Morning all.
Two weeks of nothing, nothing but pointless international friendlies during which time we’ll be praying our players won’t pick up an injury. Well, most of them but if Granit Xhaka suffers a little one I won’t be crying in my cornflakes, not a serious one of course as I wouldn’t wish that on any player, I mean Arsenal player but just which would keep him out of the team for a couple of weeks. Unai Emery would have to make a change and then there’s no looking back as Torreira takes hold of our midfield. He and Guendouzi together make it pretty much impossible for Xhaka to get back in the side. Wouldn’t that be just ideal? Xhaka and Elneny then go on a domestic cup campaign and the long distances we need to travel in Europe. That pairing might work as Elneny isn’t shy of covering a lot of ground as he goes about his defensive and attacking duties.
Regardless of which team our players play for, they are all equally as important at their own level. The first team, Women’s, Under 23’s or Under 18’s, they are representing the club, the club we all want to see be the best it possibly can.
We don’t want blokes like Mourinho anywhere near the place because you just know with him it’s about him and not the club he’s employed by. Arsene Wenger might not have been the best manager out there during his last ten years and he was getting a lot of things terribly wrong but he always held his head high and never disrespected the club. Not in public anyway. That’s why Arsenal will always be considered to be a club with class. Shame there isn’t a trophy dished out for that eh. I digress.
Footballers get paid whichever team they play for too so if certain players only turn out in the Europa League or the domestic cups it shouldn’t be seen as some kind of demotion, or that they’re no good it just means this is their role, this is their blob of paint in what is a big picture being painted. Human beings are smart, we all know our limits regardless of ambition and footballers should be no different. Inwardly they must know if they’ve had a bad game, worse still a bad run of performances so it should come as no surprise to them when they’re oiked off the pitch to be subbed or dropped for the next game. Wenger didn’t do that enough in my opinion and Unai Emery, although he’s done it a few times, hasn’t done it enough either.
It’s more difficult for Emery though as he’s not had an awful lot of time with his current squad, time enough though I have thought to know who is able to do what he’s asking them to.
Perhaps this break has come at the perfect time for him and his coaches as they now have two weeks to sit, plan and discuss the next step forward.
Just before this international break, Arsenal updated their squad for the season and here’s the revised list courtesy of the Mirror:
25 Squad players (*=Home grown)
Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick
Bellerin, Hector*
Bramall, Cohen
Cech, Petr
Elneny, Mohamed Naser Elsayed
Holding, Robert Samuel*
Iliev, Deyan*
Iwobi, Alex*
Jenkinson, Carl Daniel*
Kolasinac, Sead
Koscielny, Laurent
Lacazette, Alexandre
Leno, Bernd
Lichtsteiner, Stephan
Martinez, Damian Emiliano*
Mkhitaryan, Henrikh
Monreal, Ignacio
Mustafi, Shkodran
Ozil, Mesut
Papastathopoulos, Sokratis
Ramsey, Aaron James*
Torreira, Lucas
Welbeck, Daniel*
Xhaka, Granit
In addition, there’s the younger players, some of whom are out on loan, others who were likely to see in both the Europa League and domestic cup campaign:
Under-21 players (Contract and Scholars)
Alebiousu, Ryan
Amaechi, Xavier Casmier
Ballard, Daniel George
Balogun, Folarin Jerry
Barden, Daniel
Bielik, Krystian
Bola, Tolaji
Burton, Robert
Clarke, Harrison Thomas
Cottrell, Ben
Coyle, Trae
Daley-Campbell, Vontae
Dennis, Matthew
Flaherty, Stanley James
Gilmour, Charlie Ian
Greenwood, Sam
Guendouzi, Matteo
Hein, Karl Jakob
John-Jules, Tyreece Romayo
Lopez Salguero, Joel
Maitland-Niles, Ainsley
Martin, Joshua
Matthews, Alfie
Mavropanos, Konstantinos
McEneff, Jordan John
McGuinness, Mark James
Medley, Zechariah Joshua Henry
Nelson, Reiss
Nketiah, Edward
Nwakali, Kelechi
Okonkwo, Arthur
Olayinka, Olujimi James Ayodele
Olowu, Joseph Olugbenga
Omole, Tobi
Osei-Tutu, Jordi
Pleguezuelo, Julio Jose
Saka, Bukayo
Sheaf, Ben
Smith Rowe, Emile
Smith, Matthew Gerrard
Smith, Tom
Spencer-Adams, Bayli Alexander
Swanson, Zak
Thompson, Dominic
Tormey, Nathan Alexander
Willock, Joseph George
Zelalem, Gedion
Smith-Rowe, Willock, Sheaf, Eddie, Lliev, Martinez, Mavropanos and maybe a few others are all likely to be making an appearance over the next few months. Maybe they’ll be one or two others surprise names too like Bramall and Osei-Tutu.
