Neither do I but that wasn't the point.

I watched the match twice and didn't thought Iwobi was particularly lazy. In fact he pressed really hard in the first half, probably ran out of steam.

It's not really relevant how much an individual player presses. We never press properly as a team and that's down to the manager. Our so-called pressing is the most pathetic thing in the top leagues.

It's good in certain games, average to non-existent in others, but in games like yesterday where you have some of the forwards pressing and the rest of the team dropping deep it's pretty embarrassing. You have Sanchez and Ozil telling everyone to push up and you have the defence and midfield dropping deeper and deeper, they don't really know what they're doing.

It's been said for years by numerous managers and all the way back to the Highbury era that Arsenal are a team that allows you to play.

Yeah. That's not a secret anymore. Our pressing has never been consistently good under Wenger. It has become even more evident post 2011 where all the radical pressers started to be more prominent in europe.

You can see that Alexis is always the one leading the pressing. He obviously is well versed about it from Sampaoli's Chile and Pep's Barca. Ozil is on the same wavelength but the conviction is not quite there. Then you have 3 other guys trying to press in the team. Theo and Iwobi tried very hard, also tracked back well but they are always a step behind Alexis. They are more reactive than proactive in the sense, they only run when they realise they have to press and by that time the ball is passed to another. Coquelin though, pressed really well and was pretty effective.

That said, there's still very little to pick on the first half though, especially when they hardly threatened us and we should have really scored another. I really don't understand how Wenger can turn us to shit in the 2nd.

The goal came at the worst possible time - straight after half time, and our players were still asleep. You could see the look in Pep's eyes. He couldn't believe his luck. We actually would've been better off conceding before half time. From there onwards City gained momentum.

It's a sickening goal every time you watch it. Cech with a poor kick - he takes the kick from the right hand side of goal and kicks it into the centre when we were overloaded on the right expecting the ball to fall there. Xhaka then completely misses the header. Koscielny's positioning was horrible and he in no man's land when he should've been tight with Silva. Elementary mistakes everywhere you look. We were so passive it looked like the players had been sipping shandy at half time.

Clrnc wrote:

Yeah. That's not a secret anymore. Our pressing has never been consistently good under Wenger. It has become even more evident post 2011 where all the radical pressers started to be more prominent in europe.

You can see that Alexis is always the one leading the pressing. He obviously is well versed about it from Sampaoli's Chile and Pep's Barca. Ozil is on the same wavelength but the conviction is not quite there. Then you have 3 other guys trying to press in the team. Theo and Iwobi tried very hard, also tracked back well but they are always a step behind Alexis. They are more reactive than proactive in the sense, they only run when they realise they have to press and by that time the ball is passed to another. Coquelin though, pressed really well and was pretty effective.

That said, there's still very little to pick on the first half though, especially when they hardly threatened us and we should have really scored another. I really don't understand how Wenger can turn us to shit in the 2nd.

[size=medium]“We are so unpredictable in what we are doing; even for me at the back sometimes it looks a bit weird! ...”[/size][size=medium]  [/size][size=medium]Per Mertesacker[/size]

General wrote:

It's a sickening goal every time you watch it. Cech with a poor kick - he takes the kick from the right hand side of goal and kicks it into the centre when we were overloaded on the right expecting the ball to fall there. Xhaka then completely misses the header. Koscielny's positioning was horrible and he in no man's land when he should've been tight with Silva. Elementary mistakes everywhere you look. We were so passive it looked like the players had been sipping shandy at half time.

That's the problem with employing a tactic that neither the players nor the manager are used to.  

Wonder if having a few more players on Ozil and Alexis' level would mean they'd be in a lesser position to demand such money as they wouldn't be the standout stars they are, but rather part of a highly talented group

We would need to spend big to have that and it would probably lead to an unsustainable wage bill. We need at least £100m for a top striker and a wide forward. If Xhaka doesn't come good, we could be looking to overhaul CM too. He really is the joker in the pack.

Well we had that many once upon a time and at a time when we were less powerful financially

Xhaka isn't good enough to cut it in the premier league. Too slow, too ponderous, Ozil is a better tackler.

We've wasted money and time by not doing our due diligence when scouting him.

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

Well we had that many once upon a time and at a time when we were less powerful financially

Different era, different footballing/financial landscape, and manager who had the right connections/profile during a period when there was a golden generation of French players.

It's a bit early to say we've wasted money but, as you say, i wonder whether we scouted him properly as he isn't what we needed urgently.

He is the sort of player we have been filling the midfield with for the past few seasons

Decent, but glaringly lacking in a key quality for his position. From Ramsey, to Wilshere, to Cazorla, to Coquelin.

I'm not looking for one player who can do it all, but if you are going to get a specialist, go for a world class specialist. Then make up for imbalances with coaching and tactical instructions.

Xhaka has a good eye for a pass, but only when there is a lot of space and time. Maybe he gets better with time as he adapts to the pace of the league, but he still can't tackle, and lacks recovery pace without the impeccable positioning needed to compensate. Can't help that.

Edit: but I digress, this is the Ozil/Sanchez thread. Just do whatever is needed to lock them both down, then hope Wenger walks away soon and we can get a coach who allows us get the most out of them consistently.

Gurgen wrote:

It's not really relevant how much an individual player presses. We never press properly as a team and that's down to the manager. Our so-called pressing is the most pathetic thing in the top leagues.

i would call it inconsistent. i've seen games where we've pressed really well. it doesn't happen often, but it's not like the team is incapable of it. to me it more a case of it not emphasised/coached by wenger. the team just does it if they're in the mood on the day and take it upon themselves to put a shift in. that approach is bound to break down if the coach isn't drumming it into the players, which we know from a long list of testimonies from ex-players wenger does not do

Xhaka will come good eventually. Like it or not, Ozil has become one of the root causes of our problems in midfield. It's impossible to win this league with a 2man midfield unless you have a Kante. Even worse when you're playing with a luxury number 10 leaving the 2 poor guys behind to pick up the pieces.