Definitely. Neither have the quick feet or ball control to get out of tight spaces when teams press. Xhaka has a bad habit of passing to the opposition when pressed and we saw another example of that against Chelsea in the first half. But this is more of a possession issue and when we have the ball. When we don't have it, they need to show discipline.Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
I agree but at the same token, we will still end up getting beaten by these sides where they wear us down by constantly winning back the ball in our half. I don't rate Coquelin but one thing he is unquestionably better at than others is winning the ball back, what we need is him partnered with a player who can keep posession under pressure against such teams (in theory anyway he played for us when we got battered 5-1 at Bayern)
Coquelin has a limited role but it's important. I also think Elneny is underrated. They both lack attacking flair but that's where my criticism of Ozil comes in. In theory, we should be able to put two defensive minded players behind him so he's free to attack and create but it never works. Maybe with Sanchez and Ozil playing with Lacazette as striker we'd get a bit more of a balance. Who knows.
In theory yes, but in reality we would need a Gilberto/Vieira midfield partnership because Ozil scarcely ventures back to take the ball on.
Although I prefer Ozils passing range, there's no doubt Fabregas was more inclined to do that (although he had infuriating tendency to pass when there was no pass on).
The team have no excuses now, they showed they could do it away at a big club and they need to show the same discipline and shape every game now.
This has been going on for ages. Nothing will change.
I would give Wilshere more games. I think in form, he is probably one of most competent central midfielders at keeping posession and driving forward with the ball.
Well it would be Cazorla but in all honesty we've probably seen the last of the poor guy, Wenger broke him
I see what Keown is up to now. I was wondering what role he served at the club.
Let me translate.There has been so much fear at Arsenal of losing Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. This excellent performance at Chelsea without them made you wonder what all the fuss was about.
Without these two, Arsenal were much better defensively. They were disciplined, worked together and pressed as a unit to close down Chelsea.
This was the first time that Chelsea have failed to score at Stamford Bridge under Antonio Conte. When Chelsea were in possession, Arsenal put them under such pressure they made Gary Cahill look like he could not pass.
How many times do you see Sanchez flying forward to press and no one coming to join him? Arsene Wenger has not been brave enough to leave out Ozil but how much does he offer the team?
With midfielders working around him, Aaron Ramsey was able to get on the ball more. He ran the show in midfield and it was his best display for years.
For this Arsenal team, it was a chance to step up and prove that they did not need Sanchez and Ozil to perform.
I am not saying that these two should be frozen out. Sanchez did well when he came on and both men still have a part to play.
But from now on, every player must adopt this level of organisation in tricky away games. This showed the strength of their XI is better than any individual.
Arsenal don't need marquee players. The manager has no idea how to use them anyway. Instead, get used to eleven journeymen huffing and puffing through Stoke-like performances which will appear to be acceptable based only on the fact things can't get much worse. Wilshere, Ramsey and Ox (oh no, he's gone, never mind) are the future. No big expenditure required, no need for star players. Arsenal can cement second tier status without going near a transfer window. We have everything we need to be organised and very, very ordinary. Henry, Bergkamp, Pires and Vieira? Thanks for the memories and welcome to Lampard, Cattermole and Peter Crouch, good, honest... you know the rest.
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whats wrong with Lampard? Think a player like him would be incredibly useful at arsenal... a goal scoring midfielder yes please.
I'm not talking about the quality of the player, I'm talking about the style and the game such players are best suited to. Keown was from the same school and that's fine, he was a good defender too, but you need a mix of players to make a good team. Stick 11 Lampards or Keowns on the pitch though and you're fucked. But we can have 1 Keown and 1 Bergkamp, can't we?
Sunday's result is turning out to be embarrassing in so many new ways. Wow, well done Arsenal, you didn't get thumped 6-0. Wow, the lads turned up, well done, fit to wear the shirt. Wow, we defended properly. Wow, we pressed the ball. Wow, we kicked the ball towards the opposition goal.
None of these things are supposed to be remarkable, not unless the underlying theme is Arsenal are shit, but this was pretty good by their standards. Not sure if fools like Keown realise this is what they are effectively doing when they turn what was really only a bog standard performance into a special moment and then applaud journeymen and conclude we don't need anything better. It's like Keown is revelling in our second tier status.
When the chavs defend, do the pundits say wow, they are defending?
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