It has often been said of Arsene Wenger that the Arsenal boss is either too stubborn or too confident in his team’s abilities to worry too much about how the opposing team will set up. That or the accusation that he has no plan B if things go wrong.
But do you really think that the prof could have achieved the success he has and continued to steer the Gunners into and then out of the Champions League group stages every year if he did not do any tactical planning before facing each team? Maybe his tactics are often quite similar, but I am sure that he will have done his homework on what to expect from Swansea City, especially as the Welsh club have a decent record against us.
Wenger has already spoken to Arsenal Player about one of Swansea’s danger men, Gylfi Sigurdsson, and he is well aware that Arsenal need to keep their play maker quiet, which sounds like a job for Mathieu Flamini to me. But that is not all we need to worry about.
Swansea have great pace in wide areas and in Wilfried Bony they have a pwerful and in form striker. Stopping crosses is sure to be a major part of our plans, while maybe the extra physical presence of Chambers would be better than Monreal in the middle. In Gibbs and Bellerin we have two very quick full backs but they must be disciplined.
Apart from that, Wenger has suggested that Arsenal need to stick to our usual game. If we can dominate the ball without being too adventurous, the likes of Welbeck and Alexis should be able to claim all three points.
Flamini doesn’t deserve to start, arteta was miles better than him last game. We should play people who are in form more often rather than just sticking with players who are clearly lacking confidence and match sharpness.
Arsene Wenger has said that we stick to our usual game plan when we play Swansea.
Has he seen how many games we have won so far this season.
He really has to go ASAP.His press statements are becoming an embarrassment.
Oh!and I agree with the merc’s criticism of the gooners last fiasco 3-3 game.
He wants to prove everyone wrong! He did same thing in the summer, without buying a DM/CB and now, it biting his ass. Now this crazy talk..! God….no no Sanchez save us..!
Arsene believes in Arsenal “playing their game” and everything will be alright. One thing he always fails to take into much consideration is the ever-present likelihood of the enemy stopping us from playing our game. That last Dortmund game is the ultimate example of the helplessness our team finds itself in when we fail to make an impression. We look a picture of complete disorganization and of a team at a loss when hard-pressed. It’s a sign of lack of proper preparation & planning against tough opponents. Mourinho’s teams are hard to beat because they make sure that, if they can’t impose themselves, the opponents do not have an easy way around them. Wenger severely lacks tactical flexibility that the modern game so sorely demands. I don’t see him changing soon. That’s why I can see Swansea giving us a hard time. However, as a fan, I still hope we get into the Interlull with some form of redemption. COYG!
Can you tell us what you have achieved with your celebrated tactical neus. All you do is find faults with club you support and give unmerited credit to competitors. Was it not chelsea that struggle terribly against maribor in mid week. If maribor knew how to score chelsea could easily have lost by four goals.
Chelsea might have lost only four points to date but that been down to luck in a number of games. The Qpr game is one good example of a team that gets lucky to cross the finishing line with all points. Your might chelsea will drop points this season and by february the gap could easily be down to four points or another team will be topping the log. The chelsea defence has conceded the same number of goals as arsenal whicg must tell you that at the moment they rely on outscoring opposition to get points rather than solid defensive play. At the moment aguero is the top goal scorer with 12 goals while costa has 10, with our alexis on seven. It is thus clear that other teams are catching up on goal scoring while chelsea goals are slowly evaporating.
The team that can be feared for solid play is southhampton. If i am not mistaken they only conceded in three game out of 11 games played which gives them 8 clean sheets. A possible explanation could be doen to opposition faced to date since 80% of goals conceded have been against teams that finished in the top 8 last season. By the way they have only conceded 5 goals, which are less than half of goals conceded by chelsea, arsenal, and man city. This is the team which you can validly use as an exampler when criticising arsenal not chelsea.
I know you believe everything the press tells you about how arsenal dms lack steel with chelsea’ matic having that in abundance. However, you compare his stats with those of arsenal players you will be very disappointed as he is inferior to arsenal dms in many respects. So rather than run with the rubbish which you are spoon fed by the media its time you have a mind of your own with the aid of data that is now available about each player and team.
@The Analyzer.
There’s a difference between optimism and living with reality. The reality is Chelsea are looking like potential champions right about now. That’s why they feature in our conversations quite a lot now. How many out there in the know, or those that observe the game, have cited Southampton as potential champions this season? Ummm… not many, sir! Your stats look impressive, but in the end, you’ve omitted the fact that experience at the top counts. Chelsea has more experience (& trophies, I might add) than Southampton at the top, and they’re showing potential again for attaining a trophy or two this year. It is not about “unmerited credit” to the enemy, but accepting the fact that, as much as I hate Mourinho’s guts, he is doing a better job of winning than my Arsenal! There’s no shame in that! As fans, we don’t have to achieve things with our own “tactical nous” in order to earn a right to criticize. We observe, drink beer, shout, break things, curse &, most importantly, bankroll the whole operation we fondly call The Arsenal, and that in itself, gives each of us a say (regardless of whether we’re heard or not).
