After Arsene Wenger finally got the Arsenal chequebook out and spent something like the sort of money we have been hoping he would for years during this summer´s transfer window, Arsenal fans have been a little disappointed and frustrated that we have not seen more of two of those big signings so far this season.
Shkodran Mustafi has been an ever present since his arrival but with the defensive injury crisis facing the club the boss had little choice but to throw him in at the deep end. The Frenchman has been more cautious with Granit Xhaka and Lucas Perez, however, and the way the Spanish striker struggled to make an impact on his debut against Southampton perhaps you can understand why.
Lucas certainly made his mark away to Nottingham Forest in the EFL cup last night though. A well taken penalty followed by a great solo effort and a good set up for Chamberlain´s goal had the boss buzzing and showed us all why he went for the relatively unknown Deportivo La Coruna forward.
Now Wenger has a big decision to make ahead of the visit of Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday and it is a good decision to have, especially if Giroud is still not going to feature. Will he now drop Alexis Sanchez back to the left and play the pacy Perez through the middle, with Walcott on the other side.
I must admit I like the look of that front three, with Ozil supplying the ammunition for them to work with. Lots of pace and talent and all three of them in good form and feeling confident should give the shaky Chelsea defence a really tough time. Would you go with Lucas after his cup heroics?
Bob.
Yes I’ll be tempted to start him. Put him on Luiz and force an error out of him!
It’s a difficult one whether to start Perez or not.
As much as we pretty much all agree that Alexis isn’t a striker, he still scored a few goals from that position this season.
If we play Perez up top then Alexis moves to the left and Iwobi will be dropped, not particularly fair on Iwobi as he payed well against Hull.
It’s a good problem to have but I suspect Wenger will persist with Alexis, assuming Giroud isn’t fit.
*played*
Move Iwobi to Right or Alexis right so he not predictable.
All I know is we can’t have 2 wings not defending, so Sanchez on wing is a must
Sanches no good on left has no left foot Perez better there like Podolski has great left foot. I would play Awobi up front with Sanches sub for 65 minute. Or Sanches up front with Perez on in 65minute. But please don’t play Sanches on left every time he gets to the bi line he stops turns on right then that move waisted. Walcott at least gets down and crosses first time which gave him 3 assists against Hull. I rest my case CB
Do you want fair or 3pts?
Thats what Arsenal were all about, in the past, the ability to attack with plenty of pace! And it’s great to see that option is available, once again. But with Chelsea up next and their manager known more for his defencive tactics, we will be relying on Ozil to split their defence with his keyhole presision passing.
We are now officially on an unbeaten run, everything is clicking into place, even lady luck is smiling upon the Arsenal and long may it last.
COYG’s
l would prefer a front two of Sanchez and Lucas with Ozil playing behind them. l would bench Walcot instead and strengthen the midfield that will ensure we also have enough ball possession, guys like Xhaka, Carzola and Coq would definitely provide the flair and steel in the midfield.
Perez should definitely start!
Theo and Sanchez seemed to compliment each other a lot last game… The way they were moving together and spacing shouldn’t be altered IMO.
Well spotted
You are suggesting a Diamond formation
Cech
Bell————-Mustafi—–BOSS——-Monrel
——————– Xhaka——————-
——– Cazorla————-Coquelin
——————— OZil——————–
————— Perez——-Sanchez————
On paper the diamond looks really cool. But I just can’t remember seeing Arsenal playing the diamond. I don’t think Chelsea is the type of game to experiments formations and the positioning of players on the pitch. BUt it looks really good on Paper.
Lucas can play LW as well as striker
Alexis can play both wings
Then you have Iwobi, Walcott
So we have different choices
As long as we don’t start Ox for Chelsea
We need to let Chelsea feel Xhaka and Lucas.
Xhaka left foot is needed when thing are tight and he would want to continue scoring.
When last were we scoring at those distances of Xhaka 2 goal? Please Wenger let it be.
Cech
Bellerin Mustafi Kos Monreal
Coquelin Xhaka
Walcott Cazorla Sanchez
Perez
Heaps of pace, solid centre, with Cazorla on much better form than Ozil, and Xhaka with long passes in behind. (Walcott is at his best against better teams where there is more space in behind). Wenger won’t play this team though for sure.
I have suggested the same thing. Fans on here believe a player can be on form for 60 games. Ozil is a big player but so far he is not putting the effort. No one doubt his quality but this is a big game and everyone needs to be on point.
Whatever Wenger does we should not drop Coquelin. Coquelin has been exceptional so far and has done nothing wrong and should not lose his place.
I feel like Coquelin coming to the club at the age of 15 years for £0 means he is not respected. People sometimes want a big price tag before you get appreciated. Look at Elneny he is a £6 million player. I tell you he will start for Manchester united despite them spending
£93m pogba
£27m fellani
£28.5m herrera
£37m Mata
£27m Schiniderlin
£27m Mkhitayan
———
£236.5 million spent on central midfield players so far in just the last 4 years.
Look at all this expensive players and they have done nothing for United. Players like Coquelin should be appreciated. They may have come for £0 at the club but COQ is CLASS.
As impressive as he was against Forrest.. Iwobi, Sanchez and Theo were all equally as impressive against Hull. It’s a tough one, but for me the Theo, Sanchez tandem was on point and I think we should stick with it against Chelsea. Iwobi’s been absolute class as well.
For me, the bigger question is Xhaka or Cazorla beside Coquelin..
———————-Cech—————————-
Bell————-Mustafi—–BOSS——-Monreal
—————Xhaka/Cazorla—-Coquelin—————-
Theo————–Ozil/Cazorla—————Sanchez
———————-perez——————————-
Xhaka or Cazorla??????
Ozil or Cazorla
think Wenger will play: Cech Hector Mustafi Kos Nacho ; Cazorla Coquelin ; Walcott Ozil Perez ; Sanchez.
I would personally start Xhaka and Coquelin, there’s going to be a need for two holders in a game like this.
Ospina to start over Cech. Sorry Peter but I want to beat those scum and don’t want any old loyalties getting in the way of that. They know his weaknesses and I think it’s better for all concerned we play Ospina.
@Twonk I agree Ospina over Chec.