UCL | PSG v Arsenal | 13th of September at 19:45 (GMT)

[Penn_]

What a player Aurier is though, shame he's an RB. Imagine how many headers he'd give to Giroud to miss

 

[Maxim]

I've been watching our midfield closely since preseason, and unfortunately it's clearly a choice from Wenger to have :
- A DLP dropping deep to get the ball from our CB
- A B2B making runs to drag opponent players
- Özil playing as a second striker, and looking for the ball when we get it on the wings
Watch it, and you'll see that we start every games like that, until players take upon themselves to change it.

And it might end up working with the right personnel - but not with Coquelin as the B2B player or the DLP for that matter.

Xhaka and Santi can both play that DLP role great, and Elneny, Ramsey, Wilshere (I know) and Santi to an extent can be the B2B - Coquelin can do neither proficiently, so the system needs to change when he plays.

 

[Gooner Zig]

Lord! That is Monday morning quarter backing at its best, specially when one does not have all the facts but still spouts authoritative opinions.

A couple of infos:
- Theo was injured, hence Ox started.
- Giroud is not fit to start, period. Arsène said it before the game
- Ospina is an international GK, one of the best in the world today. For him to stay, he has to have some guarantee he will play some games. He was promised to start in the CL and to keep his spot if he performs. Arsène pretty much confirmed that after the game. If he did not get that guarantee, we would have Chez the clown as our back up keeper.
- Xhaka did not start indeed, but lets wait for the rationale behind that before speculating ad nauseaum.

How is Giroud not fit when he started for France? Not buying it.

 

[carlito'sway]

And it might end up working with the right personnel - but not with Coquelin as the B2B player or the DLP for that matter.

Xhaka and Santi can both play that DLP role great, and Elneny, Ramsey, Wilshere (I know) and Santi to an extent can be the B2B - Coquelin can do neither proficiently, so the system needs to change when he plays.

That is a more serious debate than some of the ramblings and nonsenses being posted here.
Agree with the above. That is too bad Wenger is not an adept (unlike a Bielsa for instance) of discussing his choices and tactics. I would have liked to hear his explanations on his MF choices. I am a firm believer that a Xhaka-Santi pair can work. If need be, a Xhaka-Elneny can be an option as well. The Coq choice puzzles me. In the long run though, no doubt that Xhaka will be the MF anchor.We did not chase this guy for a year and paid 35 M for him to ride the pine.

 

[carlito'sway]

How is Giroud not fit when he started for France? Not buying it.

Not asking you to buy it, just stating a fact.
That is something we should ask Deschamps. As mentioned, the French media commented on Giroud not being fit for either game. He was not the only one, Cisshoko started the Belarus game w/out playing one minute all Summer (and he was pants as well). Giroud was lampooned for his performance but anybody could see the guy was more tham half a step behind.

 

[Gooner Zig]

Not asking you to buy it, just stating a fact.
That is something we should ask Deschamps. As mentioned, the French media commented on Giroud not being fit for either game. He was not the only one, Cisshoko started the Belarus game w/out playing one minute all Summer (and he was pants as well). Giroud was lampooned for his performance but anybody could see the guy was more tham half a step behind.

Yeah I'm just going to get on the blower now and give Deschamps a call to ask if Giroud is fit or not

 

[Gooner Zig]

Criticising Wenger for not starting him is silly. There is no need to push Xhaka to deep end. Introduce him slowly. We have not lost anything yet because of it.

You're making it sound as though Xhaka is some young pup coming through the academy

He's a full Swiss international with CL experience and the ex captain of 'Gladbach.

Easing him in? Pffft.

 

[Rimaal]

How didn't we deserve a draw? We scored the same amount of goals as them

I don't know about you but I'm happy they don't give half goals for missing good chances

Try it again with the objectivity hat on, if you can find it.

 

[Rimaal]

 

[carlito'sway]

Yeah I'm just going to get on the blower now and give Deschamps a call to ask if Giroud is fit or not

PM me....Will give you his mobile number....

 

[rephy]

Pretty horrific performance tbh, lucky not to have conceded about 5.

The **** was our plan? Play a winger up front who drops deep, with no runners in behind, and then cross the ball to him?

Basically, yeah.

Gunners have been saying for years, that Wenger has absolutely no idea how to set up a team for European games, and the utter capitulation of the team against half decent team keep showing this.

Logically you are away from home, against a side likely you are directly against to top the group, yet we break up the defensive partnership between Cech, Mustafi and Koscielny and bring Santi in midfield. On top of that, bring in a winger who is atrocious at tracking back, alongside playing Ox, who is famed for his defensive lapses. Not only that, but we play Sanchez up front so spend most of the game without any foot hold to attack from. It's shambolic, and it always is in Europe.

Was utterly amazed we got a draw in the end, should have been a battering were it not for Ospina.

 

[celestis]

Our defence looks like they need a fair bit more time together to gel , maybe Arsène acknowledged this by playing Coq . I mean Xhaka defensive work is far from excellent, that last international match .....

I'm only guessing though, guy is the future of our midfield so I don't really mind if he sits out a few matches at the start of his career for us .

