Here he is, Jonathan Blaustein, filing his monthly thoughts on what has gone on at The Arsenal through October ( follow @jblauphoto). Enjoy!
It’s Wednesday afternoon.
November 4th.
And we still don’t know who’ll be the next President of the United States.
Sure, it looks like it will be Joe Biden, (thank god,) but no one knows anything for sure yet.
Biden had a decent playbook, IMO, and he stuck with it.
Basically, when your opponent is a total nutter who constantly says crazy nonsense, leave him alone to self-destruct.
I know people have been waiting for Trump to shit the bed for 4 years now, and unless he left fecal stains on the hospital sheets at Walter Reed, he has thus far managed to avoid any accountability for his actions these last 4 years. (Which felt like 40.)
But regardless of whether Biden wins or not, I respect his strategy, because it was based on reality. He did not kid himself into trying to out-comedy Trump, or out insult him. (Though calling him a clown must have felt really good.)
He understood that you can’t necessarily beat someone at their own game, so you have to be honest about what you’re good at, get the win, and then build things out from there.
Given this is an Arsenal column, please allow me to make the ungraceful transition you’ve been waiting for, and get my thoughts focused on English Football, rather than American politics.
I’m back this season with a monthly column, and while my take on AFC is very in-line with Pedro’s, (which is why he lets me do this,) writing once a month provides a very different perspective than every day.
It allows me to look at the bigger picture, rather than the day-to-day grind.
So why did I open with Biden’s strategy?
Because I think there is a huge crossover with what Mikel Arteta has done with Arsenal in just under a year.
Think back to how bad you felt, this time in 2019, with Unai Emery shitting the bed every week, (that visual never gets old,) and then Freddie L coming in to clean up the mess, but not having the goods to keep the big job.
Arsenal were in an epic crisis, with respect to the club’s history.
It was that bad.
We all know how well Arteta has patched up the holes in the wall, and the FA Cup and Community Shield trophies bought him a ton of street cred with (most of) the fans.
Yes, we love ourselves some Arteta here at LeGrove, but with good reason.
The dude is a baller.
This month, I want to focus on the main thing he did to re-focus the team’s strategy, which has rubbed some people the wrong way.
Lately, Pedro has been referring to Arsenal as “Atletico-lite” and I think that’s exactly the right call, but of course Arsenal fans want the beautiful football that Arsene promised.
I think much of the fan-base believes that playing like Simeone’s squad, rather than going for the City/Liverpool/Bayern/Real Madrid approach is beneath us.
It’s not the right kind of winning. (Or, sometimes, not losing.)
I admit, I fell in love with this club during the 2011-12 season, and there was so much free-flowing football, with RVP smashing them in from every angle, and Alex Song lifting perfect passes over the locked defences we always faced.
All attack, all the time.
Like the Mike D’Antoni Suns.
Over here in America, though, there is an old saying: Defence wins championships.
It’s taken as gospel, and the very best teams, like this year’s LeBron James Lakers, or many of Tom Brady’s best Patriot teams, were good enough to have a killer D and plenty of O.
But what about Arsenal?
Just because we owned some of the aughts, and used to slug it out with Man United in a Big 2, people think the Invincibles will always be coming back, if we try hard enough.
The landscape has changed, though, and it might be permanent.
Arsenal will never be able to spend with Man City, Chelsea or Man United, and it’s unlikely we’ll be as well-run, top to bottom, as Liverpool.
We all saw how year after year, Arsenal got shredded by the Top 4 clubs when we tried to play open football against them.
They have the money, they have the infrastructure, (except for United, who may be hiring Pochettino,) and they have a big lead in confidence as well, having all won titles far more recently than we have. (As did Leicester, remember.)
So why not create a team that can lock down the defence, and play on the counter against the “bigger” teams?
It’s the smart play, and I’m glad Arteta went that way.
Thomas Partey and Gabriel have been huge, obviously, but as I wrote in my last column, it’s been a sea change of getting buy-in from the whole team, which now defends front to back.
Alex Lacazette won player of the year in 2018-19 because he was a hard-working, harrying bastard, not because he scored 30 goals.
Aubameyang is a super-star with a work-rate, so it makes sense to build around that.
Mesut Ozil likes tracking back about as much as he likes carjackers, so off he went.
It all makes sense.
I know you want to see more creativity right now, but I don’t think there is one saviour-type who’s coming in this season. (Maybe next summer, but only maybe.)
