Yesterday our midfield left massive gaps that exposed our defense many times over. We were fortunatel that Jenks and Nacho (second half) had good games and Villa were not so good upfront. We need to plug that gap up asap as we have Spurs and Bayern, with better forward players that will punish us.
I saw a lot to give me reason for concern about young Nacho yesterday. I hope it was just a bad day at the office, if not we will also have to look at buying a new LB in the Summer. I still think we definitely need: GK - snoozey needs some pressure put on him RB - assuming Bacary is off CB - Still not sure of our best combo tbh, but TV has always been overrated & Kos blows hot & cold. We should spend big in this area DM - 2 would be very nice Might need: LB - Gibbs breaks too easily and Nacho worries me (at the moment) I haven't listed a FWD as I think Pod can still come good and play a more central role. I also think we have only seen a fraction of what Giroud is able to provide and have every confidence in him having a blinding 2nd season for us. All that said, AW could be replaced in the summer and our new manager may decide to revert to a steady 4-4-2 which would throw everything up in the air! However you look at it, we need to spread that £70m very thinly.
It wasnt just Monreal, it was stupid to have both full backs attacking at the same time and no DM against a counter attacking team
I hear that, but Villa repeatedly counter attacked very wide down our left flank and each time, Nacho was found to be a 3rd of the way across the park. Like I said, I hope it was just one of those days for him.
I would give Monreal the benefit of the doubt as he's only played a few games and is still getting used to the P.L.
Sometimes we were out numbered at the back 4 v 3, or 3 v 3. Not acceptable against a team with fast attacking players. We took needless risks and invited them to counter us.
The team where over-enthusiastic about going forward but i should imagine that has something to do with there desire to get a win following a couple of poor results. Monreal is known for being very steady and only going forward at the right times so i wouldn't read too much into one game. He is adapting to the league and i think he looks a quality player, he did set up our second goal as well. I think along with Gibbs we have good options at LB and won't need to sign anyone for that position in the summer. And i trust that with £70mil Wenger would get us some fantastic players.
Why would it be Monreal's fault that he suddenly decided to get forward more? Seems as though Wenger expected Villa to park the bus, and told the full backs to get forward. Why else would Monreal change his play for this game?
My point is that when he was back, he was too far in field all too often. I'm not sure why he kept letting their man have so much room out on the line time after time? Anyway, like I said, hopefully it was just one bad game for him.
Considering he got the crucial assist for the second goal, and he wasn't directly at fault for Villa's goal, I thought his play was at least "effective".
I am still amazed at what appears to be the collective "wisdom" on our performance during this game. Seriously, is that really people's own thoughts on the game?
Interesting. Personally I think, The areas we need to stregthen are. 1. GK - Chesney needs some competition. We need some experience here. 2. DM - A 'traditional' combatative defensive midfielder. 3. CF - We have lots of forwards and our midfield trio create a TON of chances but to me its clear we need a TOP quality finisher. Our goals/chances ratio is terrible. The worst in the top 6. 4.CB - Would love an old fashioned 'destoyer'. We are being linked to Torino's Angelo Ogbonna who could be a great option. Matt Hummels would be the ideal signing but would cost a small fortune. One of the main things is that we need to clear 6-7 players off our books to make way for new signings.
What are you getting at exactly? With the type of chances we gave them this should have been considered a loss against a mid-table team (or better). Just as I point out when we played well despite losing (or drawing) this is a very clear case of winning more due to the weakness of the opponent than what we displayed as a team.
They didn't have any chances! They scored on a mis-hit shot from 25 yards that swerved late and deceived the keeper! Apart from that they had two speculative shots that any keeper playing at this level should save. Do you honestly expect to hold another PL team chanceless for the ENTIRE game. Can you cite a game played by any other team ever where the opposition was held to 3 chances worse than the 3 Arsenal gave up against Aston Villa. I'm being totally serious. I don't think I have ever watched a PL game where a defence dominated a game more than we did against Aston Villa and gave up fewer or worse chances.
Hate to say it but wow. Never seen those kind of stats before. They must have played a near perfect possession game or Blackburn were utter dross.
It was more of the later. Spurs were hardly playing great football at that time after their epic collapse, and Blackburn basically settled for a 2-0 defeat. Classic Steve Kean.
