Arsenal 2-0 Stoke - Match Reaction

[I am invisible]

If they had to a choose an opponent to get their season back on track, it would be us.

Sure. But, by the same token, I don't think we could have picked a better time to play them...

[Niall_Quinn]

Wright said no such thing about movement from wide positions being better. What were you watching? He showed an example of bad movement where he didn't run to the back post for Bellerin's cross and said he has to learn that. Next he said he made a fantastic run but blamed Ozil for passing to Ramsey. Showed another good run from the centre where he was in on goal but should have shot with his right foot.

Wright was critical and fair. Said he believes Walcott has the tools to play there but needs a run of games to get clinical. Praised his goal for the touch and finish.

We can try Bif up front but he doesn't get the chances on goal. It's rare to see Bif get chances where he can score a hat trick. Very rare and he'd have never scored that first goal.

Fair enough, I may be mixing in some CBS coverage I watched earlier. Was pissed as a pissed newt. That said, I'm guessing everyone can see pretty clearly how Walcott can be used to better effect. Except yer man, who knows better.

[WMUG]

Also Walcott himself, who knows better.

[Niall_Quinn]

Also Walcott himself, who knows better.

Yeah, it's weird how he believes he can play the role.

[Kano]

Agreed. The problem is Ramsey had the season of his life 2 years ago, not just for the goals but his tackling stats were through the roof. He was pretty much the complete midfielder but unfortunately he hasn't come anywhere close to replicating that form. WUMger has always had a huge amount of trust in him, even before he really arrived in 13/14.

I would be interested to see how we'd function without Ramsey in the team, and in his place one of Theo or Oxlade out wide.

The problem is he doesn't know what to do with Ramsey at all. Play him centrally, out on the right, or up behind the strikers. His game needs reigning in a little to make the best of his talents but like everyone else, there is no control over where or what he does. I can imagine him flourishing in a more structured set up like Citeh, because Aaron has everything to become one of the best in the world as a CM. He is becoming a bit of a scapegoat because of that when really the bigger problem is lack of guidance from the manager and team mates. He has no one to learn off at all because he still hasn't settled into his right position.

[Power n Glory]

Fair enough, I may be mixing in some CBS coverage I watched earlier. Was pissed as a pissed newt. That said, I'm guessing everyone can see pretty clearly how Walcott can be used to better effect. Except yer man, who knows better.

Not if you're drunk.

What's weird is that you've never rated Walcott on the wing. Or Giroud up front for that matter. We may see the combo in a game or two but I'm not convinced. Giroud is like a statue when playing up front and doesn't have the pace to make up the ground. If Wenger has the stats to prove he's better at scoring with his first touch, then it's no good him playing with his back to goal.

As for Theo on the wing, he's not a dribbler like Sanchez and can't penetrate a defence like that so we're depending on someone picking up his runs. That's why he's quiet on the wings against deep defending teams. As a striker yesterday, we held the ball in our opponents area and still managed to dominate possession in their half so any talk of us not being able to do that with Walcott goes out the window. It's easy to point to this game as why he can't play there but he scored at the end of the day and on another day could score a hat trick, like he's done in the past. Do we swap that for a striker that can go games without scoring or ever looking like scoring? We'll find out soon enough. I think he needs time to develop there and I really question Wenger's wisdom in playing him as a right winger for all these years if he's said his future is as a striker.

[AFC Leveller]

Theo wide right and Bif through the middle is probably our best strike force because they both compliment eacthother well.However, Wenger doesnt play Theo on the right anymore, maybe because he doesnt think Theo's defensive work is good enough, but it was a decent partnership in Giroud's first season.

[Power n Glory]

The problem is he doesn't know what to do with Ramsey at all. Play him centrally, out on the right, or up behind the strikers. His game needs reigning in a little to make the best of his talents but like everyone else, there is no control over where or what he does. I can imagine him flourishing in a more structured set up like Citeh, because Aaron has everything to become on the best in the world as a CM. He is becoming a bit of a scapegoat because of that when really the bigger problem is lack of guidance from the manager and team mates. He has no one to learn off at all because he still hasn't settled into his right position.

