Squad Analysis 2018/19

[DanDare]

Still need:

Van Dijk level CB signing
Left back
Starting CM
Winger
Third striker if Nketiah isn’t good enough

 

[Maybe]

We do miss one world class wide forward to really compete with Liverpool and City (story of the last 10 seasons). Laca is moving out from his position to try and create something from wide areas which is far from ideal as we need him in the box and he doesn't have attributes to do that. We are desperate for someone who can dribble and create from RW, it would change everything that we struggle with now but it's not happening this year. I think Emery is in a bad position and he is not to blame, would even say that he is getting more from the squad than I expected. I can only say that we have great base for the future and I'm sure this management will take care of this issue next summer.

 

[Maybe]

If we're gonna get anywhere this season, I think Emery needs to find a way to make a two-striker formation work, because that's how we're going to get the most out of two of our best players. Auba on the wing is detrimental to our ability to create chances, and dropping him means leaving out one of our best assets which isn't great either.

Our options would be to play a 4-4-2, 4-1-2-1-2 diamond, or revert back to a back 3.

A 4-4-2 allows us to retain width, which seems to be an important component in the way Emery likes to play. The downside would be that we wouldn't be playing Özil in his favored central position, but I'm honestly not sure he's playing there much anyways as things are. Emery has used it before, so there's some hope he might go down this route.

A 4-1-2-1-2 puts Özil in the central role, but with this formation we no longer have wingers and thus rely very heavily on our fullbacks for width. This can then leave us exposed if we lose the ball in a dangerous position, as we often do, so Emery would have to find some solution for that. I think this formation would be an interesting one to play Iwobi at CM.

A 3-4-1-2 puts Özil, Auba, and Lacazette in favorable advanced positions and gives us width with more defensive stability than the 4-1-2-1-2. It also means we have more use for Kolasinac. We sacrifice a midfielder as well though which could affect out ability to build as effectively. Emery also has little record of using this formation so not only is it unlikely, but I'm not sure if Emery would be able to make it work.

I'm not an expert, but 4-4-2 always required 2 wingers to get the best out of your forwards, and we have none.
4-1-2-1-2 will give us the same issues that we experienced against Wolves, without proper wide players you can't break tight defense.
3-4-1-2 is the worst option for us as we would have an extra CB who doesn't contribute to our attack and our 2 fullbacks are beyond stupid in the final third. It would work if we had Alaba and Kimmich.
I think we are using the best possible tactics now with players that we have, we will struggle as we don't have proper players in wide areas but it's something that was expected from the start of the season. For me it's all about preparing the squad for the next season and creating a strong core of players. We are on the right track with that, everything else like top 4, winning EL or domestic cup would be a bonus but shouldn't be expected.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

We badly need quality winger we just have no one auba is not type of player that run behind defense from the wing abd and iwobi is more like playmaker. I like the 4-3-1-2 shape yesterday at 2nd half but against teams who got quality wingers we'll struggle

 

[MutableEarth]

I would argue - and this might seem a tad excessive - that there are deficiencies in every area bar striker and possibly GK, and even in striker we have extraordinary talent but the players themselves have some flaws.

The biggest issue I see with the Arsenal squad currently is that too many players need other players to compensate for glaring weaknesses. It is certain that some players are going to have weaknesses that need to be mitigated but the issue with us is that too many of our players have that problem. And it's just as glaring with an expansive, fluid philosophy as it is with a more exacting and structured one. That's definitely not something Emery can fix overnight - he's been quite stringent about getting results and he's done that admirably. We have no lost in 16 games. That's not bad at all. However, the underlying numbers is still a cause for concern.

If I were to take a pointed look at the deficiencies by area.....

GK:

Leno and Cech have earned their corn and then some. According to stats (pointed out by 7amkickoff), they have the highest rate of "big chance" saves. Leno might flap at a few crosses but he's saved some certain goals. Cech has also done the same, despite his kicking issues.

CBs:

At this point in time, taking injuries out of the equation, Sokratis and Koscielny would on paper be the best combo. Sokratis has his limitations but he's relatively fast and skilled at making retreating tackles. Useful in an Arsenal team. We know what Koscielny's about, the question is whether he can be as useful as he used to be. Mustafi and Holding are big question marks. I like Holding, but he's quite slow and occasionally loses concentration. That said, he's a much more confident defender than his profile would suggest. Mustafi is high risk. He tries to do ambitious things and ends up with egg on his face because he's a defender and not an attacker. He's a defender I cannot trust. Now bar Sokratis at this current juncture, would you trust any of these guys over a season?

FB:

This is an area that I concede we are quite weak. Bellerin is often criticized but the truth is he's been the best of the bunch and performed admirably. Bellerin's issue is that he's more wooden staff than rapier sword. Off the ball he makes the right runs, on the ball he's not the technician you'd like him to be. He's still got 4 assists, so it's not all bad. Defensively he needs work. Monreal has been hurt a decent chunk of the season, and when he's been about he hasn't been at his best defensively or offensively. He's also getting on in age. Kolasinac is a 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire to Bellerin's staff. He has his good days and he's effective going forward but he's just not good enough technically IMO - his passing leaves a lot to be desired and he's also not really good at defending while retreating. Lichtsteiner.........he's old. He's not bad, just........you can tell he's far from his best years. This is an area we lack pace bar Bellerin.