There probably won’t be a post every day guys as there’s not much news but if anyone wants to put their on feelings on Arsenal into a post for HH, please do and email me.
Be good, be safe…
InterLULL!!!
Who actually enjoys it??
Morning all.
Not me.
Morning rico, Scott, all. These breaks so early are really ridiculous. Maybe time to sort Ramsey out and get him signed up. I’m supporting our new chief all the way, but if Torreira is left out after another 2 weeks, I will have my first doubts!
Hi Andrew,
I’m really hanging onto the idea he’s just bringing Torreira along slowly to look after him.
Rico, it’s hardly an inspiring period, thats for sure.
He has to play Torreira… I agree that he’s bedding him in slowly, I also think he looked sharp when he came on last Sunday!
Morning Andrew, it’s certainly a tough one to understand, he’s our best midfielder.
Unless there’s something we don’t know.
It’s ridiculous so soon after the season kicks off Scott.
Thinking about it, Welbeck too is coming back slowly.
Yet Guendozi has been thrown in at the deep end and doing really well.
Rico, it’s even more ridiculous coming off a World Cup!!!
I really don’t understand it other than the fact it’s a money grab.
Are Uruguay playing in their part of the world, I wonder?
If so, the patient build up all adds up for Torreira on the back of the WC.
Yes, that too which I forgot Scott.
rico, I’m quite surprised Welbeck came back at all! There was no news except rumours of him leaving. I love the guy, if ONLY he could get consistency in front of goal, he would be a huge asset to us, if only as a sub when game stretched. But he works hard, has a smile on his face, just needs a bit of game time and a good break. That turn and finish is what he can do.
They’re playing in America and then Japan so plenty of travelling for the lad.
Just goes to show that rumours can be rubbish Andrew. Maybe being English helped but I’m with you, if he could score more and get a good run, who knows. Perhaps Europa etc will be good for him.
I love a worker and Danny is certainly that!!
pable of pable.
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Good morning all and thanks for the post Rico.
Andrew, Welbeck is the very epitome of consistency. Consistently wasting golden scoring opportunities.
If we are to persevere with the “playing out from the back” idea then we need a bit of cover in front of the back five.. The partnership of Torreira and Guendouzi can provide that cover. Whilst my opinion of Xhaka has fallen slightly, I don’t think Wenger signed him as a Gilberto replacement, he is capable of playing further forward so he seems to be in the mix with Ozil and Ramsey for the number 10 position.
Away to Newcastle in front of a raucous, partisan crowd, we need some defensive stability. perhaps not the time to play a seemingly confused Mesut Ozil.
Cicero, Welbeck is not the only one. Laca and before Saturday Auba wasted a few 😉 His record is pretty good for England, but obviously Southgate didn’t see fit to give him more than 12 minutes, actually surprised he got a call up again. Suppose with Vardy ‘released’ not a lot of English strikers to pick from.
I see him out wide, tracks back better than most, scores odd header, just needs put certainties away.
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Andrew, even less choice now that Sterling has dropped out with a bad back. I understand he hurt it in the dressing room, picking up his wallet. 😀
Playing out from the back requires more than just passing to the back four . The midfield needs to drop back and show for the ball . it’s a bit like formation dancing one person doesn’t do it right and the whole thing collapses. Unless there is more movement off the ball it won’t work.
