Technically

Is this the worse Arsenal team Arsene has ever had ?

central midfielders who shy away from the ball and have less touches than goal keepers- check

Central midfielders who are unable to build attack and always pass backwards and sideways-check

Central midfielders who need two or three touches before picking a pass -check

Inability to string four our five passes together and keep the ball under pressure- check

Our football has regressed so much this season that its almost like a chore watching Arsenal. even when we had the likes of Denilson, Song and and Eboue in midfield we didn't play this bad. I never thought I'd see the day where Arsenal midfielders run away from the ball. I almost felt sorry for Koscielny today, he not only had to defend but look after Gabriel and also be the playmaker and bring the ball from the back. It's just sums up how technically poor we are at the moment.

Alongside a striker, i'd make a central midfielder a top priority. There is no technical leader in this team at the moment

Yes, I'd say so. It's not just technical ability, though, but intelligence as well.

Ramsey, for me, is a limited player technically and doesn't play with intelligence. He looks lost as a CM. He's an AM through and through. Coquelin can defend but on the ball is painfully limited. Wilshere has the technical ability but not the intelligence.

Cazorla is the only decent CM we have but even he's not ideal in that position. I haven't seen enough of Elneny to comment.

Ozil must look behind him and think "why did I come here". Going from the likes of Alonso, Modric and Schweinsteiger to Coquelin, Flamini and Ramsey. No wonder he has to constantly drop below the halfway line to get on the ball.

The whole of our central midfield needs an overhaul.

Then you look at the attack, where you've got Walcott who can't do anything, Chamberlain who has the brain of Gervinho, Campbell who's okay but nothing more. Welbeck is technically solid, at least. Alexis we know can do great things but is so incredibly erratic. Giroud we know is limited.

Defence isn't great either. Chambers is the only CB who can do something with the ball. Koscielny tries but his passing can be hit and miss. Bellerin looks scared to do anything on the ball despite his ability. Gibbs as well. Monreal puts these guys to shame in terms of how to use the ball.

For a team that aspires to play possession football, we don't have the best squad.

all of those are checked while Santi is out, he's the only one who could do it unfortunately. I am surprised this season by how poor we manage play when having major possession, nobody knows what to do, scared shitless when having a ball or suicide run ( lol Sanchez). I really think no player could fix this unless we change our manager, we managed to turn 2 champions who have won shit ton into total losers, next year it will be Cech, mark my words.

Our form since cazorla was replaced by Ramsey will tell you what has happened.

Today's match made me struggle to remember the last time I saw an Arsenal team side- and back-passing as often as we just saw. It was like, "Play out from the back, but don't try to get anywhere near the opposition goal." That, combined with a bunch of weak touches, sloppy decision-making, and subpar performances by a few players in particular (Gabriel, Theo) meant the team had no thrust. Wenger was talking about momentum but Arsenal would have fooled any observer. There wasn't momentum.

There are technically excellent midfielders, but Coq/Elneny/Flamini/Ramsey are the options - otherwise the really gifted midfielders are injured. Rosicky, Arteta, and Cazorla all offer something really positive in this regard but they're not currently options.

I think we miss the Coqzorla midfield badly--no other pair works as well as that one, and if Ramsey (who's still sometimes criticized too harshly IMO) isn't at the top of his game, then we tend to look really weak there. Attack should be revitalized in a big way too - basically everyone in attack is out of form, except Welbeck (looking solid since he's been back, happy for him) and to an extent, Özil. I don't have any ill will toward any Arsenal players in this squad, but I kind of hope (naively) that Wenger will be a little ruthless this summer in restructuring the attacking options.

Also consider how many chances cazorla got at his feet compared to how many chances does Ramsey gets. This is to consider in terms of the overall positioning during the game. The reason we see no midfield during the match have something to do about it. Since his injury coquelin also wanders way up the field and doesn't drop back to receive the ball from defence for the buid up coz he knows that he can't do it. Previously cazorla always made himself available.

I'd say Koscielny is one of the best ball playing CB in the game but the problem with him is that he takes too many risks, when a pass is not on he will still try anyway but everyone hit the nail on the head with your comment. I am thinking how can Arsene someone who champions the technical side of football let things deteriorate like this. Is it a coincidence that this has happened with the emergence of the British core

I don't think We are harsh on Ramsey, he wants to play in central midfield but he doesn't want to take the responsibility of a midfielder. It's poor planning from Arsene to think that he could rely on Coqzorla for the rest of the season. that's just poor piss planning but that's another discussion

Beside that god like season when he scoring left and right, Ramsey on the right wing was always more consistent than middle. What boggle my mind is how this Ramsey looks worse than the 16-17 years old Ramsey, at least in term of calmness on the balls and technical play. Is it possible player brain just deteriorate as he grown older.

Twoism wrote:Beside that god like season when he scoring left and right, Ramsey on the right wing was always more consistent than middle. What boggle my mind is how this Ramsey looks worse than the 16-17 years old Ramsey, at least in term of calmness on the balls and technical play. Is it possible player brain just  deteriorate as he grown older.

You have to remember that at that age, he played with a midifled of Cesc, Diaby, Nasri, Denilson and sometimes Diaby and Song so his flaws might not have been as noticeable as they are now.