By 1970's Gooner
Arsene Wenger was until today ready to release Debuchy to go out on loan. This was so that he could get the necessary games and fitness levels required to maximise his chances of being selected for the Euro 2016 tournament. The possible destinations were Aston Villa and recently Sunderland.
Now with the sad news that Jenkinson has suffered a significant, possibly a season ending, injury during West Ham's game against Man City, this loan transfer for Debuchy is bound to be scrapped.
Surely Wenger will not take the chance and release Debuchy now he cannot use Jenkinson as a back up for the impressive Bellerin. The plan was that Debuchy would go to, most probably, Aston Villa and Jenkinson was to be recalled from West Ham.
The alternatives for Wenger will be Chambers, who is too slow, Gabriel who is a centre back and now needed in this position anyway as the BFG is out for 3 games and Flamini who has played in this position some years ago when he could run. Now he is not up to it.
Gibbs does not come into consideration as he is very left footed. Wenger could of course play Gibbs at left back and move Monreal at right back, if the need arises of course, but this would be placing square pegs in round holes. Unacceptable for a team chasing the title.
So Debuchy is going nowhere.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Monday, January 25, 2016
The reasons Wenger didn't play Elneny
By 1970's Gooner
There are three reasons Wenger didn't play Elneny against Chelsea.
The first is that he has just got together with the team only 10 days or so. He has not yet adapted to the way Arsenal play their football, what his position entails within the overall game plan and he has not yet got to know his fellow players.
Secondly Wenger got his man early this season because he knows that if he had waited for the summer then his price would have risen disproportionately. Why? because as everyone knows the much increased PL money for next season is bound to create large inflation in transfer prices adhering to the age old theory of too much money chasing the too few good players around.
And thirdly Elneny is going to be like Gabriel. Wenger will treat him the same. He will hold him back if he has Coquelin fit. Just like Gabriel is considered by Wenger to be an understudy to Mertesacker.
He is wrong of course. The BFG is on his last legs. he has no pace and no distribution capabilities. He has experience and is good in the air but these attributes are not enough in the PL.
As for the game against Chelsea Wenger was wrong to start with the BFG. He has been wrong starting him all season. I have said this in previous posts. His lack of pace cost us the game. The BFG should not have attempted the tackle thus would have kept himself and the team alive.
Ramsey had one of his worse games. He kept passing the ball to the opponents most of the time. Ozil gave up after we let the goal in. He didn't rise to the occasion, didn't lead the team. He became peripheral. The team as a whole became peripheral. They did not have any belief that they could come back which does not augur well for the run in.
Koscienly was as much at fault for the goal as the BFG imo. He is supposed to stay behind the BFG so as to cover for his lack of pace. On this occasion he was square. WHY?
Wenger got the tactics wrong again. We started slowly and gave them space to play about. WRONG. We should have blitzed them like we did Man Utd.
Nobody picked Cesc and Willian up in those first 15 minutes. They were free to run the game. WHAT WAS FLAMINI AND RAMSEY DOING?
The two positives were: When we finally decided to have a go in the second half we were decent which shows to me that we would have won the game if we had 11 players on the pitch.
The return of Sanchez was invigorating. He can advance with the ball leaving opponents behind and out of the game. He lifted the whole team up. He reminded us how we will be demoralising teams in the coming games. He will take the place of Walcott who is much below his best.
And when Coquelin comes back (which will be soon) and Cazorla too we will be real challengers again.
There are three reasons Wenger didn't play Elneny against Chelsea.
The first is that he has just got together with the team only 10 days or so. He has not yet adapted to the way Arsenal play their football, what his position entails within the overall game plan and he has not yet got to know his fellow players.
Secondly Wenger got his man early this season because he knows that if he had waited for the summer then his price would have risen disproportionately. Why? because as everyone knows the much increased PL money for next season is bound to create large inflation in transfer prices adhering to the age old theory of too much money chasing the too few good players around.
And thirdly Elneny is going to be like Gabriel. Wenger will treat him the same. He will hold him back if he has Coquelin fit. Just like Gabriel is considered by Wenger to be an understudy to Mertesacker.