CM:

This is an area that has seen improvement IMO. Torreira and Guendouzi have brought much needed physicality and competitiveness to an area of our team that hasn't really been able to completely control games for a long time. We still aren't able to do it as well as I'd like, and Emery's style in layman's terms seems to be predicated on drawing the opposition towards our half by playing in our half for spells before attacking the wide areas with quick diagonals to full-backs and overloading the box for cutbacks. The CBs and CMs are crucial to the initial stages of that and while we are more competitive in the middle with Torreira, there are issues evading pressure and in finding more ways to get the FBs into play. Xhaka is the best at passing the ball into the forwards quickly and has the most final 3rd entry passes. But Xhaka has too many flaws that even Torreira cannot compensate for. His lack of agility and poor concentration make for an easily provoked player in a deep lying position. Guendouzi is a good alternative as he does not lack in the passing area but he doesn't find the forwards as easily as Xhaka does. He hits a nice diagonal though, arguably as good as Xhaka does. And while he's more agile and adept at holding onto the ball, he does this too much and takes too many touches. This is symptomatic of all the midfielders, including Xhaka. Torreira probably takes the least touches, but in general, when building attacks, the midfielders take too long. Ramsey is the biggest culprit - great off the ball, but on it he's ponderous. Ramsey's much better when he has to make the simple option. Given too much time, he thinks too hard and goes for overly ambitious plays. Perhaps the biggest indictment is that they all lack pace (again, pace+acceleration) is an issue). It's probably one of the slowest midfields in the PL. Torreira and Guendouzi have decent acceleration but that's about it. Ramsey and Xhaka have OK top speeds but take an age to reach full pelt. It's one reason why AMN should be looked at more seriously as a CM option. He brings pace as well as quick tempo passing.

LW/AM/RW:

This is where we face big problems - all the players here are roughly similar. One superstar AM with fleeting levels of assertiveness and a few all-rounders in Mhkitaryan, Smith-Rowe and Iwobi who excel in tight spaces and passing combinations but ultimately aren't consistent (not much date on ESR at this level so jury's out) enough with their dribbling to be 1v1 threats and are flaky in the final 3rd. Iwobi has improved a lot, while Mhkitaryan is a trier at least. But the issue is that they're all painstakingly similar. ESR is probably the only one with the potential to be different because of his wide skillset and the clever way he plays the game. But at the moment, he's fitting in rather than standing out, as talented as I believe he is. Smith-Rowe is also a good athlete at least, and is probably quicker than Mhki and Iwobi but not by much. This is another area where we lack pace.

Loaning Nelson turned out to be a good move, but the cost is nobody has the propensity for 1v1s (tbf, Nelson is not posting up that many dribbles anyway). Behind him is an injured Amaechi (not ready) and Bukayo Saka (could be ready but extremely young). Saka is a player people would love - he's exactly the kind of winger fans think we need. Very direct, pacy, clever dribbler and scores goals. But he literally only turned 17 a month or two ago. Very little chance we see him at all this season.

CF:

The only other relatively secure area, and even then, some issues. Auba is very fast and gets into excellent goalscoring positions with amazing regularity but he's missed two potentially important chances in 2 different games that could have turned the ties. Also, he's been playing LW a lot this season and not getting involved in the buildups often because he's a box striker, not an all-round forward. Laca on the other hand is not as physically gifted but copes well and actually does have an good all-round game. The problem is due to the lack of pace around him and bodies running beyond him, he gets isolated and dominated. Wolves game a perfect example. The wildcard is Nketiah because he lacks game time and experience but is fundamentally a mix of both strikers. He has elements of Laca's hold up and link play but is also deceptively athletic and much quicker and stronger than his wiry frame suggests. He also gets into great scoring positions with regularity but also has a similar shooting range to Laca. Emery has no real need to blood Nketiah though as Laca and Auba are more than good enough options to get mileage out of - the issue is really surrounding them with enough complementary talents.

Summary:

The team IMO is too slow in a number of areas, and also lacking diversity in the options available unless Emery gambles on more inexperience. Some regular first teamers in vital areas are also very flawed and expecting the teammates around them to always compensate for those flaws (Torreira for Xhaka, Holding/Sokratis for Mustafi/Bellerin for whoever is playing in front of him/The team for Auba when he's playing LW).

 

[asukru]

I would argue - and this might seem a tad excessive - that there are deficiencies in every area bar striker and possibly GK, and even in striker we have extraordinary talent but the players themselves have some flaws.

The biggest issue I see with the Arsenal squad currently is that too many players need other players to compensate for glaring weaknesses. It is certain that some players are going to have weaknesses that need to be mitigated but the issue with us is that too many of our players have that problem. And it's just as glaring with an expansive, fluid philosophy as it is with a more exacting and structured one. That's definitely not something Emery can fix overnight - he's been quite stringent about getting results and he's done that admirably. We have no lost in 16 games. That's not bad at all. However, the underlying numbers is still a cause for concern.

If I were to take a pointed look at the deficiencies by area.....

GK:

Leno and Cech have earned their corn and then some. According to stats (pointed out by 7amkickoff), they have the highest rate of "big chance" saves. Leno might flap at a few crosses but he's saved some certain goals. Cech has also done the same, despite his kicking issues.

