I was talking to a friend yesterday who was annoyed that they couldn't watch this. I told them not to worry, because this game would be damn near unwatchable. And it was until Xhaka scored. United is boring as ********.
The problem is Arsenal are unlikely to win out with tough away games and City / Liverpool still need to drop more points
It was only the best performance because Utd weren't playing at max. It also shows why you don't win games if you always give up 1 or 2 soft goals. The fact that Utd did not score gave Arsenal far more opportunities
We discussed this a couple of pages ago. I wonder if this means that Ramsey's game no longer translates well to the Premier League.
I suspect he's perfect for it - just Wenger has the tactics wrong. If there was a double 6 behind him, then he can push high and also press high. If he is part of the midfield 2, then there has to be a bit more sanity as to how he comes forward. For example, when Coq came on yesterday, there was a play when he was on Utd's 18, and Ozil was also beyond him To me that is just madness. But I suppose at least there are now 3 CBs back there.
oh okay, thanks. Dele Alli works in the Premier League. Players like that will always work but you have to give them protection. Spurs does. Arsenal does not.
Fans are morons been blaming the players since Jesus was a boy I cant critique any player within such a shambolic and outdated system. Now hes in his usual cover my ass mode and what do you know the annual top 4 charge is on. Joke ting
Sperz have an elite 9 that makes it all work. Kane covers a lot of weaknesses. Alli's first touch is also better than Ramsey's, and I think playing Ramsey that high negates those late arriving runs of his that were so devastating in the first half. Did everything but score.
If Ozil and Wilshire leave, just keep him and let him do what he did yesterday. Really wouldn't have a huge problem with that.
It was too little too late, and ultimately a game that didn't really matter that much for either side. There is a small chance this game matters if Liverpool drop points and we miraculously win all 4 remaining games, but in a way the season has already ended for all involved. Winning yesterday was like winning a friendly. It's nice, but meaningless, and really small in comparison to the challenges we need to tackle in a few weeks time. Funnily enough, we are just 8 points off our point total from last season, which should put in perspective just how poor we have been for at least two seasons, and how comfortable people were with that as long as Spurs finished behind us.
Maybe I was being a bit harsh - I agree he looked better It just frustrates me that he does that so much, and decent teams punish him for it. I do agree he'd be best as one of a 3 with license to roam and press high. But also he could have been the Welsh Sami K (pre knee knack) if only he learned properly He should never have got to 26 years old without proper positional understanding
did you see the formation ? Ramsey's positioning was further up top than usual... he had less defensive work Xhaka stayed back - and Chamberlain (good game by him) and Gibbs did tons of backtracking...
Yes. And as I said, when Coq came on it was even worse Not saying the 8 can't get forward like that - but if he does, its important that other players adjust. For instance studying Bayern, they adopt positioning which anticipates their own loss of possession in order that they can counter press swiftly. Arsenal don't do stuff like that.
There's no way that Arsenal COULD do stuff like that with Wenger. It's a pretty big tactical rethink, and a 67 year old manager isn't going to do that.
im not saying we should do anything to fit Ramsey (anymore). What I am saying is you can do just that in the premier league. And its not just having Kane, they have two mids behind Alli and Eriksen that allow them to be the players they are.
Can't really argue against that. But I did do a reality check, compared to the last thread. Granted it was the NLD so a bit more pride was at stake, but still that thread had 104 posts during the match, compared to this one which had a mere 21! Oh well, at least some of us did our bit at watching/supporting the team... regardless of where they might have happened to be.
I watched Adrian Clarke's breakdown on Arsenal.com. He showed a heat map of Sanchez, plus average position for our team. Alexis gets a lot of stick for his lack of positional discipline, but I was surprised to see his average position compared to Ozil was actually slightly more advanced and less central. I tried to find heat maps online but apparently I don't know where to look (no luck on opta, squawka & whoscored). Maybe one of you guys could find them for Sanchez & Ozil from yesterday, and post them? Along with average position chart perhaps? I'd be curious.
I get it, being local rivals and everything. Kind of jarring to see how far they've come in the last few years though. We've definitely regressed, and look stale and bereft of ideas.