ARSENAL RECOVERY LINEUP by Nicholas Oyoo
Clearly, Arsenal are in trouble, and it is not just the defense, but in every department! Liverpool are a Champions League side and at the point of bestness which shows the kind of level that Arsenal have sunk into lately. We need a recovery from the pit in the next few days before the window closes. Can we ruthlessly get into the market?
Players like Monreal, Mertesacker and Koscielny are now aging and one cannot guarantee that they would last a season. The matter is worsened with the fact that Gabriel and Gibbs have gone already and Mustafi is making his way out of the team. It means Wenger must look to get quality cover in the closing stages of the window. Xhaka is doing very well with assists! He has three already but all of them have ended up into the Arsenal net. It is time for punishment. Surely, at this level you do not make three such mistakes and hope to play in the next game unless you are playing for school team!
My personal team under the current squad circumstances with new signings would be a 3.4.3 system as below:
—–Mahrez-Giroud-Lacazette—–
Lemar—Carvalho—Seri—Bellerin
—Kolasinac – Van Dijk – Koscielny
——————Cech—————-
You would agree the setup is more compact allowing very little entry spaces between the players for the opposition side to explore. Of course there will be lots of ground around this compact set up that the opposite sides will find room to run through and cause problems. That is where individual attributes come into mind. Players like Mahrez and Lemar will push the opposition hard. Someone like Bellerin will deploy his speed to great effect and Lacazette will keep the ball close enough. All this means is Arsenal have it in their lockers to keep up with whatever will be thrown to them.
No Ozil, No Alexis No Xhaka No Ramsey? Yes, we need to try a different thing and at the new Arsenal you will have to prove your worth to get into the team sheet.
If we can’t defend well, then we should be able to score more than our opponents. You sense that at Stoke Arsenal were unable to do any of the two duties rather well. At Liverpool, Arsenal could not do all the three duties that a functional football team does well. This is Defence, Midfield and Attack. We are regressing.
Can Arsene Wenger sign 5 players in the next three days. It would be ruthless! But that’s what Conte could do. Otherwise if he can’t do it let’s all begin to count how long it takes for 2 years of his own contract to end, then we will all come back to support Arsenal.
Nicholas