He is wrong of course. The BFG is on his last legs. he has no pace and no distribution capabilities. He has experience and is good in the air but these attributes are not enough in the PL.
As for the game against Chelsea Wenger was wrong to start with the BFG. He has been wrong starting him all season. I have said this in previous posts. His lack of pace cost us the game. The BFG should not have attempted the tackle thus would have kept himself and the team alive.
Ramsey had one of his worse games. He kept passing the ball to the opponents most of the time. Ozil gave up after we let the goal in. He didn't rise to the occasion, didn't lead the team. He became peripheral. The team as a whole became peripheral. They did not have any belief that they could come back which does not augur well for the run in.
Koscienly was as much at fault for the goal as the BFG imo. He is supposed to stay behind the BFG so as to cover for his lack of pace. On this occasion he was square. WHY?
Wenger got the tactics wrong again. We started slowly and gave them space to play about. WRONG. We should have blitzed them like we did Man Utd.
Nobody picked Cesc and Willian up in those first 15 minutes. They were free to run the game. WHAT WAS FLAMINI AND RAMSEY DOING?
The two positives were: When we finally decided to have a go in the second half we were decent which shows to me that we would have won the game if we had 11 players on the pitch.
The return of Sanchez was invigorating. He can advance with the ball leaving opponents behind and out of the game. He lifted the whole team up. He reminded us how we will be demoralising teams in the coming games. He will take the place of Walcott who is much below his best.
And when Coquelin comes back (which will be soon) and Cazorla too we will be real challengers again.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Victory at Anfield a doddle if not for these mistakes. Analysis
By 1970's Gooner
I call it as I see it and what I saw was a team capable of winning this game easily but I am afraid Wenger's tactics and crucially his substitutions conspired to allow Liverpool to score three goals against us and snatch 2 crucial points away.
Firstly it was obvious that Klopp would have adopted the same tactics employed recently when they faced the bigger teams. High tempo and hard pressing from the front and especially the opponent's key players in midfield thus cutting the supply to the front men. That is how they knocked four against Man City and three against Chelsea (both away).
Wenger and the Arsenal players seemed unprepared to counter this tactic. Mertesacker was continually harassed and forced to make hasty clearances. More importantly Ozil was closed down immediately by at least two, sometimes three men, as soon as he came anywhere near the ball.
This meant that there was no significant ball possession resulting in reacting to the moves of the Liverpool players rather than dictating the game.
This absence of a player like Ozil capable of putting his foot on the ball and calming things down meant that there was no real outlet when the ball was cleared from the defence.
Ramsey partly but inadequately compensated for this by making those box to box runs which did bring the equaliser. But this forward thinking approach resulted in the game becoming an end to end affair rather than Ramsey playing the role of the stabilising player that could calm things down and help keep possession.
That is why I knew then that even if we did equalise their first goal we could not keep it up.
Secondly once we got ahead in the second half (around the 55 mark) we surrendered even more possession. Wenger then made two mistakes.
The first was failing to restrict Ramsey from continuing to play box to box. Ramsey kept going forward all the time, even in the last five minutes he was doing this. This meant that when we lost possession we had one less player defending in the midfield areas. And with Ozil running out of gas we were desperately short in that area. This put undue pressure on our defence.
The second had to do with the substitutions.
Wenger brought on Gibbs and The Ox for Cambpell and Walcott at the 75 mark. However Cambpell should have been kept on, he was very diligent and reliable in his defending.
The Ox was, as it was proven, not. He predictably kept giving the ball away and with Ozil nowhere and Ramsey too often far up the field meant that we were desperately short of numbers defending the resulting attack.
It was Ozil that should also have been substituted at that juncture and not Cambpell! Ozil cannot defend in situations like these, it's obvious. And Chambers was the man to bring on not the Ox!
These two substitutions (Gibbs and Chambers for Walcott and Ozil) would have made us more solid especially since the opponents were not really attacking with any particular plan or method and their passing and crosses were imprecise.
