PL | Arsenal vs Leicester City | 26th April 19:45 (BST)

[OSBK]

So from now Xhaka if he committ 2 straight soft fouls he'll get booked? What the hell the refs need to get easy with him

When he got booked he walked away laughing and imitating the ref giving him a yellow. The yellow was a joke, both players just fell over and played to get him booked. He knows the refs have a agenda against him.

I think his attitude is spot on and just what we need. Notice when sanchez goes down after getting hit in the face from the throw in that leicester players surround sanchez, xhaka steam rolls in and is the only player backing him up.

 

[OSBK]

So now we are surely gonna play Europa league next season please tell me we not gonna play the playoffs stage.

I would rather we missed out on europa. We can do a leicester and chelsea and win the league by playing no european games and keeping the best 11 fit

 

[Deathstroke]

I would rather we missed out on europa. We can do a leicester and chelsea and win the league by playing no european games and keeping the best 11 fit

Ha.

 

[Makingtrax]

Another midweek game watched, another win... What can I say...

What a man!! Really hope you're watching the Sp**s match, you have the key to top 4

 

[Makingtrax]

Unfortunately had to miss the match but just seen the highlights on Sky.

We looked good at times. Monreal outstanding again.

WTF was that axe kick on Giroud . . . if that had been Xhaka he'd have got life in prison.

 

[mm76]

Linson lowdown

Positives
Xhaka continues to look like the daddy
Monreal sweet
Gabriel finally looking decent
Özil regaining confidence
Controlled large swathes of the game

Negatives
Coquelin ineffective
Walcott.... Was Walcott (seriously how does he get paid to play football?!)
Sanchez dodgy
Lack of clear cut chances and killer instinct

don't agree re Coq - did a lot of good stuff for me in terms of winning the ball and so on and it showed when him and Gibbs went off - we suddenly looked a lot more vulnerable

 

[Linson]

Does anyone else think Sanchez at striker doesn't quite work?

 

[Linson]

don't agree re Coq - did a lot of good stuff for me in terms of winning the ball and so on and it showed when him and Gibbs went off - we suddenly looked a lot more vulnerable

Fair enough, my stream kept dropping out so I didn't quite watch the entire game...

 

[mm76]

Ha.

I'm sure he meant 'relatively speaking'...

 

[Batman]

Does anyone else think Sanchez at striker doesn't quite work?

It worked for most of the season and then we went away from it and promptly went into a death spiral. Strikers need service which he didn't exactly get a ton of today. In a perfect world we'd have an out and out world class striker to play Alexis off of but we don't so he's our best option up there against most opposition.

 

[Rocky]

Firmino's a great player, their front three with Coutinho and Mane gives them a great spread of goals, direct dribbling, pace and creativity. I think we could emulate something similar if we signed a better winger/CF which would make us a lot more potent vs better teams.

The issue is as we saw today is that and has been Liverpool's problem is deep defenses. That's where a target man like Giroud is useful. It's why Chelsea have stayed pretty successful because Costa is so aggressive and has good hold up play to occupy CBs.

Özil might also be a problem, a big difference in us vs Chelsea or Liverpool is their forwards press hard, i don't trust Özil to do that. In the long term he might be a problem with 3 at the back.

I agree with all of that. It's part of why Sp**s and Chelsea are the best teams. They have a proper target man up front with great hold up play, quick feet, skills, excellent finishing, decent pace and the athleticism and skill to create their own chances. With Lukaku's touch and all round game improving - he could be the next guy in that role (I'm guessing that Costa will leave this summer and be replaced by Lukaku).

The problem is you can't be having Giroud as your best target man when you're having to pick and choose select games where he'll be effective. He desperately needs to be replaced, even if he remains a bench option.

I agree about Özil. For quite some time I think his lack of versatility has cost Arsenal and prevented formation changes and prevented other players from playing in their best roles. I got abused for questioning him earlier this season, when he was scoring goals, and suggesting Arsenal might work better with Ramsey in the role. Because Arsenal fans were very defensive of questioning of Özil. However, a lot of people have jumped on that bandwagon . I certainly don't think he suits a 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 (while other players like Ramsey and Ox will benefit from those formations) and I think that the 4-2-3-1 was relied upon partly to accommodate him. Absolutely Arsenal need more physical and skilfull players out wide (and if they keep Sanchez it would be amazing to have him operating almost like a second striker behind a top class target man if one can be obtained. Out wide Özil, Iwobi and Lucas lack physical intensity and pace, Walcott lacks technical ability. That leaves Alexis and Ox who are most suited to the system and Welbz who is probably the next most suited but who lacks end product.

 

[Ricardo ja crispy sanchez]

I'm familiar with that site. It's an old fav of mine from when I used to back Universidad Catolica and Colo Colo every week!

Haha glad I'm not the only one.

 

[Hyruga]

I would rather we missed out on europa. We can do a leicester and chelsea and win the league by playing no european games and keeping the best 11 fit

With the type of players we have who claims a team want it more, Arsenal cannot win the league even with 10 points clear with 5 games left.

http://www.givemesport.com/1027184-...sion-in-interview-after-crystal-palace-defeat

 

[kopzilla]

Damn...Sp**s are only 4 points behind Chelsea...

 

[James Bond]

Please for the love of god dont ever play Bellerin and Theo on the pitch, let alone the same side, again. Such limited players. Watching them try and "link up" , pick out someone in the box, dribble, you name it, winds me up. Sprinters stealing a living as footballers.

Theo, Bellerin, Coq and Gibbs at the Emirates vs a counter-attacking team....0 surprise we struggled so much.

 

[Sapient Hawk]

Someone start the NLD match thread post-haste!! I'm feeling especially fired up for this one & have an inkling we're going to beat the wretches in the final confrontation at their hovel.

 

[razörist]

Unfortunately had to miss the match but just seen the highlights on Sky.

We looked good at times. Monreal outstanding again.

WTF was that axe kick on Giroud . . . if that had been Xhaka he'd have got life in prison.

Xhaka would have been imprisoned for that.

Monreal's qualities suit a back three really well. Lack of pace is masked by it as well. He's our most intelligent defender imo.

 

[bingobob]

Another three points in the bag. We need 18 from 18. That'll be some achievement.

 

[Deathstroke]

Someone start the NLD match thread post-haste!! I'm feeling especially fired up for this one & have an inkling we're going to beat the wretches in the final confrontation at their hovel.

The likely Spuds meltdown when their title dreams vanish and Alexis winds up Dembele & Alli...

 

[Considering His Options]

Monreal's qualities suit a back three really well. Lack of pace is masked by it as well. He's our most intelligent defender imo.

Monreal is a fantastic player, love him. Professional, extremely fit and durable, intelligent, and he's a great footballer with a superb touch.

He's no slouch either, I'm not sure why he has a rep for being slow.