*Official* English Football Season 2014-15

[Cabinet96]

Well I should probably call tonight a reality check or something but **** it we more than matched them for 65 minutes.

Real winning is boring, Atletico conceding 3 is a bit strange.

Were Arsenal really that bad?

Until the first goal I thought we weren't to bad. Yeah, they missed a few chances, but that's par for the course. It was always about trying to soak up the early exchanges because their pressing game is so strong. But after the first goal we never really looked like we would get anything from the game.

Also, reminder that Immobile and Aubameyang were available at the right price. #NoStrikersAvailable.

 

[sledger]

Yeah, Arsenal were totally underwhelming. No bite or anything.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Extraordinary ranting from Charlie Nicholas regarding Arsenal's performance. I haven't seen the game but I find it hard to believe it was as bad as he's making out.

 

[Uppercut]

I don't think either of those players would suit. Although I suppose Aubameyang can play left-wing, gives you the option to go with pace on that side.

Struggling under the press is a recurring theme but you did a great job at Dortmund last year. What do you think has changed since then?

 

[Furball]

Dortmund took their chances this year.

 

[sledger]

BBC Sport - Jonas Gutierrez: Newcastle winger being treated for testicular cancer

Well, this is no good.

Hopefully he'll be alright.

 

[Cabinet96]

Urgh, cancer sucks.

 

[Cabinet96]

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Yeah, Arsenal were totally underwhelming. No bite or anything.

Should have signed Suarez then.

 

[Furball]

Arsenal are so pedestrian up front at the moment. Look at the amount of movement that Özil's got to hit with passes in that video, it's night and day compared to what he gets at Arsenal.

Wenger's also not helping him with the stupid formation he's playing. Frankly if he's going to persist with the 4-3-3 he'd be as well selling Özil as he doesn't fit into it. The only way I can see him fitting into it is to play as a false 9 and have 2 of Alexis/Walcott/Welbeck making out to in runs from wide for Özil to hit.

I still don't think Özil's playing that badly. His movement's generally pretty good and he rarely gives the ball away. He's just not making decisive passes because he's got no-one to hit, and the formation Wenger's playing is forcing him to sit on the periphery of the game instead of influencing it from the middle.

 

[duffer]

We're playing 4-1-4-1 and Flamini and Arteta can't do it. It's just not working.

 

[duffer]

What I'd do for a Gilberto in this side.

 

[Furball]

We're playing 4-1-4-1 and Flamini and Arteta can't do it. It's just not working.

Flamini and Arteta are contributing nothing.

I see no reason why Wilshere and Ramsey can't play as the 2 in a 4-2-3-1. They've got the energy to do it, it might need Wenger to reign in the full backs a little bit so that they don't both attack at the same time but the lack of a DM in that side wouldn't worry me particularly with the power of work Ramsey gets through.

 

[Jarquis]

Özil and Sanchez have previously shown themselves to be absolute superstars in 4-3-3s but as duffer points out, that's not what we're playing right now. We're asking Özil to play as an orthodox winger most of the time and it's not working. He either needs to be on the right hand side of an attacking three so he can drift inside or he needs to be the #10. Current formation doesn't allow him to be either.

Formation has to change - the 4-2-3-1 saw us win more points than anyone else in 2013 and finish a handful of points off winning the league and FA Cup. Since then we've improved the starting XI and attacking depth and the change of formation has seen absolutely everyone than Wilshere play a million times worse. I'd like to say I'm hoping Walcott coming back might see a change but at the same time we've currently got AOC twiddling his thumbs on the bench. The 4-1-4-1 just can't stay, it marginalises out best player and horrendously exposes our weakest.

 

[duffer]

Özil and Sanchez have previously shown themselves to be absolute superstars in 4-3-3s but as duffer points out, that's not what we're playing right now. We're asking Özil to play as an orthodox winger most of the time and it's not working. He either needs to be on the right hand side of an attacking three so he can drift inside or he needs to be the #10. Current formation doesn't allow him to be either.

Formation has to change - the 4-2-3-1 saw us win more points than anyone else in 2013 and finish a handful of points off winning the league and FA Cup. Since then we've improved the starting XI and attacking depth and the change of formation has seen absolutely everyone than Wilshere play a million times worse. I'd like to say I'm hoping Walcott coming back might see a change but at the same time we've currently got AOC twiddling his thumbs on the bench. The 4-1-4-1 just can't stay, it marginalises out best player and horrendously exposes our weakest.

It looks to me that we're trying to shoehorn Jack into the starting lineup at the expense of Ramsey and Ozil. If reverting back to a winning formation is at the expense of Jack then so be it.

 

[sledger]

Yeah, I pretty much agree with all of the above Arsenal-posts on this page.

 

[Cabinet96]

I've not seen a single person in the universe who is happy with the changes to the set up. Wenger's stubbornness is so frustrating sometimes. What makes everything ten times worse is this setup would've been great for Fabregas. The argument for not getting him was that Ramsey as a CM and Özil as a 10 were our best players. If Özil was always going to go wide then we could've had Cesc as the furthest forward of the central midfielders, allowing Ramsey to play deeper, The latter is playing too advanced for me as he's not really the playmaker type.

Seriously, if we've ruined Mesut Özil we're a disgrace.

 

[grecian]

Blimey normally the over-reaction to Arse at the start of the season is over-positive, nice to see it go totally the other way this year.

Calm down people FFS.

 

[duffer]

Blimey normally the over-reaction to Arse at the start of the season is over-positive, nice to see it go totally the other way this year.

Calm down people FFS.

I actually can't see the over-reaction. Haven't played well since the Community Shield and some obvious problems being pointed out.

Then again not trying to compare our problems to Exeter.

 

[sledger]

The calls for Wenger to be sacked are as premature as they are predictable, but the long and short of it is that Ozil is being played massively out of position, and this is a big concern. This is Mesut ****ing Ozil for god's sake. It's not an exaggeration to say he is one of the best players in his position in the world. For so long Arsenal have lacked a bona fide world class star, and now that they have one (or maybe more) he is being absolutely wasted, and it is a crying shame.