystal Palace (a)

NOVEMBER

Nov 2: Liverpool (h)

Nov 9: Manchester United (a)

Nov 23: Southampton (h)

Nov 30: Cardiff City (a)

DECEMBER

Dec 3: Hull City (h)

Dec 7: Everton (h)

Dec 14: Manchester City (a)

Dec 21: Chelsea (h)

Dec 26: West Ham United (a)

Dec 28: Newcastle United (a)

JANUARY

Jan 1: Cardiff City (h)

Jan 11: Aston Villa (a)

Jan 18: Fulham (h)

Jan 28: Southampton (a)


Odds for the title: 11/1

Arsenal are now favourites to land Jovetic. Fiorentina’s owner decides against Juventus

By 1970’s Gooner

Arsene Wenger did hint that he will be proactive in the transfer market and it seems that he has been doing his homework.

Arsenal have tabled a bid of €28million, 1 million below the asking price by Fiorentina’s owner Diego Della Valle. Wenger who has long been an admirer of the Montenegro striker looks like he will get his man as Fiorentina have decided that no way will they sell their hottest property to a main rival in Italy.

Fiorentina have only days ago been piped to the Champions League qualifying spot by Milan and now have to sell Jovetic who wants to move to a team playing in the CL. Although Juventus are ready to splash the cash to bolster their front line Arsenal are now considered favourites.

Reports in Italy suggest that owner Diego Della Valle would be willing to accept a slightly lower fee (around €29million) for his star man if he were to move abroad and Jovetic himself has described the Premier League as the strongest League in the world.

Part 1 of the four part tranfer plan now looks set to be completed. Arsenal will have two main strikers in Giroud and Jotevic (who can play on the wing too).

Part 2 is to get a defensive midfielder in and Part 3 will be to bolster the central defensive options.

Part 4 is considered to be a new experienced goalkeeper. I personally do not think that Wenger will go for this as he is set to allow one more year to both the Polish goalkeepers to blossom. 

Wenger’s change of tactics indicate a radical change in philosophy

By 1970’s Gooner

Arsene Wenger has been changing his way of thinking in his transfer policy in recent years by bringing in more mature players. Gone are the days when anyone over the age of 23 or so would not make the short list of possible transfer candidates. Ok I am exaggerating a little bit but you get my drift.

What has not changed on the pitch however has been his playing philosophy.

He plays a game of ball possession, uses only one defensive midfielder and the other midfielders as well as BOTH full backs play their game in the opponents half of the pitch.

That’s why whoever plays in defence for Arsenal will always look vulnerable as protection is at a minimum. And that’s why Wenger’s teams always look frail at the back.

Yet against Bayern there was a change of philosophy and therefore tactics.

Firstly the defending mentality adopted was one that had all the four defenders keeping a tight line, moving together in unison and the midfielders dropping back to form another line of defence.

This kept the opponents mostly outside the area having to shoot from that distance. As the full backs, at least in the first half, were more often than not where they should be (at the back ready to close the avenues on the wings) there was some proper defending going on.

Secondly Arsenal defended from the front. When Bayern’s defenders had the ball they were immediately closed down by Arsenal’s forwards as well as the more offensive midfielders. Tactically this meant that their defenders had to play the long ball forward or at least play passes under pressure.

The result was that Bayern could not play their normal passing game taking the ball from defence through the midfield onto their attackers. That’s how Arsenal’s first goal was scored when Bayern lost the ball in midfield.

Lastly Wenger decided to bypass the midfield and Arsenal’s passing game. When Mertesacker or Koscienly had possession they often chose the long ball on Giroud’s head with our midfielders working hard to win the second ball.

Quite a radical change if you ask me as it goes directly against Wenger’s philosophy.

But what it achieved was to render Bayern’s strong area rather superfluous even though it was an admission that our midfield is not as good as theirs.

Which is true but Wenger does not usually face up to this fact does he? He normally plays an open game with the same ball possession philosophy and tactics whoever the opponent is.

Will he adopt the tactics employed against Bayern in the Premier League?

I believe that he should carry on with the defensive tactical changes and the pressure on their defenders when they have the ball. We don’t need both our full backs bombing forward all the time however.

And our midfielders should be more aware of their defensive duties. The long ball to Giroud is not something that I would suggest as we can compete in midfield with our passing game especially with Wilshere in the team.