CBs:

At this point in time, taking injuries out of the equation, Sokratis and Koscielny would on paper be the best combo. Sokratis has his limitations but he's relatively fast and skilled at making retreating tackles. Useful in an Arsenal team. We know what Koscielny's about, the question is whether he can be as useful as he used to be. Mustafi and Holding are big question marks. I like Holding, but he's quite slow and occasionally loses concentration. That said, he's a much more confident defender than his profile would suggest. Mustafi is high risk. He tries to do ambitious things and ends up with egg on his face because he's a defender and not an attacker. He's a defender I cannot trust. Now bar Sokratis at this current juncture, would you trust any of these guys over a season?

FB:

This is an area that I concede we are quite weak. Bellerin is often criticized but the truth is he's been the best of the bunch and performed admirably. Bellerin's issue is that he's more wooden staff than rapier sword. Off the ball he makes the right runs, on the ball he's not the technician you'd like him to be. He's still got 4 assists, so it's not all bad. Defensively he needs work. Monreal has been hurt a decent chunk of the season, and when he's been about he hasn't been at his best defensively or offensively. He's also getting on in age. Kolasinac is a 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire to Bellerin's staff. He has his good days and he's effective going forward but he's just not good enough technically IMO - his passing leaves a lot to be desired and he's also not really good at defending while retreating. Lichtsteiner.........he's old. He's not bad, just........you can tell he's far from his best years. This is an area we lack pace bar Bellerin.

CM:

This is an area that has seen improvement IMO. Torreira and Guendouzi have brought much needed physicality and competitiveness to an area of our team that hasn't really been able to completely control games for a long time. We still aren't able to do it as well as I'd like, and Emery's style in layman's terms seems to be predicated on drawing the opposition towards our half by playing in our half for spells before attacking the wide areas with quick diagonals to full-backs and overloading the box for cutbacks. The CBs and CMs are crucial to the initial stages of that and while we are more competitive in the middle with Torreira, there are issues evading pressure and in finding more ways to get the FBs into play. Xhaka is the best at passing the ball into the forwards quickly and has the most final 3rd entry passes. But Xhaka has too many flaws that even Torreira cannot compensate for. His lack of agility and poor concentration make for an easily provoked player in a deep lying position. Guendouzi is a good alternative as he does not lack in the passing area but he doesn't find the forwards as easily as Xhaka does. He hits a nice diagonal though, arguably as good as Xhaka does. And while he's more agile and adept at holding onto the ball, he does this too much and takes too many touches. This is symptomatic of all the midfielders, including Xhaka. Torreira probably takes the least touches, but in general, when building attacks, the midfielders take too long. Ramsey is the biggest culprit - great off the ball, but on it he's ponderous. Ramsey's much better when he has to make the simple option. Given too much time, he thinks too hard and goes for overly ambitious plays. Perhaps the biggest indictment is that they all lack pace (again, pace+acceleration) is an issue). It's probably one of the slowest midfields in the PL. Torreira and Guendouzi have decent acceleration but that's about it. Ramsey and Xhaka have OK top speeds but take an age to reach full pelt. It's one reason why AMN should be looked at more seriously as a CM option. He brings pace as well as quick tempo passing.

LW/AM/RW:

This is where we face big problems - all the players here are roughly similar. One superstar AM with fleeting levels of assertiveness and a few all-rounders in Mhkitaryan, Smith-Rowe and Iwobi who excel in tight spaces and passing combinations but ultimately aren't consistent (not much date on ESR at this level so jury's out) enough with their dribbling to be 1v1 threats and are flaky in the final 3rd. Iwobi has improved a lot, while Mhkitaryan is a trier at least. But the issue is that they're all painstakingly similar. ESR is probably the only one with the potential to be different because of his wide skillset and the clever way he plays the game. But at the moment, he's fitting in rather than standing out, as talented as I believe he is. Smith-Rowe is also a good athlete at least, and is probably quicker than Mhki and Iwobi but not by much. This is another area where we lack pace.

Loaning Nelson turned out to be a good move, but the cost is nobody has the propensity for 1v1s (tbf, Nelson is not posting up that many dribbles anyway). Behind him is an injured Amaechi (not ready) and Bukayo Saka (could be ready but extremely young). Saka is a player people would love - he's exactly the kind of winger fans think we need. Very direct, pacy, clever dribbler and scores goals. But he literally only turned 17 a month or two ago. Very little chance we see him at all this season.

CF:

The only other relatively secure area, and even then, some issues. Auba is very fast and gets into excellent goalscoring positions with amazing regularity but he's missed two potentially important chances in 2 different games that could have turned the ties. Also, he's been playing LW a lot this season and not getting involved in the buildups often because he's a box striker, not an all-round forward. Laca on the other hand is not as physically gifted but copes well and actually does have an good all-round game. The problem is due to the lack of pace around him and bodies running beyond him, he gets isolated and dominated. Wolves game a perfect example. The wildcard is Nketiah because he lacks game time and experience but is fundamentally a mix of both strikers. He has elements of Laca's hold up and link play but is also deceptively athletic and much quicker and stronger than his wiry frame suggests. He also gets into great scoring positions with regularity but also has a similar shooting range to Laca. Emery has no real need to blood Nketiah though as Laca and Auba are more than good enough options to get mileage out of - the issue is really surrounding them with enough complementary talents.

