Wenger's own brand creatine.Originally Posted by I am invisible
Wenger's own brand creatine.
Gazidis Woz rite.....
Come back baldy....all is forgiven.
All I know my people. Is that Pepe is a fkn baller. Twice the player Reiss Nelson is. First name on the sheet after Leno pls
Make 2mrw better than 2day
Pepe did well in phases. Got the goal, of course. Contributed to the second. Was threatening on a couple of occasions. But he also slowed things down and was a bit negative with his play, often playing with his back to goal and killing the momentum. Maybe because AMN was also a bit slow getting forward. Auba and Kola worked much better on the other side. I though Nelson played well against the chavs, using pace and directness. If Pepe can do the same on a more consistent basis he'll become an important asset. Still think he has a lot of work to do though.
Für eure Sicherheit
He's also not fit enough to play Arteta's system for the whole 90, which is why he got brought off. All the good things you mention, he did early on. All the bad things you mention, he did later on. I also think it was probably good for him that he had to walk off around the pitch rather than across it, meant he got his name sung and a standing ovation from each section of the crowd for about 2 minutes, that's got to do wonders for the confidence of a player struggling to make an impact.
You used to be everything to me
Now you're tired of fighting
I thought Pepe came off too soon in this game and was on too late in the last but what does it matter, we won the game in the end. A number of the moments Nelson failed to capitalise on in attack, I thought Pepe would have punished Manure for. Not sure why Nelson was slipping so much neither, but he helped defend.
AMN didn't attack too much, primarily because Arteta is getting him to come inside as an extra midfield protecting against the counter attacks. I'm fine with that if it means we concede less and actually get clean sheets. Think he has been quietly exceptional for a while now.
Good read here on how AMN has been deployed since Arteta took over...
https://www.football.london/arsenal-...ctics-17504627
Basically the two sides are working completely differently at the moment: Kola / Saka push forward to make an attacking 5 when we’re in possession, Xhaka drops to cover LB and AMN acts as a counter-balance on the other side. AMN also seems to act as a kind of bait to draw opponents to the right before quickly switching to the left.
It’s actually quite a neat solution to about 5 or 6 different problems:
- AMN no longer gets caught upfield so we’re harder to pick off on transitions
- Pepe doesn’t have to worry about tracking back so much if AMN spends less time going forward
- We keep 2 in midfield, shielding the defence and reducing the space between the lines
- Xhaka and Luiz have more time and protection allowing them to quarterback the play
- Kola / Saka can do what they do best with less pressure on them to be amazing defenders
- It allows us to play both Auba and Laca and keep both happy, as Auba moves central when Kola drives down the left
Eventually I expect Arteta would like both sides to be able to drive forward and counter-balance each other as needed, but for now this looks like a decent fix given our limited options.
Got to say, I’ve been really impressed with the job AMN has done there so far - not sure Bellerin goes straight back into the team if he keeps this up.
Last edited by I am invisible; 03-01-2020 at 06:47 PM.
Man U had no answer to that during the game. James didn’t know whether to track Kola, this leaving Xhaka with time and space to pick out passes, or press Xhaka and leave Kola with so much space and it’s no surprise the first goal came down his side (Auba kept making runs inside, ensuring Wan Bissaka vacated that right hand side). Arteta is a tactical genius.
More importantly, he might actually be a strategist, which is exactly what we need if we’re going to restore this club.
One of the main reasons he was my pick for the job was his strong working relationship with Mertesacker and the relationship I suspected / hoped he’d be able to forge with Edu (given their shared pasts at this club) - we really need those 3 to be 100% in sync and aligned in their thinking if we’re talking about building a new footballing identity and carrying it through every level of the club.
Of course I hoped he might be an excellent tactician too after 3 years with Pep, but it’s not really worth much without the root and branch cultural and technical overhaul we need underpinning it.
Frankly, I’m amazed at how quickly and easily he’s got everyone united and pulling in the same direction! I honestly thought we were going to have a civil war in the dressing room when we opted for the rookie hire - one I thought might even be necessary - but everyone’s been giving everything for him since game one, including all of the players who supposedly want(ed) out! The guy’s certainly got charisma, I’ll give him that.
Well he has certainly given them a structure to work with.
This is the level of tactical genius he was up against though:
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