Dissecting Emery's Arsenal

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Originally Posted by Mac76

He needs to use the (relatively) easier upcoming games to field two out of Holding , Mavropanos and Sokratis as CBs, with Torreira replacing Xhaka in front of them

I Am Invisible suggested three at the back to allow for Nacho and Bellerin going forward, which i think is a good shout at least for away games, so how about putting all three of the above in for Cardiff away, with just one up front?

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I don't mind seeing Sokratis and Mustafi try to work on their partnership. That's an issue I think can be sorted through time and coaching.

But I can't see how a player like Xhaka can make it in this team. He can't play on the half turn, can't defend and is slow and rigid. That's a player profile issue and means whoever he gets partnered with has a lot of work to do just to cover Xhaka's flaws.

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Originally Posted by Power n Glory

I don't mind seeing Sokratis and Mustafi try to work on their partnership. That's an issue I think can be sorted through time and coaching.

But I can't see how a player like Xhaka can make it in this team. He can't play on the half turn, can't defend and is slow and rigid. That's a player profile issue and means whoever he gets partnered with has a lot of work to do just to cover Xhaka's flaws.

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Mustafi got done for the W Ham goal and is as much to blame for anyone for the mess at the back, i'd much rather Holding or Mavropanos in there

I do wonder why we even bother having those players if someone like Mustafi can mess up every week and still get the nod - he's 26 now so if he can't defend i'd argue it's too late to coach him

I actually think Emery has more excuse for Xhaka, as his contract was renewed by Ivan et al in the summer so Emery probably feels he needs to at least give him a go before dropping him, but he's surely seen enough now...

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Originally Posted by Mac76

He needs to use the (relatively) easier upcoming games to field two out of Holding , Mavropanos and Sokratis as CBs, with Torreira replacing Xhaka in front of them

I Am Invisible suggested three at the back to allow for Nacho and Bellerin going forward, which i think is a good shout at least for away games, so how about putting all three of the above in for Cardiff away, with just one up front?

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My preferred formation for the squad of players, their strengths and weaknesses is a 3412 which gets Auba and Laca in in front of Ozil as well as including Bell, Nacho and Mav, but I don't expect Emery to seriously consider that just as Wenger didn't consider 3 at the back for donkey years.

And whilst I'd fire Xhaka and Mustafi out of our relic canons in front of the stadium, I accept that a) We didn't bother to sign a top CB in the summer and b) Emery isn't washing his hands of Xhaka anytime soon.

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Originally Posted by Mac76

Mustafi got done for the W Ham goal and is as much to blame for anyone for the mess at the back, i'd much rather Holding or Mavropanos in there

I do wonder why we even bother having those players if someone like Mustafi can mess up every week and still get the nod - he's 26 now so if he can't defend i'd argue it's too late to coach him

I actually think Emery has more excuse for Xhaka, as his contract was renewed by Ivan et al in the summer so Emery probably feels he needs to at least give him a go before dropping him, but he's surely seen enough now...

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...but he didn't need to start the season with him and he hasn't started the season with Leno.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mac76

He needs to use the (relatively) easier upcoming games to field two out of Holding , Mavropanos and Sokratis as CBs, with Torreira replacing Xhaka in front of them

I Am Invisible suggested three at the back to allow for Nacho and Bellerin going forward, which i think is a good shout at least for away games, so how about putting all three of the above in for Cardiff away, with just one up front?

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(To be fair, I think I actually stole the three-at-the-back idea from Blink, but don’t tell him.)

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Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice

My fear is certainly that Emery is a long way from being done with Xhaka. On the contrary I think he prefers him.

Can't read too much into who he hooks because we've seen he's willing to take anyone off early doors.

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I don’t think it has anything to do with Xhaka himself - he just favours that kind of deep midfield quarterback. For that reason I think he may persevere with him a little longer than other midfielders, who are a less obvious fit for his preferred system (on paper), but that doesn’t mean his patience with him will be infinite. I suspect that, given a chance, Torreira and Guendouzi will immediately show more in terms of distribution than Xhaka (and with more besides), but we may have to wait for that particular combo to get its chance. Patience.

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Originally Posted by I am invisible

(To be fair, I think I actually stole the three-at-the-back idea from Blink, but don’t tell him.)

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Old Herb Chapman pinched it from me too don't ya know.....

We have the weakest First XI and Squad of all the top 6 teams by quite some distance IMO. Emery has a helluva job to get us back amongst the top 4 and making credible title challenges. We are still a couple of seasons away from that IMO.

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Originally Posted by selassie

We have the weakest First XI and Squad of all the top 6 teams by quite some distance IMO. Emery has a helluva job to get us back amongst the top 4 and making credible title challenges. We are still a couple of seasons away from that IMO.

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I wouldn't say we have the weakest player for player. It all comes back down to coaching. If I had never seen a Klopp Liverpool side, there is no way I'd think Mane, Salah and Firminho would be better than Aubameyang, Lacazette and Mkhitaryan. Same goes for those Tottenham players. It comes back to good coaching because a lot of those players have no record had us clamouring for their signatures.