Is he injured or something?

Im tired from work and my memory doesnt serve me well atm.

highburied wrote:Is he injured or something?

Im tired from work and my memory doesnt serve me well atm.

few days ago.
TV5 still with discomfort after physios gave him an anti-inflammatory injection on his ankle.He's working out individually at the gym

Today
Speaking on February 14, before the Blackburn Rovers game, Arsene Wenger said: "He is looking quite good and is possibly back for Saturday. He should be in the squad.".

Oh..

I didnt know that.

You might have a p'oint but since Wenger is speaking for Saturday, dont you think he might be fully fit for CL game?

highburied wrote:Oh..

I didnt know that.

You might have a p'oint but since Wenger is speaking for Saturday, dont you think he might be fully fit for CL game?

I hope he is ready, we need him to be.

Raptorgunner wrote:

highburied wrote:Oh..

I didnt know that.

You might have a p'oint but since Wenger is speaking for Saturday, dont you think he might be fully fit for CL game?

I hope he is ready, we need him to be.

He owes us a performance, he has been shocking this season. Him and Sagna have been

How do you explain the starting lineup?

On paper sounded good but on field sucked so bad.

tactics and squad members are directly related....the bad the squad the worse the tactics would be.

The starting line up was not selected in order to nullify the threat posed by Bayern. This is the only thing which Arsene fails to do which makes me against him that he selects his starting 11 based on what players he have and what he wants them to do rather than thinking what will the opponent do and which personnel can he use to nullify that threat. Playing quick wide forward would have pegged down their fullbacks but..........

OK back to starting line up...

Wenger and his bold experiments once again failed miserably.

I even thought its a good team but it didnt work at all.

Successful teams usually have a consistency in terms of player rotations.

Subs

When I saw Rosicky coming in, I thought OH SUPER MOVE by Wenger and Giroud had to come in and he came in little late imo but he took off Podolski which was really a bad move imo.

I thought Giroud should have replaced Arteta (for many reasons).

I dont understand some subs Wenger makes.

i dont know how many times i have said this...

1) i just want to see Rosicky starting at CAM whenever he is fit..
he is far better than Cazorla.. the only position i see for Cazorla in our side is a wide creative player.. and if Podolski and Walcott are playing.. just simply drop him to the bench...
2) and i have given up again on Metskr.. too slow, shy and no use aerially.. it is his nature, he wont change.. so the team i want to see is.. i know he is more of a tactical and defends more with his intelligence.. but unfortunately it is not working.. Right now Koscielny should start as first choice with either Metskr or Vermaelen..
3) Walcott should never play as CF.. cant blame the decision to play him yesterday as CF.. with Bayerns high pressing play, he had a better chance of scoring than Giroud.. but Giroud inspite of his oor finishing offers so much.. good holdup play, great movement, threat in setpieces, setting up chances for others, knocking down hoofballs, and defending corners and setpieces.. so i dont see any net advantage in dropping Giroud, especially for Walcott..

Lets discuss tactics in this thread instead of opening hundreds.

Id like to know whos fault it was for Monkey's goal?

Merte for playing him on side or Vermaelen for not marking him?

I know its a collective error but which one is less acceptable?

Also, why Podolski only played 13 minutes plus extra time?

highburied wrote:Lets discuss tactics in this thread instead of opening hundreds.

Id like to know whos fault it was for Monkey's goal?

Merte for playing him on side or Vermaelen for not marking him?

I know its a collective error but which one is less acceptable?

Also, why Podolski only played 13 minutes plus extra time?

Why did Giroud play 90m?
Why did Wenger not make 3erd sub?
Why the best African striker ever did not play?

Giroud should’ve been taken off at half time and podolski put up top.
Continually going back to the one tactic that has failed every time it has been employed (No Left Winger, Just lots of central midfielders). It averages less than a goal per game.

highburied wrote:Lets discuss tactics in this thread instead of opening hundreds.

