Arsene Wenger has gone with a very strong Arsenal starting line-up for todayΒ΄s visit to Crystal Palace in the Premier league, highlighting just how much importance the manager is putting on this game. With some really big games coming up in the Champions League and FA cup, and with the terrible run of injury problems that have beset the Gunners for well over a year, I thought he might have hedged his bets.
I must admit to a bit of surprise, though, in WengerΒ΄s central midfield selection. He has left the fit again Jack Wilshere on the bench and Tomas Rosicky is there with the young England international. Instead the boss has gone with Santi Cazorla alongside Francis Coquelin.
That is a very attacking choice but perhaps a bit risky as well. It also leaves the Spaniard at risk of fatigue or a knock just days before the visit of Monaco. Hopefully we will get a nice first half lead and allow Wenger to bring Jack or Tomas on for the second half.
The rest of the team is pretty much as you would have guessed, with Alexis and Welbeck on either side of Giroud and with Ozil moving back inside to his favourite number 10 role. Gabriel drops to the bench as does Bellerin who has been a doubt with an ankle problem.
Ospina
Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal
Coquelin
Alexis, Cazorla, Ozil, Welbeck
Giroud
subs: Szczesny, Gibbs, Bellerin, Gabriel, Wilshere, Rosicky, Walcott
I am hoping for a really good performance and a thumping win from the Gunners today. How about you?
Jack on the bench!!!!….absolutely buzzing!
On behalf of everyone on this site, I approve this formation.
Nice lineup, but swap ozil for sanchez
Our midfielders actually don’t stay in their respective positions. These 4 will move around even sometimes in front of Giroud depending on the situation.
need a win here lads- time to kick on ,
draw is no good. work hard, press and get the win.
get to see the technical trio at work- love it
I am very happy with that line up π
I think it’s good to save Bellerin for Monaco
Chambers will do fine.
We have excellent GK, defense, DM. So great chance for clean sheet
Happy with Welbeck at LW. He is faster than Ozil and Ozil is superior in the centre.
Sanchez and Welbeck are fast so great on the wings.
Giroud should do well against CP.
Very positive about today. Very excited
COYG
0-3 π
Just realized Walcott is on bench. Hope he is okay.
Maybe Wenger saving him for Monaco
think he is gone this summer, just seems he is out of favor
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@MaVerick46
vipleague.se
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Thanks for the effort guys.
Good selection and formation.
I don’t see this as a morecattacking side, I see it as more defensive, because in chambers and monreal you have two players that are more defensive than bellerin and gibbs and I think this is spot on for today. Personally i think he will play 4123 going forward dropping to 451 defending.
Have to say how strong is the bench lookin? imagine once debuchy, arteta flamini Ramsey chamberlain are fit which for 3 of those won’t be long, we could enter the business end of the season with the biggest squad in the top 7.
Off topic and looking ahead, we will have a squad of 31 players born 1993 or later come the summer, some decisions will be easy surely, galindo, ajayi, diaby and ryo will be the first out. But even without signings that will mean 2 more have to go, Jenkinson, flamini, arteta, podolski, rosicky, campbell, Wellington, martinez, and sanogo will all be wondering if they will be part of the squad. Will be an interesting summer.
Happy with this, this team currently reflects that the days of fav players are over, happy that even walcott has to fight for a place on the squad and also wilshere can be eased into the team as slowly as possible, hopefully quickly too as santi cant play all games. Staying on wilshere i feel the one person he should be watching is santi what santi is doing now is what wilshere did in that barca game, pure brilliance, just win ball and drive it in or keep it simple and keep the play on. Wilshere needs to tailor his game to Santi’s in order to reach the potential the world knows he has. He will be a massive player for us and england if this happens, coyg.
So Ozil given offside already when a blind man could see he was on by a mile.
This pitch looks terrible.
3 slips already.
Let Cazorla take penalty
Horrible pitch, but good penalty!!!
Cazoooooorla
Oh, Santi Saint!!! Lovely PK
Hmm, Cazorla seems a BIG man downstairs.
wtf??
What???
5 slips already, did our players take wrong boots?
what an odd team choice..but monreal always a liability against fast attackers..is gibbs injured?
THE COQ is having a mare..
when the f*** did palace become a better footballing team than us?
Out played by palace, but this happens with every team that presses us.
We can’t cope
take monreal off now its a complete mismatch
fully agree, zaha is eating his lunch, too much speed, where is gibbs?
this reminds me too much of the spurs match, go up 1-0, but opponent have insane energy, its like playing a whole team of sanchez’s, hope they settle in or this could go bad,
We are just getting pressed a lot but it’s understandable since we are playing away. Decent defending so far, we just gotta counter attack better that’s all.