Rather than creativity, I think we need precision.
So Arteta’s next move will be to work more and more on the training ground, with respect to final third passing.
In my opinion, it’s our Achilles heel. (Though things were better against United and Leicester, despite the poor finishing.)
In this first year of MA’s reign, we’ve seen nice, clinical finishing, but the passing accuracy on the final ball is so often off by 2-5 feet.
I’m not sure if that’s choking, as I think endless repetition of triangles and one-twos will allow improvement. Which will allow us to consistently score on the teams that do park the bus.
And if Arteta is fabulously successful, and the wins and money flow, then, (and only then,) might he try to emulate Pep’s Man City style more.
Because while some people have been surprised that we don’t play more like Man City, I haven’t.
They buy who they want, when they want, and we’re frankly not in the same financial bracket.
Finally, though, we have a coach who doesn’t set his team up for glorious failure.
I’ll take it.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Not bad, Marc. Not bad. 👏
ES Since lockdown Ceballos has been our best midfielder, far better than Xhaka in every aspect of the game, both in defence and attacking stats, not sure how you reach the conclusion that Xhaka is ahead of him in the pecking order? Been evident since the start of the season that Xhaka is getting phased out, long may it continue. Willock has been good in the last 2 games, but he was also very good last season in the cups and disappeared as soon as he was played in the PL, maybe he’s ready now but Arteta doesn’t seem to… Read more »
Joe Willock can be quite useful against low block. He runs everywhere and can score goal.
Hell no Rich
At the start of this season you were adamant Xhaka is our best midfielder too.
Did Pepe win a single take-on in the first half?
Also, Pepe has to stop taking corners.
Pepe’s a bit of an anomaly reminds me of Walcott in regard to having that keen ability to be shit over the course of 90 but come out with a very nice goal, assist or match effecting moment.
But never the total package…. at least not yet.
Willock would still be lacking in a midfield two in a high intensity match.
But as an AM in a midfield three he could be given another chance.
No idea whether he takes that chance this time. He didn’t take his chances in the higher end games last time.
Tonight’s performance was a result of Sundays game. Players on the periphery watched that and upped their game.. Winning breeds winning.
Agreed Sal. I remember being super frustrated that just when it seemed like he was finally getting phased out he’d grab a goal and save himself.
Marc 😂
Pepe has forgotten how to beat a player.
What’s happened to his quick feet and his little tricks, no nutmegs …..nothing
Pepe seems to be either awful or brilliant even in the space of 5 mins in a game, but mainly more of the former…
Freddy Ljungberg What exactly does Ceballos offer to a team aspiring for a top 4 finish in EPL? Okay he is neat and technically competent, but he is not remotely in the same league as Partey and I am fairly sure Arsenal will be looking for a top class creative midfielder, which Ceballos is not. As I pointed out this morning Ceballos is no better than a bench player if Arsenal aspire to finish in top 4 in EPL and play next season in Champions League. Ceballos is not a player who will want to sit on bench and I… Read more »
Nice to see Ceballos driving forward with the ball, would like to see more of that…played well
Ish
“Willock would still be lacking in a midfield two”
Willock shouldn’t play in a midfield two. His strength is running around in the opponent’s half and scores goal. He can’t play DM.
Be interesting to see how arteta is going to juggle the latter stages of the europa league and premiership if he is in a shout for 4th. Which will he prioritise?
Inaccurate corners have been a recurring problem for some time.
ES
I’m not advocating we should buy him, he’s still clearly a much better player than Xhaka though.
He’s a bit more than neat and tidy too, been great defensively and is one if the few players we have that can play penetrating passes through the middle.
If we sell Xhaka, which we absolutely should, we only have Partey and Elneny for 2 CM spots so we’ll have to buy 2 players there, I won’t complain too much if Ceballos is one of them but not my first choice.
ES People may not disagree with you that Ceballos overall may not be worth buying in the long run. Many though see him as a handy player. Where people will definitely disagree with you though is rating Xhaka and Willock ahead of him for central midfield. Willock is not capable atm to play in a midfield two in a high end intensity match. Possibly midfield three as AM but not in a midfield two in the higher end games. Many of your posts are too determined on what recent result Arsenal have got. You recently slagged Xhaka off after a… Read more »
Pepe is a good sniper. He can score from inside or outside of the box. How can we fit him in? He is quite useless on the sideline.
