Loving the new formation

It's far far too early to be making any judgement calls about our formation. Middlesbrough are currently the worst performing side in the division , getting battered and tonked by even Hull and Bournemouth, and little separated us from them. And while we played well in the 2nd half yesterday, the 1st half is as bad as I've seen us and we were fortunate City weren't ruthless enough.

The weakness in this formation is Monreal doesn't quite have pace to stretch the opposition in tandem with Ox, and Ramsey and Xhaka lack the athleticism and physical presence to impose themselves in midfield.

I see our main problem on both flanks and of course in the creative midfield.

And while we played well in the 2nd half yesterday, the 1st half is as bad as I've seen us and we were fortunate City weren't ruthless enough.
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I think that's to be expected given how new and unprepared (despite what Wenger claims) the formation is. In the 1st half we seemed to play with a flat back 3 and the wingbacks were on the back foot too much, basically leaving us impotent and outnumbered elsewhere on the pitch. Ox and Monreal played much more aggressively after the break and Gabriel/Holding were much more adept at stepping out of defence and breaking the City lines. I thought we got to grips with the requirements of the formation remarkably quickly considering. Our equaliser was a textbook 'wingback formation' goal.

Pleasing stuff but I think Chelsea will be a whole new test with their tendency to attack with a front 5. Mourinho did well to blunt it with 6 at the back but I think our best bet will be to fight fire with fire and really limit the influence of their WBs with our own threat going the other way.

We improved after Giroud was subbed and Alexis went up front. Not a surprise because 3-4-3 needs a mobile striker. So its a bit of back to the future. A front 3 of Alexis-Walcott-Ozil is what worked last season and this season. In fact we were challenging for the title when those 3 were up front.

Although 3-4-3 has made us more sound defensively. Its because Coquelin and Eleneny have both gone backwards and have failed in protecting the back 4. Its not some miraculous change because the players are doing very similar things. (and not being that good at them which would have been reflected in the score line had Man City taken their chances).

Defensively I was amazed that Aguero could run from the halfway line for a one on one with the score at 0-0 early in the 2nd half. That is the sort of goal you get when you are behind and chasing the game late on.

This system still needs the same improvements as the old one. A world class CM and a world class CF.

As with all formations, it wont be long until someone comes up with one that nullifies this one and we all change again. Wont be long until its 4-4-2 again.

With this formation we do look more stronger defensive and more of a threat on corners and set plays with the 3 centre backs

At the moment we are using a centre back to plug the hole that is being left by both the full backs going forward at the same time. When we used to have Vieira/Gilberto, either one would fill the hole when the opposition counter attacked. Both were physically strong, fast and very good at reading the game. Because both of them played in the midfield it was easy for the ball to go from back to front ie defence--->midfield-----> attack on the ground when we had possession.

The problem with 3-4-3 is that although it is easier for the defenders to cover the full back area on a counter attack, because 3 centre backs are deeper than any midfield player would be, it is more difficult when you are building play because your midfield is out numbered. So the formation requires you to play longer. However to play longer you need a striker who is willing to move into space so that he has the time and space to hold the ball up as a long ball is much harder to control. What you mustn't have is a player who is static because the centre back will easily mark the static slow player and he would lose the ball every time. At that point it would be impossible to maintain possession. Then it is only a matter of time before you concede with very little momentum to get a goal back. This is so obvious. And it scares me that Wenger can't work it out. I suggested at the when we were doing well that I doubt Wenger knows or understand why Ozil, Alexis and Walcott were doing so well at the start of the season. And I wouldn't be surprised if he changed it which would would initiate our collapse. And that is exactly what he did before the Bournemouth game. By taking Alexis out of the striker position we have gone backwards.

Everything starts with the striker. Thats why the top one cost so much.

Top 5 striker targets:

5. Cavani – £62.4m - Too old to join, hes almost 30.
4. Aubamayang – £64.5m - Would be a great choice
3. Morata – £65.8m - Would be a great choice
2. Mbappe - £68.7m - No chance with big gun around
1. Rooney £72.3m - Lol

Id add Icardi to the list too.

If we could snap any of Augbamayang, Icardi and Morata i think that could sort us out up front for quite some time.