Pre-season Friendly #3: Chivas de Guadalajara vs Arsenal FC - Aug. 1st, 2:00am (UK )

[Yousif Arsenal]

Wilshere got knee injury again! Out for 1 week. Im sorry but his knee and ankle injuries getting ridiculous diaby level of injuries.

 

[MutableEarth]

I'm glad Akpom scored again, but disappointed to read that his general play is lacking.

So Zelalem with another impressive run-out?

I mean.....he was nowhere near as bad as Walcott but there were moments where his rawness definitely showed. At this moment in time, in the possible tragic event that Wenger does not sign a forward before Liverpool face us, I would start Akpom ahead of Theo because he has been marginally better.

But Im not gonna let my bias get ahead of me, he still needs to improve. I think he can do that better playing for us than at a loan club so it is a double-edged sword.

RE Zelalem: looking more combative and assured than before. Constantly passes well and dribbles into space easily. Looks slightly more ready for PL.

 

[carlito'sway]

Wilshere got knee injury again! Out for 1 week. Im sorry but his knee and ankle injuries getting ridiculous diaby level of injuries.

No way......That is surreal. Poor guy. I am losing hope for him and on him.

 

[A_G]

It's his first knee injury...

 

[carlito'sway]

I guess we are set at GK's position. Ospina does not sound like he is going anywhere. I would be happy if he stays. Very good keeper and professional.

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

I guess we are set at GK's position. Ospina does not sound like he is going anywhere. I would be happy if he stays. Very good keeper and professional.

Big plus, he's as good a backup keeper as you're gonna get. He'll get cup games and the odd CL game, whilst still remaining Colombia's number 1.

 

[IchirotoV2]

Anyone have links to the highlights? Thought they'd be up on Arsenal Player but naw.

Edit: Nevermind, should have checked arsenal.com before I asked.

 

[IchirotoV2]

Oxlades goal

Also; Holding scores from a Chambers assist? Lel

 

[carlito'sway]

Big plus, he's as good a backup keeper as you're gonna get. He'll get cup games and the odd CL game, whilst still remaining Colombia's number 1.

Indeed and by all accounts he is a class professional unlike the Polish clown.

 

[carlito'sway]

Arsenal
3 hrs ·
Thank you for your brilliant hospitality, America - we'll see you again soon!

 

[Jury]

I don't know how to break this news to some, but I'll do my best...

Jack Wilshere will still get injured at times, between now and the end of his Arsenal career. He's also still made of flesh and bone, despite being out for long enough to be rebuilt out of cast iron.

Sleep well.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Bar the speed line I think PUMA has done fantastic job.

 

[Jury]

That third kit stinks of Chelsea. If it wasn't for that, I'd like it.

 

[4R5Emaniac]

I guess we are set at GK's position. Ospina does not sound like he is going anywhere. I would be happy if he stays. Very good keeper and professional.

@Mark Tobias - Phew!!

Thanks for the brilliant analytical comments since couldn't watch the game.

 

[spartandre217]

Currently watching extended highlights, we all knew about Xhaka's long passing but damn his through balls are seriously impressive.

We have a potentially world class player here.

Was ranked highly at "packing" which is how many players he takes out of play with passes between the lines of a defense. Which is something most people here picked up on when watching his highlights. Going to be very useful for us going forward. Thing is he's not in a team like Barca and he doesn't have the same range as Coq.

 

[North5]

I'm a stickler for vertical and horizontal compactness when defending.

Why? Because it limits the space in which the opposition have to play in between the vertical and horizontal spaces. In addition, it enables proactive defending, as you can guide the opposition into the areas in which you want them to play in.

Furthermore such compactness provides the basis for a strong transition game, as compactness leads to the overload of the opposition. In addition, the narrow player support available to you makes it easier to play out because of the multitude of options which you are immediately surrounded by.

We don't adhere to any such principles and that is to our detriment.

When the opposition had possession of the ball near the corner flag but diagonal to the penalty box, you'd see one of our fullbacks, in this case Debuchy, move out to engage this opposition, the right winger, in this case Campbell would track back to assist.

This led to the formation of a massive gap between Debuchy and Holding.

A temporary solution would have been Campbell orientating himself towards that gap as opposed to double teaming Debuchy's opponent.

A more concrete solution would have been the entire teams shape shifting to the right.

I definitely saw Holding look to his right and then to his left, he was clearly conscious of this gap but had no idea what to do. If he shifted to his right, but Bielik didn't follow, a massive gap would emerge between the two CBs, if he doesn't move, the massive gap which existed between himself and Debuchy would persist.

All it takes is an under lapping run by an opposition player, and a simple sideways path by the ball carrier to completely undo our already unsettled defense.

This isn't something which was only evident in this game, it's a recurring pattern in our play.

Our pressing is also an absolute mess, you see those on the front line press, with the intention of winning the ball on their own, which does nothing but leave gaps. There is no realistic chance of them individually winning the ball when they are absolutely outnumbered by opposition defenders and midfielders.

There's a complete lack of individual intelligence when pressing. By this I mean surveying the positioning of the passing options available to the opposition ball carrier and directing the ball carrier to pass into areas where they are at their least threatening or where they feel their teammates have a good chance of winning the ball back.

None of this exists.

It's just a bunch of players doing their own thing on the field.

Not even sure what Wenger does in training.

One of the main reasons that I can't wait for wenger to go really.