Koscienly and Coquelin the tactical changes for the derby

By 1970’s Gooner


Arsene Wenger has to decide how to approach this extremely important game against Spurs on Sunday. The philosophy to be adopted will determine to a great extend the outcome of the game and possibly Arsenal’s participation in next season’s Champions League.

What he should do is not what he chose to do in the game against Bayern.

Instead of acknowledging Bayern’s threats and quality and trying to combat that, he chose to play like he would always play against any average team.

In that game he adopted a very attacking philosophy ignoring the protection that the defence badly needed and choosing players that were too offensively minded.

Arsenal’s formation included only one truly defensive midfielder!!

The three midfielders were Arteta, who played in front of the defence and stack to his defensive duties as he always does.

Ramsey who is definitely not a defensive midfielder and is usually out of his depth for most games in the Premier League let alone against a top European team. He was in any case more often than not stuck further out on the wide side of midfield.

And Wilshere who did not sit back to protect the defence of course but was further up field organising the attacks.

The three more forward players were Walcott, Podolski and Cazorla.

Cazorla did not play as an out and out winger of course but was coming inside more often than not. But he also is not a defensive minded midfielder is he?

So we were playing a very important game WITH ONLY ONE DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER SITTING IN FRONT OF THE DEFENCE. No wonder our defenders looked fragile and harassed.

Any defence of any team would really struggle with the kind of protection that Wenger offers to the Arsenal defenders.

This must not be repeated in the important games.

In addition and to make matters worse Wenger’s tactics always force the full backs into a wing back role where they are required to bomb forward. And quite often both full backs do this at the same time!

The conclusion is that it is not our defenders who are not good enough but the offensive minded tactics and formation that are to blame.

And that is why all Wenger’s teams will always be defensively frail.

All this has to change against Spurs, starting with the inclusion in the starting line up of two defensively minded and disciplined midfielders.

They will offer a protective wall in front of the defence and more importantly provide the cover on the flanks to counteract Spurs’ obvious strength which is on their wings with Bale and Lennon.

The two midfielders should be Arteta and Coquelin. Diaby is not 100% fit and in any case he is not that disciplined to stay back and provide cover.

The more offensive midfielder will be Wilshere and so he should be. He will also be aided by Cazorla who will be coming inside to help with the play making duties.

Wenger has to consider which is the lesser of two evils. Does he play with only one defensive midfielder and two more creative in Wilshere and Cazorla with Podolski on the left wing? He will after all offer better protection by tracking back than Cazorla.

Or does he start with what I am suggesting and rely on the two defensive midfielders to cover on the flank when needed.

The other important decision will be who plays at right back. It is obvious that Wenger will choose Jenkinson but I think Koscienly should be preferred.

He is more experienced, played well in that position for Arsenal before and will be up for the fight against Bale, if he stays on the wing.

                   Szczesny

Koscienly Mertesacker Vermaelen Monreal

        Coquelin        Arteta

                 Wilshere

Walcott   Giroud    Cazorla


One thing he must not do is start with Ramsey.

No one is giving us a chance against Bayern. Yet there is a way

By 1970’s Gooner


No one is giving us a chance. Bayern have fantastic players, are sitting on top of their League, have scored 57 times in 21 games and have let in only 7!

Yet I feel that that we can do a runner against them.

They are a team that, like Arsenal, like to have possession and dominate the play. I say let them do this but when we have the ball we must adopt a fast tempo. Pass the ball quickly to feet and move up the pitch in determined fashion. Just like we did against AC Milan last season and scored three against them.

It would be wrong to try and play sideways passes, maintaining possession as we move up the pitch as we do with our opponents in the PL. It works against most teams (maintaining possession I mean) but it usually ends in defeat against the bigger teams.

That is why the Arsenal’s formation and player selection should reflect this style of play.

As a starter and starting from the front, Giroud should stay on the bench. I cannot see us playing the high ball to him from either the wings or the midfield and risk giving away possession. He is too slow to fit in this type of high tempo game.

I think that Walcott should get a start up front. His pace and penetrating runs would create a lot of problems for the opposing defence.

I do think however that we need to have a two man midfield shield in front of the defence. This will provide the basis for having enough bodies to win the ball and distribute to the more creative players further up front.

