EMERY MIGHT HAVE TO DITCH XHAKA by Nicholas Oyoo
Against Bournemouth Unia Emery adopted the three at the back and a 3.4.3 system. Arsenal are back to winning ways though it wasn’t pretty. He played with wingbacks Bellerin and Kolasinac and Holding, Sokratis and Mustafi were the 3-CEB defense. Mkhitaryan was on the right wing and Iwobi was left wing. We had the regular in the central midfield – Torreira and Xhaka and Aubameyang was the lone striker. There was no Ozil and Lacazette. Lacazette may have been out injured which would perhaps suggest that when he is back, Aubameyang may be the one to move left and Mhkitaryan goes back to the bench.
Clearly, Emery is bold, unpredictable and does not fear taking a calculated risk. For me this is a step in the right direction and now that we are back to winning way just in time to meet up with the toughest challenge in the next two premier league matches with Tottenham and Manchester United coming up. If Arsenal pull out of these two matches as winners, the credentials of the team will hit a new high and the top four ambitions will be well claimed.
3.3.1.3 could be the best system for Arsenal to finally take off from the first whistle to the end. With Aubameyang as the left forward, Iwobi, the right forward and Lacazette at the centre would mean pinning of the opposition back to their defense with hard working wings. Xhaka would give way to Ozil, I’m not sure why he would not handle the ‘Intensity’ of the match yet he is world class player. I think that was more to do with balance of the team.
——Iwobi—-Lacazette—Aubameyang—
—————Ozil————————
Guendouzi—–Torreira—-Bellerin/AMN
—-Holding——–Sokratis———Mustafi
———————–Leno————————
Is this the Arsenal that will cage the Tottenham and Manchester United and put Arsenal to touching distance of the leading two teams?