While Arsenal do have a lot more strength in depth to our squad these days, the injury situation and the outstanding ability of some of our players mean that it can be difficult for the manager at times if he wants to rotate the team for different matches and to rest the most important Arsenal stars.
The most glaring example of this right now is Mesut Ozil and the central attacking midfield position. With Santi Cazorla having had to have surgery to fix his ankle problem and being set for about three months out, the most obvious replacement for the German is not available and the manager’s recent experiments of using Aaron Ramsey in the number 10 role have been somewhat less than encouraging.
Well I reckon that one player that might be able to do a good job there for the Gunners is young Alex Iwobi. The Nigeria international has great feet and technical ability and he often plays the sort of quick interchange of passes and movement with Ozil when he plays on the left.
The Champions League game against Basel tomorrow, if Wenger accepts that there is little chance of PSG not winning, gives the boss an opportunity to give Iwobi a chance in this position and if he performs well it could be a crucial plus point for Arsenal as the season wears on. What do you think Gooners?
Bob.
I agree with you!
He still has a few very important things to learn for that role, good range of passing, long and short most importantly.
He’s had a go in that role in the League Cup already. I think that’s his best position has he has the technical skills for it, but every creative/attacking midfielder believes that is their best position because of the freedom the role allows and the reduced defensive duties due to the role being that essentially of a 2nd striker in a 442 or 4411, leaving the bulk of defending to 2 CMs. The best #10s bring strength to the role otherwise DMs shove them off the ball. I think Iwobi has this already but he must learn not to hang on to the ball too long and defend better by attacking from the front. Bless the lad, he has admitted defending is not his strongest area and is working on it. He will have another go in the FA Cup depending on who we draw. As for Basel, we can start him in that position with the big guns on the bench should news from Paris suggest there is a need to capitalise.
I’d stick with Ramsey despite the fact he has been pretty woeful. Iwobi could be one for the future though and if Ramsey keeps putting in performances like he did in last week’s League Cup, the future might be closer than we think.
Sanchez and Walcott must be rested. But we can’t change the team too much though!
Lucas
Iwobi Ozil OX
Xhaka Ramsey
Gibbs Holding Mustafi Gabriel
Ospina
I’m with you twig. I rather this lineup of yours play against Basel. It’s time to rest our first team players for the premier league.