Who should start on the right?

In the ten games we've played so far this season, we have used no less than four players on our right flank. Walcott was expected to continue playing there, but with his contract situation up in the air, he was replaced by Gervinho. Gervinho then found himself playing up front due to Giroud struggling to settle, so Chamberlain came in. Then Ramsey was used there against City and Chelsea.

It's probably the only spot in the team that is a genuine problem area. It's not like our situation at centre back where we have three players equally deserving chances there. Rather, this is a case of having players who bring their own qualities to the position, but can't seem to be consistent enough to start there all the time.

Let's take a look at our options...

1. Gervinho

Affectionately known as "Forehead", Gervinho has already scored more goals this year than the whole of last season. However, four of those five goals have come when he's started centrally. There's no reason why he can't score goals from the flank - Podolski certainly isn't having any difficulties on the other side - but there's something awkward about him on the flank. Given his style of play, he may be better on the left hand side than on the right.

The problem, though, is that he's looking confident in front of goal and given his current form, it'd be a shame not to start him in the side. If Giroud kicks on from his good showing against West Ham, then Gervinho will have to play on the right.

2. Theo Walcott

Desperate to play as a striker, Walcott has four goals this season and each of them were finishes you'd expect from a seasoned striker. Having said that, they all came from positions that a winger would typically get into when making runs from out to in and that's always been Walcott's strength.

The problem with him on the flank, though, is that he's virtually useless against deep-lying defences and quite often fails to dribble round a player. Yet, if he continues to be so good in front of goal, he may just have a stellar season feeding off the service of Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud.

3. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Supposed wonderkid, Chamberlain is a different player to the former two, in that he plays more like a traditional winger or playmaker instead of a wide forward. Yet, he also suffers from the same problem of running into cul-de-sacs and failing to produce after getting into good positions.

Chamberlain could potentially offer good link-up with his fellow midfielders and his crossing ability would be useful with Giroud up front. On the other hand, he's young, tends to try and too much and is easily marked out of games.

4. Aaron Ramsey

We're starting to get into wildcard territory now. Ramsey may struggle for regular first team action this year and that's certainly not going to aid him in his attempts to find consistency. Playing on the flank may be one way to get that first team football.

Ramsey lacks pace and he won't beat people for fun with the ball, but he is technically excellent and has a high work rate. He can come inside and link up with the other midfielders and offer some extra creativity. Moreover, he can try something fancy and not be punished for it as much as he would playing centrally.

It's certainly not ideal, but something to think about.

5. Andrey Arshavin

He's still here, so why not make use of him? We all know his strengths and weaknesses. Maybe he could surprise us all and become that creative dynamo again.

6. Santi Cazorla

At this point, it'd be foolish to move him from the centre, since he's pwning everything in that position. On the other hand, there's no reason why he couldn't be effective from the flank given that it's where he used to play for Villareal. We do have Wilshere returning, too, to fill in the central playmaker role.

There's a very good reason why this is option no. 6, though.

7. Thomas Eisfeld

Looks a busy player with a knack of getting into goalscoring positions. A new Freddie Ljungberg, perhaps?

8. Serge Gnabry

Given he's supposed to be really, really good, why not give him a go?

So, who do you think should start as our right winger/playmaker/forward/whatever you want to call it?

I am going with Walcott, all of the above are inconstant players. For me Walcott is the most effective one and is willing to cross the ball. Walcott and Giroud have played well together, and I would start them both. With both Theo and Podliski crossing the ball for Giroud he will start scoring left and right.

Santi is perfect where he is, between Walcott, Oxe and Gervinho. Oxe and Gervinho try too much, mostly Gervinho when the can simply just cross the ball in. I think its too early to give Oxlade a starting position he will be a great sub since he can play many position.

Gervinho should be our second choice striker, or even first in certain games.

Ffs everyone on that list is either crap on the wing or too good in the centre to be shifted to the wing

What a dilemma

Let's keep rotating but i want us to use walcott in the center more tho we already have gervinho and girourd there.

but i believe the way AW is managing the team right now is good ,just give more time to Walcott. his situation has to be sorted before the transfer period.

and let's sell chamack ffss

Give Ox a shot there, Gervinho looks clueless on the right and Theo shouldn't start until he signs a new deal.

do away with the position....


go to 3-5-2 with Vermaelen, Mertesacker, and Koscielny at the back. Podolski, Arteta, Cazorla, Diaby, Jenkinson across the middle, and rotate Giroud, Gerv, Walcott, arshavin, etc. for the two forwards.


but with the current formation, perhaps rosicky would be a good option as well provided that his injury doesn't debilitate his form

