• ! ! ! IMPORTANT MESSAGE ! ! !

    Discussions about police investigations

    In light of recent developments about a player from Premier League being arrested and until there is an official announcement, ALL users should refrain from discussing or speculating about situations around personal off-pitch matters related to any Arsenal player. This is to protect you and the forum.

    Users who disregard this reminder will be issued warnings and their posts will get deleted from public.

3 Midfielders Is The Way Forward - The 4-4-2 Is Dead

progman07

Established Member
Not sure about that. He won't come anyways, will he? Very expensive and if we spend big, it should be on an even better striker/attacking midfielder.
 

hackajack

Established Member
32inchVerticalLeap said:
Id take Tevez, could do with someone who runs their socks off, might kick some life into the rest of the players.
Tevez is overrated ****e I'd rather have Craig Bellamy. Why do you think ManU are ditching him?
 

truth_hurts

but Holding’s hair transplant was painless
Would love tevez here, but will not happen.He would be like Hlebbut with tenacity and the abillity to score goals. Would be 20 million well spent.

Would love to see him and Arshavin playing opposite wings in a 4-2-3-1 but feasibly we would have to sacrifice two forwards for this to happen. In all honesty these public claims from Tevez will lead to United signing him permanently.

-------------------Almunia---------------------------

-----Sagna----CB-----Gallas/Toure-----Clichy---------

---------------Song/CM---Cesc/Tomas------------------

--------Tevez/RVP-----Nasri/AA------Arshavin/Theo---

----------------------Ade/Nik/Eduardo----------------


Rotating Eboue/Sagna, Song and an experienced midfielder,Cesc/Tomas and Ade or Nik with eduardo. Its a pipe dreamto have squad like that but my point is that is a formation with two midfielders that looks dominant enough in defence and scary in attack.

Back on topic 2 midfielders can work as long as you keep possesion and that when the opposition has the ball the whole team works back. I've already used the Liverpool example where Gerrard is a striker in attack and an extra Midfielder in defence. For us to replicate this we would need A similarly dynamic player in the hole(Arshavin/Nasri)
 

the dawn raids

Established Member
cesc and nasri in the middle with someone behind is a mouthwatering proposition imo. it would make it that much harder to mark either out and both could thrive and play their natural influential game.

the catch in that obviously is the player behind them. song has the skillset but needs to improve his positioning drastically. that and the fullbacks would undoubtedly be a bit more restricted marauding forward, unless arshavin and the other winger become more dedicated tracking back.

then comes the question of what to do with walcott. im with kel and others in that we arent getting the best out of him on the wing. he needs to be up further where his pace can be an asset and he isnt required to distribute the ball as much; his unquestionable weakness. but he cant hold the ball up well enough to play a lone role. so frankly were going down a similar road with him if we do become dedicatred to 3 midfielders as we are with diaby, in that were not entirely sure where his best position will be.
 

MDGoonah41

Established Member
So I've been thinking about this a bit more. I'm going to write this post with the assumption that we're only going to buy one midfielder this summer, even though I think for what I'm going to propose to work we'd really need 2 more central mids. But I digress. This is my preferred formation assuming we add 1 more midfielder and we sell no one.


---- Sagna ---- Toure --- Gallas ---- Clichy ----


------- Song ------ Cesc ------ New Mid ---------


------------- Walcott ----- Arshavin ------------


-------------------- Eduardo --------------------

Essentially, this is the Milan Christmas Tree. I know some folks here are critical of playing a 4-3-2-1, but based on our personnel, I think its the best formation right now. Using this, Cesc would drop deep to receive the ball. When he's able to come forward with the ball, Song and the new Mid will provide him cover. For me, Song is capable of making the short pass, he could receive the ball deep and get it to Cesc, and the new midfielder will be able to do this as well. Walcott would be moved forward and closer to the center of the pitch where I think he needs to be deployed. Arshavin would also be more centrally where he is more comfortable. I've picked Eduardo to lead the line because he's the most composed/precise finisher on our squad. We can only hope he comes back completely fit next season, I see no reason why he won't.

