The 5 HUGE positives for Arsenal from Cologne clash

Not every single thing about the Europa League match between Arsenal and FC Cologne on Thursday night was positive from the Gunners’ point of view. Far from it, in fact. The first half was pretty pedestrian and when David Ospina’s mistake qwas punished to the full with the German club taking the lead it all felt like a bit of a disaster.

However, when the final whistle was blown, which felt like some time in the early hours of the morning, we could look back on an excellent comeback and a great result which puts Arsenal in pole position to win our group and progress in Europe. There were a number of very positive aspects for Arsenal from the game as well, and here are the big five in my opinion:

1. Alexis Sanchez finding his form in something like a nano-second. The Chilean striker was doing a pretty good imitation of a person who has never played football before in the first half, but after the break and once Sead Kolasinac showed him the way with his superbly smashed volley to equalise, Alexis turned back into the all conquering superstar we know he can be. Just in time for the Chelsea match.

2. As mentioned above, the free transfer from Schalke this summer is fast becoming a firm Arsenal fan favourite, and not just because of that brilliant 49th minute strike against Cologne. His whole game, attitude and approach are a breath of fresh air.

3. Jack Wilshere. The 25-year old midfielder brought back memories of why he was being touted as the future of Arsenal and England a few years ago. Keep it up Jack, please keep it up and stay fit.

4. Mohamed Elneny. If that performance from the Egypt international does not have Arsene Wenger thinking about using him more often in the Premier League then I do not know what will. Energy, drive, awareness, responsibility and some excellent precision and technical ability on the ball.

5. A combination of the right result and useful game time for fringe players suggests that Arsenal may not be too sorry to have dropped into the Europa League after all.

24 Comments

    1. So when a small club from the epl completely out plays a big club and wins, you see similar “If and but stories”. If callum wilson can put in a performances like this week in week out we could be top etc:. Truth is top top top teams and players are just more consistent than the rest. The only difference between world class and the rest is putting in top performances consistently. A few 10/10 performances followed by 8s and 9s. A poor player would get the 10s and follow that u by 3s and 4s. Look at ben arfa for eg. So guys no positives. Kroenke still owns you guys, your hearts and your wallets belong to kroenke. Wenger still runs the club with his outdated methods and is stubborn as ever. And ozil and alexis don’t wanna stay. Neither does bellerin and ramsey.
      This is similar to those who think getting a top degree means success. It doesnt, its an illusion, you spend a boat load of cash and take on debt to go and get a regular job to pay it off by the time your 40-45. People who don’t go to college/invest their funds would out do you by large numbers. Society and people are always mesmerised by the short term bells and whistles. They don’t see the truth and miss the big picture.

  1. Arsenal should come to Stamford Bridge with hardworking, strong and skillful players like Sanchez, Kolasinac, Elneny, Welbeck. No room for misplaced passes, weak players and predictable plays.

    The last time Arsenal won at Stamford Bridge was six years ago. When Van Persie, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Ramsey, Walcott, Gervinho, Djorou, Santos, Arteta, Szczesny and Song were in their primes.

    Arsenal have to dictate the tempo, dominate the field and have a very displined defensive midfielder like Song in the field. Because Coquelin is injured, Elneny or Maitland-Niles could be the one.

      1. Well he helped Arsenal beat Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge six years ago. After that match, Chelsea have not tasted the defeat again at their turf.

    1. Apart from Van Persie Song and Koscelny I really don’t know how we won with that team, Chelsea must have been really shite. Mind you Theo was playing quite well at that point in his career and was a threat but your right unless we can take control of the midfield we cannot win the game. It has been proved over and over again Xhakha and Ramsey cannot do that for us. Xhakha’s only game is a ball from deep which the Chelsea defenders will read and pick off, he can’t tackle and he can’t run plus his midfield partner leaves him exposed to go meandering around. Have to solve the midfield issue

    2. I really want to see Kolasinac deployed as a defensive midfielder. Have a back 3 off
      . …….. Mustafi- Mertesaket- The Boss ………
      Wing Backs & DMF
      Bellerin…………… Kolasinac………….. Monreal
      ……………….. Elneny…………………………………..
      ………………………….Alexis…………………………..
      ………….Welbeck………………………………………..
      …………………….. Lacazette…………………………

  2. Reviewing the game I am now convinced Ospina made no mistake in coming for the ball. The ball had to be cleared (honestly I was surprised Ospina got first to the ball) and because the clearance fell between the lines it was really unlucky. Furthermore, 9 out of 10 shoots Cordoba made will end out of target. If you review it again you will see that the ball fell into top corner, half a yard and it could have been a near miss. What I really like at Ospina is the fact that he’s un-flinched when opposition is shooting from distance. You see a cracking shoot and then a a calm Ospina getting the ball on the chest.
    What I like at Cech is how he comes out on the crosses, I don’t like his positioning on shooting from distance, I hate his distribution.
    Want a combo between these two. Can we play them both between the sticks?

