Arsenal should start with Podolski beside Alexis

Has Wenger finally struck gold? By Twig

This season, we’ve witnessed a lot of experimentation with the Arsenal lineup, ranging from the trusted 4-2-3-1 to the much-hated 4-1-4-1. One of the main reason for this is the fact that we have too many similar central midfielders, and as Wenger admitted, when everyone is fit, it’s hard deciding which midfielder to leave on the bench.

However, ever since the heart-attack 2-1 win over Anderlecht, Wenger seems to have been rethinking the Arsenal formation and has switched to a 4-4-2 in the last two games. This tweak came with instant rewards, with Arsenal plumbing in 5 goals over the course of two games and with none conceded. One could argue that the games were against weaker opposition, but when you consider that Arsenal has laboured against teams like Leicester and Hull earlier in the season, then it is fair to say that the team has made progress in the last two games.

In the thick of Arsenal’s recent resurgence, is Alexis Sanchez, who seems to thrive in the extra freedom of playing centrally. Although, Sanchez himself prefers playing on the left wing, it seems he’s more productive centrally, and the manager also thinks the same. Wenger said: “Since he has played through the middle he looks more dangerous because he is in full confidence, is physically strong, he likes to take people on as well and he makes perfect runs.”

In the second half of the game against Burnley, Arsenal fans had a glimpse of the attack that Wenger might finally commit himself to for the rest of the season. Walcott, although short of fitness, came closer to scoring than the OX has managed throughout the 80 minutes that he was on the pitch. On the other side, Podolski was busy launching canons against the sorry Burnley woodwork. And when Podolski’s low cross found Sanchez, after good work from Cazorla, it seemed Wenger had finally struck gold on the formation to go with for the rest of this season.

An attacking pair of Sanchez and Podolski would easily match the strike-force that any of the other top EPL sides have to offer. Although Welbeck has done quite well since his coming, he has looked fatigued in recent games and is certainly deserving of a well-earned rest. And in any case, there’s hardly a player in the squad that can match Podolski’s skills in front of goal. Maybe there’s life yet in Podolski’s Arsenal career!

Against Anderlecht, the Arsenal team virtually picks itself, if form is to be the selection criteria. With his winning goal against Anderlecht, and exploits against Burnley, Podolski has done more than enough to merit a start for the first time this season. With Wilshere injured and Ramsey slowly eased back into the team, it seems we’ll once more witness the double pivot of Arteta and Flamini, which hasn’t done much wrong this season. Cazorla would maintain his place in the left of midfield, often dropping in centrally when we have the ball, while the OX should take his spot on the right wing, after an excellent showing against Burnley over the weekend.

Twig

Tags Alexis Arteta Podolski Walcott

34 Comments

  1. Off topic,
    Pure class,…..
    Liverpool tabled an offer of £36M for Alexis Sanchez. Sport.es claim he asked Barcelona to accept the lesser bid of £32M from Arsenal.”

  2. I feel like Wenger should rest Cazorla and play the following 4-2-3-1:
    Szcz ; Chambers – BFG – Monreal – Gibbs ; Flamini – Ramsey ; OX – Sanchez – Rosicky – Podolski
    with Arteta, Welbeck and Walcott to sub in the second half.

    Looking forward to tonight, I’m very hyped this could be a great game to watch (not for Anderlecht fans)! COYG!

  3. We are not topping the group
    Forget about it
    1) Our Gd is pretty bad in comparison to dortmund
    2) We would have to beat dortmund which seems pretty unlikely considering wenger tactics are outdated

    Oh s##t I forgot my bad
    We defeated the mighty burnley and Sunderland

    Bring on dortmund they are a relegation team too

    1. The last time I checked head to head decides who finishes top in the event of same number of points. I also recall dortmund being beaten 4-1at the emirates during the season we lost cesc, samir, and clichy, coupled with injuries to verm, mert, and jack. I also recall that during that time dortmund dominated bundasliga. There is npthing that will stop arsenal from beating dortmund by a three goal margin.

  4. in the end, Wenger pLays whom he chooses and our preferred choices/selections (if not all) are ignored…..

  5. I think Wenger should give Alexis and Welback rest and give other players chances such as podolsk , Rosisck , Joe cambo and Walcot,bellerin.. My point is we should rotate the squad to avoid over use of the players which can easily cause them injury.

  6. For previous article :

    Sanchez might be the true World Class player we have signed in a long long time. No disrespect to Ozil as honestly Ozil has specific strength of playing as no.10 and being a creative mind, but this Chilean has everything.

    1. Work rate : This guy can sprint for full 90 min and still his shoulders would be at 90 degrees to the surface. It feels surreal to see a player in Arsenal shirt pressing the defenders even around 90min. Even when he hass a bad day on the field, you could still see him going and going and going. Never giving up. When was the last time we saw something like that before Sanchez (not counting the Invincibles era).

    2. Goal Scoring : What type of Goal he can’t score. With head (for a player of his height its amazing), with feet, with free kicks. 10 goals already and he is not even 1/3rd way through PL.

