Match Day Thread Arsenal vs Watford - Matchthread

Bellerin vs Azpi is not the reason Chelsea are currently playing better football than us. They have an amazing centre midfield. We don't. It's better than it was with Torreira and potentially Guendouzi when he really finds his feet, but any team with Xhaka in the centre of the park is going to struggle because he's **** at football. We either need Guendouzi to mature VERY quickly or buy a top drawer centre midfielder that can dominate games. We've got the grafter in Torreira, now we just need a partner for him.

 

That's fine I dont agree with your assessment of most of the squad. You are overtly negative IMO.

He's not a 'winger' this is'nt 1994. You can play a forward in a wide position in this day and age. I personally prefer him down the middle but Lacazette deserves to play at the moment. Auba will still get 20-25 goals this Season even from a wide position. FAR exceeding what Willian will give Chelsea.

 

Ok well I think that your assessment of me is completely wrong, but if that's your view, then fair enough. I don't really care whether you find me overtly negative nor am I interested in trying to change your perception of me.

Except if you look at this average position on the pitch and see most of the spaces he's been taking up, we have not been playing to his strengths. Lacazette and Aubameyang need to be played closer together for them to be effective. In a 4-2-3-1, you need width. Aubameyang tries to give us that, but he isn't a natural wide player which is why he has been on the periphery of many games.

It's no coincidence at all that most of his goals this season have come from him taking up more central positions around the penalty area and running off the back of the last man.

 

Your point of view is errr... interesting. Chelsea's team is better than ours on the whole to me. I'm sure a lot of people will agree. The only debatables are LB and possible GK as I dunno much about their guy. We only win this debate up front (only if we count Hazard as a MF). Sarri has better tools to work with.

 

This is a myth. I have rarely seen him utilize this pace that is always spoken of. I have seen big lumps run past him much to my frustration. I'm sorry I don't buy this pace thing. Show it in games!

 

As a football fan who appreciates good players regardless of who they play for, it is surprising how under appreciated Azpilicueta is. He is one of Chelsea's best ever players. You think Monreal is consistent, Azpilicueta has been top notch since he walked into their first team. Anywhere across the backline he is solid.

F*ck Chelsea still!!!

 

I forgot to mention Monreal in the comparison - he has been one of the most consistent LB's in the league for a while.

I think Chelsea has a more complete squad whereas we have a few holes. Like I said I am arguing that the squads are comparable in terms of 'quality' I'm not saying we have the 'better' players. That just comes down to opinion.Also its funny how much form seems to alter peoples opinions - had Chelsea lost a few more games at the start of the Season, people wouldnt be hyping the side soo much.

I do think our midfield is better than given credit for being - particularly with the new additions. Torreira is top quality, Guendouzi has massive potential - his passing and tackling stats are fantatsic for a player his age. Then Ramsey, Mkhitarian, Ozil and AMN... The less said about Xhaka the better although he does look a better player in a Swiss shirt. Talking of Chelseas midfield I actually think it was better under Conte. Matic over Bakayoko and Jorginho all day for me.

Lacazette and Aubmayang is considerably better than Chelsea's forward options. In fact Giroud is Chelseas first choice striker and we know for a fact he wouldn't make our best 11.

 

This is the only debate we clearly win. We have a better collection of forwards.

Monreal vs Alonso is a toss up. Nacho edges it for me.

The Willian vs Auba argument is not a good one as it is apples v oranges. With our formation, Willian is the clear winner. We seriously need to figure out what we do with Auba. As far as I am concerned we've been playing with 10 men with him stuck out left. Maybe even 9 with Rambo and Ozil's ineffectiveness together. This is the only gripe I have with Emre.

I would have Toreira Xhaka Iwobi and Ozil in MF. With Auba and Lacazette up top. With Iwobi providing width on the left and Bellerin actually showing this 'pace' on the right. Toreira would be key for this to work. Auba and Laca's movement together would be devastating with supply from Ozil. Deep supply from Xhaka and Toreira ain't a shabby passer either.

 

Should also consider we have quality as backups in the fullback positions. Lichsteiner and Kolasinac are both strong candidates for the 1st team.

Hmm .. Its tricky. Very few teams play 2 up top anymore because it gets countered by crowding out of midfield.
In Italy teams sometimes go for a back three to counter that.- Allegri at Juve does this sometimes.

I want to see Laca and Auba swap positions a fluid front three like Emery used to go with at PSG. Mkhitarian comes in because Xhaka goes out. (for creativity)
Guendouzi and Torreira because we still look too open.

-------------------------Leno---------------------------
Beller-------Sokratis-----Mus/Kos------Monreal
---------Guendouzi------------Torreira-------------
-------------------------Ozil-----------------------------
--Mkhitarian-----Lacazette-----Aubameyang--

 

Bear, you still pining for a Torreira, Gendouzi defensive midfield, we will never get out of defence mate. They will pass it sideways all day. Might as well play six defenders. And forget the high press, those two don't press in the opponents half at all.

Honestly you seem to want Wenger back. If we play them we are not going to compete in midfield at all.

I really get that you don't like Xhaka, but if we don't play him we need to buy someone who can get the ball out the way Cazorla did. Personally, I don't like DMs as defensive as you. For me they have to be able to link up with the forward players. Just being good defensively isn't enough for me; least not both of them.

 

Really? I've obviously been watching different players. One of Guendouzi's strengths is that he is always looking to make a forward pass. Are you mixing him up with Elneny? Toreira like that little chip pass over the top too. He speeds up forward passes at the right time too. I don't know where you are getting this sideways thing from. I'm not even one all the way for the Toreira/Guendouzi combo. But it is not as bad as you are making it out. I think Xhaka is necessary he just needs to be quicker in thought for me.

 

They just don't play a long ball 25yds+ enough to beat the press, or even keep the press honest. It isn't always sideways, Torreira at least runs it out a bit, but obviously that is slower than passing it. Guendouzi is better than Torreira but if you look at whoscored for stats Xhaka is on 6+ per game and Guendouzi is on less than 4. Torreira is on just over 1.

He also gets the ball a lot more per game. One of the problems a lot of people have with Xhaka and Mustafi is that they make mistakes, but they are playing the ball often twice as much as the other players and sometimes it is the passes they get that are crap and cause the mistakes. It is also easier to be good at the defensive side of the ball if you don't contribute to the offensive side of the ball as much.

 

Not even remotely true..

Guendouzi is a decent passer (carries the ball forward well too) as is Torreira. Also at 19 and 22 between them they are developing. As a pairing they are more dynamic and offensive than say Kante and Matic (Chelsea) or Kante and Drinkwater (Leicester) two recent Premierleague winning midfields.

I never said Xhaka passes sideways (thats Elneny) - Xhaka just has no defensive discipline and cant tackle.

With Ozil and Mkhitarian there's more than enough creativity up at the top end of the pitch.