re: Arsenal 2016/2017 Season Long Thread: 13 time FA Cup Champs

Ox, Ramsey, and Wilshere all have some bad giveaways, but Ox is less likely to dribble himself into trouble, like Wilshere, or do the Hollywood pass/flick that we see from Ramsey. I've actually liked his decision making a lot, and I've been so impressed by his range of passing.

I wish we had him for Wednesday... But we do get Xhaka back which will help us a ton.

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Ox, Ramsey, and Wilshere all have some bad giveaways, but Ox is less likely to dribble himself into trouble, like Wilshere, or do the Hollywood pass/flick that we see from Ramsey. I've actually liked his decision making a lot, and I've been so impressed by his range of passing.

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I think it's also about fit, too. When we have a Xhaka who can be the dictating deep lying midfielder, we need a dribbler ahead of him, as well someone who can come back to the ball and turn quickly. That's why Xhaka-Ramsey works so well. Ramsey can fill some of the voids from Alexis' movements with his forward runs, but still work back to the ball for quick turns, and still do defensive work.

Ox has been excellent at quickly playing the ball into good spaces. He's a much better partner for Coquelin than Ramsey, but I think Ramsey and Xhaka remain our best pairing.

Ideally, I'd like to get away from the 4-2-3-1 and do something more defensively sound. A 4-3-3 with a midfield of, say, Xhaka-Ramsey-Ox or Xhaka-Ramsey-Jack or Xhaka-Jack-Ox would be fun to see, with Alexis up top and two pacey wingers wide.

It's why I'm kinda hoping we can sell Ozil for big bucks this offseason and try to buy a Greizman or Reus. I just don't think you can play an Ozil like player in the Prem and win anymore. There's a reason Cesc doesn't get in Chelsea's 11.

Anyway, my hopes for the Bayern 11:

Ospina
Bellerin-Mustafi-Kosc-Monreal (must've been rested for this game, I'd guess)
Xhaka-Elneny
Iwobi
Perez-Alexis-Welbeck

Ozil, Giroud, Walcott, Ox attacking options off the bench. Would be fine with Ox starting for Elneny, but I'd like to see a more defensive midfield set up on the road.



My best guess at what we actually put out

Ospina
Same Back Four
Xhaka-Elneny-Ox
Iwobi-Alexis-Ozil

Don't see Wenger dropping Ozil, but something similar to the 4-3-3 we started vs. Chelsea may be in his mind. You can also shift back to a 4-2-3-1 by moving Ox to a wing and popping Ozil at the No. 10 spot.

I definitely think he'll start Elneny, who he really trusts in European competition, as well as Xhaka. Would love to see Ox play advanced in a midfield three, as well.

Love all of it except I'd love Ox in for Iwobi and I'd want Walcott to start. Need to use our pace.

I don't know how Wenger (whoever the manager is next year) can go into the 2017/2018 season with Ramsey as planned starter for CM. He is liable to miss 3-4 weeks with a pulled hammy at any moment. When he does play, it's almost a coin flip of what Ramsey will show up. You may get the guy that was great 3-4 years ago, or you may get the guy that tries one too many flicks and gets caught out of position. So, if you were to look at any game on the calendar, what are the chances that you can rely on a strong Ramsey performance that day? I think the most important summer task, other than re-signing Alexis, is finding a partner for Xhaka in the middle.

Jack went off with injury

Ospina has done fine in the Champions league, and Cech isn't setting the world on fire right now. So, I'm completely fine with it. If Ospina can keep a clean sheet in Munich, maybe he can put some pressure on Wenger to start him in an EPL game.

Speaking of playing in Munich. Did it throw anyone else off when you realized we were playing in Munich first? I was so used to playing the home leg first because we have finished second in the group so many years in a row. It was a nice reminder that at least one thing has been different this season.

I'm so glad that we play the home leg second... We have a chance with that and Bayern diminished to pull off an upset.

I'm glad Ospina is getting the start honestly. I feel like he should get a good run and hopefully get a look in the league.
He was pretty good replacing Szczesny a couple years ago, and I feel like when we brought Cech in it wasn't really fair to him.

Now don't get me wrong, Cech was great last year, heck he won the golden glove. But he's getting older and he doesn't seem to be like Buffon where he gets better with age, but maybe it's just a temporary drop in form.

Big day today..