Ozil, Cazorla and Rambo. The Arsenal problem. The Arsenal Way. by Galen
The big question for next season has been how are we going to fit Ozil, Cazorla and Rambo together. Rambo has made it clear that he has spoken to his manager about it and the manager has said its a temporary situation. There has been a lot of talk about formations. But LVG says the problem is never the formation. the problem is the philosophy behind the formation. Barcelona may play the same formation as Arsenal. But the philosophies are completely different. At Barcelona the players stick to their positions while at Arsenal the players are free to roam. At Barcelona the players are disciplined while at Arsenal the players are given more freedom to express and break away from the tactical plan.
Cesc Fabregas was heavily criticised at Barcelona and Pique defended him by explaining the differences. “At Arsenal You have more time on the ball; midfielders, especially those who move between the lines, have more space. There is more freedom to move around, and it is enjoyable as a midfielder,” the Barcelona defender said. “But I can see how going back to a positional game can be difficult if you have had the freedom to play according to your intuition instead of a collective order. I can see how Cesc would like to have more freedom as he used to have at Arsenal, but you have to play according to where you are, of course.”
Barcelona have operated on this disciplined philosophy with managers like Pep and Van Gal. Herrera was asked about him being on the the bench at Man United, and he said: “Van Gaal loves possession and doesn’t like to risk [losing] the ball. He wants long possessions and to keep the ball, because he believes you create spaces staying in the right place, because the team have the quality to find you. “At the beginning he used to tell me off because I always looked for the ball, I wanted to have it, and I must wait for it.”
Arsenal have got loads of freedom. if you look at Ozil’s heat map after a game you would be surprised. Sometimes he is barely at the number 10 position. Always roaming and looking for solutions for the team. Our freedom to roam and positional play cost us big time in the 2013/2014 season. We conceded 18 goals against Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool. We were always open to loads of counter attacks as our players were never in positions. We were just not disciplined enough. We pressed very high up the pitch and that cost us big time.
2014/2015. Wenger decides to bring a deciplined 4-1-4-1 formation. But fans were critical saying the formation is meant to suit Jack and Rambo, while Ozil will be forced to play out wide. Our best performance of the season was Man City vs Arsenal away. We had a midfield 3 of Coquelin, Rambo and Cazorla. Coq took a lot of credit but the work of the other 2 central midfielders in Rambo and Santi deserve a lot of credit for the shift they put in. They were disciplined, they never roamed or tried to score goals. They stuck to their positions and we were hard to beat.
Ox and Sanchez are key to our game because they have pace and skills, and give protection to the full backs. Then the transition from defence to attack was so much quicker. City away and United away (FA Cup) are perfect examples. In both games we had one of Ozil or Rambo on the bench. The teams was much more balanced.
Ozil’s return from injury and what I call the ‘The Ozil, Cazorla and Rambo problem’ began. We had a very good run but when the big test came we failed in all of them. Monaco at home. Chelsea home and Man United away (league). The first half at United away was the worst feeling. It was as if United played a division 2 side. It was clear that Ozil and Cazorla in the middle, and Rambo out wide, was not balanced. We had no pace in the team and no width on the right. Yes we won the FA cup and we are all very happy. But home games like Swansea at Home, Sunderland at home and Chelsea at home will repeat themselves next season if we don’t adjust the overall balanceness of our team.
Should Ozil Calorla and Rambo all be on the pitch at thesame time? Am talking about the big games. can we play real madrid with Ozil cazorla and Coquelin in midfield? I think Coquelin needs ramsey energy to help in the middle of the pitch . Can the manager sacrifice one of cazorla or ozil despite their form? Playing Rambo outwide reduces our fast transition from defence to attack and with lack of pace and dribbling in the team it becomes easy to defend against Arsenal as we rely so much on our passing. Swansea Sunderland and Chelsea came at home and Knew we had no pace. They defended and cut the space in between the lines. With all the great play makers we couldn’t break them. The technique was there. But there was no pace.
Is Ozil Cazorla and Rambo a problem? Should anyone of them be droped for the sake and balance of the team? Am talking about the big games in particular.
By Galen.