re: Arsenal 2013/2014 Season Long Thread

would like to see

szcz
baccy-per-kos-gibbo
arteta-ox
gnabry-ozil-santi
giroud

on Wednesday. Maybe even Rosicky for Santi or Ozil to give one of them a breather.

we can't afford to start poldi against anyone but lesser competition IMO. he's really good about 20 yards out and in, but he's useless elsewhere. he only really makes sense these days as a sub when we're chasing the match.

I would disagree pretty strongly and also point out that their favored positions are what I listed.

I want them where they're most comfortable. for santi that's outside coming in and vice versa for özil.

1) i think gnabry provides more width than he's given credit for. he's our best width option there (sans Monreal out wide) atm.

2) poldi contributes nothing if he doesn't score a goal. maybe that's harsh, but i really don't like watching him play. gnabry defends well and contributes in multiple phases. i just can't take much more of him in a starting role. he makes me so mad. love him as a super sub if we're chasing a goal, otherwise, i'm fine without him.

3) ozil needs to be the no. 10. it's shocking to me how many of you guys think he should go wide (especially since that means added defensive responsibilities).

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WHERE ARE THOU AARONNNNNN???????

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My man..

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He sucks on the defensive end, I'll admit that. Santi is better for that side. I just think offensively we lose something when Santi is out wide. I think the drop off between putting Santi out wide and having Ozil inside is greater than the dropoff of having Ozil out wide (who IMO plays out wide much better than Santi and has done so for his previous clubs and for the German national team, at times).

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Well, we don't have strict positions anyway, so where they start is fairly unimportant, as long as we have someone somewhere providing width. Santi has been superb lately from the left, scoring 4 goals and assisting once, and he's played there for most of the last year, since moving there in January or thereabouts to allow room for the in-form Rosicky to take over at AM, at which point our form greatly improved last year.

Ozil works best when he moves from central positions outwide. If he starts out wide, then his focus becomes on beating his man, but teams insist on dropping whatever midfielder back to stop him from dribbling the defender. If he starts centrally, he can move wide when the wide defender is preoccupied with another player. He moves a lot to the right, since our right-sided player, Walcott, Ox, and Gnabry, often keep the width, which allows Ozil opportunities for one on one situations. He did this to great effect in the first Dortmund game, where he was isolated against Marcel Schmelzer. Ozil has struggled in recent games because he has very few forward passes to make, and thus has to rely on the one-two, which has a low likelihood of working.

Without Walcott, our best bet at creating chances has to come from the Santi-Ozil axis, as each can work well enough with Giroud, who is trying his best to be the focal point of this team, but looks like he needs a month long rest. Until Ramsey comes back, and until Ox moves into the RW, where he at least drives down the line with the ball, we are effectively using 20 yards of space to create chances. We won't have any counter-attacking goals, we won't be running at speed at the defense. We will have to have the most patient, possession oriented game because we simply don't have the players to create space.

This has long been a problem for me. We have to have more no. 10s on one team than any other team in the world. Someone has to run, which is what fricking pisses me off about Podolski, as his game is all about playing 1-2's 40 yards from goal, and then jogging to the 18 yard line, hoping for a chance to fall to him. I'd rather we straight up sell him this summer and buy an actual wide player. Hell, Gervinho would be an excellent option right now.

A possession game has to shape the other team, compressing them, and lengthening them at will. Though our team is superb at breaking down opposition, literally the best I've seen us at breaking down 10 men behind the ball, against good sides this just doesn't work. Walcott has developed into a superb runner off the ball, where he really showcases his early tutelage on the wing by using space so intelligently. My worry with Walcott is not that he will lose his speed, but he will lose his ability move in such a way as to take advantage of the threat of his speed. His movement in the Tottenham game was absolutely superb. He realized the CB's were playing off of him, so he moved in such a way as to give him space in front of them, but still with opportunities at goal.

We won't be able to use vertical space all that effectively the rest of the season, but hopefully we can continue our efficiency at breaking down opponents.

Why I really wanted Di Maria, Griezeman or Bernardo (I think that was his name? the little brazilian that we didn't buy because of third party ownership)

all of this.

we would be so much better if we had a navas or hazard who generally stayed wide and could threaten to stay wide and beat their man. santi and whoever else we play out there may start wide, but outside of the occasional gnabry or ozil trickery, we always pull it back and work it in. we don't need an out and out touchline winger, but we do need a threat to force defenders to respect us and allow us more space.

it just really sucks we have probably the best player in the world at creating chances when given space yet our system and personnel make for the least amount of space out of any big club.

Mesut is one of the best playmakers in the world in the middle. You DON'T play him wide.

And I'm tired of all this bullshite in the media ragging on him and asserting he's not a "world class" player.

He is. The entire team played like shite and Arsene coached like shite against Liverpool, so singling out Ozil in particular is ridiculous.

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His turn of form has come at the same time as Ramsey's injury

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Excellent observation. Ramsey was in the discussion of being player of the year before his injury. We just haven't looked the same since. Hopefully the Ox can replicate some of Ramsey's form. Need some type of result at home tomorrow.

No excuses, just execute.

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it's cool guys, sanogo is available tomorrow. our injury nightmare is over.

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We never wake up from the injury nightmare.