Id like to know whos fault it was for Monkey's goal?

Merte for playing him on side or Vermaelen for not marking him?

I know its a collective error but which one is less acceptable?

You could probably blame Mertesacker (or Jenkinson) for not closing down Sigurdsson quick enough, which then prompted Vermaelen to come out and attempt to cut out the pass. However, I think Vermaelen's error was the less acceptable one here, because if he held his position he would've given himself a chance of tracking Bale's run.

The second goal is similar. Vermaelen actually holds his position this time (he doesn't go after Brave Scotty Parker) but fails to notice Lennon making a run in behind him - that, or Monreal failed to communicate properly. Monreal himself was slow to react to Lennon's run in the first place.

Both goals come down to a lack of communication and concentration, ultimately.

Also, why Podolski only played 13 minutes plus extra time?

Wenger and well-timed substitutions don't mix together well.

It does baffle me why one of our top goalscorers this season is sitting on the bench when we're struggling to score goals; first against Villa, now against Spurs. Having the extra midfielder in there does lead to better control of the ball, but Podolski gives our attack better balance.

‏@piersmorgan
mertesacker centre-forward, Ramsey right back - Wenger's tactical mastery knows no bounds these days.

What's everyone's thoughts on the current new tactics we are playing lately?

this is the formation Arsene prefers atm


--------------------------------------------Fabianski---------------------------------------

Sagna---------------------Mert------------------------Kos----------------------Monreal

--------------------------------------------Arteta--------------------------------------------
------------------Ramsey--------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------Rosicky-------Cazorla------------------------
Gervinho------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------Giroud--------------------------------------------------

Basically a 4-1-4-1.

Arsene isn't using a LW anymore. Even when Oxlade started against Swansea, he was mostly swapping with Cazorla and playing in the middle along Santi while attacking. Arsene is in a way focusing even more on ball retention than before. Maybe to cover up the defensive lapses and that will be my guess.

Podolski was apparently not fit in the last few games. Although i am not sure how true that is since he played fine for Germany.

Even if he is fit. Would you continue with the same formation and players as we did agaisnt Bayern away, Swansea away and Reading at home. Or would u rather go 4-3-3 with Podolski as the proper LW/LF and sacrificing a midfielder ?

Personally i would stay with the current system. We are more efficient with the ball when we have Cazorla as the false LW. But Podolski is a player who can get u goals at any time so it's a bit of a dilemma in a way.

Right now, when we need consistency, there's no need to fix what's not broken. We're having some success with the current system and don't have any crippling weakness that's in urgent need of addressing.

Wenger has always preferred to have a creative player on at least one of his flanks and while this does help alot in retaining the ball, it can leave the fullback behind the creative player exposed to 2v1 situations because the creative player has drifted into central areas in order to get on the ball more. I recall over the years how we always looked vulnerable down our left hand side and how Clichy always seemed to be doubled up on. It didn't happen as often on the right as we usually had someone who stuck closer to the flank and therefore pinned the opposing fullback in.

Obviously, if we can keep the ball for extended periods, like against Reading, it doesn't matter what shape you're team is in going forward. However, against teams that are good at pressing and winning the ball back, you've got to be able to get into good defensive positions and cover for each other. We won at Swansea because the players had the awareness and discipline to get back into a solid shape when they didn't have the ball.

I actually don't believe there to be too much difference between Podolski and Cazorla on the left flank. Despite being very different players, they both come inside to link-up with the midfield and aren't great at tracking back. What effects our tactics more, in my opinion, is when Cazorla plays centrally. Cazorla does work hard but he's not great at tracking back and needs to be able to roam about to be truly effective. When he plays centrally, he can effect the game in many ways, but it leaves our midfield a little lacking in work rate and defensive cover and it can leave a bit too much for the two behind him to do. Without any specialist defensive midfielders, having an extra player that can willingly cover the defence is very helpful and I think Wilshere is the ideal player for this. If he's out, there's Rosicky and Ramsey.

