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Mikel Arteta: Top Of The Klopps

Preacher

Always Crying
5p1lh2etgle41.png


Drought.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
Our form just dropped to the floor when Ramsey got injured, only team we beat was Valencia, don't think we won in the league without Aaron in the last 2 months :lol:
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
Why is it unbalanced. Explain why its unbalanced.

Where to begin with this squad :lol:

Guess I will start by taking it back to the last team I was very happy with as a fan, the 2015 team...

Szczesny
Bellerin-Kos-Per-Nacho
Coq-Caz
Ramsey-Özil-Sanchez
Theo​


...here is our starting line up, from our wonderful FA Cup winning day...everything in that team just went together...excellent partnership in Kos and Per, attributes fit perfectly together...two very good fullbacks, one more attacking and one more defensive...great footballers in midfield Caz and Mes (peak Özil too, not the fraud we have now) Ramsey and Coquelin providing he team some energy, the one thing Caz and Mes didn't really have was running ability, so having Rambo and Coq in balanced that out...and of course a winger in Sanchez, who wouldn't just score and make goals, but someone who played with an intensity that just lifted the whole team...it's not perfect and could be improved, but this team was a great base to build on.

Compare that to our line up yesterday...

Leno
Bellerin-Luiz-Mustafi-Saka
Guendo-Xhaka
Gabby-Özil-Auba
Laca
...straight down the middle of our spine, centre backs and central midfielders...not one athletic player there, ridiculous to have this in England, of all leagues...and the only real change to this would be to start Lucas, but even then I don't think he has the stamina to play in a midfield 2 in England compared to Coq...another thing a find very strange when comparing Lucas and Coq...Lucas has been very good for us, not as good as Coq imo...but when Lucas hit very poor form at the start of the season, everyone rightly excused it as he was being played out of position...but when Coquelin hit poor form in 2017, everyone immediately wanted him sold, even though he was also being played out of position as a box to box midfielder rather than a ball winner, where he was amazing for us (and no he wasn't carried by Santi, Coquelin was as important as Caz was in that partnership, it's how good partnerships work) and where is Coq now...playing very well for a good Valencia team in the Champions League, interesting, maybe he wasn't as useless as many Arsenal fans believed.

Then we move on the sheer ridiculous of our current attack...spent buckets on 2 strikers, both of whom can only really play in one position well and both need to be carried to a degree, as both have major flaws technically or physically...and it's not as if we have Sanchez, Cazorla, Ramsey and prime Özil to carry them these days is it...we have Guendouzi and Xhaka, both limited physically and technically themselves...then we have current Özil, who looks completely mentally finished since his big contract, a shadow of the Özil we saw in 2015...and he can only really play centrally, but his style of play means we will always be outnumbered in midfield, and our midfield is already unathletic enough to begin with...madness!

Not too mention our two best fullbacks this season, have been midfielders (Niles and Saka) plus we have 4 fullbacks who have massive injury concerns above them too.

Ridiculous squad building since the summer of 2015...went from a team that would always get in the top four and with 1 or 2 new players, win the league...to a team not even in the top 6, all this while spending a small fortune too :lol: :mad:
 
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Toby

No longer a Stuttgart Fan
Moderator
Having Laca in the middle, dropping and dragging CBs creates space for Auba to run into.
It worked twice yesterday, on a better day Auba would have buried those chances and it would have been an easy win.

Guess atm Lacazette is supposed to play a Firmino like role creating space and interlinking with two wide players who really are more strikers than clearcut wingers. Nonetheless, Laca lacks form, technical ability and intelligence to play that role - in the end Lacazette has been a clearcut CF best near the box, whereas Firmino has been evolved from a 10 into a false 9. Also, the Arsenal/Arteta version seems a weird hybrid between the Klopp approach and Guardiola's more asymmetrical attacking system. In the context it makes sense Lacazette is struggling, but still he's massively out of form, too. At some point I was interested in seeing him at 10 due to some of his attributes, but I guess we've seen now he's not properly working in a deeper position. Might still hinge on the way the wingers and fullbacks are used, though, at least to a degree.
 

KrissKringle

Reinventing VAR 😡
Aside from maybe our defense being a tiny bit more compact, it seems like more of the same we've been seeing from Emery until he got sacked.
Once a team starts to bully us, we go in our shell and hardly come out anymore on the counter.