Summary:

The team IMO is too slow in a number of areas, and also lacking diversity in the options available unless Emery gambles on more inexperience. Some regular first teamers in vital areas are also very flawed and expecting the teammates around them to always compensate for those flaws (Torreira for Xhaka, Holding/Sokratis for Mustafi/Bellerin for whoever is playing in front of him/The team for Auba when he's playing LW).

Thank you for the detailed response, I appreciate reading your posts as they are very informative. May I ask what players/how you would line us up? By what players I mean who you would buy or who you would bring in from our youths, as you did mention a few.

 

[OnlyOne]

Please everyone watch, this is absolutely perfect.

 

[TornadoTed]

I would argue - and this might seem a tad excessive - that there are deficiencies in every area bar striker and possibly GK, and even in striker we have extraordinary talent but the players themselves have some flaws.

The biggest issue I see with the Arsenal squad currently is that too many players need other players to compensate for glaring weaknesses. It is certain that some players are going to have weaknesses that need to be mitigated but the issue with us is that too many of our players have that problem. And it's just as glaring with an expansive, fluid philosophy as it is with a more exacting and structured one. That's definitely not something Emery can fix overnight - he's been quite stringent about getting results and he's done that admirably. We have no lost in 16 games. That's not bad at all. However, the underlying numbers is still a cause for concern.

If I were to take a pointed look at the deficiencies by area.....

GK:

Leno and Cech have earned their corn and then some. According to stats (pointed out by 7amkickoff), they have the highest rate of "big chance" saves. Leno might flap at a few crosses but he's saved some certain goals. Cech has also done the same, despite his kicking issues.

CBs:

At this point in time, taking injuries out of the equation, Sokratis and Koscielny would on paper be the best combo. Sokratis has his limitations but he's relatively fast and skilled at making retreating tackles. Useful in an Arsenal team. We know what Koscielny's about, the question is whether he can be as useful as he used to be. Mustafi and Holding are big question marks. I like Holding, but he's quite slow and occasionally loses concentration. That said, he's a much more confident defender than his profile would suggest. Mustafi is high risk. He tries to do ambitious things and ends up with egg on his face because he's a defender and not an attacker. He's a defender I cannot trust. Now bar Sokratis at this current juncture, would you trust any of these guys over a season?

FB:

This is an area that I concede we are quite weak. Bellerin is often criticized but the truth is he's been the best of the bunch and performed admirably. Bellerin's issue is that he's more wooden staff than rapier sword. Off the ball he makes the right runs, on the ball he's not the technician you'd like him to be. He's still got 4 assists, so it's not all bad. Defensively he needs work. Monreal has been hurt a decent chunk of the season, and when he's been about he hasn't been at his best defensively or offensively. He's also getting on in age. Kolasinac is a 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire to Bellerin's staff. He has his good days and he's effective going forward but he's just not good enough technically IMO - his passing leaves a lot to be desired and he's also not really good at defending while retreating. Lichtsteiner.........he's old. He's not bad, just........you can tell he's far from his best years. This is an area we lack pace bar Bellerin.

CM:

This is an area that has seen improvement IMO. Torreira and Guendouzi have brought much needed physicality and competitiveness to an area of our team that hasn't really been able to completely control games for a long time. We still aren't able to do it as well as I'd like, and Emery's style in layman's terms seems to be predicated on drawing the opposition towards our half by playing in our half for spells before attacking the wide areas with quick diagonals to full-backs and overloading the box for cutbacks. The CBs and CMs are crucial to the initial stages of that and while we are more competitive in the middle with Torreira, there are issues evading pressure and in finding more ways to get the FBs into play. Xhaka is the best at passing the ball into the forwards quickly and has the most final 3rd entry passes. But Xhaka has too many flaws that even Torreira cannot compensate for. His lack of agility and poor concentration make for an easily provoked player in a deep lying position. Guendouzi is a good alternative as he does not lack in the passing area but he doesn't find the forwards as easily as Xhaka does. He hits a nice diagonal though, arguably as good as Xhaka does. And while he's more agile and adept at holding onto the ball, he does this too much and takes too many touches. This is symptomatic of all the midfielders, including Xhaka. Torreira probably takes the least touches, but in general, when building attacks, the midfielders take too long. Ramsey is the biggest culprit - great off the ball, but on it he's ponderous. Ramsey's much better when he has to make the simple option. Given too much time, he thinks too hard and goes for overly ambitious plays. Perhaps the biggest indictment is that they all lack pace (again, pace+acceleration) is an issue). It's probably one of the slowest midfields in the PL. Torreira and Guendouzi have decent acceleration but that's about it. Ramsey and Xhaka have OK top speeds but take an age to reach full pelt. It's one reason why AMN should be looked at more seriously as a CM option. He brings pace as well as quick tempo passing.

LW/AM/RW:

This is where we face big problems - all the players here are roughly similar. One superstar AM with fleeting levels of assertiveness and a few all-rounders in Mhkitaryan, Smith-Rowe and Iwobi who excel in tight spaces and passing combinations but ultimately aren't consistent (not much date on ESR at this level so jury's out) enough with their dribbling to be 1v1 threats and are flaky in the final 3rd. Iwobi has improved a lot, while Mhkitaryan is a trier at least. But the issue is that they're all painstakingly similar. ESR is probably the only one with the potential to be different because of his wide skillset and the clever way he plays the game. But at the moment, he's fitting in rather than standing out, as talented as I believe he is. Smith-Rowe is also a good athlete at least, and is probably quicker than Mhki and Iwobi but not by much. This is another area where we lack pace.

