Weekly Review BY Galen Sona.
We have had 2 very difficult games in the premier league against Manchester United and Southampton. We have seen all what is good and most importantly, the bad things about Arsenal’s play.
1) What formation should we use? We seem more confused than ever, 3 at the back, 4 at the back or 5 at the back. Right now I’m not sure, I don’t even know what to say? And I am sure loads of fans are in a similar position with me. I have tried talking to about 5 Arsenal fans about our preferred system and shape? So far I have got 4 different answers and that tells you we are in trouble.
2) We desperately need a CB? If Koscielny, Mustafi and Monreal are not at their best , we have no chance of keeping clean sheets. Southampton could have scored 5 goals today and Manchester United scored 3 goals with every opportunity they created. Koscielny can’t play 2 games in a row, you can see he is struggling. Mustafi is constantly getting injuries. Per is past it and rightly deserves to be going on retirement in the summer. We need to get another CB, not in the summer, I am talking about January.
3) Granit Xhaka is not doing it for me. He is the most one footed player i have seen in my life. Honestly I have had enough of his immobilty and his numbness to danger. He can’t smell danger and he lacks the awareness to do what is required in such a position. Fernadinho, Matic and Kante, for example, are all miles ahead of him. The fact that we constantly play from the back to a player that can’t handle pressure and pressing is just laughable. Everyone can see that Xhaka is a problem, even my lady friend Nash and she doesn’t even understand football that much. I know loads of fans are in love with Xhaka but it’s not working in this system. May be a midfield 3 of Xhaka, Ramsey and Wilshere will help us. How about buying one of Leon Goretztka, Steven Nzonzi, Lemina or Oriol Romeo.
4) Alexis Sanchez is playing for Himself. I don’t care how good this lad is, he is either playing for himself or he thinks he is 10 times better than his team mates. He is misplacing simple short passes and he stays on the ball for way too long. How many times will Saed overlap and Sanchez won’t even look at him? Same against Manchester United with 68.1% accuracy and he lost the ball 32 times against Southampton. Against Manchester United he lost the ball 34 times. I don’t care what anybody says, if you are not Messi or Ronaldo, you should not be losing the ball 66 times in 2 games. I know his game is based on risk, but at the moment he is abusing his powers.
5) The Title race is Over. Defensive errors are alarming, Ok truth be told, we were never in the title race and we have not been in the title race for over a decade so there is no need in talking about this. What annoys me the most is how many times we have shot ourselves in the foot. How many mistakes have we made leading to goals this season? What are the reasons for this mistakes? Are the instructions from the manager good enough? Are the players good enough to carry out his instructions? I spoke about Xhaka being immobile, one footed, and poor when pressed. Playing out from the back with him as the main guy is suicidal. We saw same mistakes with Mustafi and we saw with Per. Somehow we are getting punished for every mistake we make.
Where do we go from here?
Cazorla was the main man, he organised our play and made sure we didn’t lose possession in dangerous areas, I think his season is over. Personally i think buying a CB and Midfielder would go a long way to helping us.
Players out
Sanchez and Walcott, Elneny.
Players in
Van Dijk, Goretzka and one of Draxler or Mahrez.
Switch to a Back four
I know we shall may be not buy anyone, this is Arsenal footbal club we are talking about. But if this club has any ambition we must buy a CB and a Midfielder. Replace Sanchez with Mahrez or Draxler if he wants to go.
Finally I would like to dedicate this article to all the Africans who are sold into slavery in Libya for as little as £250. I hope and pray they get help.
By Galen Sona.