@abhi8 Let him go, there's many other players queuing up on the bench who could equal or better performance, rather than seeking out of the squad which try hard to challenge in top 3 week by week.
@LoveSS Mate there is no player in the team let alone bench who can fill his shoes. Look at his tackles in this game, most for any one on the pitch. His shear will is sometimes what makes the team click.
@What4- He wants to play every minute of every game so doesn't like being subbed. I don't think it's any more than that. The tabloids are liking to make out Sanchez is unhappy at Arsenal but I think the Bournemouth sulk was down to us not going all-out for a win after equalising (I agree with him) and this one was at being subbed.
@What4- I agree, it's unprofessional to question the manager's decision especially when it didn't matter. I personally would've taken him off after the 3rd goal. I don't think it's indicative of his wanting to leave I really meant. Some in the media are trying to push that reasoning. I don't blame him for his Bournemouth sulk though.
It slowly turns for Özil from a mediocre season into a shitty one. He has no real creative impact on the game and ALL HIS STATS are worse than last season exept for goals. Sanchez scores, assists, dribbles and gives keypasses on a regular basis, Özil does none of it and just keeps up his passing in unimportant areas. 3 assists in 18 games is just dissapointing for his position and keeps him hardly in the top 40. Last year he was 1st by far...
@neumi17 I thought Ozil was brilliant in this game. Watch the MOTD highlights and Murphy praises him extensively. He was my MOTM with his fantastic passing, touch and runs. If you think he's having a shitty season you don't really understand football. He has also had one of his best ever goal scoring seasons, and has great stats in the CL.
@neumi17- Sanchez playing in the 9 for at least half the season has impacted Oezil's key passes/assists stats. Alexis is hardly ever in the position Oezil would usually pass to a genuine #9 in to create a chance typical of him. The flip side is he scores more. If you look at the chances created, you'll notice that Arsenal have 2 'main' creators in the top 5- Oezil and Sanchez. Spurs have 1 (Eriksen) and City have 1 (de Bruyne) with Silva way down the list in 11th. Oezil has still averaged only slightly fewer per game (2.6) than Eriksen (2.9) who people are saying is having his best season. It works out a 2-game swing in Mesut's favour in a "bad" season. Payet does everything for West Ham when he plays hence the mass of chances created relative to everybody else. In terms of goals + chances created (influence on a game for their team), Payet has averaged 4.11 per game, Alexis 3.33, Eriksen 3.15, de Bruyne 3.11, Oezil 2.9 & Hazard 2.58 yet Mesut is the only one having a poor season....
@SteveHyland so great to have an Arsenal fan constantly on hand here with a voice of reason. @neumi17 Özil hasn't been at his consistent best this year but he's certainly shown us what he's capable of in a number of matches. It's funny how Özil gets judged on (goals + assist) stats when really the bulk of his great work goes unnoticed. Yes people think he is the assist master but he's certainly added goals to his game more noticeably this year and I believe has had to drop deeper since Santi got injured and our CM options are currently more defensive minded. We just hope he and others can stay fit, allowing him to re-familiarise himself with teammates and find some consistent form.
@SteveHyland My main criticism is that Özil does little besides being a very good passer. I am not shure wether thats already enough for him but I don`t think he is the man who creates something substantial against defensive minded opponents. He is not the " door opener " a creative playmaker should be but more like a deliverant once the door is open already ! If there is some space and a teammate is running into it, fine. Özil gets the keypass done.
But if there is no space available to pass the ball into Özil remains clueless and just keeps on passing the ball around without higher purpose. He waits for things to happen instead of making them happen ! He doesn`t dribble to create a new situation or forces scoring opportunities by driving aggressivly into the last third. He is like a hunter who waits for a good shot instead of going after the pray and killing it . And that makes the difference to me wether someone is a good om or a world class om ...
