Squad Analysis 2019/20

[BigPoppaPump]

I know mate, just throwing it out there

You got Xhaka in your bio, you can't really talk mate.

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

Lacazette back to Lyon or some C-class CL team like he dreams of!

Unnecessary.

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

You got Xhaka in your bio, you can't really talk mate.

Need to rally behind our captain, otherwise whats the fecking point

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Unnecessary.

I just don't like keeping him just to force the superior striker out wide constantly. It should have been very clear by now there is only room for one of them here for the right balance. If not it will be clear next summer.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Need to rally behind our captain, otherwise whats the fecking point

I'm the opposite, let's hound him out of our club! I'll get the pitchforks and mopeds.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Need to rally behind our captain, otherwise whats the fecking point

If your captain is like Butler in 300 yeah! By all means! But not if it is Xhaka. Then we do like soldiers of Russia in WWI.

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

I just don't like keeping him just to force the superior striker out wide constantly. It should have been very clear by now there is only room for one of them here for the right balance. If not it will be clear next summer.

Respectable opinion mate (bot don't agree)., reacted a bit like a sensitive nonse. My apologies.

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

If your captain is like Butler in 300 yeah! By all means! But not if it is Xhaka. Then we do like soldiers of Russia in WWI.

 

[Maybe]

He has 1 year left after this season. That's why.

Looking at Vardy a player might not lose pace much, if top pro and not much injuries.

So without UCL next year Auba will not likely extend, and he will be the first one to be sold. Unless they think keeping him is worth more.

Lacazette has 2 years in contract after this one.

Yes, that's what I'm saying. This year and next year, he will be 32 after that. I'm not sure what we can get out of him after that especially if the players like Martinelli, Nketiah and Balogun develop as we are expecting.

 

[Sanchez11]

Need 5 players and new coach and we will be title challengers.

 

[HBL]

Auba - Laca- Pepe
Ceballos - Guendouzi - Willock
Tierney - Luiz - Holding - Chambers
Leno
​

Don't know if Laca will be back after the international break and doubt we'd try the midfield 3 in an away game but I'd be interested to see how it works. I suspect it will leave us a bit open defensively but we are anyway. Ceballos playing slightly deeper; getting more of the ball and helping with creativity and Willock playing gives us that extra bit of dynamism in midfield and another runner willing to get into the box. We cross a lot but never seem to get enough bodies in the box and with the quality Tierney has shown in his first couple of games that would be a mistake, would put a lot of pressure on Guendouzi to be more disciplined and I doubt our fan base would have patience with him if he made a couple of mistakes but his defensive abilities seem to have improved significantly since his first few months at the club. Obvs expecting Bellerin to be first choice but he didn't look sharp the other day so think he will need another 1-2 games at least & would be harsh to drop Chambers for a half fit Bellerin given his last couple of performances.

 

[ChefMan21]

January is near, we're well into the season with our new signings, where are we at?

 

[Ricardinho]

Am I correct in saying there's only five regulars left from our 16/17 season squad? That seems a mad turnover in such a short space of time. Wonder how it compares to the other big clubs.

 

[TakeChillPill]

Our technical ability has really dropped its it clear to see. Even the likes of song, Clichy, adebayor, lord bendtner, chamakh, giroud, podolski were more comfortable on the ball than this team.

I do believe part of it is down to the lack of belief in the players themselves when on the ball.

Kola out of his depth.

Laca great at holding up the ball as a small CF, but his link up passing is highly inconsistent, he'll miss place, over hit, under hit the simplest of lay offs.

Guenduozi is a massive ball hog and takes far too long to release the ball and never looks left always right. Also when he does try to play it quick he gives away the ball. It's not down to his lack of technical ability but his game intelligence.

Auba great poacher average at everything else. I can see why Wenger over looked him when we could've signed him prior to Dortmund.

Torreria I actually believe is a very astute player but Emery either not playing him or misplacing him has resulted in a huge dip in confidence when on the ball. I remember in the first half of last season we were all waxing lyrical about his all-round game.

Pepe- don't know what to think of this guy, reminds me of gervinho. Technically average, has very little positional sense and can't seem to create a yard for himself, because his first touch when receiving is usually poor.

 

[Wryer]

Suddenly the potential and promise that our first team fullbacks will bring on their return has evaporated. We are running out of excuse.

Such a nice looking squad on paper but yet we are getting less than 50% from the team.

 

[DanDare]

Players to bin:

Xhaka
Mustafi
Kolasinac
Sokratis
Torreira
Luiz
Chambers
Lacazette

 

[Divided_Pie]

What’s our preferred CB pairing? Sokratis and Mustafi have the best physical ability but are very mistake prone. Luis and Chambers are poor defenders physically but better on the ball. Holding when in form probably offers the best balance, but he looks miles away from full fitness.

My current thinking is to go with Luis and Chambers, as that gives us the best hope of playing out from the back effectively. Don’t play such a high line, don’t put both Xhaka and Guendouzi in front of them. Sokratis is a disaster on the ball and Mustafi is way too mistake prone. At least we’d be better in possession and less likely to gift chances with Luis and Chambers.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

What’s our preferred CB pairing? Sokratis and Mustafi have the best physical ability but are very mistake prone. Luis and Chambers are poor defenders physically but better on the ball. Holding when in form probably offers the best balance, but he looks miles away from full fitness.

My current thinking is to go with Luis and Chambers, as that gives us the best hope of playing out from the back effectively. Don’t play such a high line, don’t put both Xhaka and Guendouzi in front of them. Sokratis is a disaster on the ball and Mustafi is way too mistake prone. At least we’d be better in possession and less likely to gift chances with Luis and Chambers.

Nobody all the defenders we got are not good that's why we keep changing Sokratis is good but he make mistakes and poor with ball Luiz is good and good with ball but positional awareness is awful mustafi is terrible center back holding is talented but not back to his best.

 

[berric]

Players to bin:

Xhaka
Mustafi
Kolasinac
Sokratis
Torreira
Luiz
Chambers
Lacazette

This club has at least 8 new players in need of binning every season. It's like magic!

 

[ChefMan21]

I'm having doubts we'll see a new manager before the summer, so Freddie probably needs a little help.

I really think we've got to work hard in January for defensive reinforcements at CB, bearing in mind it's January and no top team will sell starting players. Probably means we either sign players not getting game time (e.g. Umtiti), or players who could make the step up from weaker clubs (e.g. Lascelles). I'm thinking of them not so much as 'build your defence around' as I am upgrades on existing players. Bump out Mustafi et al; left over cash to the new manager.

Also think we need to look at our midfield, but again, it's probably going to be typical January signings. Not sure what's about TBH - I could imagine the club being interested in someone like Isco or Emre Can on loan with an option to buy, or Sander Berge as a major signing (from a weaker club), but really, who knows?

At the end of the day the club needs to be competitive while balancing the need to support a new manager, and the biggest issues at the moment are our defence and midfield.