And in the closing stages Wenger could have brought Gabriel on and not Arteta as he did on 87. This may have prevented Benteke's header on 90 .....
If we had won the game the confidence levels would have been sky high going into the Stoke game. Still we didn't lose and we nearly snatched it with City also failing to capitalise (although Leicester did).
There is still a long way to go yet but this title race is crying out for a contender to grab the bull by the horns and lead a forceful charge with confidence. The worrying aspect of this is that whenever we are presented with a chance of proving our credentials (to everybody including ourselves) we fail to do so.
Hopefully Sanchez may return against Stoke. He will add more thrust and fervour in our attacks which will be needed.
If he does start (which I doubt) it will be for Walcott.
I call it as I see it and what I saw was a team capable of winning this game easily but I am afraid Wenger's tactics and crucially his substitutions conspired to allow Liverpool to score three goals against us and snatch 2 crucial points away.
Firstly it was obvious that Klopp would have adopted the same tactics employed recently when they faced the bigger teams. High tempo and hard pressing from the front and especially the opponent's key players in midfield thus cutting the supply to the front men. That is how they knocked four against Man City and three against Chelsea (both away).
Wenger and the Arsenal players seemed unprepared to counter this tactic. Mertesacker was continually harassed and forced to make hasty clearances. More importantly Ozil was closed down immediately by at least two, sometimes three men, as soon as he came anywhere near the ball.
This meant that there was no significant ball possession resulting in reacting to the moves of the Liverpool players rather than dictating the game.
This absence of a player like Ozil capable of putting his foot on the ball and calming things down meant that there was no real outlet when the ball was cleared from the defence.
Ramsey partly but inadequately compensated for this by making those box to box runs which did bring the equaliser. But this forward thinking approach resulted in the game becoming an end to end affair rather than Ramsey playing the role of the stabilising player that could calm things down and help keep possession.
That is why I knew then that even if we did equalise their first goal we could not keep it up.
Secondly once we got ahead in the second half (around the 55 mark) we surrendered even more possession. Wenger then made two mistakes.
The first was failing to restrict Ramsey from continuing to play box to box. Ramsey kept going forward all the time, even in the last five minutes he was doing this. This meant that when we lost possession we had one less player defending in the midfield areas. And with Ozil running out of gas we were desperately short in that area. This put undue pressure on our defence.
The second had to do with the substitutions.
Wenger brought on Gibbs and The Ox for Cambpell and Walcott at the 75 mark. However Cambpell should have been kept on, he was very diligent and reliable in his defending.
The Ox was, as it was proven, not. He predictably kept giving the ball away and with Ozil nowhere and Ramsey too often far up the field meant that we were desperately short of numbers defending the resulting attack.
It was Ozil that should also have been substituted at that juncture and not Cambpell! Ozil cannot defend in situations like these, it's obvious. And Chambers was the man to bring on not the Ox!
These two substitutions (Gibbs and Chambers for Walcott and Ozil) would have made us more solid especially since the opponents were not really attacking with any particular plan or method and their passing and crosses were imprecise.
And in the closing stages Wenger could have brought Gabriel on and not Arteta as he did on 87. This may have prevented Benteke's header on 90 .....
If we had won the game the confidence levels would have been sky high going into the Stoke game. Still we didn't lose and we nearly snatched it with City also failing to capitalise (although Leicester did).
There is still a long way to go yet but this title race is crying out for a contender to grab the bull by the horns and lead a forceful charge with confidence. The worrying aspect of this is that whenever we are presented with a chance of proving our credentials (to everybody including ourselves) we fail to do so.
Hopefully Sanchez may return against Stoke. He will add more thrust and fervour in our attacks which will be needed.
If he does start (which I doubt) it will be for Walcott.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
The three reasons for that defeat at Southampton
By 1970's Gooner
It was a performance that nobody ever ever expected. Having comprehensively beaten Man City at the Emirates one would have expected that the huge confidence gained from that wonderful display would have carried them through against Southampton.
It didn't. And there are three main reasons for this which combined together may explain what happened.
