I know that I am second guessing the Arsenal starting line0up for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa here, but everything seems to be pointing towards the Frenchman agreeing with me, at least as far as the attacking players of the Gunners are concerned.
I am not talking about being complacent or not giving Sunday’s visitors Aston Villa respect, but we have a week between games here and the next one is a much tougher looking trip to White Hart Lane. So I think the boss will hand starts once again to the returning pair of Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil.
I also think that he will bring our club record signing back into the number 10 role. That is where the German international wants to play and where his skills can do the most damage if he plays to his ability. That eye for a killer pass and the ability to play it will obviously be helped by having the right players to make the most of it.
And if Wenger does what I expect, our front line will be Alexis Sanchez on the left, Giroud in the middle and Walcott on the right. With Aaron Ramsey also breaking from the box-to-box midfield role, Ozil should be spoilt for choice on how to unlock the Villa defence. Pace, power, dancing feet, determination, flicks, tricks and plenty of finishing power.
It might seem a bit harsh on the likes of Cazorla and Rosicky, and it is, but with everyone fit and firing, this would be the best attacking line-up in my opinion. Hopefully we will find out on Sunday. What do you guys think?
We can reach next level only if we are ruthless in the final third. This team can easily score 3 to 4 goals in every match. But we some how do not kill the game and take unnecessary pressure to hold on the lead.
Players like Sanchez the way he is playing should have been PL top scorer by now.
Also Ramsey and Giroud has to be more precise in shooting. Cazorla also can add so much to his impressive play making.
Opposition need to fear playing against us .
We have all the means but final piece is just missing.
wenger knows it and hope he is working on it
Villa is nice chance to show others of our capability which on paper is fearsome
We cannot afford to drop any unnecessary points. Pick the strongest available team, and that would include Rosicky and Cazorla. They then have a whole week to recover. Give Ozil 30min or 45 depending on the score at half-time.
I think giving Cazorla 2 weeks off is an unnecessary risk. If you have someone on form that can win you games, use them.
yes agreee lets play 3 Acm together…
caz has been our strongest player of late. cant drop him.
ozil can come on after 60-70min?
wenger will need to sort out how to keep caz & ozil happy.
it should be like bayern now…any team that the manager puts out fr d day must perform. Wenger will play cazorla nt ozil .
Even though Caz has played a lot in Dec & Jan, I think two weeks rest must enough for him.. No way Santi & Coq must be dropped and we cannot afford to lose anymore points.. On the flanks Sanchez can take his usual position with Theo coming in on the other side.. Ox has been miserable in recent games, so fielding Theo wont make much difference.. As of now, the place for that extra midfielder is between Ramsey & Ozil..
It had my eyes raised when Wenger started using 4-1-4-1 way back in August.. Bcoz, it was one of the pathetic way we could field a side.. But, it all makes sense now.. With Coq in the side this formation looks so much stable than what we had before and we also have an extra midfielder assisting the attacks as well.. #WengerKnows
lets do the basic. one step at a time…. just a win will do….3 pts in the bag…do not go for the fancy or complacency…..
Bearing in mind the boss Gunners update tomorrow or on Friday, let me try to make this 4-1-4-1 selection starts to see how it will look like. (Szczesny.) (Bellerin; Rhinosacker; Koscielny; Monreal.) (Coquelin.) (Walcott; Ozil; Ramsey; Sanchez.) (Giroud.) My Bench: (Ospina; Paulista; Gibbs; Chambers; Cazorla; Oxchambo; Akpom.) I preferred to still rest Cazorla for the would be hard Spurs big game. He won’t dropped any form but will have more energy for that Spurs game. Szczesny, Ozil, Walcott and Ramsey have to be played back to top form by the boss. And he can use this Villa game to further that course. The boss can start Ospina for the Spurs game. The Villans aren’t going to be difficult for the Gunners to beat like the Spurds will be. These my starts and bench will beat the Villans hands down.
Szczesny did nothing to deserve a start man.
Cazorla will hardly be dropped under that form, but he can play box2box as he. Like coming deep to start the play. +his defensive duties are impressive. My best XI is:
4_2_3_1
______Ooooospina_________
Bellerin__Per__Boss__Monreal
_________Le coq___Santi__________
___Theo_____Ozil____Alexis
___________Olivier_______________
totaly agree carzola has to play , you cant have someone in that form sitting on the bench for 2 weeks sub him off for ozil in the 60th and he will have plenty left for spuds same goes for rosicky and bring aron on for him in the 2nd half keep them all firing and the injury boys coming back slowly till they start looking fit and sparky no need to rush ,,,,
V Villa
Ospina
Bellerin Per Kos Gibbs
Coq Cazorla
Oxlaide Ozil Sanchez
Giroud
I don’t understand why most fans want Wenger to drop Cazorla for Ozil.What has Ozil done really to deserve a start over Cazorla? For now Cazorla plays far better than Ozil so stop being biased,Ozil should fight for his place.My lineup for the Villa game would be: 4-2-3-1 Ospina Bellerin Per Kos Monreal Coquelin Cazorla Theo Rosicky Sanchez Giroud Serously,3points is no joke.
Wenger used the FA cup to give people game time. The players he rested are more indicative of our first team at the moment then those playing. Ozil will not (or should not) trump an in form Cazorla. Equally, Rosicky will probably get the nod too. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this (our in form team):
– – – – – Giroud – – – – –
Alexis Cazorla Rosicky Ox
– – – – Coquelin – – – – –
We’ve been playing the 4-1-4-1 formation more and this easily transmutes from 4-1-4-1 into 4-1-1-3-1 or 4-1-2-2-1 or even 4-1-2-3 depending on the situation. The alternative is Rosicky losing his space to Ramsey which is possible but frustrating or Ox switching with Theo. The in form team probably won’t be overly shifted for a week or two but you might see the odd alteration. Certainly it is unlikely Ox, Caz and Ros all losing out position overnight when they’re performing well.
I would love to see Wenger try Dinamo Kiev’s famous 4-1-3-2 formation (won them 3 european trophies) with Ozil, Cazorla and Rosicky behind Alexis and Giroud. Jurgen Klopp also used 4-1-3-2 a lot last season with good success. It does require the full backs to be more selective with their runs.
Lets examine what roles the Dortmund players had in that formation:
– Lewandowski’s role was to drop to meet the ball and hold up play. (Giroud)
– Reus’s role was to run beyond Lewandowski or go out wide to create space for midfield runners. (Alexis)
– Sahin was in middle of the 3 midfielders and operated as a box-to-box midfielder. (Rosicky or Ramsey)
– Jojic and Mkhitaryan usually didn’t play wide but preferred to run beyond Lewandowski and wreck havok on oppositions defences. (Cazorla and Ozil)
– Kirch defended the back 4 but didn’t have to drop between the CB’s because the runs from the full backs were rarer then when they played other formations. (Coquelin)
ps. Aston Villa’s last goal against a premier league side came against Man Utd at Villa park December 20th 2014.