Arsenal Have a Massive Problem In Attack by Goonerboy.
Being realistic is going to Anfield and not expecting to win, or so I am made to believe, if that is the case then why bother at all? Liverpool’s greatest strength is their mentality, while Arsenal’s greatest weakness is mentality and I think that is being passed on to some fans.
Look, there is a very thin line between realism and negativity, if you are not careful, your realism can make you become a pessimist. Personally, I know it is a tall order to go there and win, but if you analyse the match well, we should have got a draw which would have done us a lot of good, as a fan I would still be HOPEFUL if Arsenal has a match against a combined 11 of Madrid and Barca, why? because I love Arsenal, I am a FAN.
If Ludogorets was to play Madrid pre-Covid, fans will still turn up at the Bernabeau, because they are FANS, and fans are allowed to dream, to hope and to support their team, if they want to be realistic, they won’t bother travelling all the way to Madrid to see the game.
After our humbling at Liverpool, much has been correctly said about our midfield and all, but we need to start analysing the attack…
On paper, we have a very good team going forward but for one reason or the other, they have not gelled, the last time we had a gelled attack was with Sanchez and Ozil and it was often the both of them always finding each other.
Again, you might want to say it is the midfield, but in the few times where the ball gets to one of the front three, the ball is always passed back to the midfield 80% of the time, the front three is always so disjointed and bereft of ideas, the combination play is almost non-existent.
As Arteta alluded to, the squad is completely imbalanced, and it will always be as long as we have Lacazette and Aubameyang. In fact, we have been able to manage because Auba is a flexible player that can at least play on the wings.
The front three of Liverpool, City can combine without having to pass the ball back to midfield EVERYTIME, our forward players lack initiative, and combination plays that is required at this level.
I laugh when I see people clamouring for Auba to play down the middle, I assure you, you will hate him more than Lacazette if that were to happen. Auba is poor in everything except scoring.
If we want to keep playing Aubameyang at LW, Saka has to play RW, that boy has a football brain that is far more than his age. Willian can play RW, but he does better on the left.
Some have forgotten how Auba is always invisible when playing in the middle.
The biggest let down has been Pepe, he is a complete waste of money, the best he has done is those two free kicks in the Europa League, he completely lacks a football brain, we need to find a solution to this.
As long as we have Auba and Willian, we need to change our formation, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 will suit these players. You have no other choice for now than to play Auba and Laca (or sell Lacazette) but the right wing has to be Saka, not Pepe, not Willian. Auba will thrive centrally when there is space, but most teams will park the bus against us.
As for the midfield, left to me, I would go all out for Partey who has been performing for a very long time. I am always skeptical about young players from French league, we can still use Ceballos as the number 10 while we have Xhaka and Partey as shields.
We have quantity but only a few quality, we are in for a long ride people, brace yourselves….
Goonerboy