Firstly the players AND management got too complacent. AGAIN. They thought that they were entitled to turn Soton over just because they beat Man City. WRONG.
This over complacency rears its ugly head after a great performance. Remember what happened after we beat Chelsea in the Charity Shield? We got thumped by West Ham the following Saturday in a kind of similar lack of energy display.
Complacency my friends. Complacency. Wenger gets complacent. Prior to the game he was busy talking about being vindicated having not bought any outfield players in the summer. He was basking in his success. He was in a way resting on his laurels...
Even Steve Bould on the bench at Southampton was clutching that tactics book of his which was all rolled up in his fist. It was kind of telling us 'I won't be needing this'. And when he did need it late on in the game he couldn't find the right page to show the Ox!!!! Shows you how ready he was for a fight.
Secondly the effort they put in for the win over Man City must have taken a lot out of the players. This usually would have been overcome mentally wise as the players AND management would have raised themselves up for the challenge ahead. BUT when tiredness is combined with overconfidence it invariably results in a non performance. And this is what we got. Too limp, tepid, lack of movement and an inability to bounce back once they got behind.
The third reason has to do with the performance of the Soton players. They were tactically spot on. They did three things right.
They stifled the space that Ozil usually occupies, double marked the space for our overlapping full backs and exploited Arsenal's static central defence by routing balls for the pacy and combative Long down the channels to chase.
Rest assured that Howe will be studying the tape of this game all day today and yesterday.
All we have to do is beat them tomorrow and go top of the League.
It was a performance that nobody ever ever expected. Having comprehensively beaten Man City at the Emirates one would have expected that the huge confidence gained from that wonderful display would have carried them through against Southampton.
It didn't. And there are three main reasons for this which combined together may explain what happened.
Firstly the players AND management got too complacent. AGAIN. They thought that they were entitled to turn Soton over just because they beat Man City. WRONG.
This over complacency rears its ugly head after a great performance. Remember what happened after we beat Chelsea in the Charity Shield? We got thumped by West Ham the following Saturday in a kind of similar lack of energy display.
Complacency my friends. Complacency. Wenger gets complacent. Prior to the game he was busy talking about being vindicated having not bought any outfield players in the summer. He was basking in his success. He was in a way resting on his laurels...
Even Steve Bould on the bench at Southampton was clutching that tactics book of his which was all rolled up in his fist. It was kind of telling us 'I won't be needing this'. And when he did need it late on in the game he couldn't find the right page to show the Ox!!!! Shows you how ready he was for a fight.
Secondly the effort they put in for the win over Man City must have taken a lot out of the players. This usually would have been overcome mentally wise as the players AND management would have raised themselves up for the challenge ahead. BUT when tiredness is combined with overconfidence it invariably results in a non performance. And this is what we got. Too limp, tepid, lack of movement and an inability to bounce back once they got behind.
The third reason has to do with the performance of the Soton players. They were tactically spot on. They did three things right.
They stifled the space that Ozil usually occupies, double marked the space for our overlapping full backs and exploited Arsenal's static central defence by routing balls for the pacy and combative Long down the channels to chase.
Rest assured that Howe will be studying the tape of this game all day today and yesterday.
All we have to do is beat them tomorrow and go top of the League.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Flamini probably out of the Dinamo Zagreb game
By 1970's Gooner
What can go wrong will go wrong!
Is it a curse or is it something else? I won't go into that debate for now. But to have two players go off during the game with injuries is too much to accept. The same thing happened at Sheffield Wednesday remember?
The most important game is the next game they say. But not on this occasion for sure. Because now Wenger's team selection for next Tuesday will probably determine Arsenal's fate for the rest of the Premier League season.
If the best available 11 are selected for Tuesday then Wenger will be taking a hell of a chance. He will be risking further injury and fatigue for his players. His main aim should be to rest key players and keep them fresh for the next League game.
And first on the list of non starters should be Flamini. If he does play and gets injured then Wenger might as well resign for he will have made a major error in risking the only fit and available defensive midfielder left in the club.
In the same vein the 'returning players' such as The Ox and Ramsey should also be left out altogether so as to give them another week of recovery.
