Arsenal tactics to be guided by Liverpool´s European tie?

In football, using the tactic of working hard, pressing the opposition high and giving your all should really be a given on any occasion, but for Arsenal it feels as if it is a special tactic that Arsene Wenger and the players save for a rainy day and only bring it out every now and then, usually in a big game when the pressure is on.

Well this is going to be just the third game in a long Premier League season but I think it is safe to say that the pressure is already on the Gunners and our manager, despite his insistence that there is no need to panic after losing away to Stoke.

With Manchester United already establishing a lead over Arsenal I think it is vital that we not only get something from the trip tom Anfield on Sunday, but that all three points come back to north London, so that is one reason for Arsenal to start fast and give 100 percent.

Another is that Jurgen Klopp’s side have a Champions League qualifier to deal with tonight and the late goal scored by Hoffenheim in Germany last week means that they have to give it their full focus and effort. This early in the season a midweek game could kleave the players a touch jaded so Arsenal really need to make them work and hope that our supposedly greater energy levels give us an advantage that could be crucial.

If Arsenal start slowly again then we only have ourselves to blame if the game does not go our way. But can Wenger get the Gunners fired up for it?

Bob.

29 Comments

  1. So…following on from the last post and Wengers visit to the restaurant. After being finally served his meal (he felt too awkward and that he was making a scene if he pointed out to the waitress he had been waiting over 2 hrs for his beans on toast..

    Wenger commences to eat cautiously to make sure the hot beans will not burn his mouth.

    But instead of using a fork to pierce and pick up food he uses the spoon and the thing he was trying to pick up falls on to the floor, which in turn, a waitress slips on and this results in her fracturing her skull in 3 places and enters a deep coma for 3 years.

    Wenger tells anyone that will listen that it wasn’t his actions that caused this but the slippery floors, that were a result of the restaurant staff not cleaning it to a sufficient standard.

    1. This article is a complete joke. We all know wenger doesn’t use tactics. He only plays in one way. He doesnt adapt to opposition as a rule. And frankly his only tactic is to confuse the opponent by playing players way out of position and making unexpected substitutions. His tactics revolve around keeping his opponents guessing about what he’s going to do and why this works is because he himself doesnt know what he’s doing tactically. All he knows is that there are 11 players on pitch who have to pass the ball and just like that the ball must be passed into the back of the net. Like magic. In all seriousness we all know arsene is tactically inept. His success came from having the best players and managing personalities. Similar to zidane in real. Nothing will change at arsenal. Wenger ha lost his hunger and it shows in the players. We have seen how arsene used to take defeat in the past, during the henry days. How passionate he was when winning… He’s a ceo and quite frankly if i was kroenke I would tempt levy by offering a lot of money and let him run arsenal. Lets just be happy with a top 4. We won’t finish worse than 7th anyway. Regardless arsene will stay as he must honour his contract as values and ethos are what matter.

      1. Liverpool will now secure van dijk after qualifying for the ucl. Arsenal are too funny. I love the club as it never fails to make me laugh and smile and be happy. And ultimately thats what matters. Wenger has given us so many jokes and his actions have baffled us and made us laugh as a whole. Taking into account past performances. The club is a meme and its all happiness and banter. Love arsenal.

        1. We probably need consecutive seasons out of the top4 and a really poor season for arsene to call it a day. Last thing we want is another extension post this contract.

      2. I think some parts of your thought are right, like the “confusing the opponent by playing players way out of position and making unexpected substitutions” part. His system is definitely outdated and he seems unwilling to learn from younger manager’s systems, like Guardiola’s and Pochettino’s.

        Arsenal could replace him with Guardiola or Pochettino, but it would be useless if the club is still owned by the same people. If Arsenal could get someone like Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour, the club could improve a lot, even without replacing the manager.

