Arsenal in Aus
Active Member
Vieira & Fabregas. Is there any option?
PS. Wanted to make fun of Cantwell's name but decided against it...
agree with this analysis but in truth there's no good response as a defender.To get away from the constant player evaluation I thought I should rewatch the goals of the Norwich game. Two things really stand out:
The vertical and horizontal distance within our team.
We are so spread out. We totally lack compactness. We easily have 50 yards between our defence and attack.
When Willock loses the ball for the first goal it just takes 2 passes to carve through our whole team. Xhaka and Guendouzi are at least 20-25 yards from the CBs. David Luiz is running towards his own goal so fast he creates so much space for Pukki it is unbelievable. Chambers is higher than Willock and the two of them can only jog back having no impact whatsoever. Xhaka is just trying to cover some space but gets easily bypassed as is Guendouzi.
On the second goal it is the same. Xhaka and Chambers are bypassed and caught out of position. David Luiz is also caught out of position so it ends up being Mustafi and Kola running towards our goal like mad in a 2 vs 2. Cantwell is trailing the whole situation and he isn't picked up and he scores as Xhaka arrives when the ball is in the net. Again it was two passes once the break was really on.
Our defenders totally panic and run towards their own goal and no one tries to actually stop the attack or properly pick up and mark opposition players
On both goals not a single defender tries to get close and get the opposition player off the ball. All they do is back deeper and deeper and let the Norwich players get a shooting chance. On the second goal Guendouzi isn't close to seeing or picking up Cantwell and actually runs away from Cantwell and where the ball is. Xhaka is so far away he is out of the play also being bypassed at the start of the move.
PS. Wanted to make fun of Cantwell's name but decided against it...
Regarding Luiz I think it can be a lack of speed that makes him want to drop back so quickly. He is scared getting level with the forward and have him run past him. That definitely goes for Sokratris.agree with this analysis but in truth there's no good response as a defender.
in the wenger era, we had rash defenders like vermaelen who would lunge at the attacker to cut out the danger quickly. these guys would get bypassed whenever they mistimed the tackle.
now we have defenders like luiz who are inexperienced in keeping a high line and drop deep by instinct. obviously that presents a different set of problems.
we need better defenders, but we also need to learn to attack and play silky football without having to commit the entire team forward. i thought the first half vs. norwich was extremely reminiscent of wengerball in that we ran circles around them offensively only to become undone by counters caused by overcommitment of the entire team into forward areas.
i'd prepare yourself for more of the same because freddie is likely to have been highly influenced by wenger, and the fanbase (myself included) is practically screaming for attacking football.
You've just made me sad with those memories versus what we have right now.
Very good VT. Tony Adam's tough on positioning, communication, team mates working for each other and sympathy for Luiz on the goal. What he says is spot on.Tony Adams would have us playing 10 players behind the ball to fix the defence.
Do you agree?
Very good VT. Tony Adam's tough on positioning, communication, team mates working for each other and sympathy for Luiz on the goal. What he says is spot on.
Hargreaves on our lack of plan B or C. If we cant be the best footballing team then we need to move onto something else, winning second balls, aggression.
Interesting take on Per Mertesacker also. And a very good point. Who is focusing on the future if he is part of the first team set up. We are a mess all over.
Our player acquisition strategy was highly flawed. Though I think under Emery it improved and their was logic and reasoning behind the players we signed. Just so happens that our squad is still far to big and weve a youth coach in charge who brings in more youth bloating the squad further.
I still scratch my head at signing Lacazette then Aubameyang. Two players who play through the middle. It defied logic for a club with "limited" resources and plays 1 upfront.