Sanchez really needs a rest and since we don't have any other fit forward then Giroud should also be protected but he will probably have to start.
What I am really saying is lets sacrifice the Champions League.
Cech
Debuchy Mertesacker Gabriel Monreal
Cazorla Chambers
Campbell Ozil Gibbs
Giroud
What can go wrong will go wrong!
Is it a curse or is it something else? I won't go into that debate for now. But to have two players go off during the game with injuries is too much to accept. The same thing happened at Sheffield Wednesday remember?
The most important game is the next game they say. But not on this occasion for sure. Because now Wenger's team selection for next Tuesday will probably determine Arsenal's fate for the rest of the Premier League season.
If the best available 11 are selected for Tuesday then Wenger will be taking a hell of a chance. He will be risking further injury and fatigue for his players. His main aim should be to rest key players and keep them fresh for the next League game.
And first on the list of non starters should be Flamini. If he does play and gets injured then Wenger might as well resign for he will have made a major error in risking the only fit and available defensive midfielder left in the club.
In the same vein the 'returning players' such as The Ox and Ramsey should also be left out altogether so as to give them another week of recovery.
Sanchez really needs a rest and since we don't have any other fit forward then Giroud should also be protected but he will probably have to start.
What I am really saying is lets sacrifice the Champions League.
Cech
Debuchy Mertesacker Gabriel Monreal
Cazorla Chambers
Campbell Ozil Gibbs
Giroud
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Injured players unlikely to return for next Saturday
By 1970's Gooner
All the Arsenal news in the media, including the sites specialising on fitness issues and likely return dates, have been giving us optimistic predictions of the likely return of the injured players.
But it seems that the probability of any one starting the match against West Brom has to be low.
Lets look at the most likely to return. The Ox has been posting videos of himself training saying that he is 80% to 90% close to full fitness. Well I am sorry to break the news to you but when a player says that he is close to fitness it really means that he is aiming to be at full fitness. It does not mean that he will get to full fitness.
In fact so desperate will the Ox be to get back, so as to get that run of games in the team now that others may not be around, that he is letting optimism get the better of him.
And even if he does achieve fitness Arsene Wenger will be reluctant to start him anyway in case there is a relapse considering his bad injury record. The best that can happen is that he is likely to start on the bench.
There has been no news at all coming out of Ramsey's 'camp'. Isn't this strange? One week away from the next game and no one is saying that Ramsey will be back. In fact it seems to me that Wenger will be announcing soon that Ramsey will take another week or two before he is ready.
That much has been revealed for Walcott already who is rumoured to be back at the beginning of December.
And as for Bellerin, for whom no news has come out yet, does Wenger risk him for next Saturday?
The point I am making is that Arsenal's injury record has deteriorated so much in recent weeks Wenger will be very reluctant to rush players back and risk jeopardising Arsenal's chances of putting a winning run during the Xmas period and indeed having these crucial players available and fit for the second crucial half of the season.
If he is going to rest players then it might as well be during the next few games as the opposition is 'relatively' not as strong.
Additionally their replacements (Campbell and Debuchy) after some dodgy performances are starting to settle in and Gibbs looked capable on the left wing against Spurs. The returns of Arteta and Flamini have also boosted the options available in midfield.
It seems to me that Wenger will take the conservative view and give these players another week to cement their fitness levels.
All the Arsenal news in the media, including the sites specialising on fitness issues and likely return dates, have been giving us optimistic predictions of the likely return of the injured players.
But it seems that the probability of any one starting the match against West Brom has to be low.
Lets look at the most likely to return. The Ox has been posting videos of himself training saying that he is 80% to 90% close to full fitness. Well I am sorry to break the news to you but when a player says that he is close to fitness it really means that he is aiming to be at full fitness. It does not mean that he will get to full fitness.
In fact so desperate will the Ox be to get back, so as to get that run of games in the team now that others may not be around, that he is letting optimism get the better of him.
And even if he does achieve fitness Arsene Wenger will be reluctant to start him anyway in case there is a relapse considering his bad injury record. The best that can happen is that he is likely to start on the bench.