        1. No. Kroenke spent over a 100m in a single window remember? And now they’re dishing out 300k a week on contracts. Look at our wage bill compared to liverpool and tottenham! we pay some of the highest wages in europe!! Champagne prices for lemonade! Ambition doesnt come from the board! It comes from the manager. Leave levy aside have the the tottenham owners shown any ambition or do they come out in the open? Look with our budgets and wage bill we should be competing for league titles and the champions league. Why didn’t we splash 30m for higuain? but we splashed 42m fir ozil and 35m for mustafi? Wenger can justify 17m for perez and justify losing him for far lesser and paying him huge wages for one year without playing him right? Which owner would approve of such a deal? Its all arsene and we all know it. Kroenke wouldn’t spend 120m in a single window. Kroenke would never spend 17m on a player that the club would never use, pay huge wages and look to sell for half of that the following year. Kroenke would never approve of paying 50m for lacazette, the same player who was available for 35m a year or two ago. Kroenke would never approve of paying a manager 8m a year. Kroenke would never approve of keeping alexis sanchez who would fetch him 50m atleast walk for free next year. So please do tell that the board has not give arsene funding. Money is there wenger won’t spend ..

  2. Will be glad to see Koscielny back and hopefully Alexis if he is fit. Our defense has really missed Koscielny big time

  3. Really???

    On matchday, you will be so surprised to see our team play like they were the one that played a CL qualifier today…while Liverpool will look stronger and fitter I can assure you that…

    This is the Arsenal, and this is what we have become recently…#predictable#

    1. Without players that can dictate the tempo well, Arsenal became very predictable. Instead of rushing when possessing the ball, they should wait for better chances.

      If Sanchez and Cazorla fit to play for ninety minutes, they can control the tempo better than Arsenal’s other midfielders. This is why Arsenal should get new players that have great skills to possess the ball longer, to become less predictable.

    1. He doesn’t perform well for Hoffenheim’s qualifying matches. He is not consistent and still needs to learn more.

  4. Looking forward to the game this weekend.. oops not the game but Arsenal Fan TV!!!!! ?
    Anyone watching Liverpool destroy Hoffenheim?
    Get ready guys. Its our turn to suffer a defeat if not a drubbing..
    Bring on Mr DT & Troopz!
    It’s rant time!!!!!!!!!????

  5. The fact we’re having to ask these type of questions every season, in itself, is the answer!

  6. God help us basically. Talk about a good pre arsena confidence booster. Their counterbattackingbfootbsll is epic abd this is without coutinho!
    We should have bought or tried to buy Mane they day he got the hatrick in a few minutes for saints is the day Wenger should have said yes.
    Wilnaldum looks good and quite a few others do.
    Going to be a nervy game because we currently across the team on the form we are in can’t match them.

  7. Mustife going to inter ox to Chelsea and Sanchez to Man City then wenger brings back Phillip sendorres are club is an absolute joke wtf is going on so angry

  8. Owen Hargreaves commentating just said it looks like Liverpool have 12 players if we start ozil will have 10 oh sh*t!

    1. When Hargreaves played, his team was down down one man, the other team up one man. That is why he never made an impression in the EPL and has no business commenting on anything.

      Ozil needs quality up front. He has Alexis, and this season he has more targets with Lacazette. Hopefully, with the improved chances converted they can overcome Liverpool’s game. The problem is who play the right wing, as there is no world class player there. Theo? Ramsay? Iwobi? Ox?

      In fact to beat Liverpool there has to be a player able to thread passes in a counter attack as well as the usual build-up play: that is Ozil’s role. It forces Liverpool to not press too high, and thus makes their attacks less effective. Being in an offensive position/mindset makes Ozil more effective for the defense as whole.

      Lacazette needs the through ball on the ground and he will make it count, while Alexis can get back to the wing and dazzle from there, while Theo (?) might make it count with runs on the right flank as Liverpool will worry more about Sanchez’s wing.

