Central Midfield Pairing

[Kano]

So who are the best two to use with Cazorla out and also when he returns.

We've tired everything except Xhaka/Ramsey I think.

Coqneny?
Xhaklin?
Xhakneny?
Xhakzorla?
Ramlin?
Ramneny?
Ramzorla?
Coqzorla?
Elzorla?

Coqzorla seemed to be working out ok but you can imagine that Xhaka is not going to be bench player forever.

It's great to have options and we shouldn't always play the same two, but at the same time there should be a main central pairing that is recognised as part of the teams spine. So far we haven't figured out which is the best one.

Fucked if I know.

[Globalgunner]

Only Ramsey has no place in the CM. He is an offensive mid, so should understudy Ozil, in cup games. Cazorla is not one for the future obviously. So any 2 of the other 3. not much difference with any of the 3 possible combos
Coqneny
Coqhaka
Nenhaka
Elneny and Xhaka possibly have a better eye for goal but other than that, all much of a muchness. Not that i am complaining. Just get Ramsey out of there.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Xhakaneny, Xhakzorla or Coqzorla

I don't buy into this idea that we need to find one partnership that plays week in week out, I think if you play the combinations enough you learn what doesn't work and you see which partnership works against which oponent.

[GP]

Xhaka/Ramsey

[Power n Glory]

How were Xhaka and Elneny yesterday? I'm leaning more towards that set up for the above options.

But thinking out of the box, I'd drop Ozil back to the CM role and see if he can replicate Cazorla's role. Only 4 assists so far. Sanchez already on 8 assists, I think Ozil's creative work is getting slightly smothered with the way Sanchez drops deep.

Ramsey may benefit playing closer to the striker in place of Ozil too. Let's face it, all Rambo has to his game is his energy and eagerness to burst forward. He may rediscover his goal scoring streak if we take all responsibility for distribution and defending away.

[Marc Overmars]

Coq has the legs, Cazorla has the technical ability. For me that is our best pairing as they are proven to compliment each other well.

I've not really seen much from Xhaka to suggest he is a better fit right now, Wenger said the other day he is still adapting so we'll see if he kicks on from here. Elmo hasn't been great this season but I think he's generally a good reader of the game, it's just a shame he doesn't appear to have a wider range of passing.

I agree with HCZ though, the pairings should be used ad hoc.

[Kano]

Xhakaneny, Xhakzorla or Coqzorla

I don't buy into this idea that we need to find one partnership that plays week in week out, I think if you play the combinations enough you learn what doesn't work and you see which partnership works against which oponent.

I don't think you need to have the same every week but generally there should be two that suit the flow of the team and provide a better performance rate than the rest. The general 'go-to' options, if you like.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I don't think you need to have the same every week but generally there should be two that suit the flow of the team and provide a better performance rate than the rest. The general 'go-to' options, if you like.

Well that's what i said i'm sure, at the risk of defending Wenger i think he's being swapping things about so he can find his go to options

The difference in times past is that Wenger knew what his best side was (it just wasn't anyone else's)

[mastermind84]

I liked the 3 we tried at the end of the match.

Coquelin can only play with Cazorla, and its starting to look like Cazorla can only play with Coquelin. ITs not a great midfield pairing, and I wish the fans would stop thinking that.

Elneny/Xhaka looked good yesterday, and it looked good in preseason too. Need more games. Would like to see Ramsey/Xhaka, but that 451/433 we played at the end of the match may be a great formation for us going forward. Ozil on the right gives a great angle, and you move Sanchez to CF until we can buy a better CF. Iwobi out left for his ball retention and decision making in the final 3rd.

Its clear that Ramsey is the link man as Ozil/Sanchez came to life once he cam on the pitch.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Number one should always be Santi/Coquelin when fit. It's one that's worked for us amazingly well in the past (PnG once posted the stats) and one that has a right chemistry and balance to it.

It should then depend on the opposition and what's needed from a specific game. Ideally though you need one passer who can dictate the game (i.e. Santi replacement) and one more industrious player who can both join the attack and defend depending on the game situation.

That being said there are some combinations that I think are suicidal and just wouldn't work. These are:

- Xhaka/Coquelin
- Xhaka/Ramsey (R.I.P. Midfield control if this ever happens)
- Elneny/Santi

Personally I really favour Elneny when Santi is out with the other position either Coquelin when we need to be more defensive (Man Utd away) or Xhaka if it's a game where we're going to be on the front foot (Bournemouth at home).

I kind of agree with an earlier poster about Ramsey needing to either play in the number 10 role or out wide for us. He may not like it but in the 4-3-3 system I don't think Ramsey has the attributes to play in the two central roles and with us not changing to a 4-4-2 anytime soon he needs to get used to it.

However given that Ozil has been a bit patchy recently (especially since the Ludorgrats game) I wouldn't be at all reluctant to give Ramsey a few games there. I'm certainly not a Ramsey hater and I think he's actually a really top player who we need to keep at all costs. But given the fact that we're currently trying to get Ozil to sign a new deal it's probably unlikely to happen for political reasons.