Man, Monreal is bein raped by Zaha. Mayday,….mayday!
This gonna be a tight match.
Any team that rushes and hurries us always make us look like girls.
they are working so much harder than us …wtf is wenger doing to motivate this lot
I don’t even know if he talks to the team before the match or at half time.
I can’t get over how abysmal this pitch is. It’s definitely hurting us more than its hurting Palace. The only way to play on a pitch like this is by going direct to goal. Try to play proper football and somebody is going to slip and let them in. Hopefully the second half is a bit better footing for us. If it is, we’re going to cruise to a win.
per having a good match thus far, seems to be the calm force is a sea of chaos
If we win (I mean when we win lol) I won’t complain of How we won it. A win away is a great result.
COYG
Just win
they r winning EVERY 50-50 ball
giroud wellbeck just doesnt work for me
ha…u spoke too soon
OG haha and I was wanting him out at half time
Boom! Sucker punched!
Giroooooooud
No injuries please, that’s the last thing we need.
Who said welbeck giroud doesnt work?
And the pitch is terrible..
We need to train more on how to deal with terrible pitches. The Liverpool away game comes to mind. We keep slipping and sliding and loosing the ball.
Girroooouuddd
0-2 bruh
COYG
Does that goal work for you? That was Welbeck and Giroud… Lol. With that being said, Welbeck looked like he may have been offside, which makes up for the call to start the match. What a perfect way to go into the break.
Giroud is on a Ronaldo-esque form. 9 goals in 11 games.
Theo for Wellbeck and Bellerin for Chambers would be a much better balance for mine. Wellbeck and Chambers far too clumsy with the ball at their feet to both be playing on the same side of the pitch
Now score more in second half. Don’t give them a chance. Also increase intensity defensively. One goal and they are back in it.
Very happy atm
COYG
how we are 2 up is beyond belief…. but next goal will determine this tie…and if swansea game stays as is its 3rd place!!!! not sure if coquelin should stay on though… an accident away from a red…
Not really. It’s simple, we are away which is always tough and being pressured hard. All we can do is counter and wait for them to make mistakes and capitalize on them, which we did. Good game so far in my opinion
Welbeck was great as a cf, and I think hes doing his best out wide. I like dat guy!
DAT GUY !!!!
I don’t know why we struggle with high intensity teams. When we are pressed and not given any time on the ball we look clueless, but when we are not in possession we can’t press or hurry the opposition..
I think that’s why w struggle in big games, no intensity, all we do it sit off and hope the other team loses the ball instead of us trying to win it back. There has got to be a balance..
If you were a manager playing Arsenal would you give our midfielders time on the ball?
They know that but, they try that, but we have three of the best technicians in midfield !
It’s not only Arsenal midfielders that are technical, other big clubs too have the same, but most of them intensify their game when needed. That’s why we have a terrible record against any Top club in England and Europe. If the other clubs can press and hustle, why can’t we??
Goonster,
When you look @ the lineup Sanchez and Welbeck are really the only offensive players that have the appetite to press on a consistent basis. Ozil, Giroud, and Walcott(when playing) stroll around the pitch, although OG is great @ defending set pieces.
Why I dont believe will ever be worth Sanchez money, one way player
Theo
THE COQ has been tentative, his over indulging sometimes and also doing stupid tackles ( Flamini type). Please calm down and keep it simple THE COQ..
Palace are pressing up and Coquelin is out numbered in that position, only cazorla is helping him in the middle.
@GOONSTER
I think he’s too quick to lunge sometimes…
our build up play is non existent because out of every three passes building to an attack one is always poor and makes us lose possesion. Palace have 0 on target which is the only thing helping us in this game.
ton of credit to Palace, for pressing the crap out of us this match. You have to give them credit, and they are really giving us a game. Unfortunate to be 2-0 down, but Giroud proves clinical again when given only one chance so far. a lot of credit to him, and Welbeck who was involved in both goals. no game is over at 2-0, so if we stay focused we can get these points.
Even though they are pressing, they look like they have more energy still left.
Zaha is Crystal Palace’s Messi π
dont think coq should be on…. 2 up neither goal would stand in 9 games out of 10..if they score we r f****
Ozil defending? lol
Ozil defending!!!
Just my thoughts. Cazorla used to be a weak defender but is now quite good. Ozil and Walcott may be able to follow the trend.
…and attacking…!
Nearly our best goal of the season π
Ozil is truly pass and assist king, our finishing let him down
Love seeing Γzil full of confidence again!!!
Coq looks better in 2nd half, much better
We’re letting them get crosses in too easily
Mert gonna have a huge headache after game.
Really never cleared so many balls
Ok now we just need a draw between MANURE and SOTON and we are in 3rd place ….who would say
I think OG must come off and play Theo down middle.
