Enough about last week, the North London Derby is upon us!!! Three weeks into the season and The Arsenal sit comfortably above Spuds. Both teams have their issues, both on field and off. Who's playing? Who's staying? Who's leaving? WHO CARES!?!? Let's all tune in on Sunday (4:30pm local, 11:30am ET, 8:30am PT) on NBCSN and watch our boys in Red and White give it their all vs. our North London rivals. Blood, Sweat, ACL Tears and all that!! COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!! (BIGHMW, the floor is now yours . . .)
Depends. If we plan to sit back and counter you have to play Xhaka because of his ability to release the ball quickly.
You really think we'd do that? At home? OK, Emery isn't exactly the most expansive coach but surely even he will follow all historical cues and play on the front foot, no? Last week was a rarity for me in that I couldn't watch live, but I'm determined to get back on track for the NLD. Overall, I think it's anyone's match, so I have this feeling that in order to win it may not be due to superior line-up or tactics, but rather from moment(s) of personal brilliance. The obvious candidates being Auba, Pepe, Ceballos, Laca? But remember the little dude who stepped up last year!
I watched the first couple of spuds games and I will say... this is a winnable game. They have looked like ass without Eriksen pulling the strings and even if Poch decides to start him (assuming he isn't sold prior), I don't know that Eriksen's head is in the game. Assuming everyone below is healthy (and still on the team), I think I would come with... ------------------ Laca ------------------ - PAE -------------------------- Pepe - -------- Xhaka ------- Dani ---------- ----------------- Torreira -------------- Nacho --- Sokra --- Luiz --- AMN ------------------- Leno --------------- Could also the the argument for giving Ozil, Willock or Duezy a shot in place of Xhaka. As bad as Xhaka is at times, I think if you give him less defensive responsibilities by placing a #6 behind him and I think he could be useful against spuds.
A. I'm tired of having the home leg of this series played first. What is this, like 6 years in a row now? I want to have the home advantage later in the season some times. B. Arsenal have to be aggressive and they have to be resolute in possession and attack. They can't continue to give up more shots per match and assume they'll stay top 4, especially at home. S***s are not near the level of Liverpool or Citeh, but as we've already seen that doesn't mean they can't compete with stronger teams, either. So no passive assumptions; Play to win, play to your strengths, and play like it matters. Arsenal can win this but they need to take it and not assume it will simply happen. Please play Torreira if able, and perhaps ask Luiz if he can avoid a dumba** moment for at least 1 game.
The word on Luiz, from Chelsea fans & pundits, is that Luiz has maybe 2 games like this all season. If that's true, then maybe it's just as well he got one of them out of his system against Liverpool, a team we're very unlikely to beat anyway. But I'd be lying if I said I thought he'll only do that in 2 games. That's one reason why I wrote not long ago that, as crazy as this sounds, we're waiting for Rob Holding to be our savior in defense. Edit: Or maybe Tierney can be our savior, if he can stay healthy and if he's a versatile between FB, WB & CB as I've heard!
Xhaka is not even that good of a passer Especially under pressure Ceballos is that guy and he can dribble ..........laca Auba.........Pepe ....ceb...douzi .........torreira Kol...luiz...sok...amn .............Leno
Showed this to my coworker, a Chelsea fan, and he said it's more like 2 per month. Says we overpaid for him. So there's one man's opinion.
Make that 2 men's opinion. I have serious doubts about him. And 2 stinkers per season seems optimistic. That's said I have little doubt that he'll start Sunday.
He’s a great long range passer But under pressure he has no ability to recover and is rash I would rather try luiz as a deeper lying player
Emery said this yesterday: "I think maybe that on Sunday, that match is the best match in the world for all football supporters." I can only assume that means we're all in, and with a very positive way of playing. Make it true Unai!
Idk if Xhaka is a good passer when pressed, but he's a superb passer when not under pressure. He's an elite ball progressor - really good at getting the ball into the final third. Ian is focusing on great passes played that he sees. It's more important to play the right, unspectactular pass. And Xhaka is great at playing that short pass to someone further forward.
Its not really impressive doing anything when you’re not pressured. Thats what separates great players from average ones. If Xhaka simply spent some time in front of a wall, receiving balls with both feet and turning in both directions, he’d be twice the player. I would start him for the derby because I don’t trust Duzy-Ceballos-Torreira just yet and 1-2 great passes from Xhaka into our forwards might be enough to get some points from the game. But Torreira MUST be next to him or we’ll lose.
It doesn’t make a player stand out playing simple balls u see pressure to me I would have no issue with xhaka if he was more mobile and had better defensive instinct As it stands, he’s a charity shop Alonso but much worse at everything
I didn't say Xhaka was playing the easy pass. He's playing the right pass, even when it's difficult. He's really, really good at getting the ball into the final third, and this is an important skill. I'm kind of annoyed that we don't see Xhaka be able to release Aubameyang more often, but I think that's more an Emery thing.
I go back and forth in Xhaka. He certainly brings something to the table. Is it worth the downsides that come with his inclusion in the team? Namely his inability to properly recognize danger defensively? The more time goes on (and the better Guendouzi plays), I’m less and less in Xhaka’s corner.
Its definitely an Emery thing. He likes having Auba go wide due to his pace, but he’s bad at take ons and isn’t a creative passer. If he stayed more central, we’d see it more often.