Quite dire. We'll have little threat with Martinelli on the right if this is any guide. Glad of the three points however, on we go.
Arsenal - Ipswich, Friday 27 December at 20:15 UK time.
lorddulaarsenal the quality and timing of his shooting is fucking dreadful and has been for ages.
I wish we had genuine competition for his place.
RocktheCasbah Credit to Tross for his assist by the way, really enjoyed the Piresness of it.
Great comparison!
We should've won by 2 or 3 given some of the chances.
Was a weird match. First half we dominated despite Odegaard being crud but wouldn't do enough at the other end. 2nd half we faltered but Odegaard picked us up driving us forward.
Back to being annoyed at Gabi Jebus and Trossard again. The latter had a great assist but yet another lazy braindead backpass, he's done that thrice already this season.
banduan The latter had a great assist but yet another lazy braindead backpass, he's done that thrice already this season.
He was playing terribly at that stage, he looked spent. I didn't understand why Arteta hadn't taken him off earlier. He's lucky that reluctance to take him off didn't cost us.
Without Saka these marginal mistakes and bad finishing are going to be amplified. If we can't build up the sort of leads we should those subs in the second half become really crucial to not lose control of the game.
Calafiori has his work cut out to get back in to the team. MLS’s rise means we can now cash in on Kiwior
lorddulaarsenal I don't see why we'd cash in on Kiwior when we need the CB cover. Granted he's not set the world alight but we need bodies.
- Edited
As an aside this was one of those horrible matches to attend put on late for TV post holidays and the football was really boring. It didn't look to me at least what we are going for in Saka's absence and I think it makes it hard to see us winning even the domestic cups if he's not about.
This needs to make Arteta realise he needs to boost the attacking quality Ode isn't a goal scorer so it really is just Saka who has some reliability but his own goal scoring is still someway from what Salah or Harland have contributed.
Don Pacifico because we have Calafiori and Timber who can play there. White and Tomiyasu too when available and in a pinch Rice
Wouldn't be surprised to see White start getting shifted to CB with Timber starting to own that RB spot
lorddulaarsenal maybe. But none of those players are without injury risk and the more we lean on them, the more they're likely to get injured.
Kiwior seems relatively robust so far (albeit he's not had as much exposure as others) so that's a big tick for him in my book. Would much rather sell Tomiyasu (and Zinchenko).
awooga83 Arteta's going to have to take the handbrake off in Saka's absence. Take some more risks and get our attackers into space more often. Even the best attackers in the world find it hard when having to constantly dance through heavy traffic to create chances and score.
SimplyThePest I've been critical of our handbrake but with the squad we have and Saka out I think I'd actually double down on solidity. The Havertz and Ode midfield appealed to me with Saka but now I want our best back 7 with Havertz up top, Ode AM and 2 wingers.
If we sign someone worthwhile I'll revise this
I'd give the Havertz at 8 and Jesus at 9 thing another chance. The former has scored two in two like this after all, and it means we have at least a bit of vertical movement into the box from deeper.
It's no long term thing though, and signing a top wide player who can break lines with his ball carrying and movement would mean we could really give Merino a go in the left 8 at the same time.
Yep get that left sided attacker in.
Qwiss You might be right, mate but bloody hell, we've looked very pedestrian in attack with Saka available... Time will tell but I suspect Arteta may very well do what you have suggested.
- Edited
I don't expect us to make any major signings in January, therefore, Arteta needs to be bold and either changes formation or trusts Nwaneri to be the man on the right until Saka returns. I believe it will be better for us long-term even if he doesn't have an immediate impact.
Switching to a front 2 with 4 midfielders behind them appeals to me because I trust our midfielders more than I do our forwards. Upfront I'd always go Havertz + 1. The one could be any of Trossard, Martinelli or Jesus depending on form or opposition. I think this is one way to solve our problems up front i.e switching to a formation that requires us to only play 2 forwards at the same time.
Something like this:
-------Trossard----Havertz----
-------------Odegaard
----Rice---Jorginho--Partey-----
Cala----Gabriel---Saliba---Timber
---------------Raya
This drastically changes the way we attack as we'll be using 2 overlapping full backs and Ode has the license to roam which makes it harder for teams to shut him out.
Arteta can also have his box midfield that he so craves by pushing Rice next to Odegaard when we are in possession. Also, generally midfielders are better defensively than attackers, so having more of them could in theory help us defend better.
Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert if we are going to keep playing Havertz at 8 then we need a CF in January, even in a beat case scenario with Jesus form you'd need another option there to come off the bench, rotate, etc And does anyone really think Jesus is going to make it till June without picking up an injury here or there?
