Morning all.
Will there come a time when Mikel Arteta says enough is enough. Mesut Ozil has been binned because of football reasons, so when does he call time on a few more. We’ll all have our own little list but I’d imagine that Xhaka, Mustafi, Lacazette and perhaps even Pepe’s names are the most popular. Or unpopular whichever way you look at it.
When does Mikel Arteta turn to the likes of Nelson, Balogun, ESR and tell them to go onto the pitch and play without fear? AMN, the new disciplined AMN has barely been seen since this season began.
The only thing worse than trying, is in my opinion to bury one’s head in the sand and hope that things will improve. Arsene Wenger did that, it cost him. Unai Emery too albeit over a much shorter time but as we’ve seen already from our Spaniard, he’s not afraid to make big or bold decisions.
Doing something, trying something different or in this case, someone different, is often better than doing nothing at all. To just carry on regardless, hoping than one day something will change when the same people are carrying out a certain unsuccessful plan, is foolhardy.
Mikel Arteta is no fool. That’s obvious from the way he talks about the game but what I think he might be, is too conservative. So much concentration on the defending, which was a shambles when he took over, we’ve lost the attacking side of our game.
I get that every player is expected to work hard, track back and help out etc etc but there has to be a balance between attack and defence. Mikel Arteta needs to find that balance. The question is though, are the group of 11-15 players he usually puts his faith in, able to find that balance?
Joe Willock might not be everyone’s cup of tea but what does Granit Xhaka do that Willock can’t? The same question applies to Reiss Nelson and Nicolas Pepe and what about Florian Balogun?
I am the sort of striker that likes to play on the shoulder of the last defender and make runs behind them, similar to the way that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang plays,” Balogun told the official Arsenal website in March 2019.
I’ve trained a few times with the first team and I feel that I’ve benefited from being involved with them, especially when playing against experienced defenders, which forces you to find different ways of getting in on goal as what works at lower levels does not always work against them.
– “This young boy is fire,” Aubameyang tweeted about Balogun back in March 2019.
– “Flo Balogun is like a young Eddie Nketiah up front because he gets into good positions and always scores goals,” Reiss Nelson told the official Arsenal website in March 2018.
Balogun is not a kid anymore, he’s scored goals for fun since joining Arsenal nearly ten years ago. He’s quick, he runs at defenders and he’s duel footed. Suggesting to play him might sound like a stupid idea but what if it works? Phil Foden played 23 matches for Man City at 19 years old. Mason Mount, 31 fixtures for Man Utd in his 18th year, so why not give more than just Bukayo Saka a chance? Put some pressure on our underperforming experienced players.
What the team are doing right now isn’t working. Apart from Kieran Tierney, Gabriel Magalhaes, Thomas Partey, the same players were part of a group which flopped under Arsene Wenger and again under a Unai Emery albeit with a few extra names thrown in.
At some stage someone has to say enough is enough. It’s the players and not the manager. Not all of course but it only takes one or two to fail and a team will suffer. The team is suffering right now because up front we’re toothless and our strikers/wingers are firing blanks.
See you in the comments guys.
Morning all.
Nothing wrong at all with that suggestion, Rico.
If things aren’t working, change them.
Give someone young and keen a crack.
On Xhaka-whatever happened to his 30 yard bombs?
I can’t remember the last time he had a go from distance.
Lacazette can hit them from range as well.
No one seems to want to shoot these days Scott. I heard/read the other day that at City, players are discouraged from shooting long distance, instead looking for another pass. Seems Mikel has carried that with him to Arsenal.
Our attacking game seems to be played in slow motion. Little pace or movement. We must be one of the easiest attacking unit to defend against.
Rico, that trend started at Arsenal before Arteta arrived though, and I know that possession is the way the games played now, but when every side knows how to defend against that style, some try big different is the way to catch them out.
A few years ago, Leicester played a very direct style, with a lot of long balls, and nobody knew how to defend against it as that was the “old way” to play football.
Let’s try a few things that opponents are doing expect it as it’s clear our defence is headed the right way.
Agree that we have to try different players and younger ones. But we also have to look at other areas like do we need two midfielders sitting in front of defence. Even qiht that we are conversing. Why not play 1 in shielding and ither tow going forward. Why not try and shoot from distance. We don’t cross from wings enough. Why don’t we play 2 upfront or 5 in the midfiled and play Auba upfront . Why are we obsessed with this 3 at the back and yet conceed. Many questions.
Something that you’ll always see from Liverpool teams is their habit of taking long shots, it’s been that way ever since the days of Bill Shankley and they’ve won and drawn many games at Anfield, especially against Arsenal teams and when we thought the job was done, by having a pop at goal. It gets the crowd going and that in turn gets the team going, playing a million passes has never got my pulse racing!
Kev,
Especially with the modern footballs being used.
They float around like crazy so it’s madness not to take a shot when a defensive unit is difficult to break down.
