This is the sort of question that Arsene Wenger has had to answer ever since the rather fortunate but successful emergence of Francis Coquelin as Arsenal’s first-choice defensive midfielder. Over a difficult period in December 2014, with Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey all missing through injury, Arsene’s hand was forced in moving to […]
Arsenal deploy new boxy “Zonal Attacking” system to great effect in away games?
Crystal Palace Last week I wrote this; “…it wouldn’t surprise me if we played narrow again with the intention of forcing them to match our shape.” We did indeed play quite narrow, but with a very specific shape which Andrea suggested was very much like a 4-2-2-2. Watching the game back I began to notice […]
Coquelin makes us STRONG but “YOU NEED TO BUY WHEN YOU ARE STRONG!”
I have five replica Arsenal shirts hanging in my bedroom wardrobe, one of which I am proud to wear, and four I am not. For the sake of continuity, over the years I always ensured I purchased large versions of each jersey for the simple sake of re-use. I found out – probably the hard […]
EXCLUSIVE – The Definitive Guide to be an Arsenal Fan during the Transfer Window
Happy New Season, everyone! Not quite the start we wanted at home to West Ham, all that optimism after a great pre-season, and the feeling that this could be “our year” killed stone dead after a home defeat in the first game of the season. At 1.30pm we were in the best position we had […]
Simulation and Disrespect are rife in Football – Why so and what are the solutions?
How many times over the last few years have we read about misbehaving football players? Whether it is Luis Suarez, Mario Balotelli, Ashley Young or even the likes of Joey Barton, there are certain infamous personalities who make the headlines for all the wrong reasons, on and off the pitch. Granted that as long as […]
Width to the rescue – Do Arsenal need a left winger? Reus they do!
In what was one of my first articles for GunnersTown (back in March) I argued we need a winger. The idea wasn’t greeted with open arms back then: I was pointed out we have Oxlade, Alexis, Walcott and Welbeck. 4 players for two positions is a balanced and healthy squad, right? Not exactly. Fast-forward five […]
The Cherry On Top: new signings that would fill Arsenal’s squad gaps.
Omar wrote a great blog earlier about players playing in certain positions, also calling the manager’s (I don’t mean Wenger per se but a manager in a general sense) tactics as a factor in how that player performs, for example Wenger using Eboue as a right-winger when he was a full-back by trade, or Mourinho […]
Still a cherry short of a cocktail – Wenger must spend before we can all relax surely?
Where do Arsenal need to strengthen in the next 2 weeks? It wasn’t so long ago – I had just returned from my holidays, Arsenal had just completed the signing of Petr Cech, and me and my sun-kissed skin had a strange feeling the squad was now complete and set to challenge. However, here I […]
Is Ozil better than Silva or Hazard better than Alexis? How do we judge the relative merit of a player?
I was initially tempted to write an exploratory piece on Ramsey-on-the-Right but I think there are several quality posts lined up on that topic – including one already put up by Andrea and a bloody good piece by Dave Seager; so, I’ll do what I do in times like these and go off on a […]
The Curious Case of Mesut Ozil – Why the under appreciated genius?
Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil has attracted plenty of harsh criticism for going missing in games, and has even found himself under attack for being in a 16-year-old’s pocket after his poor performance in the opening day defeat against West Ham. The condemnations of Germany’s World Cup winner are odd, given how highly thought-of Ozil is by […]