Reality and optimism are good words in a sentence but may not much if not supported by facts. Your experinced chelsea went on a roll during scholari’s reign not only winning points but winning them in style. By january Scholari had lost his job due to poor performance. In anceloti’s last season chelsea were crowned champions after 8 games. Reality as you like it was that come end of season they were 5th. So reality is always historical or lives in tge present.
Reality therefore is that southampton has the best defensive performance to date. Chelsea, arsenal and man city defensive play is at par. Chelsea went on goal scoring spree however of late they have bee srapping past opponents on slander leads. Reality is that there are 27 games left in the season hence to start talking about who is likely to win which trophy is a matter of conjencture.
I’d like you to do me some analysis, seems u are relatable, am a strategist, can we meet? Fizz Anoze (Facebook), 7C08FAAC (bbm)
I sent you a friend request on facebook. My name is tinashe shamuyashe
Again, you omitted the fact that Mourinho’s teams are different from Scolari’s or Ancellotti’s. There’s no question he addressed their last season’s striker problem. Do you really feel like Arsene addressed ours? Stats can be deceiving. Do you really think defensively we are as good as Chelsea? Tactical nous or not, even my neighbor’s cat knows we are not.
We weren’t able to handle Mitrovic..! It would be nervous game today. Gear Up guys!!
Each subsequent press conference with Wenger shows him to be losing his grip, he is argumentative and stubborn, makes bizarre statements and it is obvious that he will damage the club simply to try to prove people wrong.
Should have gone years ago.
Everyone knows what we are lacking..Media, former players, current players and even that kid called ‘Frigpong’..!
Rpk it is a rather sweeping statement to say everyone knows what arsenal lacks in a world with billions of people. That many say X is what is needed does not mean X is what is needed. I will continue to use chelsea as a reference point because the majority of people here use chelsea as an exampler.
As I stated in earlier posts, chelsea has conceded the same number of goals as arsenal with defensice monsters of matic, terry, cahill, ivanovic, azupliaqueta, and coutois. Man city has conceded one more than both arsenal and chelsea despite having company, demichelis, zambaleta, kolarov, fernando, fernandino, toure, and England’s number one. This facts must tell you that arsenal’s problems might not be due to lack of monster of dms or lack of quality cbs.
To help in this analysis you might want to look at the goals conceded and how they came about. As I stated in one post, of the eleven goals conceded only one goal could be blamed on defensive midfield play. In other goals long balls came from halfway line into our box eliminating midfielders in the process. Other goals came from setpieces. These issues bring to the fore the issue of defending as a team. Our offensive players at times do not put opponents under pressure high up the field resulting in long ball from high up the pitch into our box. If the team defend as a unit the defensive performance can improve tremendously with the existing players
Okay,I want every Gooner to calm down and listen to the rumour I just heard which has already gone viral on the media. It has been said that the Swans have being in a state of panic since they heard that the Gunners are at Swansea today and shall be visiting the Liberty Stadium this evening. After putting their heads together on what do to avoid any calamity from the Gunners visit, they consulted a former Swan named Aaron Ramsey to help them inform the Gunners that they will present 3 Swans to the Gunners as a welcome gift to apeace them not to gunpowder shoot all of them. Thus after hearing what former Swan Ramsey told them, the Gunners for the sake of former Swan Ramsey, (now turn a Gunner) decided to accept the gifts. However, the Gunners told former Swan Ramsey to warn the Swans not to become unruly to any Gunner during the course of their visit to the Liberty Stadium. And the Swans replied that the Gunners will be at liberty to do whatever they want at the Liberty Stadium. But still pleaded that they should not be all gunpowder shot. After finishing their visit to the Liberty Stadium, the Gunners collected 3 healthy Swans including Swan Bony for the promised gift. Arsenal 3-0 Swansea FT 90+
Samuel, you MUST remove the @justarsenal from your name as you are nothing to do with this website. I do not want other readers to think you represent our views……
“But do you really think that the prof could have achieved the success he has and continued to steer the Gunners into and then out of the Champions League group stages every year if he did not do any tactical planning before facing each team?”
Of course there is some tactical planning. The question is whether there is enough tactical planning? Arsenal are far and away the most tactically clueless club in the EPL.
One more thing. It has been years since we have done anything impressive in the Champions League. Reaching the final 16 every year is largely the result of the seeding system. We’ll see how long that lasts when they change the system beginning next year.
Gudday @ house, am happy about what ppl called themself Ars Fans said so far for compared us with chelsea, they forget that what is preserve is permanent. Don’t let all media use us to gain grand on the air or selling paper, let rebrand our TEAM by supporting them no matter he case may be. Our focus may on next match against Swans. COYG !!!!!!! Go and grab the 3 point