Loaning Nelson turned out to be a good move, but the cost is nobody has the propensity for 1v1s (tbf, Nelson is not posting up that many dribbles anyway). Behind him is an injured Amaechi (not ready) and Bukayo Saka (could be ready but extremely young). Saka is a player people would love - he's exactly the kind of winger fans think we need. Very direct, pacy, clever dribbler and scores goals. But he literally only turned 17 a month or two ago. Very little chance we see him at all this season.

CF:

The only other relatively secure area, and even then, some issues. Auba is very fast and gets into excellent goalscoring positions with amazing regularity but he's missed two potentially important chances in 2 different games that could have turned the ties. Also, he's been playing LW a lot this season and not getting involved in the buildups often because he's a box striker, not an all-round forward. Laca on the other hand is not as physically gifted but copes well and actually does have an good all-round game. The problem is due to the lack of pace around him and bodies running beyond him, he gets isolated and dominated. Wolves game a perfect example. The wildcard is Nketiah because he lacks game time and experience but is fundamentally a mix of both strikers. He has elements of Laca's hold up and link play but is also deceptively athletic and much quicker and stronger than his wiry frame suggests. He also gets into great scoring positions with regularity but also has a similar shooting range to Laca. Emery has no real need to blood Nketiah though as Laca and Auba are more than good enough options to get mileage out of - the issue is really surrounding them with enough complementary talents.

Summary:

The team IMO is too slow in a number of areas, and also lacking diversity in the options available unless Emery gambles on more inexperience. Some regular first teamers in vital areas are also very flawed and expecting the teammates around them to always compensate for those flaws (Torreira for Xhaka, Holding/Sokratis for Mustafi/Bellerin for whoever is playing in front of him/The team for Auba when he's playing LW).

Great assessment, pretty much exactly as I see it.

It would interesting to know which signings you feel would elevate us.

 

[Windowlicker]

We will clear massive wages next year and in 2020.
Asano, Jenkinson, Macey, Ospina, Rambo, Welbeck, Cech, Koscielny, Monreal, Lich, Bielik. Thats like half a million a week.
Some of these loanees are still getting something from us characteristic of the Wenger era where the club not only failed on the recruitment but also on the deals that are worth renewing. We also have Elneny and Chambers that dont look to be in Unais plans so thats 100k weekly.
We have to fill some of the gaps with our young core with Rowe, Nketiah, Nelson, Niles.
Homegrown wise we have on long contracts : Guendouzi, Emi, Iwobi, Bellerin and Holding so we should be good.
We need 4/5 REAL signings to challenge

 

[Aevi]

This would be an interesting. It'd be cool to see if we could nip a player off City as they trim their squad. Sancho would become hotter property.

I wonder who we'd meanwhile move on. Probably depends on when this gets enforced.

 

[MutableEarth]

Thank you for the detailed response, I appreciate reading your posts as they are very informative. May I ask what players/how you would line us up? By what players I mean who you would buy or who you would bring in from our youths, as you did mention a few.

Great assessment, pretty much exactly as I see it.

It would interesting to know which signings you feel would elevate us.

I have been meaning to answer these - it's been a very busy last couple of days

I'd only really look at recruiting an LB and LW/RW in the short term. CB is an area that may suffice until Summer but it's a crapshoot in terms of whether we should bank on the youth we have in that position (Holding, Chambers, Bielik, Mavropanos, Medley, Sheaf, Ballard) or supplement them with the right experience (the right option IMO). Again, you're looking at Sokratis and Koscielny to provide that and I think they can - however, Koscielny is the big question mark. Holding is decent but I do not trust Mustafi. I need to keep an eye on CBs that I think can improve the team. Dream signing would be Koulibaly. I think he's perfect for Arsenal, tailor made.

If Emery was more prone to a 3 man midfield, then I'd say he should go to a 4-3-3 without missing a beat. It gets the absolute best out of our midfield and doesn't eschew having wide forwards either. The 2 big issues however are the fact that Özil happens to be the creative hub of the team and is pretty much a #10 to the point of being a second striker (no matter how deep he picks the ball up) and that Emery prefers having 2 deep midfielders at the base of a 4-2-3-1 anyway, which suits Özil.

The personnel has to match Emery's wants and so far I think that some do and some don't. Torreira isn't a tall player but he's akin to the type of player Emery likes at the base of a midfield and he needs someone with the complementary energy next to it. I'd be in favor of eventually usurping Xhaka for Guendouzi or AMN gradually. Xhaka at least has an advantage of moving the ball into the forwards with regularity more than any of the other midfielders. Emery should be making sure that they are able to find Özil more often - no other midfielder passes to Özil more than Xhaka, which is part of the reason why he is unlikely to lose his spot regardless of his mistakes, so I think he should not..........for now! Guendouzi does everything else better right now, but he's not as consistent in getting the ball to the forwards. AMN is still as yet untested, but on paper he adds great athleticism and a bit more power and doesn't lack technically. Even if we were to lose Ramsey and Elneny, midfield is a position I'm confident we can fill from within. It's an area I'm certainly not worried about nor seek outside recruitment.

