Chelsea v Arsenal Sunday 10th Nov 1630 KO: Page 23 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Chelsea v Arsenal Sunday 10th Nov 1630 KO

RocktheCasbah

est we just look shot of confidence to me. Having Ode back clearly improved us yesterday and I thought Merino's ability to find a forward pass out of the opposing press is something that will help us as time moves on, but you can see the effect the last few weeks has had on us - everything is safety first, the ball is not moving forward and when it does move forward it's usually not quick enough.

I know some people think this is what Arteta wants, given the emphasis on control, but to me this is the by product of a bruising schedule, players either only partly fit, or not available at all and a team that has basically lost any automatisms that were built up over the the previous year.

And I'm sorry if nobody wants to hear this, but this is the second time in 3 months that we've been given a triple decker shit sandwich by the fixture list. This was always going to be a tough week.

Qwiss

RocktheCasbah I know some people think this is what Arteta wants, given the emphasis on control, but to me this is the by product of a bruising schedule, players either only partly fit, or not available at all and a team that has basically lost any automatisms that were built up over the the previous year.

I think when you hear Arteta talk about us sitting back too much and not being brave enough its clear its not what he wants. However it is what he's created and it stems from his instincts. He's the one who keeps buying defensive players. He's the one who wont put out natural attackers like Nwaneri when we need them. His signing and selections favour players who aren't naturally front footed.

At the end of the day most of our full backs are CBs, most of our midfielders are defensive/sitting mids. None of our strikers are natural 9s. And our wingers are asked to do the defensive work of a wing back at times. These things have combined to make us really difficult to break down when we are on song but they also mean we struggle to create if we are missing our best players.

Our system is defence first, which is fine but you need to recruit more aggressively in the attacking positions to balance it out and right now we really need more depth in the attacking positions because we ask too much of our first choice front 4. When you try to replace Odegaard with Merino or Trossard you should know you'll struggle to create much. When you play Havertz up top for 90 minutes every game it should be surprise that he ends up jaded and less effective after a while. God forbid we lose Saka because we have nothing to back him up either.

Mirth

We're way too reliant on Odegaard to create urgency and chances.

Tam

Mirth And for pressing effectively. And for leadership.

lorddulaarsenal

Yes we need a bigger pool of attacking talent to select from.

Desperately need someone who has real power on the left.

Claudius

lorddulaarsenal I wish we had Leao. I know he’s got a ridiculous valuation. But I like his physical profile for what we should be doing as an alternate to Martinelli. Big powerful guy who can just run through opponents.

lorddulaarsenal

Yes that sort of profile - he’d frustrate because he often makes those big galloping surges forward to no avail, but it’s the type of threat we don’t currently have.

Semenyo would give us that at a Teemu price.

I’d want a more refined player though. Mitoma would be nice but perhaps he’s not physically strong enough. Kvaratskhelia would be good, and ofcourse we could try with Nico Williams again.

Don Pacifico

We need a Plan B for when the system doesn't work. And by Plan B, I mean 1 (ideally 2) attackers that can win games single-handedly.

Think that may be at odds with Arteta's team philosophy though.

Claudius

Don Pacifico nobody would be against the idea of a forward who can win games single-handedly. That’s what Bukayo does week after week for us. But he’s burdened.

Qwiss

Claudius yeah I think someone who wins games on his own is probably too high a bar but Liverpool have Jota, Gakpo and Nunez where its usually only one of them starting with Salah and Diaz. They've Chiesa too. Being able to bring on 2 players of that quality late in games is what we lack and its why we don't sub Saka early enough. TBF Trossards at that level but he's in poor form, that happens. Its Jesus and Sterling who are the real problem. I thought Sterling would give us a lot more in those instances, very disappointed in his contribution so far.

Clrnc

Claudius Nah Saka is confined in the system as well. He wants more attacking freedom and don't need to do defensive work like the Liverpool forwards.

His numbers would be insane if he is in a system like Liverpool.

If we signed Mbappe We will still need him to press, to drop back defensively and track runners.

Don Pacifico

Claudius yeah, I'm more with Clrnc on this one. Saka wins games...when the team is functioning. It's not a criticism but he's not a Sanchez or Henry type.

We need a player (an agent of chaos?) to have thr confidence and ability to make goals by themselves when their teammates aren't showing up for them.

Claudius

Qwiss yup. Different faces. And fresh legs. Agree

SimplyThePest

Clrnc our new left back, Kylian Mbappe... 😃

Claudius

Don Pacifico i actually think Saka is a Sanchez level player if not even better.
There is something else happening - he has a ton of defensive work that he has to do. Both him and Martinelli. If you compare their defensive data to other young forwards in the league, you see how much more work they put in. It's in line with our level of control and how our games have much less of a ping-pong rhythm than those of other teams.

Two ways to get around this
1) Find ways to get more protection from midfield, e.g., replace Partey with Merino, and then put Rice behind Saka as a protector
2) Power up... run Saka like this for 60 minutes, but then be able to bring a Diaz or Jota on for the final 30.

Don Pacifico

Claudius yeah, you're right in that within the confines of the system even if Saka were that player, he doesn't have scope to show it. I'm still not sure myself but certainly having more attacking options (as has been heavily debated these past few weeks!), we'd be in a better place.

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