I will go for Ox.. He is a better crosser and can dribble.. Has a decent shot too.. Most importantly he has good work rate and tracks back and adds to the defence..
Arshavin is a decent option.. The best crosser from the list.. But defence may suffer..
Walcott is pretty much a hit or miss.. He is either awesome or anonymous.. He cant cross or dribble.. And does not help in defence..
I am tired of seeing Gervinho in the wings trying to dribble past 3 and giving away the possession.. He cant take a shot and is a poor crosser.. Most of his tricks work only against lower teams..
I dont think Podolski will work on right..
We dont play Ramsey as the winger.. He plays as an extramidfielder in bigger matches when we try to win the midfield battle..
And why Cazorla on right when we have no one creative at the centre.. We will think about it after seeing how Wilshere gets back or after Rosicky comes back..
Not seen enough of Eisfield or Gnabry to comment.. Heard they are more central midfielders...
Btw.. 3-5-2 will be interesting...

rotation is the key here, not only right winger but central striker also. For me right now it's simple

central striker:

Giroud + Gervinho rotating. I was skeptical about Giroud but i starting to like his game more and more, excellent link up play, great movement (I think it's his strongest point atm, his run for through balls is just spot on). I do think we shouldn't rely on him as scoring machine like RVP instead as someone who contribute his bits to improve our attack as a whole.

Gervinho has better finishing believe it or not, also get himself involved in a lots of link up play, not as great in the air but compensated by his pace.

Left wing: Poldoski + Gervinho

Podolski got that position locked down, he's playing way too deep centrally and easily marked as a lone man. Gervinho steps in if Poldoski get injured or rested since he's better on the left than the right.

Right wing: Theo + Ox

Both can be inconsistent but still better than other options. Theo is deadly with his finishing this season as shown, I think he's perfect fit for a game against typical EPL teams. Ox against more technical or CL teams.

Other options, I don't rate.

In a few year I see Ox being the starter on the right but as of now he isn't a starter. He never lasts an entire game and it seems like ever time there is a goal scored when he comes on its because of some horrible mistake he made.

Start Theo. He is inconsistent but at his best he is far better than everyone else that we can play there.

Gervinho should never play on the right. He should be our backup leftwing + striker.

I think we should play a lopsided formation with Podolski slightly withdrawn and closer to the midfield. Walcott would b on the right but upfront with Giroud. To cater for the defensive gap between Walcott and the RFB, the RCM would move slightly further to the right for defensive reasons:

Here's an illustration below

Sorry, above, I had Walcott to the right and Wilshere behind him

Gervinho is a no-go IMO, he should rotate with Giroud based on opposition. Oxlade-Chamberlain should really start upping his game or Wenger will bench his ass. Theo is Theo, no one doubts his quality when he has space but he's horribly inconsistent and with the contract situation I don't think he should start.

So what I would do is:

1. If Walcott signs a new contract, start him... he's our best option... sadly
   
2. Start Oxlade-Chamberlain if Walcott doesn't sign and he upgrades his game.
   
3. Start Ramsey if neither happens.
   

IMO Ramsey is the best option at the moment as he's twice the player when played in a more advanced position. As Jay said his creativity and work rate is something we could use.

I agree with everything urbaNRoots wrote. I would start Walcott because he has created lots of goals for RVP last season and i think he could do the same for Giroud. He however wants to play upfront and i dont see that happening in the near future. So there is chance he might leave in January which would be shame if he did so.

My second choice would be The OX who has almost the same qualities as Walcott but he is technically better than Walcott. He did good last season but he hasnt been in the same form as last season so he might need little time.

I would rotate Gervinho with Giroud as he has scored many goals this season that when he started centrally. He is a good dribbler but his final ball and his decision making always let him down.

Ramsey is another option but as Jay mentioned he hasnt got the pace to play as a winger. He is however very hard working, never stops running and he is creative too.

lenear1030 wrote:do away with the position....


go to 3-5-2 with Vermaelen, Mertesacker, and Koscielny at the back. Podolski, Arteta, Cazorla, Diaby, Jenkinson across the middle, and rotate Giroud, Gerv, Walcott, arshavin, etc. for the two forwards.


but with the current formation, perhaps rosicky would be a good option as well provided that his injury doesn't debilitate his form

Didnt Man City try that formation in the begining of the season? They conceded lots of goals so they were forced to change it back to thier old formation.

I would love to see us try that formation but i dont think Wenger would try that formation.

I see the merits of a 3-5-2 but I don't think we have the personnel to play it properly.

For starters, our full backs can't produce anything good going forward. They all have the energy and intelligence to get up and down the flank, but when it comes producing a pass or cross, they're lacking.

Considering that this would be the main source of width, a lot of our attacks would probably break down.

There's also the issue of playing Podolski and Giroud together up front, which, in my opinion, wouldn't be a partnership that could work because Podolski likes to play off a front man and Giroud is better either on his own or alongside someone like Gervinho or Walcott who will play off the shoulder.

