Why Arsenal should replace Nacho Monreal

Arsenal’s narrow 2-1 win over Middlesbrough on Monday night showed that under-fire manager Arsene Wenger is willing to tweak his tactics, with the Gunners going into the must-win game with a 3-4-2-1 formation. Thankfully, the move was fruitful and got Arsenal all three points in a game where anything else would have been a fatal blow to the North London side’s Champions League ambitions.

The new system, while giving ample creative freedom to our star players Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez who played just behind Olivier Giroud, also really brought the Gunners’ wide players into the mix and made Arsene Wenger’s side a bigger threat from the flanks. But while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who started at right wing-back, had his best game for Arsenal in a long time, the same cannot be said for Nacho Monreal who started at the left.

The Spaniard, who was partly at fault for Alvaro Negredo’s equaliser early in the second half, really did not seem to have the legs required to play as a wing-back and looked like a liability, both going forward and at the back. The former Malaga man seems to have lost a yard or two of pace and sometimes tends to get bullied off the ball too easily. It is most certainly a worrying sign when your wing-back gets beaten for pace by Stuart Downing and fails to avoid a telegraphed ball into the box.

The former Malaga man has not had his best season at the Emirates and with Arsenal looking likely to sign Sead Kolasinac from Schalke, the future does not look good for Nacho. Perhaps it was the impending tactical shake-up that prompted Wenger to move for the Bosnian. While it remains to be seen if Arsene Wenger will stick to the system, it is surely a risk to play Nacho Monreal on the left flank.

13 Comments

  1. Trust me he is head and shoulders above Xhaka who ever scouted him for that price needs their head checking. And don’t give me the ” what he did in Germany ” for 35 m he should hit the ground running
    Not mobile enough, passes sideways too much and is awful defensively
    Cmon guys you can still remember patrick vieira emmanuel petit
    We missed out on Kante for gods sake

  2. Team Replacement begins with Wenger!

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    Who thinks Monreal is the only one that needs replacement?
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    Oh i see where all these is coming from…..so it’s bout the Sead kolasinac rumours doing the rounds!

  3. Arsenal don’t cease to amaze me!

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    Funny that we are already counting our chicks before the hen lays the eggs

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    Tonight i watched quality football and i can’t help but say…. WE HAVE A LONG LONG WAY TO GO!

      1. Nacho is a hell of a lot better player than some of the deadwood…he links up well with alexis on the overlaps and is probably the best crosser in the team. If only the other left sided players did some defensive duties at times then he would get some protection. With the likes of sanchez and iwobi in front of him what do you expect ? Cut the guy some slack..I for one have always rated him over gibbs…without ecl we have no chance of landing this shalke dude or Rodriguez…so better Montreal plays than some freebie from championship lol.

        1. Yep there’s too much deadwood at the club.Deadwood on crazy wages too.All this deadwood needs to be cleared out asap and it should start with Wenger.

  4. It’s kinda pathetic how Arsenal often let me down and can get me frustrated at times, but I still freakin love this club. I guess it’s fate and I’m proud.

  5. I would get rid of Gibbs first, keep Monreal as backup, and sign a first choice LB.

    OT – Wilshere out with broken leg. Get well soon Jack, but that has to be his Arsenal career over now, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wenger offer him yet ANOTHER contract, like he said he was going to do recently. Deadwood out! Injury prone out!

  6. Monreal biggest weakness is blocking crosses. He allows far to many to come in from his side. Other than that he is good. I though he would be better in 3-4-3, but no one really played good in that formation the other day.

  7. I called the 3421 formation the other day, but I wouldn’t get shot of Monreal, I actually think he done ok when he was a centre back a few times and left footed centre back works better in a three. So why not keep him. I also think Debuchy played well when he was a centre back too. Both are quicker than Mertesacker, if any defenders are to be sold I would make it jenkinson and Mertesacker. Maitland-niles, chamberlain and bellerin will make good right wing backs.

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