Official Arsenal team and preview for West Brom trip – Where’s Ozil?

Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal players are under severe pressure after crashing out of the Champions League and slipping out of the top four of the Premier League in recent weeks, although there is the cushion of knowing that we have two games in hand on fourth placed Liverpool and would go back above them if we win them.

However, the away game against West Brom managed by one of Arsenal and Wenger’s often problematic managers in Tony Pulis is no easy task and so I am expecting a tough test for the Gunners today. After the Baggies lost thier two previous EPL games, though, conceding five without reply to Everton and Crystal Palace, our manager seems to expect them to be set up to defend and stifle our creativity, so he has responded by dropping the combative Francis Coquelin and opting for a central midfield of Xhaka and Ramsey instead.

Cech
Bellerin, Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal
Ramsey, Xhaka
Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanchez
Welbeck

Subs: Ospina, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Coquelin, Elneny, Iwobi, Giroud.

I like the fact that our manager has gone for the pace of Welbeck in the centre forward role, with Giroud back on the bench and ready to perform his super sub heroics if called upon. It is good to see Elneny back in the squad after hi8s injury problem as well and to have the Ox fit again, but where is Mesut Ozil?

Anyway, let’s get down to business and hopefully see Arsenal back to something like the attacking fluency that has been lacking of late.

Bob.

94 Comments

  1. good line up

    alot ppl indifferent to season now
    im not even gonna watch game, off out ,
    club has handled this wenger business poorly as always

    heres to 3 points, gd luck lads

  2. Would have gone with Elneny ahead of Ramsey, although Elneny probably not 100% fit, otherwise, a good lineup for once. Not bothered that Ozil’s missing. Do we really need him for tough, physical away game, against a good team? He’d only go missing anyway.

  3. What needs Lucas do to get a place on the firs XI? every time is the excuse of light injuries. I do not believe it as he put the two lamppost OG and Per on the bench wary of the aerial threat they got and i do think this is why he was left out but pace is the best attack against Westbrom if anyone remember the game back at the emirates when they parked the bus.

      1. Arsenal team is a clear case accommodating son-laws. And who are these F***ckers who are flying pro-arsene banners! disgusting

    1. That player has scored some great goals for Arsenal this year and should be in the lineup not coming off the bench game after game.

    1. haha player asking for 200K to sign and is not in the team when it is in a dog fight to survive.

  4. To all of you lazy bums out there who are screaming for Perez to start or making smart remarks about Ozil, DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST. Ozil is out with a hamstring injury. And Perez has a thigh strain. You’re welcome.

    1. Like plenty of top players, Xhaka needs to be surrounded by the right players. He’ll be fine next season after a good shake up.

  5. Walcott welbeck Ramsey Monreal and xhaka would not be in starting team of any totter top 6 team let alone in european elite

    1. You do know Bayern the team that smashed us 10-2 on aggregate wanted Xhaka and still do right? No to mention it’s his first season as quite a few of our legends had rough starts as well. The rest I agree with and they’ve been here far to long.

      1. Like barca wanted to pay 60m for Ramsey right … 95 per cent of transfer news is fake … They wouldn’t be paying 35m for him though that’s for sure …

        1. You might be right about the price but they wanted him nonetheless. Ramsey should have been sold immediately after the Euros so we could have got the most for him. Lol

    2. Guys it pretty straight forward. We hve 75 percent possession. We are just passing the ball around what tactics are we using for todays game? I dont blame any player at all you need to know what to do at key areas but our players are clueless.

  6. Anyone know why Bellerin is trying to look like Zlatan? He’d be better off trying to play like Zlatan…

    1. His role is stroking wenger’s …ego … Certainly nothing to do with football that’s for sure but have known that for 5 years … He’s the midfield equivalent of lord bendtner … Just hope for a bit of effort in second half

  7. As good as Koscielny is he has so many defensive lapses. West Brom’s opening goal and leaving Fletcher wide open if not for Cech before his substitution. I wonder why no one sees that.

  8. Take Alexis out of this team and it would be in the bottom half if the table … I don’t actually recall any other player trying to take on a WBA defender in that half … Shocking performance no desire no effort no quality … Welbeck Walcott combo is about as lively as a singalong with Theresa May

  9. I made a bet that Wesbrom will score in the first 20mins. Just found out they did it earlier ??.

  10. Have to say if barca want to pay over the odds for bellerin I would say yes he has gone down big time this season

  11. Wow puli us a manger who wants to win … Wenger a manger who needs to retire … Best thing now is we lose this

    1. Because he didn’t interfere with the play. Don’t find an excuse for our reoccurring lackluster defending. Lol

  12. Alexis is gone, all the best to the last Arsenal winner.

    Rest of players are a bunch of losers

        1. We stopped being great defensively when Pat Rice stepped down due to illness. He wouldn’t have allowed this.. anyone remember him constantly hounding Pires up and down the touchline… ‘The BALL Robert… Get to the BALL!’