@neumi17- I think you're being a bit harsh, I've seen plenty of occasions where he has opened the door with a cutting pass. You simply don't make 144 key passes in a season without making great passes through traffic, especially given he splits corner duty with Cazorla (when fit) and free kick duty with Alexis thereby cutting the number of attempts on goal from dead plays versus Payet, Eriksen and de Bruyne. It's true he doesn't dribble too much and that is one of the warranted criticisms, but what he does is exactly what Arsenal and Germany need in that position and some of that means rather than attempting a defence-splitting pass (and risk losing possession) he keeps hold of it and remains patient. Arsenal have Cazorla and Germany have Kroos to do most of the general play dictation and Oezil is there to finish it off. If the opportunity isn't apparent then he doesn't force it largely because he is told not to by Wenger and Loew. Both managers are tactically pragmatic in that way.
@neumi17- Sanchez playing in the 9 for at least half the season has impacted Oezil's key passes/assists stats. Alexis is hardly ever in the position Oezil would usually pass to a genuine #9 in to create a chance typical of him. The flip side is he scores more. If you look at the chances created, you'll notice that Arsenal have 2 'main' creators in the top 5- Oezil and Sanchez. Spurs have 1 (Eriksen) and City have 1 (de Bruyne) with Silva way down the list in 11th. Oezil has still averaged only slightly fewer per game (2.6) than Eriksen (2.9) who people are saying is having his best season. It works out a 2-game swing in Mesut's favour in a "bad" season. Payet does everything for West Ham when he plays hence the mass of chances created relative to everybody else. In terms of goals + chances created (influence on a game for their team), Payet has averaged 4.11 per game, Alexis 3.33, Eriksen 3.15, de Bruyne 3.11, Oezil 2.9 & Hazard 2.58 yet Mesut is the only one having a poor season....
@SteveHyland Thx Steve... It is hard when your phone is adjusted to german spelling and you use " auto spelling " I I generally should read the text again before I press post but mostly I get to excited and just let it go.
@neumi17- Bitte schoen. I rarely read through before positing either. I find it tedious and in the end people understand what you mean if it's a typographical error. It's clear what you meant to me. A friend of mine has a Microsoft phone stuck on American-English. Changes it to correct English then out of nowhere it reverts back- defense, offense, meter, center etc. Annoys the pair of us.
Fresh manager for Swansea - Paul Clement. Before he only managed Derby County down in Championship with not positive winrate, only 42.4%. He assisted Carlo Ancelotti in Chelsea, PSG, Real Madrid and Bayern, so we may see some influence of Ancelotti's playstyle in Swansea soon. Clement already has one game as manager for Swansea - it is against Hull in FA Cup, where they lost 2-0. So overall it doesn't seem to me that Swansea would be able to resist Arsenal's attacking force in their second game with new manager, who is not proved himself yet. 0-2 in favour of Arsenal.
I will be expect Lucas to start this game as he's had very good games the last 2 matches. I know Giroud is in form, but his statistic of scoring in the last quarter of the game makes him more of an efficient sub. I would return to the formation that worked so well early in the season- Sanchez upfront. I'd go for: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Gab, Monreal, Xhaka, Ramsey, Lucas, Ozil, Ox, Sanchez. Giroud on bench while Welbeck needs a few games with u-23.
Koscielny is out and Bellerin faces a late fitness test. The team should look something like (assuming both are injured): Cech, Holding, Mustafi, Gabriel, Monreal, Ramsey, Xhaka, Chamberlain, Oezil, Alexis, Giroud. Niles didn't have the best of times against Preston so I would expect Holding to get the nod if Bellerin isn't fit. A win is the bare minimum but a good performance would help. Hopefully a clean sheet too. 2-0.
@Red_Card- Technically I should've put "to Arsenal" at the end but it's obvious given the text preceding the prediction that I'm speaking from an Arsenal perspective. I don't think anybody reading would see all the Arsenal-based information followed by "Hopefully a clean sheet too" and believe I meant to Swansea.
@benjamin7797- Yep, he suffered a slight thigh injury against Bournemouth, which is why he came off, and it was assumed to be a 2 week miss from that date. He should be back for the home game against Burnley.
@Valor- That is Wenger all over. Rushes players back before they're ready thereby risking more serious injuries. Even a minor thigh injury should be 3 weeks rest from sport then a couple of weeks of gradual intensity increase. If he comes back and aggravates it, then it could be 6 weeks. A rupture of the thigh is usually surgery plus 3 or 4 months rest. For the sake of playing Gabriel against a poor team, we could end up needing to play him for 4 months. I don't see the logic.
