There were four of five occassions yesterday where we had the opportunity to really hurt City on the break. Most of these moments fell to Guendouzi who, instead of turning and releasing a runner, dithered on the ball before passing backwards under pressure. The game was lost in those moments, before David Luiz even came on.
We have a midfield that is resolutely non-Wenger. I cannot remember a time when we had such a dearth of creativity in midfield. With Özil's decline, we simply do not have the most Arsenal of players: a creative mid. There is Emile Smith Rowe, who is out on loan but, if we just turn the clocks back a few years, we had the likes of Ramsey, Wilshere, Santi, Özil (when he could play). In years gone by, we'd have the Fabregas, Nasri, Wilshere and Arshavin all starting together.
Ceballos has the talent, but is a loanee who came to us in attempt to regain his form. He won't solve the issue.
I was against buying Pepe. If I bother looking for it, I can find my very unpopular comment on Arseblog saying so. He's a bit of a headless chicken whose stats were padded by penalties. He has very little sense of when to release the ball and when to dribble. He also seemed to only ever do anything of note having drifted infield, which would get in the way of some of our other players.
But, we are desperate. He is the only player who can do the Santi-esque job of opening space in the middle of the park. He is also the only one who can offer a goalthreat from attacking mid, which creates space for our attackers. Playing Pepe in the middle would likely result in many turnovers, but it's not like we're otherwise controlling the ball. He also has the quality of driving the ball forward, and plays adventurous passes. Playing him centrally would allow game time for Saka, Nelson, Martinelli and Laca (if Auba stays wide).
We're actually alright for centre backs. Next season we have our choice (pre-sales) of Saliba, Mari, Sokratis, Mustafi, Luiz, Holding and Chambers. It might not be Maldini and Nesta, but we've achieved top four with much worse. All of our budget must go towards midfield. The Partey rumours are encouraging, but he would not solve our creativity problem. We need those little magicians back in the squad. When Xhaka went off, we simply did not have a midfield. That's embarrassing.
Sometimes you have to just play your best players, even if they're square pegs in round holes. Pepe's square peg would at least offer some of what our midfielders cannot.
Play Pepe in the Middle
posted on 18/6/20
Tierney would flourish in that system, he has the engine to get up front and recover defensively, he can play RB or WB equally well, also is a decent DC in a three man middle, to be fair you do perhaps need to reavaluate your set up, you were doing well prior to the Covid situation but longer term you might need a new set up?
posted on 18/6/20
"FB" Not "RB"
posted on 18/6/20
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 57 minutes ago
Pepe has yet to show he can make a quick decision when playing in his natural position, never mind as a creative central player. Plus he is so one footed it is painful, again a central role doesnt seem to suit.
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You're quite right, which is why this system de-emphasises the importance of passing. He'd only ever be a short term solution there, but his main role would be to sit in the hole, run at the defence and drag defensive players wide. With two strikers in front of him and a full midfield behind him, his passing duties would not be too onerous.
posted on 18/6/20
comment by Insufferable-Piffle, just in case, I'm sorry! (U4388)
posted 44 minutes ago
Tierney would flourish in that system, he has the engine to get up front and recover defensively, he can play RB or WB equally well, also is a decent DC in a three man middle, to be fair you do perhaps need to reavaluate your set up, you were doing well prior to the Covid situation but longer term you might need a new set up?
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Main issue is just midfield. We need that top class midfielder. The Fabregas, KDB, Lampard, Kroos, Modric type.
posted on 18/6/20
That's a fair point 153
The middle of your team is as weak as I can remember? It might be that I don't watch you every week but when you've had Fabregas, Viera, Petit etc then you may realise that your current Midfield has "issues"?
posted on 18/6/20
We lost Santi, Ramsey and Wilshere without replacement beyond Ceballos on loan. In the same time, Özil declined precipitously. We've always had (in the last 15 years) at least 3 creative mids capable of unlocking any defence, now we have none.
posted on 18/6/20
'We've always had (in the last 15 years) at least 3 creative mids capable of unlocking any defence, now we have none.'
That's what happens when you give one man complete control , and have no succession plan in place for when he leaves.
Raul is showing himself to be completely out of his depth, and despite Josh (and presumably Stan) wanting Arsenal to remain 'self-sustaining', the way he operates seems completely at odds with that model.
The mess begins at the very top. What we're now seeing on the pitch is merely a reflection of this.
posted on 20/6/20
How can you make a headless chicken like Pepe the heartbeat of our attack? We’d genuinely be better off playing David Luiz as an attacking midfielder than pretty much all our current options
posted on 20/6/20
Unless he sorts out his final ball and decision making he will just be another gervinho
Should have signed Zaha. He Would have fitted in nicely on the right side where we still have a hole (Martinelli, Auba not the right option there)
posted on 26/6/20
comment by Castor Troy (U8700)
posted 6 days, 2 hours ago
Unless he sorts out his final ball and decision making he will just be another gervinho
Should have signed Zaha. He Would have fitted in nicely on the right side where we still have a hole (Martinelli, Auba not the right option there)
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+1 👍