The good question is who should play along side our Wingers. Sagna or Jenkinson?

Raptorgunner wrote:The good question is who should play along side our Wingers. Sagna or Jenkinson?

Love Jenkinson, but I think everyone will agree that Sagna is first choice. The only question is how long Jenkinson will still be in the lineup until Sagna gets his spot back.

Anyway, to answer the question at hand: Theo

Gervinho proved to be incompetent and even more inconsistent on the wing than his usual self, so that option is a no-no for me.

Walcott while still being a hot/cold type of player, still remains our most reasonable choice.

Ox's second year isn't as we all predicted but we shouldn't expect him to be our saviour ala Wilshere.

Ramsey's inclusion makes sence in big away games, but as you guys mentioned, he should remain a wild car.

Gnabry and Eisfeld are far from ready for this kind of competition, although the thought of Gnabry marauding on our flanks is a pleasing one.

Theo shouldn't start until he commits himself to the club

See, I think that'd be no good to anyone. Walcott is still an Arsenal player and can still offer us something good on the pitch, so why not actually use him? What's the point in just letting him sit out the rest of contract doing nothing?

GoonerJay29 wrote:See, I think that'd be no good to anyone. Walcott is still an Arsenal player and can still offer us something good on the pitch, so why not actually use him? What's the point in just letting him sit out the rest of contract doing nothing?

This

We already have his replacement in worst case scenario, rotating him with Ox is the best solution for all parties.

If he plays well and refuses contract, no worries! couple more millions added in his price.
If he plays badly then none of our fans would miss him now.
If he's inconsistent then Theo just being Theo.

All win win scenario to me. if we decide to rot him on our bench, Ox might get burnt out with too much play time & responsibilities and other options Gervinho Arshavin

Chamberlain is my choice. Yes he hasn't been playing that well this season but I think he needs a consistant place in the team. I know he's still young, but he's got everything in him to play there and I'm sure he'll improve his performances in the coming months.

As for Walcott. He'd be the most reasonable choice. But as we all know he's so inconsistant.
And plus, he's been doing a better job as coming on as a substitute.

Now I know what ya'll would say. Walcott needs to start games otherwise he'll get unhappy and then the chances increase of him leaving the club. But unless Wally gets his shit together, I don't think he should start.

I mean we've been saying this for the past one or two years now: "Walcott can be such an important player in our team if he juz can get his shit together."

GoonerJay29 wrote:I see the merits of a 3-5-2 but I don't think we have the personnel to play it properly.

For starters, our full backs can't produce anything good going forward. They all have the energy and intelligence to get up and down the flank, but when it comes producing a pass or cross, they're lacking.

Considering that this would be the main source of width, a lot of our attacks would probably break down.

There's also the issue of playing Podolski and Giroud together up front, which, in my opinion, wouldn't be a partnership that could work because Podolski likes to play off a front man and Giroud is better either on his own or alongside someone like Gervinho or Walcott who will play off the shoulder.

with the setup i proposed podolski wasn't up front. he was on the left. i think he'd work there because from what ive seen he's been willing to track back and defend a bit.


for our fullbacks not producing going forward, you must have forgotten about santos. the formation would really benefit his game. but if he plays podolski wont be on the left anymore.


of course this is just hypothetical, and wenger would never do it to start a match

Problem with playing with wingbacks is that, even if you look past whether or not our wingbacks can cross the ball, can they maintain the stamina through out the game?Bar Jenkinson, Arsenal either has defensive full backs like Sagna, or all out offensive ones like Santos.

The likes of Santos would offer great deal for the offensive end but would get demolished while defending leaving us exposed as the game progresses.

If we had another Carl Jenkinson like fullback, it would workout. If Gibbs improved his crossing, we would be set.

lenear1030 wrote:with the setup i proposed podolski wasn't up front. he was on the left. i think he'd work there because from what ive seen he's been willing to track back and defend a bit.


for our fullbacks not producing going forward, you must have forgotten about santos. the formation would really benefit his game. but if he plays podolski wont be on the left anymore.


of course this is just hypothetical, and wenger would never do it to start a match

Tracking back from an advanced position and helping a fullback defend is something I'd expect most players who play wide to be able to do. If you can do it, great, but it doesn't mean that they can play as a wingbacks.

Podolski has played as a forward all his career. I very much doubt he has the ability to be position himself correctly, to tackle, to mark players and just about every other defensive duty a wingback must carry out. I doubt he even has the desire to play that sort of role.

Also, be it wingback or fullback, I wouldn't start Santos over Gibbs. It's probably not saying much, but Gibbs is just a better defender and is more athletic.

The current system is fine. I don't see a need to change it.