Would be no surprise if we continue like this.
I honestly think Arsenal win finish around 6-8th this year.
United win comfortably, and get criticised by SAF. That tells you how bad Arsenal were today.
I honestly think Arsenal win finish around 6-8th this year.
Too many new players. We simply haven't gelled as a team yet.
You can really see it when Cazorla has the ball. Lots of miscommunication and poor runs/support because they don't know how to play with each other yet. And I'm only singling out Cazorla in this instance because he's the maestro and is the most clear example of this team issue.
We also had Giroud up front and we played almost zero long balls to him. What's the point of even buying him, if we are going to play short passing? We aren't even utilizing his skill of completely manhandling defenders in aerial situations. What's worse is that we haven't got any crossers on the field. Sagna and Ramsey are decent, but Podolski and Santos? Should have had jenkinson out there imo. But with Ramsey, he doesn't have the skill to routinely beat his man and put in that cross.
and speaking of Podolski...he's regressed. Has lost a lot of his energy he had the first few games. I'd chalk most of that up to not gelling with team (as evidence by mistimed runs, and not seeing much of the ball).
I'm afraid we're just going to have to give this team time. That or we need to bench the new players?
-----Walcott
Gerv---------Ox
-----Wilshere
--Ramsey-Arteta
only issue with that is Gerv and Ox are banged up atm. Suppose we could put Giroud up front and Walcott on right. Or just switch to 4-4-2
Arsene can't simply play to the strenghts of players we have. Stubbornly tries to play way he wants which isn't working for us. He is too predictable.
Giroud and Chamakh wont work that well on their own up front. Also Podolski is no winger and should be used up top. Maybe go back to old 442 with Giroud/Chamakh and Walcott/Podolski up top.
We can play Cazorla out wide.
I've also noticed that Podolski has been quite **** for past 3 games or so. Heard sometime ago that he has ankle injury or something like that so I thought maybe he is playing with it ? Might be time to take a week out and heal properly as currently he isn't bringing anything offensively or defensively. Arshavin has been trying hard and should get his chance.
I'd go 442 against Schalke
Mannone , Sagna/Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen/Sagna, Cazorla, Wilshere, Arteta, Arshavin, Walcott, Giroud
But this wont happen because of Wenger's stubborness.
Arsenal have been playing that way for years now, he can't and won't just change the philosophy overnight because of a few poor performances. 4-4-2 doesn't get the best out Carzola, Wilshere, Arteta, Podolski or any of Arsenal's best players. The problem is not the formation, more an over-reliance on Carzola.
It wont happen, but I would be interested in seeing how we go in a 3-5-2 formation. Have Kos, Per and Vermaelen at the back (would require adding another CB - Yanga-Mbiwa? - to give us better depth) with Sagna/Jenkinson and Gibbs/Santos acting as very attacking full backs who don't have to bother with defending much. Midfield would be our normal midfield trio of Arteta/Coquelin, Wilshere/Diaby and Cazorla/Ramsey while upfront we use a combo of Giroud/Chamakh with Podolski/Walcott/Gervinho. Obviously would be very difficult to switch formation mid-season but it would be interesting to see how we fared with it.
es we've been playing like that for years and what have we to show for it?
We don't need to switch our philosophy just to change tactics. We can easily out pass the opponents just by having 2 players on middle. Especially against weaker opponents. We know for certain that our current tactic isn't getting best out of them and doubt 442 or any variant of it can do much worse.
Cazorla can play anywhere and can adjust to any tactic. Wilshere/Diaby and Arteta in middle can handle any team in prem. Podolski isn't a winger and reason why he did so well last season was because he wasn't played on left wing and he had partner up front.
They might well be better as a pair, but it's impossible to say on the basis of one game together, and a particularly crazy game at that. Without wishing to disrespect Reading, they are one of the weaker teams in the division and some of their defending was awful. It's difficult to say how that partnership would fair against the top level sides.Giroud and Chamakh were much better with each other against Reading.
Our tactic was made to fit in Fabregas the best and we've now been playing with it for long after he is gone. Maybe now just fit the tactic to best fit whole team and just not one player.
Few bad results? This is the worst start Wenger has ever had with us.
Y
You can argue the toss here really. Some would argue finishing in the top 4 constitutes success. As for a lack of silverware, I'd argue that's more to do with a lack of investment and the fact that the domestic cups aren't taken as seriously as they might more than poor tactics.
I agree that Carzola could do well in a variety of positions. But in my opinion he is best used in the attacking band. Ie, AMC, ALM etc. Having him as a CM constrains him slightly, as he would have to focus on defensive duties. If neglected, this could spell real trouble for Arsenal as teams counter into the space.
They might well be better as a pair, but it's impossible to say on the basis of one game together, and a particularly crazy game at that. Without wishing to disrespect Reading, they are one of the weaker teams in the division and some of their defending was awful. It's difficult to say how that partnership would fair against the top level sides.
I'm not sure 4-4-2 does get the best out of your best players though.
Fair enough, I underplayed the statement. But Arsenal have still come through bad situations before by slight tweaks rather than wholesale changes. After the 8-2 many people were saying that large changes were needed to the tactics. (I'm not necessarily saying you were)
Top 4 isn't success for me unless you can show that you were serious contestant to title and you improved from previous seasons. We fail on both cases.
We could have gotten far more points in previous seasons/games if we had really a Plan B. We have really had only this one game plan and it either works really well ( Southampton game ) or is total failure (recent games). Also as evidenced the good games are much rarer now and bad ones are common.
I wouldn't use him as CM. Either on right or left wing.
There are many variants to 442. Main problem we have playing it is our lack of real quality wingers
So, seems Wenger is dropping Santos, pushing Verm to left back, trying to establish Kos and Per as CBs and find some form, it seems he's going to have to start Walcott.
Current injuries seem to be: Szczęsny, Gibbs, Diaby, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gervinho - which rather means the side might be short of ideas, though lets hope Podolski can do a little more against Schalke than he did at the weekend.