Nelson
I see Arsenal playing in future with 4-3-3 formation assuming that we recruit an attacking
midfielder such as Aouar.
Frankly I don’t see a role in starting X1 for Ceballos, which is why I don’t see him staying at Arsenal beyond this season.
Others may of course have a different perspective.
Ishola 70
I did not suggest that I rated Xhaka and Willock were better than Ceballos.
What I said is that in the current 3-4-3 format I think that Elneny and Xhaka will be selected
ahead of him to play alongside Partey.
Also I don’t see him staying longterm at club as a bench player. Both Willock and Xhaka are
more likely to accept that role.
If I’m hearing correctly & The Boz has a release clause of only €25 million eur0 we’d better be nipping over to Red bull sharpish to get him tied up before anyone else gets a sniff.He’s a steal at that price & well worth a punt.Make it happen special sauce!
Arteta made a slight tweak to the midfield in the 2nd half moving Xhaka into a more central holding position which gave Ceballos more license to drive forward and for wiĺlock to play more as a CAM.. In the first half xhaka was doing his left back thing and it meant Ceballos was restricted in centre mid and willock was also restricted playing in the right channel. By giving Willock the freedom to roam , we saw what a dangerous player he can be , popping up all along the front line, he had a hand in all 4 goals… Read more »
ES
I hope you are way off in thinking that Arteta sees Xhaka and Willock ahead of Ceballos in the pecking order.
We must have midfielders that engage the middle of the park.
Xhaka can’t. Willock not good enough yet bang in the middle of the pitch.
Anyway, I think we should sell Pepe.
I don’t think he will crack on at this club, I still think he has great talent but I don’t think he is acclimatising well to England. His confidence is absolutely shot too.
When we sell him he’ll probably have a boost to his own performances but I don’t think we’re going to see it consistently with us.
We absolutely need a right winger who can stretch play, beat his man, play inside and outside and win games.
Any suggestions?
Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson have a good friendship, you think he’s worth a punt?
As said before there can be a scenario in the midfield where Willock could be seen as being picked ahead of Ceballos and that would be in a midfield three and Willock playing as advanced AM.
Actual central midfield though it’s Ceballos over Willock all day.
As much as I like ceballos and hate xhaka, there is no future in the midfield for either of them. I can see the way forward of having two athletic midfielders who can do a bit of everything and a creative force in front of them.
Should we go for Richarlison?
Kaz Last season when our other options were Guendouzi 20 Willock 20 Torreira 23 Ceballos 23 (first season) Xhaka 27 Xhaka was our best available central midfield option, and at the start of last season, he had more experience than the other 4 combined. Statistically in 2018/19 and 2019/20, our win rate with Xhaka, was significantly higher with him, than without him, but that likely said more about our other options, than it did about Xhaka’s overall quality. This season we have Partey 27 Elneny 28 Xhaka 28 Ceballos 24 (second season, beginning to really kick on) We now have… Read more »
Pierre
“A good tactical move from Artea.”
That would not have been necessary if not for having a midfielder doing his “left back thing” in the first place.
Rich, that’s simply not true.
He wasn’t our best midfielder, Ozil was. But you aren’t talking about ability are you?
Guendozi was playing better than Xhaka. On a game by game basis, but you aren’t talking about performances are you?
A large number of the fanbase was on Xhaka’s case last year too for being awful.
Hence all the booing at his shite performances and constant mistakes leading to pressure leading to goals.
I don’t hate Xhaka with all my being, but a good bit of it. He’s a squad player and has a decent long ball and as you say, a solid professional. He’s obviously well-liked by his teammates. He takes two touches too frequently and does not make good quick decisions. He requires too much space and time for the league. Think he’d stroke them around in Italy.
Mo made two defense-splitting passes in the first 2 minutes he was on the pitch. It’s almost like he’s already absorbing Partey’s protagonism. (Sorry to use a Unai curse word.)
Good win, and a job done but I’m sorry we definitely need someone better than Leno!