I think this formation needs to be used in every competition, from the Carling Cup to the Champions League to the Premier League. The depth chart would be

Song > Diaby (this is where I'd prefer we add a second capable central mid)
Cesc > Nasri
New Mid > Denilson

Walcott > Bendy
Arshavin > RvP

Eduardo > Adebayor

To me, RvP is the most replaceable player on the team if we were to use a formation like this. He's not going to be happy sitting on the bench and playing in the Carling Cup. But his game is way too slow to play anywhere other than up front, and I think having him in would reduce the fluidity of our potential attacks. Adebayor for me is behind Eduardo. Yes, he offers great size and the potential for the wondergoal out of nowhere. But his positioning also leaves a lot to be desired (in my opinion) and his finishing is erratic at best, wasteful at worst. If he was willing to remain central to function as a true target man, I think he'd be able to work in this formation, because he is faster than Eduardo, but he drifts too far away from the goal, which reduces the number of chances for him. While some argue his drifting pulls defenders away from the center of the pitch, thus opening up space, I don't really see that, especially recently. Our game has become so slow and methodical, teams are crowding him out and nullifying him, and no one else is really taking advantage, especially RvP.

So if you look at this, I'd have no problem selling Ade and RvP if it meant bringing in capable replacements. Playing a 4-3-2-1, I think we'd have enough attacking options in Eduardo, Bendtner, Arshavin, Vela and Walcott. Ideally we'd keep Adebayor, because he can offer us a bit more, and sell RvP, using those funds to add a central mid. We could also use a centerback, obviously.

People are going to complain about the lack of width using a formation like the one I proposed. And to that, I say "well, so?"....Right now, we don't have width either. Putting Diaby wide left, he ends up in the center of the pitch half the time anyway, same with Nasri when he's deployed to the left. I prefer to use the fullbacks again for width, just like Milan does. Clichy had a poor season, Sagna as well, but I think both are capable of providing the overlap. However, even when we have shown ambition on the flanks, notably with Gibbs, there is no one in the middle to receive the aimless crosses anyway. So I'd simply prefer to have three central midfielders who can pass the ball/retain possession, then 3 attackers infront of them, staggered as a 2-1 formation.

So there's that. Make it happen.
 

BannedKwame

Active Member
formations, philosophies, etc all go in circles, i think. it seems to me that ultimately, it's important that in the big games, we adapt; and i think that sometimes, wenger gets too arrogant. long season, many games, many injuries. some games, you play 4-4-2, some games, you play 4-3-3, 4-5-1, etc. a very good CM would be a help. a healthy squad would be excellent.

interesting thread nevertheless.
 

progman07

Established Member
I've posted this in another thread, but that was closed, so:

I'd play this 4-2-3-1, or maybe 4-3-2-1.

----------Almunia-----------

Sagna Toure/CB Gallas Clichy

---------Cesc----DM---------

--Diego--Arshavin--Rosicky--

--------Eduardo/RvP---------



We should sell Ade, Diaby and Silvestre, while getting back Senderos, Traore and even Gavin Hoyte from loan (just to be safe). We should also buy a DM, while Diego's transfer can be funded from Ade's and Diaby's sale.

We need to drop Theo, and Nasri to the bench. They are too inconsistent and if we want to win anything, the most important thing is consistency. Potential isn't good enough to make you start 40-50 games.

Selling Ade, buying Diego:
Ade should just leave to Milan. He obviously sees them as a bigger club, and praising them just before the key CL semi clash was just over-the-top. He is only a pan B striker anyways. He is there to have physical presence, but that's zero at the moment without work rate and drive. He doesn't understand the offside rule. He can't finish too well. His movement isn't the best. All in all, we need an attacker who fits us better.
That would be Diego. Experienced, strong, creative, can score, can dribble, he is an intelligent player. Just what we need. There is a question mark over Rosicky, but even with him Diego could fit in. We only need one striker.

The funny thing with our strikers is that they always want to create. RvP, Bendtner, and even Ade think they should come back to midfield and create. The problem is, they can't really do it in the level we need. So getting in an AM in their place who can do it would improve us instantly.
 

truth_hurts

but Holding’s hair transplant was painless
Biggus said:
RvP & Bendtner aren't strikers they're forwards, Eduardo is a striker.

RVP, Bendtner and Eduardo are all played in the team for the same reason - to score goals. So i would argue that all 3 are strikers. Arshavin, Nasri and even Theo could be considered forwards.
 

qs

Established Member
Biggus said:
RvP & Bendtner aren't strikers they're forwards, Eduardo is a striker.

I don't know what RVP is but isn't what Bendtner is thats for sure. Bendtner is in my mind a classic centre forward. I agree Eduardo is a real striker. Proper number 9. RVP is something else, and I'm not sure what. Wing forward, number 10, positional anomaly?
 

cloista

Active Member
RvP is striker who's been converted into a forward, he used to try to be van Basten, now he's trying to be Bergkamp. Personally, I want the MvB clone back. Theo is a striker playing out of position on the wing, not a forward, he's also a pace merchant ;)

Eduardo is the only senior classic striker we have - a box player.
 

Latest posts+

Top Bottom