I would also drop Ramsey for this game and put Cazorla back in the CM position alongside the Coq. We missed Cazorla in that deep posistion. I would play both the Ox and Walcott on the wings, and hopefully they stretch the play and give Ozil and Cazolra more space to operate in, basically play a counter attacking game. Sit deeper to counter their pace, and then hit them with our speed.
Ramsey is far too inconsistent, he has good spells but we have more consistent and effective players in that position. I feel Cazorla offers more.
I was just baffled why we'd break up what was the nucleus of our resurgence last season. Last year we played Santi on the left and Aaron centrally and it was we played some dire football. It wasn't until we recalled Coquelin and played Santi alongside him that we started to find some form and consistency. Stick with what works dammit! In other news Hector and Alexis are back according to Arsene.
So early into the season, and this game's already become so important, should United win tonight, which they probably will, they always beat Villa, they'll already be 6 points above us, the same with City if they beat Chelski, and also if Liverpool win. Don't want to be going 6 points behind your rivals this early into the season and already start playing catch up.
Sorry but for me Santi needs to be left out. He's slowing us down, likes to keep the ball too much, spins with it a lot, dribbles when it's better to pass... I'd go with Theo and Alexis on the flanks, Giroud up front, Ozil behind him, and Ramsey, Coquelin in the middle.
You're having a laugh surely ? Cazorla is probably our best player, no way he can be left out of the team
As pissed off as I was at our defeat, let's put things into perspective. A very poor Man Utd has 6 points and unless they get a striker in, no one can consider them serious contenders. The two strongest contenders will take points off each other today. A draw would be ideal. So if we win and these circumstances stay the same, the opening season loss may not come back to haunt us. Let's just hope we don't slip up today. If we do lose however, serious questions will have to be asked.
Well you can look at it another way, which is certainly how we as Arsenal fans would if we were in United's position. Poor, but still maximum points, 2 wins out of 2, including a big home game VS a top 6 side in Spurs. I'd happily take that. And seeing as it's early in the season, you don't expect to see the best football as players are still coming into fitness, getting their sharpness back, so it's not so much about performance during the early weeks of the season, but simply getting the results, which is what United have done. At the end of the day, it's highly unfair to point out how poor United look when we looked even worse in our opening game, and LOST. At least they were poor and still won.
Oh don't get me wrong. Would I rather Arsenal were in the same position as Man Utd right now? Of course every fan would. But it's only week 2 of the season. Luck played a huge huge part for them. Long term, they may or may not start firing on all cylinders. I'm more confident in Arsenal's potential. Like I said, if we win today, we are just 3 points behind the leaders. Let's just hope this game will kickstart our season. It's not a case of us not being capable, the whole team need just pull their finger out of their arse. I'm expecting a huge response from Arsenal to atone for their abysmal first game of the season.
Anyone seen the team? Cech; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Ramsey; Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez; Giroud We have no natural width again apart from Sanchez, Ozil is out wide again. Ridiculous to leave out Oxlade Chamberlain & Walcott, in my opinion. I've said before that we need to stop shoehorning both Ozil and Cazorla in the side. One of them has to be dropped. We're going to get absolutely rinsed by Bolasie on the flanks. Not looking forward to this...
Again like last week playing without two proper wingers. Why is it so difficult to put Theo and Alexis on the pitch together.
Disappointed that Oxo isn't playing instead of Ramsey. It's a big risk to start Sanchez considering how little rest and pre-season he's had, and especially with the fact that it's essential he doesn't burn out this season.
I'm with you guys, I would have opted for Oxo or Walcott to give us width. Wenger is trying his best to accommodate both Ozil and Cazorla, even at the expense of making an unbalanced team. If he wants to play both then drop Caz deep (bench Ramsey) and Ozil as the main CAM. Walcott or OXO should be playing on the right wing and Sanchez put at his native LW spot. We have enough players to play in their correct positions, so there is no need to do this.