Kaz “Anyway, I think we should sell Pepe.I don’t think he will crack on at this club, I still think he has great talent but I don’t think he is acclimatising well to England. His confidence is absolutely shot too.” He’s become a shadow of the player he was when he first arrived. His very first game , away to liverpool , he caused the liverpool back line all sorts of problems. He used to be able to skin a player and leave them for dead…not now.. It is the manager’s job to get th best out of his players… Read more »
Kaz Ozil isn’t a centre mid, and it’s clear he’s been on the slide since the first half of the 2015/16 season. I like Guendouzi and Torreira, and they’re both at ages where they could develop into better players than Xhaka, but Xhaka’s experience over the past two seasons has been vital. All the statistics back that up, you don’t get away with playing a 19/20 + 22/23 central midfield partnership in the PL, and we’ve struggled badly every time we’ve tried. Coming up against Grealish and Barkley on Sunday, you’d have to think we’re going to go with the… Read more »
You could tell within the first few games Pepe was raw, but he still pumped out 10 goals and 8 assists last season. He’s got 3 goals and 2 assists already this season. In possession he reminds me a bit of Alexis: One footed Gives away the ball a lot Match winner Unfortunately off the ball he provides nowhere near the aggression or intensity of Alexis. But he’s still only 25, and was a late developer, this season he just needs to improve his all around game, get a better understanding of what Arteta wants from him, improve his on… Read more »
Rich
Do you have Xhaka’s match stats on hand as you did Ceballos?
In my assessment as I expressed on several occasions recently Arsenal have SEVEN players who if fit are now guaranteed a place in our starting X1. These are LENO GABRIEL BELLERIN TIERNEY PARTEY SAKA AUBAMEYANG That does not mean that I think that all these players are “world class”. Leno secures a place in the list because there is currently no competition in goalkeeper position. Currently there are 4 positions in the team where we have players who are either not good enough or where there is competition. We need at moment: RCB Those competing are Holding, Luiz and Mustafi.… Read more »
Rich…
Man Utd used to have a midfielder who made quite a lot of appearances and was part of many title winning sides but was absolutely wank too. His name was Anderson.
You would be arguing how he was a good player because he’s experienced and stats are backing that he’s been in winning sides.
Xhaka was NOT our best midfield option last season, regardless of what you say.
A £72m player should be a superstar not someone who is still learning the game
@Pierre
I wish a loan spell would fix him but I don’t see the club doing it and I don’t think it would sort him out to be honest. I too have noticed the decline in him and it’s a shame really.
Who do you think we should look at in the summer then?
I wish all fans could read and think like this. Really Nice collum, I like the positivity Arteta has brought to Arsenal, and I like the fact that you guys are spreading it. Am convinced Arsenal is on the right track, even though there will be bumps on the way, we’re surely heading to the top.
LENO – The worrying thing is him starting every game.
GABRIEL – Should of been sent off against Man Utd.
BELLERIN – His best days are behind him.
TIERNEY – Future Captain.
PARTEY – Average player made to look better because of shortage of talent.
SAKA – Too early to say on whether he becomes a club legend.
AUBAMEYANG – He’s milking Arsenal dry.
Pretty negative assessment Calypso. My take: LENO – Agreed GABRIEL – I’ve been impressed by how quickly he has adjusted to pace of EPL. There will be hiccups, but is showing real promise BELLERIN – I thought the same but I have thought in recent performances he is starting to look more like his old self again TIERNEY – Agreed PARTEY – Clearly not average. I’m not buying into him being the second coming just yet, but he is well above average. SAKA – Agreed. Young, so you have to expect bad performances now and then but when he’s good… Read more »
Bellerin has played much better the past few weeks. Calypso is never a ray of sunshine, Dan, but I do occasionally appreciate his raw assessments.
We can do without the comments about the senile old man who might be President because our real enemy China loosed a plague on the world to get back at Trump for standing up to them.
Montana – That’s why I read this blog and comments. I love all the different opinions. I can’t say I agree with a lot of them, but it’s still fun to read!
I’m cautiously optimistic about what is happening at the moment though. The majority of players seem to be improving under Arteta. We have a clear game plan at the moment and a defensive stability that we have been crying out for for the last 12+ years.
I’m hoping the extreme negativity of our performances is short-term though. We have been spoilt over the years with attacking football and I’m hoping that once we have a stable foundation to build on then we will start to get more aggressive in our forward play again.
Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson have a good friendship, you think he’s worth a punt?
That would be amazing but we would have to pay half of it with a Pepe sale and I don’t think we would get that much for him.
If we make the champs league then we would need another big player like that especially to replace Pepe who has not looked good since he’s been here.
Happy for the win, but why were 1st 11 players, such as Saka, Elneny and Tierney risked?
