Niether is Son a number 9 and as our goals are coming from many players now that Kane has gone we have managed without a top number 9 apart from Richarlison's renaissance. Putting Werner in that position rather than Son could gain us more than we lose but hopefully Richi will come back on the form prior to his latest injury.
I worry about that break because it's arguable that we could lose competitive edge through lack of games. Arsenal on the other hand will be finely tuned. Hopefully tiredness will negate their edge but I don't see that as a certainty.
Ange must think Son is a better number 9 than Werner and that Werner’s best position is on the left or I’m sure he would have tried Werner in the middle. I reckon Kulusevski would be a better option as centre forward than Werner
Yes that could be an option with Kulusevski. I am favouring Werner because he is robust in the tackle, he's big guy. Kulusevski is more skilful but more 10 than 9.
As I've posted elsewhere, Arsenal have 4 fixtures in that time, playing every 3 days. That's a hell of a lot of football to have to play before arguably their hardest remaining fixture. With a number of players nursing knocks and injuries, I think the break could be useful.
I think we should be seriously considering signing Werner at this point. The price is very affordable and he considerably raises the floor of the squad. We should absolutely be looking for another winger in addition though, one who raises the ceiling. He’s always going to have some comical moments with finishing but he’s been one of our best performers since he joined in January and he’s a great fit for both the character and playing style of the group.
Speaking from personal experience having had to play City and Liverpool over the last few years when they were in a similar situation (i.e. we had early exits from the cups and they had gone deep in all competitions), I would rather be playing every 3 days than have an extended break, particularly at the business end of the season. It allows you to maintain momentum and keep the run going to keep you sharp and competitive. We also have almost a fully fit squad currently bar Jurrien Timber. The thing is, if you lose to Newcastle on Saturday, the worst thing is to stew on that result for almost 2 weeks and then come back for a North London Derby where the pressure is amplified and you're slightly out of sync in terms of match readiness. I guess time will tell, but I don't necessarily think it's a good thing that you have a break during crunch time.
Yup, fully agree with this! Hopefully Arsenal won’t have any momentum due to losing a game somewhere and that we win against Newcastle!
A two week break feels like a lot as you say. Ideally we’d have a game that interim weekend. I’m sure the club will have plans though, I think we set up some sort of internal fixture in the past to try and keep players sharp. But far better to be in a rhythm of competitive matches. Even with a couple of key players looking a bit leggy, particularly Maddison, I’d rather have them playing once a week
I'm sorry, but you've missed the obvious difference between the two. Danilo speaks Portuguese and Bissouma doesn't.
Regardless of what you think of it, how is the Maddison/Yates thing it's own story? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68758075 The BBC need to sack some of the filth they've got on staff.
Judging by the amount of time they spent focussing on it on MotD2 and those sanctimonious cretins Murphy and Deeney, they were always going to run with it online. And as I said, not a mention of the fact that Yates should have been sent off before that and that the ott on Lo Celso was (if consistent) another red.
Yates should also have been sent off for that incident, as he did the VAR gesture. Maddison was stupid to get involved, but Yates should've been sent off in both of our games. People whacking Bentancur's ankles is also getting very tedious.
All angles clip of van de Ven's goal: Notable that we've got a player near the penalty spot as he scores and it's Romero!