Signing an LB is very important IMO. RB we can arguably do OK with - Bellerin at least has youth, while behind him we are always pretty stocked with promising young RBs who could potentially become good players - Osei-Tutu has come on, and Vontae Daley-Campbell IMO is the best RB talent we've had since Bellerin himself. But LB is an area we're not that strong at the moment, even at academy level - Bramall and Thompson are decent talents but not quite at the level yet and Bola is good going forward but rash at the back. A quick LB who is technically decent and can attack should be a priority. Ferland Mendy seems to fit the bill extremely well, but I'd imagine he's highly sought after. He's the main one I know of. Could be worth converting Bukayo Saka but I'd imagine they're still grooming him for a forward position.

I'd like us to potentially sign a wide forward with dribbling skills - suitably one who can play on either wing. The dream is Ousmane Dembele. Has all the tools we need and are sorely lacking in those forward areas - dribbling at pace and in tight areas, final ball too. He knows Auba's game aswell which is a plus, and likely knows enough about Laca seeing as they've played together for the French National Team. It's important to note that they don't have to be classic wingers. The key is in the pace and the dribbling - that can come from another wide AM or a wide forward type. It might cost us a lot of money to get decent recruitment in this area - Jadon Sancho is one we should definitely have a look at in the Summer too. Failing that, we could do a lot worse than elevating the likes of Bukayo Saka. I think it's early for him but he seems to have the physical attributes to withstand adult football and his dribbling and directness is a fresh and welcome detour from the usual AMs we have. I would probably not bring Nelson back just yet.

Striker position is fine. I've heard whispers that we should bring in someone on loan to replace Danny and disregarding Eddie Nketiah but I've said it for at least 2 years and I'll say it again: Don't. Sleep. On. Eddie Nketiah. He's extremely dangerous no matter what level he plays at, a player capable of bullying defenders twice his size, handy at dribbling, good acceleration, presses from the front, and is arguably the strongest finisher we have produced from our academy. Not even the likes of Afobe and Lupoli have a record like Nketiah's. It's not a given that he'll translate to first team level, but it would be criminal not to try IMO. Laca and Auba are undisputed starters and I'm in no way saying Nketiah should be given top billing above them. However, with Welbeck's unfortunate injury, there's no better replacement than him.

 

[Sungod]

 

[MutableEarth]

https://arseblog.news/2018/11/talented-young-wingers-offer-arsenal-encouragement-for-the-future/

Jeorge Bird backing Amaechi, Saka and Nelson.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

https://arseblog.news/2018/11/talented-young-wingers-offer-arsenal-encouragement-for-the-future/

Jeorge Bird backing Amaechi, Saka and Nelson.

Smith-Rowe can also play there.

 

[#254]

I'm not an expert, but 4-4-2 always required 2 wingers to get the best out of your forwards, and we have none.
4-1-2-1-2 will give us the same issues that we experienced against Wolves, without proper wide players you can't break tight defense.
3-4-1-2 is the worst option for us as we would have an extra CB who doesn't contribute to our attack and our 2 fullbacks are beyond stupid in the final third. It would work if we had Alaba and Kimmich.
I think we are using the best possible tactics now with players that we have, we will struggle as we don't have proper players in wide areas but it's something that was expected from the start of the season. For me it's all about preparing the squad for the next season and creating a strong core of players. We are on the right track with that, everything else like top 4, winning EL or domestic cup would be a bonus but shouldn't be expected.

I like the -4-2 so basically we need to get our money out and get a Dembele/Zaha/Sancho type of signing, hope that Reiss develops even further, prepare hard and go at them hard next season with a 4-4-2! Something like

Auba-----------Laca

Reiss/Zaha------Douzi/AMN-----Torreira-----Iwobi/Smith/Dembele

Back 5​

Left Xhaka out cos he isn't mobile enough for a 4-4-2 imo

 

[DanDare]

Is there anything Brexit isn’t ruining?

 

[dashsnow17]

We’re not getting enough out of Auba, despite his impressive numbers. I’d say he’s not just one of our best assets, he *is* our best asset.

As much as I personally love Özil and think Laca is a great wee player, objectively speaking Auba is our trump card and we’re simply not exploiting that as much as we could be. It’s not an easy situation, this is what happens when you erratically buy two 50m players who should really both be in the same position.

But a solution has to be found soon. Auba is easily good enough to fire us to a top 4 finish or beyond, but only if he’s playing to his potential. He is unarguably elite. That means getting into positions, taking lots of shots and scoring goals. He simply isn’t doing that as much as he was at Dortmund and the obvious explanation is that he’s playing out wide instead of in the centre.

The Laca story has been a good one this season. Big money signing, bad first year, comes good second year and finally feels at home. It’s fun for all the family etc. But I’m not 100% buying this bromance narrative. Auba is the better player, we should be prioritising him and doing whatever it takes to get the best out of him. We can’t afford not to.

 

[#254]

We’re not getting enough out of Auba, despite his impressive numbers. I’d say he’s not just one of our best assets, he *is* our best asset.