Xhaka is static and Ramsey forward and as the central figures it’s where it’s failing. Remember going back a few years central midfielders like Alan Ball and David Platt never stopped moving they were always available , Guendouzi does it but often doesn’t have the next pass available , so he passes back to someone who is pressed quickly so he goes back to the keeper often under pressure and both he and the keeper cop the blame.
Interesting you write that about Xhaka Cicero, I wrote something very similar for a post last Sunday but the site crashed in the morning so I didn’t bother. I’ll see if it’s still in the bin.. lol
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I hope you can find it Rico, I’ll be interested in your views of Xhaka.
We will never know why, or for which position, Wenger signed him. We all assumed he was to be our much needed holding midfielder, but I doubt that.
I suspect that, true to form, Wenger saw him as a player he could shape to his own purpose rather than filling a gap in the squad. Didn’t we sign him on the back of a good showing in the Euros? Another example of Wenger signing a player in the hope of turning him into a multi-purpose World beater.
Basically saying the same as you Cicero. Play him further up the pitch, his fouling would be in a not so dangerous area and his passing in general is really very good as are his corners. He can press from the front without leaving the defence exposed as he does right now.
The partnership of Torreira and Guendouzi play in the same way. Xhaka could give us another deep.
Unless the style and type of player can be changed.
The biggest problem arises in the theoretical nº 10 that does not appear, does not assume the game, does not architect the game. The midfield does not produce. The midfield in football is the “engine room”. When it does not work and does not produce, everything upstream and downstream ceases to function. And it is in the “engine room” that the games are won.
Cicero on 4th September 2018 at 12:04 pm
pable of pable.
Curious , don’t know that one.
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Potter, re the 12.04, The first few words of the top four lines are covered by the picture/pattern on both my pc and tablet. so I don’t know what that is. It’s why I start my comments four lines down, at least it is when I remember. Now what were we talking about earlier? 😀
Hi All:
JM, you are so right. Imho, midfield wins games. The similar attributes in Guendouzi and Torrieira is negated if Torriera is allowed to sit in front of the defense since we are lacking fast, commanding CB. If Emery insist on play from the back, a more radical than moving Xhaka up the field would be dropping Ozil back. One thing about Ozil is he’s not static. He moves constantly, this is the reason he has always dominated Kante because Kante can’t find him. We needs to play a a squedo 3 man midfield, and play Lichtenstein at RB. This will allow Unai to play from the back because there is constant outlets and defensive protection.
Leno
Lichtsteiner Soratis Moneral
Ozil Torreira Gunedo
Ramsey/Welbeck Mkhitaryan Aubameyang
Lacazette
Am with you Scott, this insistence of play from the back is so overrated. Case in point Watford vs Spuds, City vs Newcastle and Liverpool vs Leicester this weekend.
Obi, you can’t beat a bit of total disarray at the back, it’s Arsenal being Arsenal, had we played hoofball the opening day of the season we wouldn’t have got beat 2 nil, I know that much.
If the playing out from the back is considered overrated, and that’s not a criticism of anyone’s view, I wonder why so many managers, top ones at that continue to play such a way.
Surely Ozil in midfield would weaken us? I’m struggling with that one..
Hi Guys,
Probably did me a fat lot of good, but I used to write the occasional letter to Wenger asking him why certain players were still first choice when it was obvious to most of us that their contribution to the rest of the team was minimal and they were too prone to mistakes. I did get the occasional reply (probably written by the tea lady) who thanked me for supporting the team…etc.
I do agree with some of your comments on Xhaka. A belter of a left foot (too many off target and too many passes to the grateful opposition.Commitment to helping the defence out was not much in evidence.
Didn’t they extend his contract?
Cech is a serious liability given the current tactics (what’s wrong with Leno?) and I look forward to getting Koscielny back who, despite his occasional carelessness, is way better than the Greek.
To be honest, I am really surprised we won – good goals, but we don’t appear to have cool heads, or brains in defence.
Is all we can hope for is to score more goals than the opposition?
What a worrying thought……..
I love the comment about “hoofball” Good one.
They did Andorra but I guess that means little in the game these days. Emery sees Xhaka as one of his captains which is a bigger concern..