Wenger uses that right wing as some sort of throw away experimental position. He always has. Ljunberg was an attacking midifleder. Played more like a number 10 for Sweden but we play him on that right wing. Wiltord was a striker, turns him into a right winger. Eboue got games there. Walcott gets played there. Ox gets played there. I don't understand what Ramsey will learn from playing there. If he's a central midfielder, what experience is that adding to his game?

If Ox will play as a central midfielder in the future, what's the point of playing him on the wing? What's it adding? It's the same for Walcott. He was supposed to be developed into a striker and there is this huge question mark over Walcott's ability to play there so I don't know why Wenger does it other than just to fudge his best players on to the pitch all at once.

[Niall_Quinn]

Not if you're drunk.

What's weird is that you've never rated Walcott on the wing. Or Giroud up front for that matter. We may see the combo in a game or two but I'm not convinced. Giroud is like a statue when playing up front and doesn't have the pace to make up the ground. If Wenger has the stats to prove he's better at scoring with his first touch, then it's no good him playing with his back to goal.

As for Theo on the wing, he's not a dribbler like Sanchez and can't penetrate a defence like that so we're depending on someone picking up his runs. That's why he's quiet on the wings against deep defending teams. As a striker yesterday, we held the ball in our opponents area and still managed to dominate possession in their half so any talk of us not being able to do that with Walcott goes out the window. It's easy to point to this game as why he can't play there but he scored at the end of the day and on another day could score a hat trick, like he's done in the past. Do we swap that for a striker that can go games without scoring or ever looking like scoring? We'll find out soon enough. I think he needs time to develop there and I really question Wenger's wisdom in playing him as a right winger for all these years if he's said his future is as a striker.

I don't really rate Walcott (anywhere on the pitch) or Bif. But that's what Wenger has left us with so these are the players we have to go with. Yesterday wasn't really about Walcott's movement, or lack of it, it was about a ball played by Ozil. Walcott has pace and he has a 1 in 5 chance of a finish in him. So how do you use a player like that? Ozil showed us. It would be tempting to imagine Wenger fuming inside at the vulgar way we exploited the Stoke defence while playing to the strengths of our own personnel. A great passer, a pacey 1 in 5 finisher, a big striker who can take the hits, isn't so great at finding the net but isn't bad at holding the ball up and bringing other players into the game. It's not hard to figure how you can put the three things together and come up with something at least workable, even if not so highly tuned. Yes, tippy tappy has to die in the process but thank God for that.

[Power n Glory]

I don't really rate Walcott (anywhere on the pitch) or Bif. But that's what Wenger has left us with so these are the players we have to go with. Yesterday wasn't really about Walcott's movement, or lack of it, it was about a ball played by Ozil. Walcott has pace and he has a 1 in 5 chance of a finish in him. So how do you use a player like that? Ozil showed us. It would be tempting to imagine Wenger fuming inside at the vulgar way we exploited the Stoke defence while playing to the strengths of our own personnel. A great passer, a pacey 1 in 5 finisher, a big striker who can take the hits, isn't so great at finding the net but isn't bad at holding the ball up and bringing other players into the game. It's not hard to figure how you can put the three things together and come up with something at least workable, even if not so highly tuned. Yes, tippy tappy has to die in the process but thank God for that.

Underestimate that first touch and finish if you want to. The touch was sublime and set himself up perfectly to take the defender out of the equation and line up a perfect shot. If that had been a Song passing the ball to RVP, people would be creaming themselves over the finish and downplaying the ball from Song. I've seen this before. I'm not taking anything away from any of the players. A beauty of a pass from Ozil but the first touch was important as well.

This whole concept of a striker holding the ball up and bringing others into play is what facilitates tippy tappy play in the first place. It's dragging players like Santi further forward, playing a higher line with the defence and leaves us vulnerable to a counter attack. What you describe is exactly why we have games where we require 500 passes to get into the opponents box. It's what we've been doing for years and we haven't been successful at it with Giroud.