I think we need a different type of striker, someone who can hold onto the ball, someone who can be a threat in the air, a Giroud type but with more pace.
Scott, this no shoot policy was in operation under Wenger but with a few notable exceptions like Henry and Bergkamp but nobody seems to play off the cuff in our team anymore. Ceballos has a few tricks, backheels and step overs but he rarely uses them.
Reiss Nelson has the potential to be unorthodox but he isn’t given a platform is he?
To be honest, Barcelona were a bit like that under Pep, everything seemed orchestrated and rarely spur of the moment, only Messi got away with that on occasions, it’s why the great Spanish National teams of recent years had fabulous possession figures but in general weren’t great goalscorers.
Morning Rico. Every game, a different system. Players, regardless of previous performances, in and out of the team and then turning up in ‘unusual’ positions. The story of Sunday evening’s game was written before a ball was kicked. We would huff and puff. We would look tired. The officials would stitch us up. Our strikers would be awful. There would be zero creativity.
Mikel said the team was tired after the game.
Perhaps, just sometimes the most obvious things are the reasons for the sort of abject failure we are seeing.
Kev, unleash them all I say 🙂
Good morning Rico you’re talking sense again, and that is not a slur on previous comments and posts. 😉
If a striker is not scoring goals there’s not a lot of point playing him, even if his name is Aubameyang. I’ve said it before and will keep on saying it, giving him a three year contract and making him the highest paid player at the club was a mistake.
Indeed it did Scott but it doesn’t mean the trend has to continue. I think it was Adam who mentioned the other day that Xhaka doesn’t shoot anymore. Why though when keepers are making errors.
Why wait until the keeper has come out before blasting a shot against his legs. I dunno, I just think Arsenal do like to move away from keeping the game simple.
Kev, any player who can keep hold of the ball would be nice. We lose possession all too often imo.
Morning Adam. Agree, the constant switching of tactics and positioning isn’t helping anyone. Mikel does seem to be complicating a game which is best kept simple.
Morning Cicero, thanks and none taken.
Re Auba, I disagree purely because I’m sure his form will come good and if he wants out in the summer, we’ll get money for him. It might not be multi millions but certainly more than nothing. Imo, his lack of goals sums up our forward play.
The trouble is, Rico, the longer Aubameyang goes without scoring the greater the damage to his seemingly already low confidence.
The question is should he be dropped (rested) in the hope that he will come backed refreshed and firing on all cylinders, or does Arteta play him and hope he can return to top form?
Drop him and the media will have a field day, play him and if he doesn’t score guess what? The media will have a field day. 😉
Do players like him get low in confidence Cicero? I’m not sure they do.
Afternoon all.
Rico, I think we are missing Martinelli. And i believe Eddie should be given more playing time, having said that I reckon he’ll start against Dundalk in place of Auba. I too would like to see some of the children more frequently. Nelson in particular and if fit ESR plus AMN, his omission amazes me. It doesn’t matter whether he plays in front of Bellerin or Tierney, the side he’s playing on will be both more dynamic and more secure. It’s surely a no brainier?
Dundalk played 16 won 7 drawn 4 lost 5 scored 24 let in 20 pints 25
lost , won , draw , won , draw in their last five games .
Is this where we should play Nelson instead of Pepe , ESR instead of Ceballos , Nketiah for Lacazette , Balogun for Aubameyang ,AMN for Xhaka , Saliba for Mustafi , or is that too many ?
Good drinkers by the looks of my misprint
Rico.. we have Mike Dean on Sunday 😫
Hi Wavy, Martinelli can’t come back quick enough. Love the way he plays the game.
I hope we see more of Nelson, AMN and Eddie that’s for sure, ESR too.
What’s there to lose Potter? Thursday would be the ideal chance to make some changes.
Ha ha re the drinkers…
Sue, thanks for that… 😆
🤣🤣👍
That’s a coincidence, I was watching a vid on You Tube the other day, I’m sure you all recall when Wenger got sent off at Old Toilet for kicking a water bottle and the 4th official made himself unnecessarily busy and Wenger ended up standing up with the Man Utd fans.
Guess who the referee was that day?
His name rhymes with baked bean….
Martin Atkinson Kev? 😆
His name rhymes with baked bean….
In fact he even looks like one . One that’s gone of a bit furry and definitely bitter and twisted.
I wonder if Chambers or Mari might play part of the game on Thursday – and if Arteta might be tempted to chuck one of them in on Sunday.
If one of both could get minutes on Thursday, at least Arteta would have an option other than Mustafi.
I HOPE THEY BRING IN ENOUGH SOIL TO FILL THE LONG CRATER THAT WAS CAUSED BY THE BALL TRAVELLIÑG
ACROSS THE SURFACE FROM SIDE TO SIDE!
Accidentally hit the caps lock tab Dick?
New post up now