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What about the Midfield?

What should be our priority?


  • Total voters
    22

Longy

Active Member
We need a disciplined defensive minded midfielder who still has the
I had high hopes for Xhaka but he simply isn't that player. (Kanye or even dembele like)

Jack does everything Xhaka does but better. They should be competing not partnering.
Keep Ramsey out of the guts of our midfield, if you want to keep him let him compete with our forward line.
The days of squaries and roundies is over.
Fixing that core midfield will improve our backline immensely.


DM/DLP - Elneny - AMN
Jack - Xhaka - Willock
 

krackpot

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
Jack, Xhaka, Ramsey
Özil

together they have everything you need from a midfield

they compliment each other nicely, neither of them are out and out ballwinner but they won't be bossed around and can all get stuck in

Ramsey can bomb forward and not leave the midfield exposed

Xhaka doesn't have to go forward and have his lack of speed be seen
he stays in the middle, drops down if needed

Jack tie everything together

a solid almost purely ballwinning midfielder to compliment sure up the defensive against the big sides , and could play with 2 of any the 3

Mkith can cover for either Jack or Ramsey (and obviously for Özil)

Wingbacks can provide width, either striker can drift out and there is still one left (plus Özil and someone from midfield

Jack can go doen the wing if needed and ramsey to

4-3-1-2 does anybody have a logical argument against it?
The problem then must be how they are set up,, or what they are instructed to do.

Ramsey no longer stays in position but stays forward and relies on his stamina to rush back. If someone instructed him to move forward AFTER Özil/Mkhi get the ball, he could be even more dangerous. Nowadays he stands on the edge and waits for the ball, which is what a striker like OG would do.

Wilshere has been underwhelming. He's not done any of his famous turns, which is one of his best tricks. Someone posted a video which shows how a good CM makes a difference.


Diaby beats two players with a 'simple' play, runs ahead and scores. There are almost 8 AFC players still in our half so no risk of getting countered.
 

krackpot

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
We need a disciplined defensive minded midfielder who still has the
I had high hopes for Xhaka but he simply isn't that player. (Kanye or even dembele like)

Jack does everything Xhaka does but better. They should be competing not partnering.
Keep Ramsey out of the guts of our midfield, if you want to keep him let him compete with our forward line.
The days of squaries and roundies is over.
Fixing that core midfield will improve our backline immensely.


DM/DLP - Elneny - AMN
Jack - Xhaka - Willock
Xhaka is much better than Jack defensively. We need someone else.

Matic would have been perfect.
 

scytheavatar

Established Member
Jack, Xhaka, Ramsey
Özil

together they have everything you need from a midfield

4 midfielders who can't defend...... play this if you want us to be crushed. For all the talk about a Cazorla replacement why don't we start talking about a Coquelin replacement? We have been badly missing the steel that an on-form Coquelin provides us......
 

YeahBee

Terrible hot takes
4 midfielders who can't defend...... play this if you want us to be crushed. For all the talk about a Cazorla replacement why don't we start talking about a Coquelin replacement? We have been badly missing the steel that an on-form Coquelin provides us......

They can defend just fine if the manager organizes the team to defend, We've seen much better performances out of em all, a competent coach will create an atmosphere where their average performances are higher and playing closer to their ceiling Skillwise

Özil naturellt shouldn't have any such responsibility

With the cm trio it will be good cover in the centre
 

YeahBee

Terrible hot takes
The problem then must be how they are set up,, or what they are instructed to do.

Ramsey no longer stays in position but stays forward and relies on his stamina to rush back. If someone instructed him to move forward AFTER Özil/Mkhi get the ball, he could be even more dangerous. Nowadays he stands on the edge and waits for the ball, which is what a striker like OG would do.

Wilshere has been underwhelming. He's not done any of his famous turns, which is one of his best tricks. Someone posted a video which shows how a good CM makes a difference.


Diaby beats two players with a 'simple' play, runs ahead and scores. There are almost 8 AFC players still in our half so no risk of getting countered.

Yup they are told to play the way they do

Or The very least they are not told when they are doing something wrong
 

scytheavatar

Established Member
They can defend just fine if the manager organizes the team to defend, We've seen much better performances out of em all, a competent coach will create an atmosphere where their average performances are higher and playing closer to their ceiling Skillwise

Özil naturellt shouldn't have any such responsibility

With the cm trio it will be good cover in the centre

That's like expecting Walcott or Lacazette to become Henry because they have scored a couple of great goals.....

Xhaka has always been rash in his tackling.

Wilshere has never been good at defending.

Ramsey has been selfish and doesn't want to defend, something some fans actually support cause they think muh goals is all we need from Ramsey.

A midfield with the 3 of them will always be soft and a recipe for disaster.
 