    3. Versatility : You want to play him as striker :check. Want to play him on the flanks : check. Want to play him as no.10 : check. Ramsey, Ozil, Wilshere, Cazorla all of them struggle when played out position but this guy does not give a fu#k.

    4. Humbleness : I am sure he does not know how much of a big superstar he already is. There is absolutely no ego. Even if Wenger plays him in the league cup he will play as if it is the most important game of his life. Wenger can play him anywhere and he won’t complaint. He plays like he is trying to win a place in starting 11 by impressing the manager. Unbelievable.

    Last season Suarez lifted the whole Liverpool up with similar qualities, so much so that they almost won the league. And i am hopeful that same thing will happen here and it better be. If not this season , surely in the next . And he will set the benchmark and standard for the future signings too.

    1. Oh come on!
      You’re making it seem like we signed Alexis Sanch… Oh wait a minute,
      WE SIGNED ALEXIS “F***ING” SANCHEZ!!!!!

    1. @ADMIN doesn’t publish articles written by “idiots”. He only accepts articles that are of exceptional top, top quality.

      1. The daily star doesn’t publish crap either LMAO

        I’ve seen loads of fans on here saying don’t play Ozil/Corzola left as neither is effective there, and it’s not there position but you want to play him there Twigg, laughable
        If you are going to write at least think common sense first, Corzola is quality but on the left he doesn’t give the team width or pace required, even though our opponents are average,

        1. Who’s Corzola by the way? It seems we’re not talking about the same person and hence the little bit misunderstanding.

          1. I think we are talking about different sports lol defend your decision Mrs Wenger Twig , why play him left , compromise ?? we have others who can play there

  7. Same problem as usual with Twig’s lineup – putting either Cazorla or Ozil on the wing.

    I will keep my promise if it happens – I refuse to watch any more Arsenal matches with Cazorla or Ozil on the wing unless Poldi, Campbell, Ox, Walcott, Sanchez, Rosicky, Wilshere, or Gnabry are all unavailable.

    BTW: Remember Wenger’s statement that Diaby is the answer to Arsenal’s DM problem? How is that workin’ out for us?

    1. It’s a compromise pal. If Sanchez plays centrally today, which player would you have on the left wing? Keep in mind that Walcott is still not 100% fit.

    2. @mohawk So you’re not watching today’s game? Would you like me to provide you with a minute by minute, incident by incident update on the game as it happens?

  8. Liverpool offered £36
    We offered £32
    What if barca said yes but only to £36

    Do you think wenger would have bid an extra 4 mil , I dont
    And if I’m right we would have lost the best player we’ve seen in years for 4 mil 🙁

  9. DIABY’S ARSENAL CAREER: 7 MONTHS LEFT ON HIS CONTRACTS

    2005/6 16 appearances, 1 goal

    2006/7 19 appearances, 1 goal

    2007/8 28 appearances, 4 goals

    2008/9 36 appearances, 4 goals

    2009/10 40 appearances, 7 goals

    2010/11 20 appearances, 2 goals

    2011/12 5 appearances, 0 goals

    2012/13 15 appearances, 1 goal

    2013/14 1 appearance, 0 goals

    2014/15 1 appearance, 0 goal

    I really love this guy ( Diaby) tall, strong, skillful BUT injury prone. I wish Foresythe and our Rehabs team can have solution to his problems.

  10. You really believe that Barca would do that!
    Total bullsh1t story.
    Also who really cares about the “what if this happened, what if that hsppened” it didn’t so just enjoy the fact we have him.
    I don’t think he will play night but theo will.
    Just a hunch

        1. @fed-up gunner
          On the real, Senderos is holdin it down at Villa. So if we’re into resigning “flops” let’s go for him…

  11. If we play 4-4-2 today, Poldi/Theo and Sanchez should be the starting forward.
    I would say give Poldi and Theo each 45 minutes, and Campbell to take 20 – 30 minutes from Sanchez in the 2nd half.
    Start Rosicky, rest Cazorla a bit.

  12. One of the best transfer rumour i have read in years- yes even better than Messi to Arsenal.

    “Robin van Persie to Fenerbache.”

    Hope it does happen. And to think once I loved him. Hate to admit, we are fickle as it gets.

  13. Lots of options with 442 but yeah, the fluidity in the last 15 minutes when Podolski and Theo came on was fun to watch. Need a bit more evidence before signing up to it though as it was not just against Burnley but a Burnley that was out on their feet.

  14. Was it not £35m Arsenal paid to Barcelona for Sanchez? AMDs Walcott on the right, Sanchez-centrally and Podolski on the left are tempting to start. But Walcott is not yet ready to start. Podolski in not a middle man. He is striker who operates from the right side. But the boss is erudite in making players playing successfully in a different position other than their preferred choice. If I can have my way, I would have love to see the boss starts Chamberlain on the left side, Sanchez as the number 10 while Podolski start on the left side. But Podolski should soften his canons a bit, to make them go in instead of hitting the woodwork.

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