As much as I personally love Özil and think Laca is a great wee player, objectively speaking Auba is our trump card and we’re simply not exploiting that as much as we could be. It’s not an easy situation, this is what happens when you erratically buy two 50m players who should really both be in the same position.

But a solution has to be found soon. Auba is easily good enough to fire us to a top 4 finish or beyond, but only if he’s playing to his potential. He is unarguably elite. That means getting into positions, taking lots of shots and scoring goals. He simply isn’t doing that as much as he was at Dortmund and the obvious explanation is that he’s playing out wide instead of in the centre.

The Laca story has been a good one this season. Big money signing, bad first year, comes good second year and finally feels at home. It’s fun for all the family etc. But I’m not 100% buying this bromance narrative. Auba is the better player, we should be prioritising him and doing whatever it takes to get the best out of him. We can’t afford not to.

We actually did try him upfront but we were severely lacking in front of goal if you recall. The reason Auba would not be as effective as Laca upfront is the same reason why Giroud was preferred to Walcott upfront in our previous set up. A striker must be able to bring his team mates in the game especially in the league where most teams know how to defend. You would need a player who is very capable of beating defenses with pace and flair and we both know Auba has little flair.

Reasons behind Laca starting upfront is his ability to link up play. I think most here will agree that outside of pace and positioning, Laca's strengths resoundingly **** on those of Auba. A case example for instance is that goal vs pool. I could be wrong here but I think Laca, Ramsey, Özil and Mikhi are the only players who would have managed to pull such a goal!
These factors however don't mean that I don't rate Auba. 7 goals in the league cannot be an easy feat but neither is 5 which Laca has managed! However, when you take off the tap ins from his goals, you will realize that he has got only a goal or two which he scored with individual brilliance.
This factors alone point me into believing that Laca is our best bet upfront in the current set up although I believe the two are better alongside one another which is why you have got to accommodate them both.

What I recon we lack in abundance in the final third atm is creativity! I do believe that a direct pacy winger and maybe a twist in formation would solve most of our problems!

This team is only a Dembele and a Koulibaly away from mounting a very serious challenge for major honors!

 

[SingmeasongSong]

I would argue - and this might seem a tad excessive - that there are deficiencies in every area bar striker and possibly GK, and even in striker we have extraordinary talent but the players themselves have some flaws.

The biggest issue I see with the Arsenal squad currently is that too many players need other players to compensate for glaring weaknesses. It is certain that some players are going to have weaknesses that need to be mitigated but the issue with us is that too many of our players have that problem. And it's just as glaring with an expansive, fluid philosophy as it is with a more exacting and structured one. That's definitely not something Emery can fix overnight - he's been quite stringent about getting results and he's done that admirably. We have no lost in 16 games. That's not bad at all. However, the underlying numbers is still a cause for concern.

If I were to take a pointed look at the deficiencies by area.....

GK:

Leno and Cech have earned their corn and then some. According to stats (pointed out by 7amkickoff), they have the highest rate of "big chance" saves. Leno might flap at a few crosses but he's saved some certain goals. Cech has also done the same, despite his kicking issues.

CBs:

At this point in time, taking injuries out of the equation, Sokratis and Koscielny would on paper be the best combo. Sokratis has his limitations but he's relatively fast and skilled at making retreating tackles. Useful in an Arsenal team. We know what Koscielny's about, the question is whether he can be as useful as he used to be. Mustafi and Holding are big question marks. I like Holding, but he's quite slow and occasionally loses concentration. That said, he's a much more confident defender than his profile would suggest. Mustafi is high risk. He tries to do ambitious things and ends up with egg on his face because he's a defender and not an attacker. He's a defender I cannot trust. Now bar Sokratis at this current juncture, would you trust any of these guys over a season?

FB:

This is an area that I concede we are quite weak. Bellerin is often criticized but the truth is he's been the best of the bunch and performed admirably. Bellerin's issue is that he's more wooden staff than rapier sword. Off the ball he makes the right runs, on the ball he's not the technician you'd like him to be. He's still got 4 assists, so it's not all bad. Defensively he needs work. Monreal has been hurt a decent chunk of the season, and when he's been about he hasn't been at his best defensively or offensively. He's also getting on in age. Kolasinac is a 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire to Bellerin's staff. He has his good days and he's effective going forward but he's just not good enough technically IMO - his passing leaves a lot to be desired and he's also not really good at defending while retreating. Lichtsteiner.........he's old. He's not bad, just........you can tell he's far from his best years. This is an area we lack pace bar Bellerin.

CM:

