It is too early really to be predicting the Arsenal line-up to face Man Utd on Monday evening, we have to await team news and who is up to match fitness and so forth. However, that does not mean we cannot debate the sort of team we think that Unai Emery should go with at Old Trafford.
Bernd Leno will remain in goal, he is still the number one keeper, but at least there is good competition now with the emergence of Martinez.
I would like to see an almost new defence of Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi in the centre, Kieran Tierney on the left and Calum Chambers on the right, as Bellerin is not fully match fit. Now, I know some of you may be shocked at Mustafi there, but for me, he is playing better than David Luiz has this season and I have said it before, the German was our best defender at the end of last season.
Torreira is starting to look as if he is ideally suited to the defensive midfielder role. Dani Ceballos can be the creative influence and Joe Willock as the box to box player, which means no place for Matteo Guendouzi, I know, right?
Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pick themselves for now, although Pepe has to do more if he wants to continue being an automatic pick, And I would have Saka instead of Nelson as the third forward player.
So, my ideal team would be…
Leno
Tierney
Holding
Mustafi
Chambers
Torreira
Ceballos
Willock
Saka
Aubameyang
Pepe
I accept that there will be debate over Mustafi, Guendouzi, Ozil, Nelson, Xhaka and Luiz, and that it is very unlikely that the eleven I would like to see take to the field will be the team that Emery selects, but as I said at the start, this is not a prediction, but the team I would like Emery to go with.
One last thing, isn’t it great that we have some decent squad depth at long last?
I’d be more than happy with that line up, but we all know Xhaka, Luiz & Stone Cold Sokratis will play…
Stone cold sokratis, Sue has finished me.
Lol
@Sue
“Stone Cold Sokratis”…. Epic🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
All we need to see is the stunner by Sokratis to Rashford now. Lol
Stone cold sokratis. Hahahahahaha. I can’t think of a better phrase to describe the clown. I think he is in the wrong sport
You need GUENDOUZI IN THE STOMACH.tha you
Reminds me of that line from Avril Lavigne’s song, Sue😁
😄👍👍
It’s far from reality sadly, this looks more like it:
Leno
Chambers Sokratis Luiz Kolasinac
Gendouzi Xhaka
Ceballos/Ozil
Pepe Saka/Nelson
Aubameyang
Definitely this, Sadly.
One thing certain that should happen is Guendouzi playing. Ceballos is still yet to stamp is foot though. The defense will probably consists of Emery’s sweethearts.
Agree with Saka, PEA and Pepe
Not a bad line up but I will swap Ceballos for Guendouzi.
Leaving guendouzi out is stupid, and it doesn’t take long to forget about mustafi does it? Here’s the thing. Changing mustafi is still a worse player than both sok and luiz imo, it’s just that when you play there two together they are a real sh#t show. I’d go with holding sokratis. Sokratis is decent alongside a calmer pair of hands
I still see Unai playing Xaka, Soks, Luiz, Guendouzi, Kolas but i would like to see Chambers and Holding be included in the first line up as replacements for AMN and Soks. I see Ceballos, Guendouzi and Xaka starting, Willock will replace Ceballos and Xaka has to make way at 65 minutes for Torreira. Saka, Auba and Pepe slot in automatically. I see Martineli or Tierney coming in at some point in the game to add pace.
Here is my first Eleven
Leno
Chambers
Holding
Luiz
Kolasnac
Guendouzi
Xaka
Ceballos/ozil/Willock
Saka
Aubameyang
Pepe
My lineup would be
Leno
chambers,sokratis,rob holding and Kieran
torreire,Guendouzi,ceballos
PEA,Nick PEPE AND R.nelson
I’ve pcked nelson due to better experience he gained when he was on load, he is more physically stable than saka / ozil / willock and he can even defend when he looses the ball plus he is a natural winger and so he should start and beat the sh t out of Ashley young
lucas + Guendouzi should both be at the midfield as they are more active in defence and pushing the team forward
any doubts or comments?
So its been reported that emery asked the team to vote for who they wants to be the captain of the team. This is what Holding said about Xhaka, “There are a lot of leaders in the team who are helping each other out and pushing each other on. You can see it in training.
“I love Granit in the changing room. I think he is great. He is really switched on to people being late, people using the phones.
“He is quick to dish out the fines. I think he is a great leader and just another positive person to have in the changing room.”
I like the last statement of holdings. Xhaka might be good in the changing room but not on the pitch so that disquifies him as a captain. If the whole team where to follow his footsteps on the pitch as a captain I believe we all know what the outcome will be. So why not hand it over to LACA, at least he has good example to be followed on the pitch.
In order to see the best of Pepe, our midfielders need to be very mobile and move the ball faster. Xhaka is not mobile and quick with the ball and he slows our game down a lot. That is why our midfield has been struggling since. I which Emery would try Luiz in Xhaka’s role in midfield and lets see how he performs there.
This is a very balanced team with pace, mobility and skill to excel against Man United. Emery, please bring back our Arsenal, we need our Arsenal back. COYG!
————————Leno————
Chambers——-Mustaphi——–Holding——Tierney
—————Torriera/Willock——Luiz——–
Pepe————–Guendouzi———-Saka/Martinelli
———————Aubamayang————-
@Franko
This looks like a killer squad, where we can dominate the midfield, shield the back line, and still with enough creative nous to supply our lethal front line. Bring on Matteo for Willock at the half and start Martinelli, and swap with Saka at the half… This is the winning combo right here. 👍🏿
Guendozi has to play.
Him and Auba have been the stand out performers so far this season.
Torriera Guendozi and either Ceballos or Willock for the midfield 3.
I’d still play Luiz over Mustafi too. See how he gets on with Holding alongside him.
