Bould14
Well-Known Member
Coq is always going to tow that fine line. He's really our only true enforcer and it's a breath of fresh air compared to the many years we never hurt anyone with the tackle.
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EPL: Crystal Palace v Arsenal, 16/08/15 , 13:30, SS1
- Thread starter RuskyAdam
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Jazz
Active Member
Releaved we won but there's still a lot to do. We can't let jammy wins like this gloss over issues still prevalent at the moment. One is of course the set up. There were some stats in another thread that showed that our win % with a midfielder on the wing is by far the lowest of all our setups. It's not 0 which is why we can wins some games like today but it's clearly not balanced enough which has been discussed in great depth already.
Second thing is Giroud. I missed most of the first half so with some of the reactions on here I though Oli had just beaten a couple of defenders and pulled off a rabona. It was still a good good goal but we've seen him pull off some stuff like that from time to time inside the box. The issue still remains that he doesn't score enough (not clinical, lacks abilities such as pace, dribbling) and isn't consistent. this is not going to change so we need to still get a striker.
We need to a) buy a striker that's main position is as a lone striker and is a clear improvement on Giroud (ie. can do the things Giroud can't that I outlined above), b) put out balanced lineups and c) be motivated and ready to preform every game. No more slip ups every few games against teams we should without a doubt be beating.
So until these things happen I'm not going to get my hopes up for a title challenge. We really need to though. Excuses ran out for Wenger 2 seasons ago. I've been an Arsenal fan for long enough. If we don't do the things stated above (which is more than likely) I can predict what will happen. Beat liverpool, go on a run. Everyone starts to believe we can win the league. End up third come May. Not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, just trying to put things in to perspective.
Would love to be proven wrong tho!
Second thing is Giroud. I missed most of the first half so with some of the reactions on here I though Oli had just beaten a couple of defenders and pulled off a rabona. It was still a good good goal but we've seen him pull off some stuff like that from time to time inside the box. The issue still remains that he doesn't score enough (not clinical, lacks abilities such as pace, dribbling) and isn't consistent. this is not going to change so we need to still get a striker.
We need to a) buy a striker that's main position is as a lone striker and is a clear improvement on Giroud (ie. can do the things Giroud can't that I outlined above), b) put out balanced lineups and c) be motivated and ready to preform every game. No more slip ups every few games against teams we should without a doubt be beating.
So until these things happen I'm not going to get my hopes up for a title challenge. We really need to though. Excuses ran out for Wenger 2 seasons ago. I've been an Arsenal fan for long enough. If we don't do the things stated above (which is more than likely) I can predict what will happen. Beat liverpool, go on a run. Everyone starts to believe we can win the league. End up third come May. Not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, just trying to put things in to perspective.
Would love to be proven wrong tho!
Country: Canada
Agree with your sentiments but "jammy" win is going a tad overboard IMO
bojed
AM Resident Joker #1
For me it shows up his limitations but IIRC Le Coq exploded last season when we played with a low defensive line and IMO this is how we should play. Putting Coq higher up the pitch is equivalent to playing Ramsey on the flanks. Both will do their job but they won't do it brilliantly.
Jaywood Mac
Active Member
I'm sure Wenger will play a deeper line against other opposition particularly the top sides away. I think he probably opted for the high line to nullify palaces wingplay perhaps?? Cant play a dangerous crossing game into Wickham if he's stuck at the half way line. Cause we played high that meant we had to go with players like Ramsey and Giroud who are dangerous around the box shooting from distance and in the air rather than pace in behind from Ox and Theo.
Jazz
Active Member
Yeah you're right. Tight is probably a better word to describe it.
Country: Canada
The high line worked as we won plenty of balls in our own half. Our inefficiency in front of goal was a reason Palace stayed in the match.
MaraDon
Wants you to learn about football
Possible real world candidates?
Literally hundreds of pages in threads devoted to this summer's striker search; plenty to look through there without rehashing it in this thread.
