A Tale of Two Cities

Matchday 11 of the English Premier League saw a Tale of Two Cities being played out. Over in Manchester, league champions Manchester City-with their unbeaten home record at stake- rallied from a goal down to grab all three points with only two minutes to go. Even more ruthless were Manchester United, who at 2-0 down and playing away from home had it all to do. Come full time however, and Aston Villa were left reeling after a Chicharito hat-trick meant they left the Villa Park with all three points. Vintage United performance. We, unfortunately, find ourselves on the opposite end of the scale. 2-0 up and cruising after 23 minutes, you would expect a team of Arsenal’s caliber to simply see the game out. True to form however, we then proceeded to self-destruct and as a result Fulham almost pulled off a memorable win at the Emirates. Forget that Arteta missed a penalty late in stoppage time; we really should have been home dry by then. It was almost criminal the way we threw the three points, yet you could get the feeling that Arsenal fans have come to expect no less. Just as United fans know they will win regardless of the situation their team finds itself in. It’s just the stuff that champions are made of (pardon the cliché).

Now you definitely know that something is wrong when you spend the entirety of the game on the edge of your seat and with crossed fingers just hoping that the team doesn’t choke. And let’s be honest, this didn’t just start this weekend. It’s been more or less a recurring theme with the Arsenal in our last 7 trophy-less years. Our most recent final, the Carling Cup (now Capital One Cup) against Birmingham last year is a case in point. We change the players, but the result is still the same.

We seem to lack the tenacity to grind out results at times; we don’t approach games with the mentality that says “We’re winning this game no matter what”. Some might say its die to lack of a back-bone in the team; others might say it’s down to a lack of leadership but these are all old excuses really. The captaincy has changed almost every season but the same frailty still remains. The belief just isn’t there, and this needs to be addressed with urgency. A player lacking confidence is bad, but a team lacking confidence might be catastrophic. Now more than never does the team (and the fans) need a pick-me-up to get us going again. Like stringing together a run of consecutive wins for example, this would represent a record that the players would like to keep going. Or maybe a player stepping up and putting in performances that would make other players look up to him, a talisman in the mould of RvP last season. I do understand that these are solutions that have been tried and tested and have only had short-term success.

Therefore I looked to the beginning of the season, and at that time it looked like a certain Steve Bould had sorted this out once and for all. Our defence had gotten that air of invincibility again; we did not look like conceding at all and we were defending as a unit. The result was defensive solidity, and a short streak of good form. Things have, of course, gone horribly hay-wire since. One can only imagine then, that something has gone wrong at the top. The rumours of the apparent rift between Wenger and Bould strangely coincided with the team’s dip in form as well. Players aren’t playing for one another anymore, and an example of this would be how Podolski doesn’t defend as much as he used to before. Might it be that Bould isn’t being given room to exact his influence on the squad as much as he did before? Sadly, we can do no more than to speculate.

We miss our Arsenal, we want our Arsenal back Le Prof.

4-4-2 ANYONE?

Following our most recent debacle against Manchester United, our record in the last five Premier League matches looks something like this:

ARSENAL VS:	RESULT:	SCORERS:
Chelsea (h)	1-2	Gervinho
West Ham (a)	3-1	Giroud, Walcott, Cazorla
Norwich (a)	0-1	----
QPR (h)	1-0	Arteta
Man. United (a)	1-2	Cazorla

That’s 6 goals in the last 5, a return you would expect from a Stoke or Sunderland, but not us. Indeed United have scored 14 while Chelsea have scored 13 over the same period. It’s simply not good enough.

All I’m doing is highlighting an already obvious problem that we’ve all witnessed especially since the Norwich game; we have become the personification of the term “toothless”. Podolski hasn’t scored (or looked like scoring) since his free kick against Southampton, Giroud has only scored once, Gervinho has looked lethargic at best since Chelsea…the list goes on and on. Most have complained that our attack has gone limp, is one-paced and over-reliant on little Santi, which is all true really. Now the next obvious question would be what to do about this. Glad you asked. Well this writer would like to suggest a change of formation; a subject that has brought up mixed opinions of course but that I (and a few other bloggers) feel is worthy enough to have a look into. 

To be more specific, I think a change to having two strikers is needed now more than ever. It would also be beneficial to all parties involved; not least of all Theo who’s been playing (and finishing) more and more like a striker in recent weeks by the way. Another advantage is that it allows for squad rotation and “tinkering about, which when translated means everybody will be happy now. The flexibility of this formation is also a definite plus. I took the liberty of dreaming up a few possibilities and this is what I came up with:

4-3-1-2:

Possible line-up:

Szczesny

Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs

Diaby, Arteta, Wilshere

Cazorla

      Walcott, Giroud

I particularly like this formation because it gives us greater attacking quality and intent while still maintaining control in midfield. I’ve gone with Diaby and Wilshere in because they are both good tacklers and can complement each other going forward as well. Diaby’s great technique and dribbling ability make him a great box-to-box midfielder and Wilshere’s tenacity and hunger for the ball looks a good enough combination for me. Cazorla will be in his usual playmaker role, but this time with two targets up front in the form of Walcott and Giroud. While this formation looks to lack pace n midfield, Walcott will provide pace where it matters most, and with Giroud’s aerial ability their partnership is bound to flourish. 

Chamberlain, Gnabry or Ramsey could come on for either of the midfield three, while Podolski/Gervinho could come on for either striker.

A more attacking version of this would of course be the diamond (4-1-2-1-2) formation, where Diaby and Wilshere would simply be moved further up the pitch. Rosicky for Cazorla is also another option.

There are more variations of the 4-4-2, but this appeared to be the best in my humble opinion as it is most in line with our style of play. This also doesn’t have to be used as our starting formation; we could start with our conventional 4-3-3 but convert to the 4-3-1-2 when the going gets tough. Walcott down the middle would catch out tired legs, or even centre backs on yellow cards with his pace, while also benefiting from knock-downs from Giroud and/or one-twos with any of the midfield three.

Enough said, now over to you Le Prof.