Some observations:
Nkethia either needs to be loaned out once again or sold in January to help fund an AM.
Pepe looks better in a free role from left to right.
Willian was a very poor Arteta signing.
Where was Bolagun? He should be given minutes now NKethia has had more than his skills/ability deserved.
Willock looked better today and far better than Nkethia.
Why no minutes for Nelson?
Tony-
How’s it goin?
Nelson was injured. Minor knee injury. Otherwise I agree with all your other observations.
The rumor is Balogun doesn’t want to sign a new contract with Arsenal.. and therefore they don’t want to put any effort into developing him when he is leaving on a free this summer most likely.. but I don’t know the inside truth about it, doubt anyone does.
Don’t get the pepe hate on le grove, willian is performing worse than pepe and with lesser end product, where is the player we saw against fulham on opening day?
Pepe has to work harder but he’s not helped by a manager who is not playing to his strengths.
Great win last night but why was leno in goal? Balogun should replace nketiah and nelson should have been sent on as well.
Lmao, just read tonys comment and I basically just wrote what he wrote.
When will Partey and Elneny be off to the AFCON?
Nelson should be sold before Nketiah
Im telling you for free!
Hey Middy All good here, thanks. Hope likewise for you. Feel for you guys with the elections and possible fall out after. Thanks for the update re Nelson. The match was 2am for me so caught it this morning having stayed away from any press on the game or Arsenal. I heard the Bolagun rumour but as he got some minutes in the last Europa game, I thought he’d be considered for last night’s game. Surely if h (Bolagun) is decent but raw, we should be giving him 1st team minutes as Nketiah seems to be not of the level… Read more »
Gabs is not showing promise, he’s already delivering the goods.
For those who rate Ceballos as a better prospect than Willock here are some interesting comparative stats over last 2 seasons. For the record both are classified as Central Midfielders. Ceballos [age 24] 2019/20 EPL P24 GS0 A2 Mins 1,699 EL P6 GS1 A0 Mins 310 FAC P5 GS1 A1 Mins 296 EFL P2 GS0 A0 Mins 37 ———————————————— Total P37 GS2 A3 Mins 2,342 2020/1 EPL P6 GS0 A1 Mins 392 EL P2 GS0 A0 Mins 109 EFL P2 GS0 A0 Mins 80 ——————————————— Total P10 GS0 A1 Mins 581 Willock [age 21] 2019/20 EPL P29 GS1 A1 Mins840… Read more »
Tony
I have watched all the games played by Nketiah this season and in my view his performances have been fairly woeful. Unless the ball is directly a few feet in front of goal the likelihood of him scoring is minimal.
Yesterday he was constantly out of position when there was a cross. He may perform for
England U21, but frankly he has done very little for us.
I would certainly like to see Balogun given a chance to show what he can do, because I doubt
that he can be worse.
Correction Willock is now 1.86M tall.
ET Ceballos is more of a ball progressor and recycler, a bit like Jorginho but can also carry the ball upfield and play good through passes once in a while. + He also puts up very good defensive numbers ( a very underappreciated aspect of his game) Willock is more of a Ramsey type. His biggest strength imo is his ability to pop up in dangerous positions in and around the box. He still needs a lot of work on his finishing but his late runs always cause problems and he is much more of a physical presence than Ceballos.… Read more »
It is chicken and egg with Balogun. If we don’t start giving him playing time, he isn’t likely to sign a new contract. Nketiah is piss poor and we need to move on to find a new striker. We made the scandalous decision to sell Sam Greenwood this summer, so the only attacker we have of note left is Balogun.
From the player’s POV you’d think he would see a big opportunity here with such poor competition ahead of him at the moment (Nketiah and Lacazette) and the lack of funds to go out and buy a top CF.
Willocks stats are better than the hyped Soumare
Im telling you for free!
Captain Tierney
I accept the points you make to an extent, but Ceballos is now competing with Partey in the
role he plays in team.
What Arsenal needs at the moment is a more creative player with end product and Willock
is more suited to that role. Willock is also a much better physical specimen.
Sooner or later I believe that Arteta will switch to 4-3-3 from 3-4-3 and that will open up a
role for a more offensive midfield player in team.
A Jorginho type is the last thing this team needs, which means Willock is more useful than Ceb.
Not sure I agree about Pepe in decline. He hasn’t reached the heights at Arsenal from which he can decline. If he had come from our academy we all would be requesting his transfer out. I just think we have an expensive did on our hands.