      Alexis—-Lacazette—-Theo/Ramsay/Iwobi/Ox
      ————–Ozil—————-
      Sead——Xhaka—-Ramsay/Elneny
      Mustafi—–Koz—-Bellerin

      It means that Xhaka has to play really well, and Ramsay too. This is where Arsenal are weak mentally, as both these players are over-confident and prone to errors.

      Maybe, Ramsay can play RW instead of Theo. Then bring Elneny to play right mid-field on the other side of Kolasinac to help Xhaka focus, and cover for Xhaka’s lack of pace and occasional lapse of concentration. Elneny is the consummate team man and will run his heart out for Arsenal, and also cover for mistakes in the middle, but also know he can pass the ball into the box when needed.

  9. Liverpool will be going into our match from a huge CL win and lots of confidence. So far 3-1 and 5-2 on agg. We will go into the match from a loss.

    We will need to be much stronger defensively. Also Ozil will need to find his touch in passing.

    Very tough match but we can do it

  10. Mane looks monstrous

    I remember shouting for him when at Southampton. Then again I shouted for kondogbia

    Lol oh well .

  11. @ricki

    Chill man you’re going from reports in the press yes?
    Sanchez will go I feel but I think Wenger will keep ox rather than sell for say 35/40m.
    Also seriously can’t imagine anyone buying mustafi since we’ve just lost Gabriel. Yes I did hear chambers has been asked to stay but I just can’t see it.
    If Wenger sells mustafi based on elneny and Monreal playing as cbs then I really will be lost for words!

  12. Let’s take a little time to reflect about the potential future of this club…say we were to win this weekend at Anfield without Sanchez, what do you think the club would do in the final week of the transfer window? I believe there’s a good chance that Wenger would stand pat, he might even let Sanchez go under the guise that the board forced his hand, the fair-weather fans would once again rally around Wenger and those with a more critical eye would get largely drowned out by the euphoria of the moment…unfortunately the timing of just such a victory could be incredibly damaging to our future prospects because even the most ardent of the pro-Wengerites understand that this team is still a few key players away from truly competing…as such this dilemma totally encapsulates the fragility of this club, as there is nothing worse than putting fans in the unenviable position of “wanting” their club to lose so that reinforcements might arrive in the 11th hour

    Now imagine the scene if Arsenal were to lose on Sunday…of course the manner by which the loss occurs does have a direct bearing on the reaction, but any loss is going to have some serious consequences…if Sanchez plays, which I doubt he will, some might take the long view and speak about how the unsettled lineup so far this year is the culprit and that continuity moving forward will provide the antidote…if Sanchez doesn’t play, and Wenger continues to get his tactics wrong while playing the usual suspects out of position, this could be an absolute shit-show…either way, the problems that are seemingly obvious to everyone except Wenger, will still remain…this will likely force the club to seek some sort of resolution in the transfer market as the public backlash will likely reach critical mass…as we know, this club hasn’t fared to well in recent years when they dive back into the marketplace in the desperate hours…not the optimum situation thus the term “panic buy”

    l for one would love to see Wenger, just for once, put his big boy pants on and stop acting like a petulant teenager with a “me against the world” attitude and surprise us all by bringing in some truly world-class players regardless of Sunday’s result…I know this club has neither the fortitude or business acumen to address all the concerns that presently haunt this organization before the window closes(i.e. Sanchez, Ozil & Ox contracts, CDM, CB, right attacking forward, get rid of all the deadwood etc…) but I can only hope they understand the magnitude of the situation should they do nothing and the wheels fall off again…now is the time to really gauge the sense of urgency that exists within the fan base because failure to recognize this will come with a serious cost for many years to come…no matter what side of the fence you currently sit, no one wants to see our club crumble before our very eyes

  13. Liverpool will be brimming with confidence in front of adoring home fans and excited about going into the group stage. Yeah, it’s gonna be one hell of a tough fixture. If Arsene does another “team selection from the twilight zone” I’m going to start wondering if I’m not just dreaming recent football and world events…like some weird fever dream nightmare.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors