Match Day Thread Arsenal vs Everton - Matchday Thread

If we go into that match believing we will be thrashed, we will have lost already even before we start. We need to show more belief and self confidence before these bigger fixtures. It was only a few seasons ago that Liverpool couldn't lay a glove on us home or away. I know we're far from the finished article but we have to start showing some bottle in the big games. The mentality is just as important as the tactics, etc.

 

5 wins on the bounce but none convincing so lots of work to be done especially in defence

 

Yeah hopefully that will come as he gets the side playing the way he wants.

I keep saying it but he needs to start Torreira and Guendouzi together.

 

Guendouzi will be an excellent player for us, he has all the attributes to be a success at the top level. But right now, he is not positionally disciplined enough. He's also given the ball away in dangerous areas in a couple of games.

If we play him against Liverpool, they will exploit his inexperience.

I don't think he'd be ready to start in a game of that magnitude.

I want to see how the Xhaka-Torreira partnerships goes. I'm not a big fan of Xhaka at all, but I think he plays a lot better when he's alongside Torreira. His distribution, technique and ball retention is far better than Guendouzi's currently. So I'd be willing to see how today's midfield axis develops.

 

I'd rather see Guendouzi and Torreira play against Liverpool. They are both new to Arsenal, but potentially they offer the perfect MF fulcrum. Torreira being the more disciplined DM and Guendouzi being more of a ranging box to box player. Xhaka doesn't really excel at anything, defensively he is poor and lets players run off of him, he misplaces passes and puts us on the back foot. Going forward he's okay, he keeps the ball moving, but isn't really that dynamic.

 

The only thing that worries me about Guendouzi and Torreira is neither one of them are willing to play a pass over 25 yards as much as Xhaka is. This immediately makes any press against us super-effective.

The thing that worries me about these players is they seem to be very risk averse and don't really want to do anything with the ball, which means we never get it out of defense. When Mustafi has thee times as many long balls (25yds+) as Torreira, and more than Guendouzi there is a problem. One of the problems we have is getting the ball forward to Ozil/Lacazette/Aubamayang fast enough.

Those 3 are making the runs, but while the rest of the team are dallying the ball around the back, the commentators are going to keep claiming that they are anonymous.

 

Guendouzi risk adverse ? If anything he's the opposite of that.

 

He may roam more than Xhaka (covers more ground). He's also better in the air, taller, quicker and at just 19 has WAY more potential.

Soo far this Season..(Sources: Opta via SofaScore.com and WhoScored.com)

Guen / Torreira / Xhaka

Accurate long balls: 4.6 / 2.7 / 6.3
Accu pass final 1/3: 6.9 / 14.3 / 16.8
Inaccurate passes: 5.6 / 7.1 / 13.1
Inaccurate short passes: 3.8 / 4.4 / 9.3
Innacurate long passes: 1.8 / 2.2 / 3.5
Tackles: 3.6 / 3.3 / 1.6
Total duels won 12.9 / 7.1 / 5.8
Ground duels won 7.2 / 7.1 / 3.7
Fouls comm 0.5 / 1.1 / 2.3
Fouls conceded 2.8 / 2.7 / 1.9

Defensively, they are both superior to Xhaka, far superior. Guendouzi in particular has been fantastic.. Look at how many duels Guendouzi wins every game, it’s crazy. Look at how many tackles Guendouzi and Torreira win. Xhaka is (we already know this) awful at tackles, more likely to foul than win the ball, and seemingly incapable of intercepting the ball.

Passing, Xhaka is best in a forawrd position but he also gives the ball away alot more than Guendouzi or Torreira – though they are caught in possession more often.. In fact, I think Arsenal would be objectively better with Xhaka off the pitch.

 

First of all, I'm glad you supported your points with statistics. Guendouzi's duels won, tackles and ground duels won is actually a lot more impressive than I realised. Didn't know he'd done that well.

However, I still think in terms of where he positions himself on the field and his propensity to gallivant forward will leave us exposed too often against a team like Liverpool. Xhaka has a lot of faults, but his passing is one of his strong suits and a lot of our transitions to attack actually come through him. I feel like if we're going to hurt Liverpool, we will need those forward passes and spreading of play to hurt them. Guendouzi is limited in that regard.

For a game like that, I still think Torreira and Xhaka is our most balanced partnership.

Just to reiterate though - if it was up to me, Xhaka wouldn't even be at the club. But we are where we are and he has looked okay alongside Torreira.

 

Problem is they are not in the team as defenders, so I don't give a crap about their defending. If we are going to play a back 6 we will lose every game. We need Monreal and particularly Bellerin to start defending, so Torreira and Gendouzi can play more aggressively when they have the ball at their feet, not just when they don't have the ball.

Also Xhaka has 2.3 Aerials won per game compared to Ghendouzi 0.4 and Torreira 0.3, so either you have been deceptive in the stats or you misunderstood them. There is no doubt that Xhaka does not commit to the tackle as much as the other two, and he gets beaten on the ground more, but in the air, he is a totally different class above them.

 

You know they call them 'defensive midfielders' for a reason right? It wouldnt be a back 6. Have you seen how high are fullbacks are playing? They are basically WB's.

I'm pretty sure I remember Chelsea quite recently winning the league with...

---------------------Courtoise----------------------
------------Luiz-----Cahill----Azp----------------
Moses-------Matic--------Kante--------Alonso

And your right Xhaka is better in the air. But I still think we will benefit massively from the extra stability a Torr/Guen combo. I dont think Emery is going to stop playing his fullbacks so high up the pitch(he has always done this) therefore I think we need players who will facilitate this.