Match reaction v the orcs

[Power n Glory]

That clip supports the fact Flamini had a decent game but to me it mostly highlights our collective defensive strategy which is to outnumber our opponents, close the space down and to win the 2nd/3rd ball even if not the 1st ball by getting bodies in key areas. In most of those instances Flamini is being backed up by a few team mates closing space down or the other opponents around Flamini down. The fact he has a little bit of nasty in him is not really why he stood out or did well in this game. He didn't need his Freddy Kruger / ski mask to scare the kids in this showing.

There were times in which Flamini passed out well under pressure(even from poor passes from his team mates) and times in which he just hoofed it away when he could have picked out a pass. Arteta's use of the ball is far superior if we are being honest with ourselves. Flamini didn't need to throw his weight around nor did he actually do so against Stoke. He stood firm and was charged with withstanding the belated fouls/kicks after releasing the ball that inevitably came from Stoke players and keeping positionally disciplined. He did that very well today and credit to him.

I don't think that he is proven he is more valuable to us than Arteta is just yet. To my mind the perfect example of Flamini's real use is his cameo against Spurs. He came on at a time where we were up and we needed a little edge to put a little bit of doubt back in the minds of Spurs players. We needed to let them know that they were not going to get back into it easy if at all and Flamini sure did let them know that with blood and guts. Even then he walked a fine line and might have been sent off with a few other refs, but he put the Spurs midfield in their places a little.

I don’t think we’ve seen a great deal of passing range from Arteta. Not consistently anyway. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s superior because we struggle to keep the ball when he’s in the team as well. I’d like to see how he plays next to Flamini to be honest. We may see a bit more of what he can do. It's good that we have more options in the middle. It's been broken for a while now.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

I don’t think we’ve seen a great deal of passing range from Arteta. Not consistently anyway. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s superior because we struggle to keep the ball when he’s in the team as well. I’d like to see how he plays next to Flamini to be honest. We may see a bit more of what he can do. It's good that we have more options in the middle. It's been broken for a while now.

I agree. It's good we're actually able to have these conversations about who to pick ahead of who. And it's weird because every thread on GW over the past few years has always degenerated into the poor transfer window gone by and how it hindered us on that particular match day. For the first time in years we have depth and the manager is facing a dilemma as to which players to pick. It's a great dilemma for Wenger.

Having two different DM's like Arteta and Flamini is probably good. I just hope he's able to utilise them effectively so we don't end up playing Arteta in a game where Flamini would clearly be more effective.