Jazz
Active Member
Don't want to go off topic so I'll just say that this is not the only window where we've been looking for a striker. There have been more than enough windows to get in a JVP replacement. Other top clubs have also brought in starting strikers in that time so its not like we can't because they're not available. And clearly it's not like we can only buy established world class stars in that position. What the hell was Welbeck then? Instead of him we should have gotten genuine up and comers that can contribute now as well (Morata, Vietto, use your eye for talent Wenger.) instead of dilly dallying all summer.
fabo
6.51 / 10
I hate the Coquelin/Cazorla pairing. Not good enough.
Why does Wenger refuse to strengthen this area? Baffles me.
Why does Wenger refuse to strengthen this area? Baffles me.
Agree. They complement each other's weaknesses well but that still only makes for 1 complete CM (or ½ CM on either side, take your pick).
Absolutely baffling that Cazorla was MotM when his defending was typically atrocious (and before anyone bothers to flash the video where he double-teams Zaha with Monreal early on, look at the end of video where he's given up in the hopes that Monreal will ball-win).
This may be the only thing we agree on, btw
Country: Canada
@fabo - if you had your choice - what type of player would you like to see play CM for us?
What more do they need to do to show they're good enough? Cazorla was one of the best midfielders in the league last season with Coquelin one of the best DM's in the league in terms of his contribution for us and his stats. Just because Santi is small doesn't mean they aren't a good enough duo. There's no one i would replace Santi with in the middle, same for Coquelin, unless Busquets is available which he is not. Remember Pirlo and Gattuso? winning the WC... Gattuso was a pure destroyer. Not saying Santi is Pirlo quality of course but he's a good playmaker and he and Coq work well together.
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RandyMarsh
Established Member
Wenger has 2 big reasons not to strengthen the CM position. Wilshere and Ramsey. We won't be seeing any B2B midfielders brought in while they're at the club.
The DM position however, this is something i really don't understand with Wenger. He pretty much saved himself 20+ mill with Coquelin's resurgence, however that saved money hasn't gone elsewhere to make reinforcements.
That's an extra €30 mil he saved..Add that onto the Lewandowski fund, throw €80 mil at Bayern and be done with it. Easy as that
The DM position however, this is something i really don't understand with Wenger. He pretty much saved himself 20+ mill with Coquelin's resurgence, however that saved money hasn't gone elsewhere to make reinforcements.
That's an extra €30 mil he saved..Add that onto the Lewandowski fund, throw €80 mil at Bayern and be done with it. Easy as that
We always play our best when we play low defensive line, but Wenger always changes to high line until we are in do or die position before we revert to low defensive line..... I wonder why
Anyone think Ox looked a bit off when he came on? Perhaps he was trying to avoid injury but it just looked like he was a bit down and heart wasn’t in it.
Also don’t think I mentioned it but Arteta showed why he deserved a new contract when he came on. People are too quick to throw him in the Flamini pile, I remain confident that so long as he isn’t thrown into a 2-3 games a week schedule he will remain fit.
Also don’t think I mentioned it but Arteta showed why he deserved a new contract when he came on. People are too quick to throw him in the Flamini pile, I remain confident that so long as he isn’t thrown into a 2-3 games a week schedule he will remain fit.
Country: Canada
I have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed by Ox's performance - he barely got on the ball. Pretty annoying really as I thought it was prime time to get a third on the counter.
His positioning was poor, he was central a lot of the time. Ramsey picked the ball up a few times looking for an outlet (that Ox should've offered), and it wasn't available. Still, he managed to get a few shots off and on a different day he may have scored.
I'd like to see him get a run of games.
I'd like to see him get a run of games.
billyf
Well-Known Member
I'd say it's the Coq-Cazorla-Özil trio. They don't put enough pressure on the ball and the oposing runners cause a lot of trouble to our midfield. Imo Wenger opts for these 3 due to the fact that neither Özil nor Cazorla are "complete playmakers". On one hand Cazorla can shoot from distance, drop deep and make the long balls, on the other hand Özil makes quicker runs, reacts quicker when outside from the box and overlaps with the wingers and gets into good crossing positions which is the proper way to split a defense. If I were Wenger, I'd play only one playmaker and use a more physical player for the B2B position.
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