@SteveHyland Mustafi and Gabriel didn't seem to gel very much in the first half vs Preston, let's hope they have a better start. Niles is more attacking minded and I think had a good 2nd half. With Jenkinson likely leaving, I think Wenger is grooming him for that RB role, as a backup to Bellerin.
@Valor- No they didn't, I'm hoping Mustafi's rust has gone and Gabriel simply plays better than he did. Niles could be being groomed as Hector's backup. I would prefer a full-time RB rather than a CB playing there but Niles is a DCM by trade so will need a fair number of games there to be considered a genuine replacement at the top level imo. I read today that Bellerin could be back. I would rather he rested this game so is 100% for Burnley.
@SteveHyland Looks like it will be either Gabriel or Niles at RB, m money is Gabriel. As Kos is being risked (stupidly, I 100% agree with you there), it will be Gabriel on the right. Hoping that Lucas starts wide, Xhaka, ramsey and Ozil in the middle and Giroud up front, with Alexis wide left.
Alexis Sanchez deserves more than what Arsenal offers him.He should definitely leave this summer.
@abhi8 Let him go, there's many other players queuing up on the bench who could equal or better performance, rather than seeking out of the squad which try hard to challenge in top 3 week by week.
@LoveSS Mate there is no player in the team let alone bench who can fill his shoes. Look at his tackles in this game, most for any one on the pitch. His shear will is sometimes what makes the team click.
Why not Iwobi :(?
Felt bad for Fabianski with those two own-goals. But why all the sulking from Sanchez?
@What4- He wants to play every minute of every game so doesn't like being subbed. I don't think it's any more than that. The tabloids are liking to make out Sanchez is unhappy at Arsenal but I think the Bournemouth sulk was down to us not going all-out for a win after equalising (I agree with him) and this one was at being subbed.
@SteveHyland It's annoying, even Messi doesn't behave like that when he's taken off.
@What4- I agree, it's unprofessional to question the manager's decision especially when it didn't matter. I personally would've taken him off after the 3rd goal. I don't think it's indicative of his wanting to leave I really meant. Some in the media are trying to push that reasoning. I don't blame him for his Bournemouth sulk though.
Four goals by Arsenal and not a single one was assisted by an Arsenal player...
@neumi17 Credit to Arsenal efficiency defence work, a must and hardworking player pushing the game til the end.
@neumi17 I know, what a pity we'll be losing all those extra "assist points" in the league table.
@What4 It is rare, that why it is worth mentioning ...
It slowly turns for Özil from a mediocre season into a shitty one. He has no real creative impact on the game and ALL HIS STATS are worse than last season exept for goals. Sanchez scores, assists, dribbles and gives keypasses on a regular basis, Özil does none of it and just keeps up his passing in unimportant areas. 3 assists in 18 games is just dissapointing for his position and keeps him hardly in the top 40. Last year he was 1st by far...
@neumi17 I thought Ozil was brilliant in this game. Watch the MOTD highlights and Murphy praises him extensively. He was my MOTM with his fantastic passing, touch and runs. If you think he's having a shitty season you don't really understand football. He has also had one of his best ever goal scoring seasons, and has great stats in the CL.
@neumi17- Sanchez playing in the 9 for at least half the season has impacted Oezil's key passes/assists stats. Alexis is hardly ever in the position Oezil would usually pass to a genuine #9 in to create a chance typical of him. The flip side is he scores more. If you look at the chances created, you'll notice that Arsenal have 2 'main' creators in the top 5- Oezil and Sanchez. Spurs have 1 (Eriksen) and City have 1 (de Bruyne) with Silva way down the list in 11th. Oezil has still averaged only slightly fewer per game (2.6) than Eriksen (2.9) who people are saying is having his best season. It works out a 2-game swing in Mesut's favour in a "bad" season. Payet does everything for West Ham when he plays hence the mass of chances created relative to everybody else. In terms of goals + chances created (influence on a game for their team), Payet has averaged 4.11 per game, Alexis 3.33, Eriksen 3.15, de Bruyne 3.11, Oezil 2.9 & Hazard 2.58 yet Mesut is the only one having a poor season....