Willock should change his name to N’jo Wiloko and add some tan
ES
Agree with all your points re Nketiah.
Thought Pepe is more of a threat on the old inside left position. Problem is Auba likes to cut in from the left in that space, so Arteta needs to work something g out between the 2 to work together,.
I don’t think Pepe is suited the the right wing, do you?
CT
“Both play different roles in the team.”
That would be my perception as well.
Definitely we should progress with Willock with more game time and equally Ceballos; however, will have to see next summer if a better player/option is available other than buying Ceballos because I can’t see RM being fair about Ceballos’s price if we want to buy him.
Maybe we can loan Ceballos again until he’s out of contract or in his last year.
Good run out for the 2nd string team last night. Pepe did okay. On a side note, wtf was Arteta wearing??
Northbanker
“From the player’s POV you’d think he would see a big opportunity here with such poor competition ahead of him at the moment (Nketiah and Lacazette) and the lack of funds to go out and buy a top CF.”
From the fans POV also – certainly the way I think.
Situations like this you have to wonder about Arteta, Edu and Vinai and ask the question why Nketiah keeps getting minutes ahead of others including trying Pepe in that position.
I accept that Arteta is going to make mistakes but His repeating them is what frustrates me.
Kaz
Xhaka was our most important central midfielder last season.
Our win rate with Xhaka was over 50% higher when he played 90mins, than when he didn’t play 90 mins.
Emirates stroller
I like both Willock + Ceballos,, but they’re two entirely different players.
Willock’s more of a Ramsey, Deli Ali type, who provides direct running and penetration.
Ceballos is more of an orchestrator, wants the game played in front of him.
Champagne Charlie
Xhaka
80mins
80 passes
93.8% pass completion
7 long balls
2 tackles
2 interceptions
1 clearance
1 arial duel won
No dribbles
ET If we switch to a three man midfield then that definitely calls for Willock to get more chances. But I dont think Willock is ready to play in a double pivot in the PL. We play with two disciplined midfielders in our current formation of 3-4-3 i.e Partey + Elneny/Xhaka/Ceballos. The attacking impetus is usually added by striker dropping deep, Saka who drifts inside to become the third midfielder when we have the ball, Bellerin under/overlapping and Luiz playing over the top balls when to Auba. Arteta currently favors defensive solidity over creative fluidity and thats why Willock wont… Read more »
Rich that stat is nonsense we didn’t win those games with Xhaka playing because of him, we won them despite him playing.
Find me the stats for our wins without an Auba goal or assist that would be a more accurate representation of our team last season.
Tony Yes I think that Pepe is not a natural winger and better suited to playing more centrally. As I posted previously there are similarities between him and Walcott who struggled also to beat the opponent when playing on wing. Captain Tierney Sooner or later I think that Arsenal will play a 4-3-3 combination particularly if they are recruiting someone like Aouar. The point I am making is that Willock is far more offensive and creative than Ceballos. One of the criticisms directed at the midfield under both Emery and Arteta is that our midfield has been exceedingly unproductive in… Read more »
Nice to Joe Willy doing his thing last night.. very promising! I have to be honest I didn’t know what his strengths were until his performances in EL this year.. anybody else given up on Pepe yet? Agreed he had another well taken goal and assist last night but the rest of his game is well below par. Sad to slate a player after a goal and an assist but I don’t think it outweighs the rest of the shoddiness
ES We need midfielders that can play in tandem with Partey as this will bring the best out of him. Elneny has already shown that he can do this and Ceballos looking at his style of play is another candidate that can do this. Willock would not be able to do this at this time and Xhaka is not capable to mix it with opposition players in the middle of the park. In this aspect both Elneny and Ceballos become midfielders that would be seen as valuable at this time in bringing the best out of our most highly rated… Read more »
Complete shit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZrVeR9w16s
ET Ceballos is a central midfielder. Same type of player as Xhaka but better imo. And he sure isn’t as bad as you think he is. Willock is not a creative force himself. You rarely see him playing a line breaking through pass or doing one touch interplays in tight areas. He is a penetrator and a goal threat. His late runs in the box provides more options to our attackers which in turn helps create chances. But he wont be solving our creativity issue. We need someone like Aoaur. A 4-3-3 with Partey at the base Aoaur and a… Read more »
Captain Tierney
Sorry but Xhaka is listed as a Defensive Midfielder and has a similar role in team as Elneny
when he plays. Yes of course he can also play Central Midfield as well.