    1. There should be no blame on Ospina he had come for the ball as the defenders were too slow getting there, thats what you get with Mertersacker sloooooow

  3. we are so quick to blame ospinas clearance…where were d midfielders that were supposed to close the guy trying to shoot..if they had closed him down immediately instead of loafing around cordoba wudnt have enuf space,balance and time for that shot… Secondly what kind of training are this guys having… Why does every attack go straight to our defence…why dont our midfielders close attackers or make interceptions..we are vulnerable down the middle that why young players like holding are left exposed..wenger has totally lost it…

  4. Both Cech and Ospina has shown brilliance and have made the wrong costly decisions.Quite frankly they should compliment each other positively for Arsenal.Wenger must stop experimenting and approach game with zero tolerance.Players like Holding,Walcott performed below average of which should fall out of team,maybe prove themselves in champions league.Walbeck,Alexis,Lacazetta and Geroud must start,Iwobi,Elneny average(benched) and more game time for Reiss,Ainsley,Jack,Sead.Metsacker is closing in for retiring,he should be benched as he cannot keep up with the youth.Wake up Wenger,You chose these players like Xhaka,Coquelin,Bellerin and Ramse of which have been extremely inconsistent you do not know when they are firing on all cylinders.I suppose your job is to wake them up,Good Luck

    1. The players often make misplaced passes (Xhaka) and wrong decisions (Cech, Ospina) because of Arsenal’s tempo. They are enforced by the manager and the staffs to quickly pass the ball when in possession, without waiting for better chances and no adequate help from their teammates either.

      If Arsenal goalkeeper and defenders could control the tempo from the back, they could mitigate the number of mistakes. But to play with such low tempo, Arsenal would need more skillful players that can produce more touches on the ball.

  5. I think we learnt that we play better with a back 4 and with players playing in their normal positions. Was relieved to see the changes at half time saed is awesome and fantastic to see jack playing well.

  6. Nice article, and spot on about Elneny, who was my MOTM Thursday night. Sadly we all know Elneny will be dumped onto the bench for consistent under performers Ramsey, and Xhaka, come Sunday. Ozil will also be brought back in for a tough away game to do…I’m not really sure what he does in these types of games to be honest. He makes a 5 yard pass look stylish, that’s about it I’d say!

  7. Guys Wenger replacement found. Thomas Christiansen ,current Leeds united manager. He has excellent record. What say?

  8. My problem – how Welbeck. Sanchez, Lacazett can be accommodated in their natural pisitions against Chelsea. That Welbeck is becoming a fighter while Lacat is a target man. He can convert more than half his chances.

  9. I think it must be 3-4-1-2. I think mustafi,kos and per/monreal as CBs. Bellerin and kolasanic at flanks. Ramsey and xhaka at CM. I think Ozil must be dropped to bench and replace Sanchez at his place. The free role which is given to Ramsey must be given to sanchez. He is full of energy and technique. Lacazette as RF and welbz at LF.
    Cech
    Mustafi-kos-monreal
    Bellerin-ramsey-xhaka-kolasanic
    Sanchez
    Lacazette-welback

    1. I would try with 4 at the back, i know 3 at the back was the formation that has helps us in big games but i think our solidity have to come from players giving their 100% and not from numbers in our back

      . Ospina
      Bellerin. Mustafi. Kos. The tank
      . Xhaka. Elneny
      . Ramsey
      Welbeck. Lacazette. Alexis

      I would love a better dm than elneny who is an average player, but as we are used to, wenger has not do his homework…i would loce krichowak there

  10. elneny short passing game wont suit us on sunday, we need someone whose long passes are mostly accurate and yes that’s granit even though he gives it away he has the best passing range in the team at the moment, so i’m glad none of u lot are the manager. with the way chelsea play expect alot of those side passes trying to build up before us losing the ball and yes them counter attacking in the speed of light especially when bellerin and saed are bombing forward and the pass gets intercepted and they have to run from one end of the field to the other i have seen it to many times!! we need to beef our mid to win this game and we should play on the counter as well, that ozil sanchez combo goal in our 3-0 still makes me smile especially watching kante legs giving up when he was trying to chase ozil that was beautiful!! that was football!!. we should play abit deeper and hit them with runs in the channels. their mid is tough and able to cover alot of the ground, but we are good on the break and we got pacey players who will cause defenders problems. 3 5 2 for this game would be ideal: my line up would be

    peter

    mustafi laurent monreal

    hector saed

    ramsey granit
    ozil

    welbeck/iwobi sanchez

    laca

    our wingers need to tuck in while defending to stop the spaces being exploited in the middle you can all see where it will be hazard, willian those two are the main source of danger we stop those two from supplying we will be in very good shape saed and bellerin are gonna need to have a solid game with loads of concentration, also please don’t let hazard cut in from the right similar to robben in bayern, hazard when running through the middle is unstoppable, a mid player granit or ramsey must always take that into consideration and stop him or slow him down whe he sees him switch to his right and go for the run, he should never be allowed to run at the def!! the chelsea mid is really good defensively but we can create space behind them or on the wings. if we set up the right way with the correct tactics we can get the points, lets see which arsenal shows up on Sunday!

  11. lol looks like im fielding 12 players sorry pressed enter by mistake! . ozil welbeck/iwobi/sanchez..but with 12 players we could definetly win it 🙂

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