This is an area that has seen improvement IMO. Torreira and Guendouzi have brought much needed physicality and competitiveness to an area of our team that hasn't really been able to completely control games for a long time. We still aren't able to do it as well as I'd like, and Emery's style in layman's terms seems to be predicated on drawing the opposition towards our half by playing in our half for spells before attacking the wide areas with quick diagonals to full-backs and overloading the box for cutbacks. The CBs and CMs are crucial to the initial stages of that and while we are more competitive in the middle with Torreira, there are issues evading pressure and in finding more ways to get the FBs into play. Xhaka is the best at passing the ball into the forwards quickly and has the most final 3rd entry passes. But Xhaka has too many flaws that even Torreira cannot compensate for. His lack of agility and poor concentration make for an easily provoked player in a deep lying position. Guendouzi is a good alternative as he does not lack in the passing area but he doesn't find the forwards as easily as Xhaka does. He hits a nice diagonal though, arguably as good as Xhaka does. And while he's more agile and adept at holding onto the ball, he does this too much and takes too many touches. This is symptomatic of all the midfielders, including Xhaka. Torreira probably takes the least touches, but in general, when building attacks, the midfielders take too long. Ramsey is the biggest culprit - great off the ball, but on it he's ponderous. Ramsey's much better when he has to make the simple option. Given too much time, he thinks too hard and goes for overly ambitious plays. Perhaps the biggest indictment is that they all lack pace (again, pace+acceleration) is an issue). It's probably one of the slowest midfields in the PL. Torreira and Guendouzi have decent acceleration but that's about it. Ramsey and Xhaka have OK top speeds but take an age to reach full pelt. It's one reason why AMN should be looked at more seriously as a CM option. He brings pace as well as quick tempo passing.

LW/AM/RW:

This is where we face big problems - all the players here are roughly similar. One superstar AM with fleeting levels of assertiveness and a few all-rounders in Mhkitaryan, Smith-Rowe and Iwobi who excel in tight spaces and passing combinations but ultimately aren't consistent (not much date on ESR at this level so jury's out) enough with their dribbling to be 1v1 threats and are flaky in the final 3rd. Iwobi has improved a lot, while Mhkitaryan is a trier at least. But the issue is that they're all painstakingly similar. ESR is probably the only one with the potential to be different because of his wide skillset and the clever way he plays the game. But at the moment, he's fitting in rather than standing out, as talented as I believe he is. Smith-Rowe is also a good athlete at least, and is probably quicker than Mhki and Iwobi but not by much. This is another area where we lack pace.

Loaning Nelson turned out to be a good move, but the cost is nobody has the propensity for 1v1s (tbf, Nelson is not posting up that many dribbles anyway). Behind him is an injured Amaechi (not ready) and Bukayo Saka (could be ready but extremely young). Saka is a player people would love - he's exactly the kind of winger fans think we need. Very direct, pacy, clever dribbler and scores goals. But he literally only turned 17 a month or two ago. Very little chance we see him at all this season.

CF:

The only other relatively secure area, and even then, some issues. Auba is very fast and gets into excellent goalscoring positions with amazing regularity but he's missed two potentially important chances in 2 different games that could have turned the ties. Also, he's been playing LW a lot this season and not getting involved in the buildups often because he's a box striker, not an all-round forward. Laca on the other hand is not as physically gifted but copes well and actually does have an good all-round game. The problem is due to the lack of pace around him and bodies running beyond him, he gets isolated and dominated. Wolves game a perfect example. The wildcard is Nketiah because he lacks game time and experience but is fundamentally a mix of both strikers. He has elements of Laca's hold up and link play but is also deceptively athletic and much quicker and stronger than his wiry frame suggests. He also gets into great scoring positions with regularity but also has a similar shooting range to Laca. Emery has no real need to blood Nketiah though as Laca and Auba are more than good enough options to get mileage out of - the issue is really surrounding them with enough complementary talents.

Summary:

The team IMO is too slow in a number of areas, and also lacking diversity in the options available unless Emery gambles on more inexperience. Some regular first teamers in vital areas are also very flawed and expecting the teammates around them to always compensate for those flaws (Torreira for Xhaka, Holding/Sokratis for Mustafi/Bellerin for whoever is playing in front of him/The team for Auba when he's playing LW).

Agree with most and in general also with Mustafi whilst Sokratis looks the best of a weak link. However, Mustafi is leading almost als stats of CBs in the league and except for a few bad moments has inproved dramatically.

Not seen any CB having no blunders at all this season and that's probably impossible nowadays for a full season with the current competitiveness in the league.

I dont feel like Mustafi is the way to go to reach for the highest price, but he is one of those players who improved the most under Emery, but did not get any acknowledge for it at all from the fan base

 

[BigPoppaPump]

We’re not getting enough out of Auba, despite his impressive numbers. I’d say he’s not just one of our best assets, he *is* our best asset.

As much as I personally love Özil and think Laca is a great wee player, objectively speaking Auba is our trump card and we’re simply not exploiting that as much as we could be. It’s not an easy situation, this is what happens when you erratically buy two 50m players who should really both be in the same position.

But a solution has to be found soon. Auba is easily good enough to fire us to a top 4 finish or beyond, but only if he’s playing to his potential. He is unarguably elite. That means getting into positions, taking lots of shots and scoring goals. He simply isn’t doing that as much as he was at Dortmund and the obvious explanation is that he’s playing out wide instead of in the centre.

The Laca story has been a good one this season. Big money signing, bad first year, comes good second year and finally feels at home. It’s fun for all the family etc. But I’m not 100% buying this bromance narrative. Auba is the better player, we should be prioritising him and doing whatever it takes to get the best out of him. We can’t afford not to.

I agree with Auba over Laca. Lacazette is good an all but not an elie striker like Aubameyeng, I feel like if we based our whole team around gettng him chances he'd get a ridiculous amount of goals like Ronaldo when he was at Madrid.

Looking at our team and transfers over the last few years you can tell the previous regime had no idea what they were doing with squad building and player recruitment and bought players because of their price and availability rather than who we needed.