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.

Drop this player for the Man Utd game Mr Wenger

By 1970’s Gooner

Sir Alec Ferguson seems to have been very astute with his tactics and formation in recent games. And even if the defence seems to be shipping in goals they end up winning the games that matter.

Take their league game at Chelsea for example. Many thought that the formation will be the diamond so well employed in the Champions League games and against Newcastle where a 3 0 away win was easily achieved.

But no, Ferguson reverted to the winger system with Ashley Young and Valencia running the Chelsea full backs rugged.

Valencia in particular aided by the right back Rafael created all sorts of problems on the right side contributing directly the first two goals of the game. The constant danger on that side meant that Ashley Cole was either restricted in his forward forays or more importantly when he did venture forward he was caught out of position.

So you can imagine how worried I became when the news came out today that Gibbs was unavailable for this Suturday's game at Old Trafford. Can you imagine what damage United can potentially achieve down that flank with Santos as our left back?

The guy cannot defend properly. He is either out of position because he has ventured forward (as all Brazilian defenders tend to do – Kafu, Roberto Carlos) or when he is in position he tends to commit himself too early rather than staying with the player.

I am worried. Really worried.

Arsene Wenger should, in my opinion, take the brave decision and drop Santos for this game in favour of either Koscienly or even Jenkinson. They are right footed but I am sure they will do a more than an adequate job.

The other area that Ferguson will try to negate will be to repeat Chelsea’s man to man marking of Cazorla during the encounter with Chelsea at the Emirates. Ramires did succeed in marking Santi very closely during that home defeat and as a result his distribution and overall effectiveness suffered.

Fletcher may be utilised for this purpose and he has the credentials to do it well. He has done it in the past against Arsenal and I am sure he will be up for it on Saturday. I just hope Fergie may not select him as he played midweek at Chelsea.

In this case Rooney will become the key man. He is likely to drop into midfield when Arsenal have possession making their formation a 4 5 1, restricting spaces for Arsenal’s midfielders to create.

The outcome of the game will rest on Arsenal’s ability to contain United’s attacking flair especially cutting the supply line to RVP form the wings (especially the left). If this is achieved Arsenal will find the net against a united defence which has been shipping goals lately.


Question: Which Premier League team has the best defensive record this season?

Long it may continue, but will it?

Arsenal vs Coventry video highlights

By 1970's Gooner

There are many of you who couldn't attend the match against Coventry.

Here are the highlights.

Szczeny out for four weeks

By 1970's Gooner

Wojciech Szczeny has got into injury mode just like his compatriot Fabianski. 

He missed the first two games of the season with a rib injury, came back for the game against Southampton and dropped a clanger handing them their only goal. A mistake for which his rib injury was probably a contributing factor.

Now it seems that his has picked up an ankle and foot injury and is out for at least four weeks. Fabianski is also out for an indefinite period due to an injury picked up in training on international duty for Poland which hands Vito Mannone an excellent chance to stake his claim as Arsenal's number one.

However it leaves Arsenal rather dangerously short in case Vito suffers an injury with young Argentinean keeper Damian Martinez continuing as his understudy.

We all wanted to play the number 9 when kids too Theo

By 1970's Gooner

Don’t get me wrong. I have promoted the idea of Theo being given a chance to prove himself in the middle of Arsenal’s attack just before the season started when it was obvious that RVP was departing for pastures new.

I still think that Theo should be given his chance as he has the qualities to succeed in this position. He is of course fast (thus he can get behind the opposing defence just like Ljumberg and Nicolas Anelka used to). He has shown that he can finish and I think with more exposure in this role he could get goals. He is a much better finisher than Gervinho in my opinion and at the moment much better than Giroud!


Arsene Wenger must have his own reasons why he has decided to opt for Gervinho rather than Wallcot and one of them may have to do with his maturity and decision making.

So AW may want to give him more exposure on the flanks before bringing him in the middle as he has done with others in the past. Fabregas and Diaby were first exposed on the wing for a few seasons before he was convinced to trust them by playing them in the middle where the responsibilities are far greater. He did the same with RVP although his injuries may have played a part in this.

Where Theo has got it wrong is in his attitude. Instead of signing a new deal and putting his head down trying to prove AW wrong he has decided to force the issue by not only demanding more money than his current contract but like a spoilt child wanting reassurances that he will be Arsenal’s centre forward!

Since when did Arsenal’s football players dictate in which position they play?

Theo Walcott looks to have overestimated his current abilities. He has not been near the consistent level of performances that he needs to put in so that he can convince Wenger to trust Arsenal’s goal scoring duties to him. Maybe in a year or so, but not now.

And Arsenal have made a mistake in not forcing Theo to either sign up or get out. Now the club has tactically lost a major bargaining position which will ultimately result, in the case where Walcott is moved on, in a reduced transfer fee of at least a few million pounds.