Agree. Giroud’s play other than the goal has often been poor. But you can say that about many strikers. He got the goal but with the poor quality in the rest of his play today makes you wonder if it is worth it.
every f****** ball they get to first…dont understand wengers training methods….
Lool Ospina is a good actor hahaha
Ospina as reserve centre half??
Whats always wrong with our gk? They always appear a little clumsy
TV announcers are searching for any reason to discount the Arsenal lead. They also believe, as usual, that the team that satisfies their football sensibilities should be declared the winner.
I have checked the rules repeatedly and they still don’t award points for possession, passing stats, thuggish play, louder fans, commentator opinions, etc.
They award points for scoring goals. In the end quality reigns.
what game r u watching this is a deeply uncomfortable performance…3 points would be amazing achievement… if it was 2 to palace you couldnt complain…
Now that is simply madness Mohawk and Im sure Tony Gale disagrees with you. Lol
this is a helluva entertaing match, tough road win would be huge, man utd still on draw @ 70″
no way anyone can tell me the coq solves the dm position…hes better than flamini but way short of top class
Swansee ahead yessss
top 3-4 here we come
need pool Sou to draw, would be great!
keeping the 2-0 is also important, we will go to 21 GD over Utd at 19, this season could come down to Goal Diff,
correction, man utd at 18! go swansea!!
Our players keep tumbling everytime we are on the ball. The pitch must be very bad. I hope no one gets injured!
YES. I saw a couple of good close-ups of the pitch and it is terrible. In some areas the players slip or trip every time.
But this is a time-honored tactic used by teams with lesser quality to negate their opponents’ superior quality. Just have to deal with it.
Swansea 2-1 United
united just conceded!! 2-1 for Swansea!
Bravo Ozil unrecognizable great dfence
carzola has lost ball in midfield too often
I think our players colour blind, no other possible reason for passing to opposition.
Our team is such a long way off. Sorry.. Every teams that is half decent over plays us. Leicester, Brighton, Crystal palace, Spuds, Liverpool etc…
We are getting away with it in this match…
Love your comments and insight to the board mate but any game away in the Premier League is a dufficult fuxture, especially for Arsenal. There style of conceding possession, not pressing the opposition when leading is a maddening blueprint from the boss but it is what it is.
I do agree that Arsenal have many miles to travel($$$$$) to consistently compete on all fronts.
In past seasons Arsenal have been criticized for not being able to win scrappy games like this???
It is not genius to see that Arsenal did not “dominate play.” But they dominated in football terms by scoring goals. No points in the rule book for possession.
And how about a bit of credit for a great game from Palace???
Feck ref …are u blind or just biased??
Taking our most attacking threat and only player that can hold the ball off
WENGER wake up…..time for SUBS too many yellow cards and we need to protect our players
rosicky, 10 yrs a gunner! to me he deserves legend status!
Really ref, they have done that all day and nothing
still 2-1 swansea, 83″
Burnley scores! 1-1
Chelshit 1-1 as well !
Matic sent off as well
Burnley 1-1 Chelsea
Chelski 1-1 Burnley with minutes left
Could be an awesome day to watch MOTD LOL.
After years of heartache, it’s special days like this that bring tears of joy to my eyes. I love being a gooner
This could be a great weekend
Their terrible pitch just attacked their own player.
Wenger’s subs have made a difference
Seems like anytime an Arsenal player is on the ball with back to goal they are fouled. Ref is calling about half of them.
If Swansea hold on we are 3rd place
FULL TIME:
Swansea 2-1 United hehehe
Chelski 1-1 Burnley hehehe
Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal
Win is a win
Chelsea draw yes!!!!!
WENGER!!!!!!!!!!! SUBS we need to rest and protect our players for Wednesday…. this man will never change
Who were you wanting on?…thought he had made good subs to rest/see game out
They only allow 3 subs.
FCUK 1-2
Shit almost 2-2
Lucky lucky win…puuuh….breath and wait for motd. Just to see manu lose haha
Chambers has never stopped one cross today
It’s okay. Don’t worry about last minute goal. We weren’t playing our best anyway
Listen we won away
I’m happy.
Well Fred we didn’t dominate possession, score 5 goals and keep a clean sheet. Next thing you know MANURE will lose @ Swansea and Chelsea will draw to lowely Burney @ home?
Some fans just need to embrace the reality that Arsenal is a quality side but has a a number of average players currently in the starting 11.
A win is a win in my book
Heart Attack
Screw the clean sheet….. 3 points away , MANURE lost , CHELSHIT draw with BURNLEY @ Stamford, we are now at 3rd place….. Life cant be better…COYG