El Sackico next week …
Guendozi has to play come on. one of our best two players so far. Tireny might not be up for it yet. and Mustafi is no better than Socratis or Luiz. and Xhaka will play. he is a very limited player but important for Emry’s style.
If Man. U can play as easily from their own third to our own third as Watford, Eintracht, Villa etc. it doesn’t matter who we select at the back. They will come under too much pressure and probably make mistakes.
What I hope to see is our forwards and midfielders being able to keep Man U away from our third, to win the ball closer to Man U’s goal.
Then we will actually have a chance to win.
exactly. You are right! man.
we defend too deep , we need to start defending high up the pitch. starting with our attackers to our midfielders before it get to the defense.
man city doesn’t have a great defense. even Barcelona, they start defending high up the pitch , win the ball back as quickly as possible.
most especially we need more protection from our midfielders Xhaka/Gwuendouzi and even Willock doesn’t have this strenght to win a ball, that means a player like Torreira has to be starting in front of our defenders. this very simple.
COYG
lol. You go with that first 11..
only positive change there is Lucas Torreira.
no matter the defensive partnership we chose. Either socratis/Luiz or holding/Mustafi or Luiz/Holding. Lucas Torreira and either of Xhaka or Gwendouzi has to be in front of the back line, Torreira is a midfield destroyer and Xhaks or Gwuendozi is just a central midfielder.
————————Leno————
AMN——-Sokratis——–Luiz——Tierney
———- Gwuendozi. Torreira
Ceballos
Pepe———————Aubamayang————- Ozil
let’s try and watch the first half of that Watford game again. especially the first half and you can always witness the presence of Ceballos and Ozil in our midfield.
Emery need to change something from that midfield. they need protection no matter the partnership he put on show.
exactly. You are right! man.
we defend too deep , we need to start defending high up the pitch. starting with our attackers to our midfielders before it get to the defense.
man city doesn’t have a great defense. even Barcelona, they start defending high up the pitch , win the ball back as quickly as possible.
most especially we need more protection from our midfielders Xhaka/Gwuendouzi and even Willock doesn’t have this strenght to win a ball, that means a player like Torreira has to be starting in front of our defenders. this very simple.
Mustafi is a disaster that we have momentarily forgotten about just because he’s been taken out the firing line for a bit. I’d still rather the two current clowns if Holding isn’t back yet. A shame 3 of our CB’s are just totally unreliable. Though the protection they get from midfield is close to none.
That’s what happens. A poor player is dropped from the team for a few games and then people start going on about how we need that player.
Lol
Guendouzi Xhaka and Torriera will play I’d imagine. Cabellos Willock and Torriera might be a bit lightweight away at trafford facing a tall strong set of players. Manu get a bit dirty when they play us, they usually dig deeper. Guendouzi has to play, you have form going and he has the ideal physical requirements. Willock could be useful but I don’t know if he’ll start. I don’t think Emery will go with an out and out playmaker, these matches are tough over the years and close, maybe bring one on when the game opens up or players begin to tire, I would like to have some useful subs to call upon like we did in Villa game. Lacazette is a huge loss for this type of game esp. We still have the most clinical striker in league to call upon …get in!!
Torreira Luiz Guendouzi that’s too defensive, it should be 2 plus ozil or Ceballos.
Your guess is as good as mine. Fine selection indeed.
The squad depth is what thrills me,unai emery should get his tactics right, this is just the right time we get the damn three(3) points at mumu traford
How many people said Mustafi was finished and there was no way he could recapture his form? According to some (if not most) fans he was a greedy mercenary only stayed at the club to collect his pay. Suddenly he’s the flavor of the month and everyone’s calling for him to be reinstated in the team.
Thats good except Mustafi
Put Luiz instead of Mustafi
Unless Bellerin can start then play Chambers
Also Martinelli maybe instead of Saka
Leno
Tierney
Holding
LUIZ
Chambers
Torreira
Ceballos
Willock
Saka/Martinelli
Aubameyang
Pepe
Emery will do well to use the game plan that was on against Forest, and choose players accordingly. Having a creative playmaker is vital to us going forward, because our forwards need supply and service. Intelligent play and not Emery’s scurrying around will see us win the game. Hope he will not resort to his tinkering.
My ideal team would be
Leno
Tierney
Holding
Sokratis
Chambers
Torreira
Guendouzi
Ceballos
Pepe
Aubameyang
Saka
Emery will start Xhaka & Guendouzi.
Mustafi is technically better defender than all our Cbs. It’s his lapse of concentration and judgement that kills. I think pairing him alongside Holding would go a long way in developing some game sense, calm and good judgement in Mustafi. I can see this CB pairing working well. And Mustafi is better at long ball distribution than any other CB except for Luiz. If he can be less error prone and develops his game sense and good positioning, he can still be a great defender for Arsenal, with someone like Holding to his side.
Torreira, Ceballos and Willock will work wonders in the midfield imo. Also, I see Torreira, Luiz and Willock, Or Torreira, Guendouzi/Willock, Ozil/Ceballos working as good in the midfield. Heck, with Torreira, even Xhaka would work well with Ozil/Ceballos in front. All in all, Torreira is KEY.
A good and more capable line up please don’t forget those minutes for Gabriel martinelli in my opinion better than all ….time will tell
COYG
I suppose it is good thay we are not all the same – how boring that would be. Some say Mustafi in, some say Mustafi out. Some say Özil in, some say Özil out. Same with Luiz and Sokratis and Ceballos and Guendouzi. The only player there appears to be agreement on is Xhaka. How ironic then, that we would criticise the guy that should know best and works daily with each and every one of them. I include myself, by the way.