YeahBee

Terrible hot takes
Paddy was rash early to
It is something You can Iron out
If santi can play CM so can jack (and he has been doing it for his whole career )

Ramsey got the tools for sure, we just need to rein in his bombruns
He frekkin lead the leagues in suc tackles with yaya one point in time

And you are downplaying them actually being 3 in midfield, on a line so jack and Ramsey have easy access to the flanks
Xhaka only dropping slightly

It is not a CDM behind Two cms
That can be used sparingly vs the bigger sides
 
Last edited:

scytheavatar

Established Member
Paddy was radhus early to
It is something You can Iron out
If santi can play CM so can jack (and he has been doing it for his whole career )

Ramsey got the tools for sure, we just need to rein in his bombruns
He frekkin lead the leagues in suc tackles with yaya one point in time

And you are downplaying them actually being 3 in midfield, on a line so jack and Ramsey have easy access to the flanks
Xhaka only dropping slightly

It is not a CDM behind Two cms
That can be used sparingly vs the bigger sides

Vieira got red cards early in his career but also from day 1 he has been an artist at making fouls...... plus Vieira is far more athletic than Xhaka. Xhaka is slow and clumsy, that is something which can never been ironed out. Also Cazorla is short but packs a lot more strength than he looks. He's able to outmuscle midfielders bigger than him the way Wilshere can't, and his workrate is better than Wilshere too.

But ultimately the problem is that none of these 3 are Vieira/Cesc/Arteta/Cazorla, none of them have the intelligence and ability to read the game that we used to have in our midfield. As a result they are constantly out of position and our midfield is often a complete mess. Our team would be playing much better if we still have a fit Arteta or Cazorla playing for us.
 

Newchange

Active Member
We all know how much Wenger loves Özil, so why wont he protect him? why wont he put 2 bullys in the middle and allow Özil to "express himself" Playing Özil & Miki in the same team means you need 2 workhorses who dominate the midfield. I feel the front 3 shouldn't have defensive responsibility. All they should do is press and get into shape when needed. But as far as tracking runners and making tackles its not their strengths. So play to their strengths!
 

The_Playmaker

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
We all know how much Wenger loves Özil, so why wont he protect him? why wont he put 2 bullys in the middle and allow Özil to "express himself" Playing Özil & Miki in the same team means you need 2 workhorses who dominate the midfield. I feel the front 3 shouldn't have defensive responsibility. All they should do is press and get into shape when needed. But as far as tracking runners and making tackles its not their strengths. So play to their strengths!

If they don't track runners and make tackles they may as Well not play. They just need insurance for if they get dribbled. I.e 2 dominant centre backs and Fabinho
 

Newchange

Active Member
Fabinho alone wont be enough hes not kante but no doubt hes a HUGE improvement. Of course the forwards will make tackles and be busy but id rather my midfield have the responsibility of tracking runners and being the start of our defensive base. Özil & Miki are not those players who press with inesitity
 

Brown Gooner

DoN'T ceNsOR maH FreE SpEecH
I think a better manager would be able to get the best out of our defenders however signing a good defensive midfielder in the transfer window is very important. Elneny is the closest in our current team to play that role and that speaks for itself.

DM and Wingers are the positions that need urgent reinforcements in the summer.
 

Jojoba

Active Member
We actually have not replaced Vieira even after more than a decade. The CM situation is dire really:

Xhaka, Wilshere are Barely Adequate

Ramsey, El-Nenny are on the way out

I did not include AMN as he has barely played there.

Apart from the above, we do not have anyone. On current form, Championship quality, apart from Ramsey.

Even if we manage to keep Ramsey, we would need another outstanding CM to maintain the minimum number of bodies.

Who do you think we could get/promote to even think about being competitive? Or do you guys think Defense in a greater priority?
Ramsey? How far we have sunk when people think Ramsey is Arsenal quality. We have had the likes of Vieira, petit, Bergkamp, Cesc, Santi, Rosicky, Gilberto and even Diaby etc. Now we are at Ramsey level.
 

c00lguy

Active Member
If we buy 2 DM's in the summer I'd consider trying a 4-2-3-1 formation. That's a big if because currently we don't have the players to suit it.
It would give protection to our back 4 and it would provide freedom for the attackers.
 

Camron

Photoshop King
Trusted ⭐

Player:Martinelli
I think at this stage it is coaching problem.

For example against Brighton I counted twice when Özil was deep lying midfielder, Xhaka was running up left field into the final third with his back towards the ball he was furthest forward of our midfielders. Wilshere was also out of position moving up the field. Guess who had the ball. Koscielny.

Im no expert but Xhaka with his back against the ball almost in the final third when defender has the ball? Hmm....

But even so, Im not a huge fan of our midfielders. I think we only have space for one of Wilshere and Xhaka but both needs to be coached better.

Elneny is not good enough and Cazorla is done I think.

We need solid signing there in the summer but I also would like us to look at the academy and stop being scared giving the youngsters a real chance in the midfield position!
Looking at our own crop of academy midfielders, I'd really love to see Ben Sheaf in our midfield. Impressive physicial presence and great feet. Unfortunately he is on loan (good for him though). We should be out for a quality DM that can help our youngsters grow alongside them.
 

YeahBee

Terrible hot takes
Well the midfield I wanted was fielded tonight

but they kinda went out of their way to disprove my point, I say players these days are too concernerd with social media :p

Xhaka was all over the place

Jack sought out players to dribble and loose the ball to!

Ramsey was actually pretty disciplined

part of the problem is playing two ACMs

Özil should be there alone, the area gets crowded and no room for jack/ramsey to move up

Mkith was at his best when he was out wide anyway
 

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