As matters stand we have currently got 3 midfielders on the books who can play in second
slot alongside Partey. I rank Ceballos third choice behind Elneny and Xhaka who are better
defensively.
ES
We need a midfielder that can play in tandem with Partey in central midfield. That can occupy central midfield with him.
Xhaka is not capable of this. This is why we see him dropping deep and wide so many times in matches.
I thought you would have realised this by now as you have had more than enough years of watching him.
ES
“Xhaka who are better
defensively.”
Absolutely nothing backs that up, all the stats say the opposite, and it’s overwhelmingly in Ceballos favour, not even close. Ceballos is also much better at progressing play.
Think Elneny gets the nod next to Partey against opposition that we expect to dominate us and Ceballos when we need more inventiveness from CM. Xhaka is relegated to the cups now and he’s barely good enough for that.
Kaz So we win significantly more when Xhaka has played, than when he hasn’t, but that’s in spite of him?….. If you think Torreira, Guendouzi, Ceballos were experienced enough to run our midfield last season? Then you know little about football, and paid no attention to our performances when Xhaka hasn’t played You can’t correctly claim that we’ve lacked dynamism and athleticism in the middle of the park, but then claim Torreira, Guendouzi and Ceballos provide more athleticism and dynamism in the middle of the park than Xhaka. Ceballos does release the ball much quicker than Xhaka, is more mobile,… Read more »
I mean Xhaka is better as a 4th CB than Ceballos because of his height but that’s pretty much it, hopefully we’ve gone away from playing like that with the additions of Partey and Gabriel though so it’s not needed, he’s still vulnerable there to any sort of quick or nimble players, and that’s with him getting the maximum protection we can afford him.
I said before I don’t want to see NFL plays any more from this side so much.
All this talk of laterals and breaking the lines with longer passes from deep.
We saw the benefits of actually playing some football in central midfield and with a partnership in that area against Manchester United. Central midfielders actually playing in tandem in the centre of the pitch.
All NFL plays will do is negate Partey.
ET
Ceballos is twice as good as Xhaka defensively. All the stats back that up. He is also much better at carrying the ball upfield.
What Xhaka has over Ceballos is his passing. And those numbers too have considerably decreased since Arteta’s arrival.
Xhaka for me is the 4th choice for the double pivot position now.
Partey 1st, Elneny 2nd (for now), Ceballos 3rd and Xhaka 4th.
In cup competitions tok Arteta has favoured Willock over Xhaka for the pivot position to allow him to develop more.
‘Not watching it but by all accounts it’s quite a poor performance.’
How exactly do you come to this opinion if you’re not watching it Ishola?
By reading the in game hyperbole of some emotional fanny rags?
SuperRob
“By reading the in game hyperbole of some emotional fanny rags?”
That was said at half time.
What’s your point Robbie boy?
Willock may not be ready to play as part of a double pivot against top teams but he can play that part against lesser teams because he has already done it for Arsenal with Guendouzi. Despite his skinny frame he has a lot more athleticism than Xhaka. He can receive on the half turn and drive forward, which is something than our Swiss captain can’t do. There is more to his game than making late run in the penalty box. Anyway I think that Arteta will switch to a 4-3-3 system. A more rigid 4-3-3 system than Liverpool, but that… Read more »
I don’t get the pepe hate,yes he lost the ball alot but at least he was trying to make things happen…Willian lost the ball like 10 times in the first half and he was useless. Infact Arteta’s pet child has been pretty useless since he came. On the set pieces is it really a pepe problem?I saw Willian taking some at OT and it was the same kind that pepe is roasted for,kicked straight at the nearpost. Maybe its tactical instructions from the new set piece guy?
Ishola
Maybe not comment on something you’re not even watching you wet wipe.
SuperRobbie
“Maybe not comment on something you’re not even watching you wet wipe.”
What’s all this bullshit?
Another super fan protector of the club?
It was generally said on other sites that the first half performance was not very good.
And you do realise that the game last night in terms of importance was low.
Now you can debate with other posters things of far greater importance and relevance.
Getting in silly spats with other posters regarding a Europa League match against Molde.
Come on sort it out Robbie boy.
You’re wasting your time and space on here commenting on something you’re not even watching. Its that simple.
Wasteman.