An extra midfielder can sometimes result in a lack of penetration, though, and that's where Podolski would probably be a better choice. Reading defended horribly against us so it wasn't hard to create chances, but we know there'll be times when the passing doesn't work and that we'll need a little more pace and directness.

Being able to adapt to different situations is where having a good, diverse squad pays off.

So, another game without Podolski/Oxlade on the left and 4 midfielders instead of 3.

Another great performance ( till the red card )

problem now is that both Theo and Wilshere are back.

What will Arsene ever do

no, seriously lol

Wilshere will come in for one of Ramsey or Rosicky, probably. Walcott might see some bench time since Gervinho is actually playing well right now.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if we went with the same team again against Norwich, though I'd personally replace Monreal with Gibbs, since he gives us better width down the left.

With Everton 2-3 days after Norwich

I would play Podolski/theo/oxlade/wilshere against Norwich and then play the normal team ( i.e rosicky,ramsey/gervinho) against Everton.

we need someone to play permanently down the right vs Everton not giving Baines any direct opponent?
since Gervi actually Moves everywhere in final third maybe a more disciplined role for him

i would bring Theo and Jack for last 20 mins of Norwich game and if ready start them vs everton

Baines' runs forward are only a problem if Everton have 50%+ of the ball. If Arsenal have 60-70% of the ball then Baines will spend more time defending than supporting attacks.

Only Chamberlain will actually stay on his flank, anyway. Both Walcott and Gervinho likes to make runs inside. Between a tactical choice or going with our best/in-form players, I'd go with the latter at this stage.

Start Ramsey on Right hand side then

we will dominate possession and he will track RoBainso Carlos all the way

Walcott has always done well against Baines so maybe we can start him there ?

On the red card vs WBA, The Cazorla substitution was inevitable, and i was actually surprised he lasted that long. Even when arsenal had reverted to a 4-4-1, he kept drifting infield instead of keeping to the right flank, which inevitably opened up the 2v1 with Ridgewell as the extra man.

While it isn't as much a criticism on Cazorla himself (an excellent player) It does provide food for thought about tactical tweaks in these kind of games as well as against top sides which do play with wingers. From this point of view i understand Wenger's deployment of Ramsey on the right flank early in the season as well as Podolski on the left (early in the season he tracked back a great deal and to great effect)

Having said that tactically against Everton Podolski-Cazorla-Gervinho/Theo/Chambo, would seem the better bet, whilst you could probably keep the same side that played WBA to play Norwich with the possible inclusion of Wilshere.

Monreal has been excellent in the last couple of matches, and is doing great at both ends..
But when we are playing with a false LW, Gibbs with his stamina and pace is the ideal option who can boss the entire left side of the field..
Only sad thing is that this is keeping Podolski in the bench.. I would try shifting Cazorla as false RW and give some starts to Podolski at left.. But Gervinho has done very well and it will be hard to drop him also.. Giroud inspite of his lack of scoring has been very influential in our game.. His movement creating space in the centre for the midfield to utilise and his interlink play is excellent.. And Wilshere and Walcott are back soon.. Good for the team..
Atm.. I will replace Ramsey by Wilshere and may be Gibbs for Monreal.. And play Walcot/Gervais.. Podolski and Ox still in bench..

Tactics for next season????? firstly i think wenger needs to decide what HIS BEST TEAM IS and cultivate it in pre season. Never really thought weve known what our best line up is this season which isnt really a platform for stability. Guess its because key players returning from injuries, key players dipping in form, settling into new league, making wrong people captains ect..

-------------------new goalkeeper
pls stay sagna---mertesacker---kos--------monreal/gibbs
-------------DM(YEEEEEES)----arteta/ramsey
-------------------wilshere-----------cazorla
walcott----------NEW STRIKER

OR play wilshere alongside new dm and play cazorla central????