  13. We are a joke, lol and guys here thought ww would win 3-1 lmao.

    Never predict an Arsenal win, we bottlers

  14. The guys behind the in Wenger we trust banner must be feeling a bit silly at the minute

  15. Arsenal fc needs a complete overhauling, from manager to every single player in the squad. Its either we don’t know how to win games anymore or every other team just knows how to defend against us. Can’t believe we’re struggling against West Brom.

  16. Our defence is woeful. We should be 1-0 up, but 2 shoddily defended goals and we are playing catch up yet again.

    Honestly, with a decent manager we could be a force again, but this is like the Keystone cops playing football.

    Even if we win, it’s still woeful.

  17. Anyone who loves Arsenal should be praying that we finish outside top 4, and anything that were will frustrate Wenger out of the club.

    I am tired seeing same man, on same bench, struggling with his jacket zip on Champions League night, when he’s supposed to be taking notes of happenings on the pitch.

    Wenger has lost the plot since !!!

  18. This is the team managed by Wenger that some fans wants to get back into top 4 and go to Europe?

  19. What you think wenger and bould chatting about.

    Probably laughing at the board for their huge salaries for doing nothing.

  20. That’s it … If wenger doesn’t say this is my last season he deserves zero respect ZERO ..regardless of what happened a decade ago …. Shocking manager shocking man

  21. I really pity fans who still pays their hard earned money to watch our teams. The last match I watched live was 5 -1 loss in Munich. I couldn’t chew further garbage !!
    Arsenal match is rather a poisoned chalice!!

    As for our season, I knew it ended, immediately we couldn’t beat Bournemouth, whose defence was marshalled by Chelsea’s second fiddle defender – Ake

  22. Wow we have fallen so far, from invincible to a mid table team, fighting for Europa thursday night football.

  23. Our defenders are on holiday. It’s almost criminally bad defending.

    And that my friends is down to the manager and his choices for players and coaches.

    He HAS to go. Out of touch, out of date, no grit, no confidence.

  24. Can’t watch anymore … it’s nothing new, we all knew they would play on the break and set pieces, yet all we do is camp outside the the penalty box hoping the waters will part….

  25. This pointless passing around the box is funny. Take some shots and let w a have possession. Wenger is so scared if the team doesn’t have the ball. His tactics are devoid of off the ball gameplay. Good luck competing like a doofus, Arsene.

  26. And we’re freeeeeeeeeeee……free falling!
    Shocking 🙁
    And yes where is ozil there is more to that than meets the eye.
    We may as well just not turn up for the last games of the season, oh hang on that’s what we’ve done anyway recently.
    Players trying to get rid of sanchez and Wenger ala Chelsea and Leicester or are we just that poor?

  27. 2016-17. The season Arsenal finishes out of the top 4, finishes below Spurs and dare I say we beat City and get done in the FA Cup final by either Spurs or Chelsea. What a way to end the season that would be. Cringe!!!

  28. Where are all the wenger junkies .. Where … Man up and admit the error of your ways … You have been wrong for 5 years,spouting your vitriol against fans who want the club to succeed and recognized that was never possible with wenger and his progeny … An apology is due

  29. How dare we mock Man Utd for being 6th. They probably won’t need to win the Europa League to get a CL spot, we’re pretty much giving it them anyway.

  30. The plot is lost….the players are not playing for Wenger anymore, he lost the dressing room players are evudently pulling a Leicester/ Chelsea …..expect his resignation after the game

  31. West Brom fans singing Arsene Wenger, we want you to stay … I have to say it is sad that it has come to this. Wish he had gone while he was still a legend.

  32. I wonder how many of our players Pulis would Take?
    Xhaka?
    Mustafi?
    Monreal?
    Ramsey?
    Walcot?
    Giroud?
    Ospina?
    Welbeck?

    Please God can we finish seventh… That’s my hope for the rest of the season. No Europa league would be a good result…

  33. If Wenger goes he can take Bold with him this guy is getting money for old rope. He is the defensive coach and he has the team defending like Schoolboys.

    1. haha, you think Bould has ANY power under Dictator Wenger? Nobody does. Why do you think he never reacts to anything? He knows there are problems but nobody can ever undermine AW.

  34. What? ?? did you really expect us to win today?
    Like I said yesterday, we will see fight in our last 7 or 8 games ?
    In the meantime.. suck it up ??

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