Evening all and thanks Rico for another fine post.
But what`s all this blasphemous Xhaka bashing ?………………..apart from one bad ball I thought he played well against Cardiff……………………….Ozil is not the new Bergkamp……………..Granit is !
OK now I`ve got your attentiion !………………………………..been a fine sunny day here !
😆
LCM…….I used to value your comments, but if you think Xhaka played well against Cardiff you need to go to Supersavers.
Specsavers……………I didn’t think this had spell checker
Thanks Lc, which minute was that for Xhaka? Lol
The minute ?…………………….just seconds actually, the second he took the corner which Mustafi scored !
🙂
Supersavers or Specsavers ?………………….make your dementia mind up Vickers !
😆
Anyway my blasphemous fiends…………………………Moronho !…………….surely he should lose his job for tax evasion !…………………………….how many millions do they actually need to live on without paying tax ?……………………….greedy bastards the lot of them !
Rico, it’s not the playing out from the back I have an issue with as such, but the absolute insistence to do it even when under immense pressure that I don’t agree with.
Unless, as I said earlier, your squad is comfortable and capable of it and we aren’t, imo.
Managers will always try to keep up with the latest ideas and styles of play, but Ranieri won a League with an average, hardworking, fast side because he didn’t, he played a style of football that was best suited to the players he had.
I guess that’s my question over Emery atm, because I don’t believe he’s even trying to play to our strengths but then, if he can mould the squad into what he wants it to be, playing the style of football he wants and it succeeds, then that’s be fantastic.
Once again, it’ll take time and patience from us fans.
Scott, but is that coming from Emery though or the players? Shouldn’t they know when danger says hoof it?
After all, Emery did say he’s not against playing the long ball as and when it’s the best option.
They should have thrown away the key Lc…
Fair call and yes, if he’s said that, then the players are responsible.
I’m sure that’s what I read. Pep said something similar too.
Emery:
“I have played long ball before, yes, a lot. In Spain the same, in France the same, in Russia the same.
“There are a lot of ways for you to choose to find the win. Sunday is one match we need the adaptation to their idea. But all the respect for me for this idea. Because in Spain I played it often. In moments I play like that because I think it’s the best way for us to win.
“It depends on the team, the squad, the players. We can also build up with one idea but during the 90 minutes you need to play a lot of different ways to win, to impose your best condition on the pitch.”
Kind of suggests it changes depending on how the game pans out..
Le Coq 8.13, surely the players and supporters have to shoulder some of the blame as well, you make it sound like it’s all Joses’ fault, just a matter of time before the taxman kicks him in the goolies lol.
rico, it’s comforting to know we have a plan B up our sleeves if things get a bit sticky !
Nite Gooners.
Rico, I hadn’t read that before and regardless of instructions, I agree that our players should recognise the danger signs and play long when required.
Will Carl Jenkinson play for Arsenal again?
Will Cohen Bramall get his senior debut this season?
That looks a bit of a cock-eyed squad to me.
Still Man City have a squad of 21 so we should be able to cope.
I was doing some bench pressing in Supersavers earlier yesterday, managed to lift this huge packet of cheese into my shopping basket in Iceland.
Also was thinking of you Le Doom as I was doing some painting around the window at the back of my living room yesterday afternoon, don’t know why though…. 😀
Rico, you need some posts to get us through the Interlull, well Scott could do us a post on how to cheat at cricket, Lee could do us a post on curry houses, Potter could do us a post on boating on the Broads and Adam could do us a post on AstroTurf.
That should do it.
Night Gooners
Hahahaha Kev.
What I really should do is write a post on how to truly penalise cheats as our Aussie board did.
Bloody slap on the wrists your boys have copped pale into comparison, and I’m sure the sub-continent players get a bloody pay rise when they are found out 🙂 🙂
Great idea Kev, should keep us entertained rather well.
Micko, I’m still waiting for plan a to come good 😜
Morning guys.
Scott, that’s why comments like meerkats few about Emery sound silly imo. All the focus was on criticising Emery for playing out from the back when ultimately, it’s down to the players to think on their feet in certain situations.
New post up now.