There has been no news at all coming out of Ramsey's 'camp'. Isn't this strange? One week away from the next game and no one is saying that Ramsey will be back. In fact it seems to me that Wenger will be announcing soon that Ramsey will take another week or two before he is ready.
That much has been revealed for Walcott already who is rumoured to be back at the beginning of December.
And as for Bellerin, for whom no news has come out yet, does Wenger risk him for next Saturday?
The point I am making is that Arsenal's injury record has deteriorated so much in recent weeks Wenger will be very reluctant to rush players back and risk jeopardising Arsenal's chances of putting a winning run during the Xmas period and indeed having these crucial players available and fit for the second crucial half of the season.
If he is going to rest players then it might as well be during the next few games as the opposition is 'relatively' not as strong.
Additionally their replacements (Campbell and Debuchy) after some dodgy performances are starting to settle in and Gibbs looked capable on the left wing against Spurs. The returns of Arteta and Flamini have also boosted the options available in midfield.
It seems to me that Wenger will take the conservative view and give these players another week to cement their fitness levels.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Sanchez locks himself in his room
By 1970's Gooner
There is talk of Sanchez being rested by Arsene Wenger as he might be close to burn out. This is because he hardly had a rest after the Copa America, which Chile won. He was then thrown in at the deep end for the first game of the season against West Ham (coming on as substitute).
Sanchez is again back to his homeland for two crucial World Cup qualifiers beginning against Colombia.
Reports from their training camp in Chile indicate that although Sanchez's high energy approach has not deserted him, perhaps his recent tiredness has pushed him to seek a long enough recovery period between training sessions.
"Alexis I see an incredible moment. I see him so excited. If you move your energy to the game, Chile is very close to winning, "Sampaoli told a news conference.
However when the training was over Alexis retired to his room and locked himself in so as to not allow any distractions! The other players like Vidal and Vargas stayed behind signed autographs and generally lounged around watching the rest of the players, mostly subs, go through their training exercises.
The good thing is that Alexis appears to have realised that he needs to allow his body to recover. In this way he gives himself the best chance to come back without injury and a body rested enough so that performances leading to the Xmas period are not affected.
There is talk of Sanchez being rested by Arsene Wenger as he might be close to burn out. This is because he hardly had a rest after the Copa America, which Chile won. He was then thrown in at the deep end for the first game of the season against West Ham (coming on as substitute).
Sanchez is again back to his homeland for two crucial World Cup qualifiers beginning against Colombia.
Reports from their training camp in Chile indicate that although Sanchez's high energy approach has not deserted him, perhaps his recent tiredness has pushed him to seek a long enough recovery period between training sessions.
"Alexis I see an incredible moment. I see him so excited. If you move your energy to the game, Chile is very close to winning, "Sampaoli told a news conference.
However when the training was over Alexis retired to his room and locked himself in so as to not allow any distractions! The other players like Vidal and Vargas stayed behind signed autographs and generally lounged around watching the rest of the players, mostly subs, go through their training exercises.
The good thing is that Alexis appears to have realised that he needs to allow his body to recover. In this way he gives himself the best chance to come back without injury and a body rested enough so that performances leading to the Xmas period are not affected.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
The five alternatives for replacing the Ox and Walcott
By 1970's Gooner
What a shambles it was last night. No fight, no midfield creativity and two muscle injuries to two important first team players.
The probable absence of the Ox and Walcott from the Swansea game and at Bayern threaten to actually derail the gigantic momentum that has been building up in this month.
Walcott's (and the Ox's) pace would have been pivotal in the counter attacking tactics that would have been employed away at Bayern.
And along with the injury to Ramsey it is again muscle injuries that threaten to destroy all the good work done on the pitch.
And who is to blame?
Firstly Ramsey was again overworked with Wenger admitting that he should have rested him against Watford. Of course what happens? He gets a bad hamstring during the game against Bayern.
Do you remember a similar confession by Wenger after Ramsey sustained a muscle injury away at West Ham a season or so ago? The medical staff warned Wenger that he was in the grey zone but he just went ahead and selected him!