@SteveHyland so great to have an Arsenal fan constantly on hand here with a voice of reason. @neumi17 Özil hasn't been at his consistent best this year but he's certainly shown us what he's capable of in a number of matches. It's funny how Özil gets judged on (goals + assist) stats when really the bulk of his great work goes unnoticed. Yes people think he is the assist master but he's certainly added goals to his game more noticeably this year and I believe has had to drop deeper since Santi got injured and our CM options are currently more defensive minded. We just hope he and others can stay fit, allowing him to re-familiarise himself with teammates and find some consistent form.
@SteveHyland My main criticism is that Özil does little besides being a very good passer. I am not shure wether thats already enough for him but I don`t think he is the man who creates something substantial against defensive minded opponents. He is not the " door opener " a creative playmaker should be but more like a deliverant once the door is open already ! If there is some space and a teammate is running into it, fine. Özil gets the keypass done. But if there is no space available to pass the ball into Özil remains clueless and just keeps on passing the ball around without higher purpose. He waits for things to happen instead of making them happen ! He doesn`t dribble to create a new situation or forces scoring opportunities by driving aggressivly into the last third. He is like a hunter who waits for a good shot instead of going after the pray and killing it . And that makes the difference to me wether someone is a good om or a world class om ...
@neumi17- I think you're being a bit harsh, I've seen plenty of occasions where he has opened the door with a cutting pass. You simply don't make 144 key passes in a season without making great passes through traffic, especially given he splits corner duty with Cazorla (when fit) and free kick duty with Alexis thereby cutting the number of attempts on goal from dead plays versus Payet, Eriksen and de Bruyne. It's true he doesn't dribble too much and that is one of the warranted criticisms, but what he does is exactly what Arsenal and Germany need in that position and some of that means rather than attempting a defence-splitting pass (and risk losing possession) he keeps hold of it and remains patient. Arsenal have Cazorla and Germany have Kroos to do most of the general play dictation and Oezil is there to finish it off. If the opportunity isn't apparent then he doesn't force it largely because he is told not to by Wenger and Loew. Both managers are tactically pragmatic in that way.
@neumi17- Sanchez playing in the 9 for at least half the season has impacted Oezil's key passes/assists stats. Alexis is hardly ever in the position Oezil would usually pass to a genuine #9 in to create a chance typical of him. The flip side is he scores more. If you look at the chances created, you'll notice that Arsenal have 2 'main' creators in the top 5- Oezil and Sanchez. Spurs have 1 (Eriksen) and City have 1 (de Bruyne) with Silva way down the list in 11th. Oezil has still averaged only slightly fewer per game (2.6) than Eriksen (2.9) who people are saying is having his best season. It works out a 2-game swing in Mesut's favour in a "bad" season. Payet does everything for West Ham when he plays hence the mass of chances created relative to everybody else. In terms of goals + chances created (influence on a game for their team), Payet has averaged 4.11 per game, Alexis 3.33, Eriksen 3.15, de Bruyne 3.11, Oezil 2.9 & Hazard 2.58 yet Mesut is the only one having a poor season....
There were none actually really people here that thought Swansea had a shot... Strange world :-)
@neumi17 * Was suppose to be " There were actually people here that really thought Swansea had a shot "
@neumi17 Great English, mate.
@Aereze- He speaks great English for a German, to be fair. There are native English speakers on this forum who are terrible in comparison.
@SteveHyland Thx Steve... It is hard when your phone is adjusted to german spelling and you use " auto spelling " I I generally should read the text again before I press post but mostly I get to excited and just let it go.
@neumi17- Bitte schoen. I rarely read through before positing either. I find it tedious and in the end people understand what you mean if it's a typographical error. It's clear what you meant to me. A friend of mine has a Microsoft phone stuck on American-English. Changes it to correct English then out of nowhere it reverts back- defense, offense, meter, center etc. Annoys the pair of us.