Aside from that our buildup, compared to what you see at City and Liverpool takes forever, but that was something that happened under Wenger as well.

We're painfully lacking in terms of creativity this season and there doesn't seem to be any solution for this be it tactical or in the form of a player coming from the bench.
 

Mrs Bergkamp

Double Dusted
Dusted 🔻
Where to begin with this squad :lol:

Guess I will start by taking it back to the last team I was very happy with as a fan, the 2015 team...

Szczesny
Bellerin-Kos-Per-Nacho
Coq-Caz
Ramsey-Özil-Sanchez
Theo​


...here is our starting line up, from our wonderful FA Cup winning day...everything in that team just went together...excellent partnership in Kos and Per, attributes fit perfectly together...two very good fullbacks, one more attacking and one more defensive...great footballers

Compare that to our line up yesterday...

Leno
Bellerin-Luiz-Mustafi-Saka
Guendo-Xhaka
Gabby-Özil-Auba
Laca
...straight down the middle of our spine, centre backs and central midfielders...not one athletic player there, ridiculous to have this in England, of all leagues
Your post says everything I have in mind and comparing the two teams, your points really hit home. Looking forward, I think Woj and Leno are about equal although Leno is too passive for my liking. I think a fully fit Bellerin and Tierney solves the FB problem. On paper, Saliba and Mari are good Kos and Per replacements. Torreira or any players with bulk and decent pace can replace Coq. Replacing Santi is another issue.Van der Beek can replace both Ramsey and Özil with his skill set thus allowing us to get a more multi dimensional MF in the three. If Guendouzi can start scoring, I feel he can replicate Ramsey's role although strangely, Torreira has popped up a few times without the goals to show for it. Martinelli or Nelson can replace Alexis Sanchez if they make the effort their very best games have shown. Auba up front is better than Walcott but he might not be here. Three quality players to replace Santi, 2015 Özil and probably gone Auba and we have a chance. Squad depth is an issue, but the starting 11 would be balanced, faster and more technically sound than the current crop.
 

DUFFMAN

Crybaby
Where is the pressing game we seen in the first few games when he took over?

Our attack was world class against Chelsea and united.

Is it a case he realises he doesn't have the players to keep up the pressing game so he has abandoned it?
 

Toby

No longer a Stuttgart Fan
Moderator
No they aren’t, one is a baby for a CB and the other is a journeyman. Per/Kos were French and German internationals in the peak of their powers.

Phenomenal phenomenal decline.

Kos wasn't when he arrived, but became one pretty fast after that. There are a couple of parallels between Mari and Kos concerning their career trajectory. If Mari will end up anywhere close to Kos is something else, though.
 

RUS arsenal

Established Member
I see a lot of people complaining about our attack from the Burnley game but for me it seems to follow the general pattern under Arteta. We dominated early and created multiple quality chances for Laca and Auba (Auba usually puts those away in his sleep so perhaps a bit rusty after suspension). The finishing let us down but we really should've scored 3 goals in the first half and put the game out of reach. Then the players started to get tired and that allowed Burnley to go on the attack. The defending against headers left much to be desired and for me was more of an issue than "team balance" and attack.

Basically it all boils down to the fact that our players can't handle the high intensity pace that Arteta demands for more than 30 min after which they are spent and go into a shell. I assume this will improve with time as the fitness levels improve.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
No they aren’t, one is a baby for a CB and the other is a journeyman. Per/Kos were French and German internationals in the peak of their powers.

Phenomenal phenomenal decline.

Imagine if Saliba comes in, and hits the ground running...could happen, G.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
I live in the real world though mate, unless he’s Maldini or something Saliba isn’t going to be ready, if ever, for at least 3/4 years.

Could be right, mate...but at least he looks physically capable to play in this league, that's something few of our recent centre backs have had...looking forward to seeing him play for us.
 

GDeep™

League is very weak
Kos wasn't when he arrived, but became one pretty fast after that. There are a couple of parallels between Mari and Kos concerning their career trajectory. If Mari will end up anywhere close to Kos is something else, though.

In not sure what parallels you found? I see Kos who made a natural progression/development from club to club before eventually landing in a big league with a top club, where he continued to progress and became a french international. Had an outstanding season in Ligue 1 before we signed him.

Mari on the other hand is pushing 27 and has never established himself anywhere, and had to take the really unconventional route of moving to South America. Even now, it’s not like we’ve secured him, we’re just taking him on loan too.
 

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