 

[carlito'sway]

You're making it sound as though Xhaka is some young pup coming through the academy

He's a full Swiss international with CL experience and the ex captain of 'Gladbach.

Easing him in? Pffft.

Obviously, there are other reasons for not starting Xhaka. Yeah he may be eased in but more importantly, Arsène may feel more guarantees with Coq-Santi. Anyway, we are just speculating and as I said, I would love to hear Wenger's explanations.
Having said that, beyond the Xhaka issue, Özil' slump is an even more immediate concern. I can bet if he was on form, we would have heard less about Xhaka not starting. Granite will eventually start regularly. I hope though that Özil will rediscover his touch soon. His mediocre performance contributed a lot of our poor showing yesterday.
Second more general point, in hindsight, looking at PSG starting line up, while Matuidi was the nominal LW, they played with basically 4 MF's (Matuidi, Rabiot, Veratti, Krychowiak). No wonder we got smoked in MF the first half, specially with a poor Özil, a Coq whose positioning was iffy and not to mention a clueless Ox.

 

[carlito'sway]

Basically, yeah.

Gunners have been saying for years, that Wenger has absolutely no idea how to set up a team for European games, and the utter capitulation of the team against half decent team keep showing this.

Logically you are away from home, against a side likely you are directly against to top the group, yet we break up the defensive partnership between Cech, Mustafi and Koscielny and bring Santi in midfield. On top of that, bring in a winger who is atrocious at tracking back, alongside playing Ox, who is famed for his defensive lapses. Not only that, but we play Sanchez up front so spend most of the game without any foot hold to attack from. It's shambolic, and it always is in Europe.

Was utterly amazed we got a draw in the end, should have been a battering were it not for Ospina.

I am totally confused by your post.....
- Break up the defensive partnership between Cech/Kos/ Mustafi.... How many games have they played together to form that proverbial partnership?
- You added...Bring Santi in MF....So are you suggesting that Santi, perhaps our best player so far this season, should not play?
- You mentioned Ox....Did you know that Theo was injured? That Giroud is not fit to start?
- Is the winger, atrocious at tracking back, Iwobi?
- Based on these new infos, who would you start upfront?

 

[darkgunner]

We got a draw that we hardly deserved, PSG overran us easily all game and we never looked a proper threat. Moreal's form at the moment is questionable, he was getting destroyed all throughout the game by Aurier and Di Maria.

I don't know what the **** Wenger was playing at either by starting with no striker, we looked massively better once we had Giroud on and Alexis moved to the wing. How many times does he need proof that it's not an efficient way to play for us.

Someone needs to remind Wenger:
because his attacking selection and tactics for the game yesterday was a joke. It's the CL not the league cup.

 

[Preacher]

Against big clubs and in tough away games we need to change our formation to 4-3-3. With 4-2-3-1 and classic no.10 our midfield will be **** and overrun. We are always outnumbered in the middle. Arsenal become decent-to-good possession football team only when opponents allow it.

 

[Goonerozil33]

You're making it sound as though Xhaka is some young pup coming through the academy

He's a full Swiss international with CL experience and the ex captain of 'Gladbach.

Easing him in? Pffft.

You are making it sound like asking a duck to take to water. But i don t agree with the idea that easing someone in is needed only for young players. Xhaka comes from Germany where they play less number of matches a season compared to England. Also, they have a longer winter break. So it is likely that his fitness is more suited to that. These are all speculation and i dont know exactly why he started on the bench. But then i am sure Wenger has a good reason to do so. I am not sure it was a bad decision. Also, I am not sure why it annoys people so much and generate so much debate.It is the beginning of a long season and we are starting it. So there is a long way to go and i am sure we will see a lot more of Xhaka. He will be here for the next 6 years minimum and will become a legend in this club by winning many trophies.(Also i do remember Pires being eased in, Arshavin being eased in)

 

[redanddread]

The more I think about this result, the more I'm impressed by it. Arsenal of a few years ago wouldn't have been able to withstand that onslaught & turn it around. Credit must be given to Ospina for keeping us in it but then that's what good GK's do innit. However, our ability to carve out the chance for the goal and convert was equally impressive. We kept at in the 2nd 1/2 and you could see the tide turning (even though PSG remained very dangerous on the break).

Maybe Arsène is onto something when he says that this team has something about them that his others didn't. A lot to be said about getting a result away from home against a European powerhouse when not playing well.

However, there is no doubt that the performances have to improve soon enough but at least results are positive at the moment.

 

[skip spence]

Cavani's getting lambasted for missing chances but credit where credit's due, Ospina came off his lines like a ****ing panther with reflexes to match, the one-on-one saves where nothing short of amazing.

Couldn't believe my eyes when he fired wide after taking it round Ospina in the first half though. 2-0 there and the game would have been over.

 

[celestis]

Cavani's getting lambasted for missing chances but credit where credit's due, Ospina came off his lines like a ****ing panther with reflexes to match, the one-on-one saves where nothing short of amazing.

Couldn't believe my eyes when he fired wide after taking it round Ospina in the first half though. 2-0 there and the game would have been over.

Yeah true skip , the last Cavani one on one ... his body swerve faked me out in the lounge room not Ospina though who only watched the ball and palmed it away . Ice cold keeping