I am also of the opinion that Jack Wilshere should not be one of those two players. He is far more valuable and creative when he is playing further up behind the main striker. We do need to win the game after all. We are playing at home in a two leg game.

The two defensive midfielders should be Arteta and Diaby.

Diaby has played against Blackburn last Saturday so it seems that he may be overlooked and Ramsey preferred. Maybe so but in my opinion if he is fit he should start as he is a far better defensive midfielder than the inexperienced Ramsey who will be playing out of position.

In the wide midfield positions Cazorla and Podolski would add penetration, creativeness and a goal threat. Cazorla could come inside to top up the midfield and on such occasions one of the defensive midfielders could cover for him when we are defending on his side.

Podolski is good at covering for his defender and/or doubling against the winger. He will also be a threat from dead ball situations.


                        
                         Szczeny

Sagna  Mertesacker  Koscienly  Vermaelen

                Arteta          Diaby

                       Wilshere

Cazorla          Walcott            Podolski

Totally dominate and lose the game. It can only happen to Arsenal

By 1970’s Gooner

Yes it is very possible to dominate, totally dominate with 16 corners and 13 shots on target and still lose the game with the opponents only shot at goal!

And it is possible if you don't play at a fast pace to make your lower level opponent make mistakes and miss a string of chances to score yourself.

Diaby was too ponderous. He slowed the game down when what was so obviously needed was to accelerate the pace and put them onto the back foot. They would have had a lot of trouble dealing with fast pace. But no, he kept passing the ball sideways.

Rosicky was too rusty. lthough he tried he didn’t offer enough going forward and did not provide penetrating balls through the middle.

The Ox huffed and puffed but his crosses were Sunday league standard. And when the crosses got in the right place, there was not enough support from the midfielders to push into the box. AND WE WERE PLAYING AT HOME!

Gervinho hasn’t changed a bit continuing to fluff his chances. He can only score when he is playing for The Ivory Coast it seems. But really his level is well below Premier League standard.

Coquelin’s positioning was wrong too often. Their only forays into the Arsenal half came from his side and his lack of correct positioning. Their goal originated from a header he lost.

Overall our midfield and wide players let us down.

Conclusion. Arsenal’s second string is indeed second class.

We’ve heard that before.

Diaby is ready for centre back start

By 1970’s Gooner

I think Diaby is ready to play in the middle of the defence at Sunderland on Saturday. He is fit, tall enough to compete with the aerial balls O’Neil’s side will throw at Arsenal’s defence aiming for Fletcher and/or Graham and most important of all he will be a far better proposition than Squillaci or the youngster Miquel.


With Vermaelen ruled out already and Koscienly having limped off during France’s international game against Germany Wenger needs to think hard how to fill in the void created.

Squillaci already has one foot out of Arsenal with his contract expiring in June. Additionally he has not played a first team competitive game in the League this season. He is definitely not ready to start any game let alone this tough fixture at Sunderland. Even when he used to get those rare starts he was a disaster waiting to happen and it often did!

Miquel also cannot be trusted to start this fixture where aerial ability and correct positioning will be of paramount importance.

This is a no brainer for me. Diaby should start alongside Mertesacker. Sagna and Monreal on either side. The midfield trio will be Arteta, Wilshere and Cazorla. In attack will be Theo, Podolski and Giroud.

Szczesny

Sagna Diaby Mertesacker Monreal

Arteta Wilshere Cazorla

Walcott Giroud Podolski

Monreal in London to agree terms

By 1970's Gooner

Arsene Wenger said he would try and buy a left back but I didn't believe he was being serious. But at last the penny has dropped and he seems to have realised that the 6m he paid for Santos was really a waste of money, space and time.

I was also expecting that being stingy as he is he would opt to play Vermaelen at left back and bring back Koscienly at centre back. Gibbs will be out for only three weeks after all. But again it seems that he may be thinking that Vermaelen and Koscienly are his safest centre back pairing and I would agree with that.

Reports from Spain's AS sports paper say that Cazorla's ex team mate at Malaga is actually in London today to finalise personal terms. The fee is 10m euros or 8.6m pounds.

He is 26 and has been called up in the last Spain squad. Monreal has nine caps and joined Malaga on a five-year deal from Osasuna in 2011.