Secondly the Ox last night obviously did not warm up properly before the game. Just how else can a player sustain a muscle injury in the first three minutes of a game?
And even more damning again, obviously Walcott did not warm up AT ALL before replacing the Ox! We saw it on the screens on the TV. Why didn't Wenger and the medical staff tell him to get warmed up and never mind if we play with 10 men for a few minutes more?
It was shambles I tell you. A shambles.
In my experience any muscle injury even the softest ones will need 10 to 14 days just to make sure.
So what options are now in front of Wenger for Saturday?
There are five alternatives none of which are ideal of course but I have included some that are not so obvious.
1. Play Gibbs as a left sided midfielder and move Sanchez on the right.
Not ideal I know as it would also involve moving Sanchez away from the area which he uses to move in and crank his venomous shots. Still Gibbs has shown that he is fit and more importantly battle worthy.
2. Play Debuchy right back and move Bellerin on the right side of midfield.
The same idea as above but I would favour this less as Debuchy has miserably failed to obtain the high standards he had reached before his injuries. Last night he looked like a rooky too. Bellerin of course would be a good enough right sided midfielder with his pace and nous which is a pity as I would have liked to have seen him in that position.
I consider Chambers too slow to start as a right back. Remember what a horrible time he had last season away at Swansea?
3. Campbell to start (on either wing)
This option could find favour with Wenger as Campbell is more street wise with the capability to stretch defenders and also be aware of his defensive duties. This he has shown on the few occasions he has started. The negative is that both him and Sanchez like to play on the left but Wenger may decide that beggars can't be choosers.
4. Play Flamini on the right side!
Well it may sound crazy but Flamini could provide a balance on the right. What I mean is that he will be efficient with the ball (i.e not give it away), he is experienced enough to make the right pass and track back and tack in when we are defending. He did score two goals against Spurs.
5 And finally move Cazorla on the right and play Flamini with Coquelin in central midfield.
This would mean that Cazorla will move away from the area he has been so terrific this season and could impair our creativity from this deep lying midfield position.
He could of course do a Ramsey and come in from the right to take part in the built up but he will have to, as Ramsey did, track back and cover his full back. He has of course played this position before he was converted into a central midfielder.
This option maintains an overall balance in the team and may be favoured by Wenger.
What a shambles it was last night. No fight, no midfield creativity and two muscle injuries to two important first team players.
The probable absence of the Ox and Walcott from the Swansea game and at Bayern threaten to actually derail the gigantic momentum that has been building up in this month.
Walcott's (and the Ox's) pace would have been pivotal in the counter attacking tactics that would have been employed away at Bayern.
And along with the injury to Ramsey it is again muscle injuries that threaten to destroy all the good work done on the pitch.
And who is to blame?
Firstly Ramsey was again overworked with Wenger admitting that he should have rested him against Watford. Of course what happens? He gets a bad hamstring during the game against Bayern.
Do you remember a similar confession by Wenger after Ramsey sustained a muscle injury away at West Ham a season or so ago? The medical staff warned Wenger that he was in the grey zone but he just went ahead and selected him!
Secondly the Ox last night obviously did not warm up properly before the game. Just how else can a player sustain a muscle injury in the first three minutes of a game?
And even more damning again, obviously Walcott did not warm up AT ALL before replacing the Ox! We saw it on the screens on the TV. Why didn't Wenger and the medical staff tell him to get warmed up and never mind if we play with 10 men for a few minutes more?
It was shambles I tell you. A shambles.
In my experience any muscle injury even the softest ones will need 10 to 14 days just to make sure.
So what options are now in front of Wenger for Saturday?
There are five alternatives none of which are ideal of course but I have included some that are not so obvious.
1. Play Gibbs as a left sided midfielder and move Sanchez on the right.
Not ideal I know as it would also involve moving Sanchez away from the area which he uses to move in and crank his venomous shots. Still Gibbs has shown that he is fit and more importantly battle worthy.