@Aereze My phone is illiterate, sorry... ;-)
arsenal win 1-4 or 1-5
1-0
arsenal have played 20 and have been in a btts match 14 times with a 70% chance they will score and concede so btts is a good bet.
both to score and Arsenal win 1-2, 1-3 2-3
1-1
Fresh manager for Swansea - Paul Clement. Before he only managed Derby County down in Championship with not positive winrate, only 42.4%. He assisted Carlo Ancelotti in Chelsea, PSG, Real Madrid and Bayern, so we may see some influence of Ancelotti's playstyle in Swansea soon. Clement already has one game as manager for Swansea - it is against Hull in FA Cup, where they lost 2-0. So overall it doesn't seem to me that Swansea would be able to resist Arsenal's attacking force in their second game with new manager, who is not proved himself yet. 0-2 in favour of Arsenal.
hard to predict .. i cant trust to Arsenal :))))) but i think alexis will score ;)
@aqamir Of course, that is a no brainer
2-1 to Swansea, another pile of misery on gunners.
0:1 for arsenal
Swansea 3-0 Arsenal
@SamuelOkellogum No its swansea 0-3 Arsenal...please re arrange your prediction
I will be expect Lucas to start this game as he's had very good games the last 2 matches. I know Giroud is in form, but his statistic of scoring in the last quarter of the game makes him more of an efficient sub. I would return to the formation that worked so well early in the season- Sanchez upfront. I'd go for: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Gab, Monreal, Xhaka, Ramsey, Lucas, Ozil, Ox, Sanchez. Giroud on bench while Welbeck needs a few games with u-23.
Swansea 2-3 Arsenal. Oliver Giroud to be man of the match as usual!
Koscielny is out and Bellerin faces a late fitness test. The team should look something like (assuming both are injured): Cech, Holding, Mustafi, Gabriel, Monreal, Ramsey, Xhaka, Chamberlain, Oezil, Alexis, Giroud. Niles didn't have the best of times against Preston so I would expect Holding to get the nod if Bellerin isn't fit. A win is the bare minimum but a good performance would help. Hopefully a clean sheet too. 2-0.
@SteveHyland 2-0? or 0-2? You do know 2-0 means you think Swansea will win and keep a clean sheet...
@Red_Card- Technically I should've put "to Arsenal" at the end but it's obvious given the text preceding the prediction that I'm speaking from an Arsenal perspective. I don't think anybody reading would see all the Arsenal-based information followed by "Hopefully a clean sheet too" and believe I meant to Swansea.
@SteveHyland How is Koscielny out? Is he injured?
@benjamin7797- Yep, he suffered a slight thigh injury against Bournemouth, which is why he came off, and it was assumed to be a 2 week miss from that date. He should be back for the home game against Burnley.
@SteveHyland Wenger has confirmed that Koscielny is available for this game. But Bellerin is out.
@Valor- That is Wenger all over. Rushes players back before they're ready thereby risking more serious injuries. Even a minor thigh injury should be 3 weeks rest from sport then a couple of weeks of gradual intensity increase. If he comes back and aggravates it, then it could be 6 weeks. A rupture of the thigh is usually surgery plus 3 or 4 months rest. For the sake of playing Gabriel against a poor team, we could end up needing to play him for 4 months. I don't see the logic.
@SteveHyland Mustafi and Gabriel didn't seem to gel very much in the first half vs Preston, let's hope they have a better start. Niles is more attacking minded and I think had a good 2nd half. With Jenkinson likely leaving, I think Wenger is grooming him for that RB role, as a backup to Bellerin.
@Valor- No they didn't, I'm hoping Mustafi's rust has gone and Gabriel simply plays better than he did. Niles could be being groomed as Hector's backup. I would prefer a full-time RB rather than a CB playing there but Niles is a DCM by trade so will need a fair number of games there to be considered a genuine replacement at the top level imo. I read today that Bellerin could be back. I would rather he rested this game so is 100% for Burnley.
@SteveHyland Looks like it will be either Gabriel or Niles at RB, m money is Gabriel. As Kos is being risked (stupidly, I 100% agree with you there), it will be Gabriel on the right. Hoping that Lucas starts wide, Xhaka, ramsey and Ozil in the middle and Giroud up front, with Alexis wide left.
2-2, draw again for Arsenal, Sanchez to take off his pant this time.
@LoveSS You clearly know the square root of diddly squat about Swansea at the moment.
@LoveSS Lol
1-3 Arsenal win