And if Wenger insists in not playing him until he signs up then Walcott will get frustrated and want out anyway, most probably at the end of his contract, in which case Arsenal will get nothing!

Theo too should have known better but to demand that he plays in the middle.

It reminds me when we were kids and we all wanted to play the number 9 (and nobody played in goal).


http://arsenalanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/07/new-striker-and-formation-for-wenger.html

Arsenal’s Next Gen have to learn to play like a team

By 1970’s Gooner

I watched the whole of Arsenal’s Next Gen game away to Olympiakos. Arsenal’s players were more technically gifted and more accomplished player for player when compared to the Greeks. You could see the skills flowing through them.

However they were a bunch of individual players that looked to have been put together in a hastily fashion in order to compete in this version of the youth Champions League.

They looked like a team that didn’t know each other which meant that passes were more often than not going astray or being intercepted by the opposition. More significantly the players were playing more individually than as a unit.

There were occasions when Akpom playing up front and Jeffrey on the right wing were guilty of not passing the ball in the area for a better placed colleague. Instead they were choosing to go through on their own. Kids staff really…

But Olympiakos were not guilty of this type of play. They were more compact knowing each other’s movement and playing as a much more cohesive unit. And even though their first goal was off side they scored it because their winger passed it beautifully across the area to the unmarked forward.

For some unfathomable reason the officials were Greek!

The Arsenal players that stood out for me were Ebecilio (central midfielder in the Diaby mould and style) and the central defender Hajrovic.

Yennaris was played out of position in central midfield and was generally ineffective, Gnarby, who is tipped to be upgraded to the first team squad should Walcott leave, did not impress either. 

Lets hope Terry Burton gets his act together for the next game. 

Player analysis and ratings Vs Liverpool

 

By 1970’s Gooner

Mannone

I like Vito. He is brave, has a massive built which fills the goal and is a good shot stopper. He showed all these qualities today and made good saves late in the game. He needs to improve his approach to the high balls which troubled him today on two occasions. His loan spell at Hull helped him a lot. 7

Jenkinson

I felt that in the first half he along with Mertersacker and Giroud were our weakest links. Young Sterling was having the better of him and also his distribution across the Arsenal back line instead of passing it forward gave the opponents some early possession in unwanted areas. Improved in the second half and looked assured from then on. He seems to stay back when we go forward and I think it is a planned move making sure that we are not exposed when we attack by having both full backs bombing forward as well as two of our three midfielders supporting the attack, as we used to do the season before. Bould’s influence? All I can say is why did we wait so many years to appoint Bouldy to the first team coaching staff? 6

Gibbs

Unlike Jenkinson he has the license to go forward and he is improving with every game. He was caught out of position on occasion but Podolski’s excellent defensive display helped him out masking his weakness in this area. He needs to guide his crosses onto Giroud’s head. More work is needed on the training ground in correcting this. 6

Mertesacker

Looked uneasy against Suarez getting a yellow card when the Liverpool player slipped past him early on. But overall he played well using his experienced head to position himself correctly cutting out the through passes. He does look clumsy though when facing players with a low centre of gravity. 6

Vermaelen

He is a real captain. Strong, decisive and a leader. Got to a lot of high balls from the many corners that Liverpool swung in. Defending balls from dead ball situations is another improvement in Arsenal’s defensive display. Reacted well when Mannone spilled a shot late in the game to get there first and clear away. 7

Diaby

A magnificent display from Arsenal’s best player on the pitch. He was immense, doing everything, winning the ball, going forward, making incisive passes and when needed to slow the game down passing early and simply. He is Arsenal’s best transfer this season and he cost nothing. May he keep out of injury…. 9

Cazorla

He had a brilliant game. Never wasted a pass, kept the ball well and capped a fantastic performance by a goal he richly deserved. He is not like Fabregas, he is a different type of playmaker who uses his skill to make telling passes and more importantly is always looking to score. 8

Podolski

An all round excellent display capped by a beautiful goal he helped create himself. He received the ball from defence passed it to Cazorla and run on to receive the return pass and slot it across Reina in the back of the net. I am impressed though by his defensive abilities. An excellent signing who after this psychologically boosting display will now improve by leaps and bounds. 8

Arteta

Carried his defensive duties with diligence and maturity. Covered back, especially for Gibbs when he went forward. Never put a foot wrong the whole game. 8

The Ox

He is a far better player than Walcott. Wenger should have let Walcott go as this boy has the lot. Dribbling, tackling, tracking back. Above all he is a fighter. His presence offers a much better balance to the Arsenal shape than Walcott who is better than the Ox only in the speeds stakes. And that is not good enough. 7

Giroud

He lacks pace. He is obviously a box player and a good header of the ball. So Wenger needs to get the rest of the Arsenal players to play up to his strenths. Missed another sitter today (he should have passed it to Gibbs who was in a far better position to score). Once he gets that goal however he will improve. 5