2. Play Debuchy right back and move Bellerin on the right side of midfield.
The same idea as above but I would favour this less as Debuchy has miserably failed to obtain the high standards he had reached before his injuries. Last night he looked like a rooky too. Bellerin of course would be a good enough right sided midfielder with his pace and nous which is a pity as I would have liked to have seen him in that position.
I consider Chambers too slow to start as a right back. Remember what a horrible time he had last season away at Swansea?
3. Campbell to start (on either wing)
This option could find favour with Wenger as Campbell is more street wise with the capability to stretch defenders and also be aware of his defensive duties. This he has shown on the few occasions he has started. The negative is that both him and Sanchez like to play on the left but Wenger may decide that beggars can't be choosers.
4. Play Flamini on the right side!
Well it may sound crazy but Flamini could provide a balance on the right. What I mean is that he will be efficient with the ball (i.e not give it away), he is experienced enough to make the right pass and track back and tack in when we are defending. He did score two goals against Spurs.
5 And finally move Cazorla on the right and play Flamini with Coquelin in central midfield.
This would mean that Cazorla will move away from the area he has been so terrific this season and could impair our creativity from this deep lying midfield position.
He could of course do a Ramsey and come in from the right to take part in the built up but he will have to, as Ramsey did, track back and cover his full back. He has of course played this position before he was converted into a central midfielder.
This option maintains an overall balance in the team and may be favoured by Wenger.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Arsenal offer 15m for Olympiakos's Fortunis
By the Transfer Wizard
The Greek press are reporting today that Arsene Wenger was very impressed with Fortunis during the clash with Olympiakos at The Emirates and has been in contact with Olympiakos with finalising a deal for the January transfer window.
The offer is believed to be around 15m euros.
Ironically Fortunis is the player that took that corner with Ospina dropping the ball into his own net!
However Tottenham are also interested having watched the player last week in Greece. Their scout Peter Quick was there to watch him.
The Greek press are reporting today that Arsene Wenger was very impressed with Fortunis during the clash with Olympiakos at The Emirates and has been in contact with Olympiakos with finalising a deal for the January transfer window.
The offer is believed to be around 15m euros.
Ironically Fortunis is the player that took that corner with Ospina dropping the ball into his own net!
However Tottenham are also interested having watched the player last week in Greece. Their scout Peter Quick was there to watch him.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
The after effects of Sanchez's particiption against Brazil
By 1970's Gooner
There were worries about Sanchez's groin strain just before Chile's game against Brazil. Important worries that even the Chile boss was considering resting Alexis.
"Alexis arrived not at his top of form, with pain in the adductor. He couldn't play at 100% but we thought that for us him not playing was to give too much advantage to our rivals because his presence in our team makes things difficult for our opponents."
So he played the full 90 minutes and scored in the 2 0 victory.
Now Chile play Peru on Tuesday and the question is whether Sanchez will be rested. I doubt it as he has taken part in the training session today and if he does not get worse then the Chile coach will use him.
What worries us gooners however is the likely negative aftereffects on Sanchez's groin of having to play two full competitive games in the space of five days.
We have to also take also into consideration that Alexis will travel back to London on a long haul transatlantic flight.
Arsenal play away to Watford next Saturday evening and then Bayern Munich next Tuesday at The Emirates.
There were worries about Sanchez's groin strain just before Chile's game against Brazil. Important worries that even the Chile boss was considering resting Alexis.
"Alexis arrived not at his top of form, with pain in the adductor. He couldn't play at 100% but we thought that for us him not playing was to give too much advantage to our rivals because his presence in our team makes things difficult for our opponents."
So he played the full 90 minutes and scored in the 2 0 victory.
Now Chile play Peru on Tuesday and the question is whether Sanchez will be rested. I doubt it as he has taken part in the training session today and if he does not get worse then the Chile coach will use him.
What worries us gooners however is the likely negative aftereffects on Sanchez's groin of having to play two full competitive games in the space of five days.
We have to also take also into consideration that Alexis will travel back to London on a long haul transatlantic flight.
Arsenal play away to Watford next Saturday evening and then Bayern Munich next Tuesday at The Emirates.
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