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Liverpool (h): Arsenal Midfield 2 Liverpool Strike force 0

3rd November 2013 admin

When on the ball we passed quickly and didn't take too many touches in possession and that is why Liverpool found it difficult to cope with us in the first half. We were playing very well but as we know, it means nothing without a goal. That goal came courtesy of Santi Cazorla. I hope someone took my pre match betting advice about Cazorla scoring his first of the season. His header from the right of the penalty spot was the header of an experienced centre forward. His header smacked the post but he was on hand to control a powerful volley in on the rebound. Santi Cazorla made it look so easy when it was anything of the sort. Just replay the goal and watch his body shape when he hit that ball, technically perfect.

Liverpool (h) Ramsinho, Per-fection & More – Iron Man's Match Thoughts

3rd November 2013 Iron Man

For the last few years, Arsene Wenger has been in the process of building a midfield to fit his own specifications and this season we are truly seeing the fruits of his labours as he seems to have emerged from his tool-shed with a pretty formidable unit. Baring one or two rare moments, the five players who started in the middle of the park completely overwhelmed Liverpool, barely allowing the scousers opportunities to create anything tangible and putting them on the back foot for much of the match. Goalscorers Ramsey and Cazorla, along with Özil and Rosicky weaved wonderful passing patterns that left the likes of Gerrard and Lucas chasing shadows. It was one of those occasions when all the planets seemed to align and the players were all on the same wavelength. As a result,

Your Vision – Arsenal’s Dominance of Wide Areas Key to Liverpool Win

3rd November 2013 admin

Interestingly, Rosicky, although perhaps not the most talented midfielder in the squad (not to say he isn’t talented, but players like Ozil, Cazorla, Ramsey, Wilshere have arguably more outright ability/potential) offers balance to the team when played as one of the three attacking midfielders. When Wilshere plays on the right, he seems to move inside too often, congesting the play, but

Liverpool (h) Thoughts & Line Up: Performance needs to improve to win

2nd November 2013 admin

Liverpool's 3-5-2 formation is very interesting. I quite like the idea on paper. It allows two strikers yet still have the ability to match packed midfields. It is probably a system that suits playing us at present because of our lack of genuine wide players due to injury. Walcott, Chamberlain, Podolski and now Gnabry will all miss the game. I wonder if Arsene will consider using Nacho Monreal in place of Gibbs. Not because of ability but down to the fact that Monreal tends to attack the wide areas where as Gibbs likes to cut inside. Monreal has been impressive in recent cameo appearances and his 90 minutes midweek.

Chelsea (h) – Mistakes & Missing Cutting Edge Proves Costly

30th October 2013 admin

Without having the ammunition to score, we needed to keep it tight and not make mistakes but it was just that, that cost us the first goal. Ramsey's tackle looped high in between Jack Wilshere and Carl Jenkinson, both players hesitated not knowing who will deal with it. Jenkinson had moments earlier been in a similar position but decided to head it wide to touch line, it didn't reach as far as he wanted giving a Chelsea player the chance to pick the ball up and continue an attack. Perhaps that was on his mind when he decided to try and head to Fabianski. Jenkinson did not generate the amount of power needed and Azpilicueta read it, got there first and poked past Fabianski.

Chelsea (h) – Ch-Hell-sea, Out for the Counter, Get Bendt & More – Iron Man's Match Thoughts

30th October 2013 Iron Man

Arsenal fanbase almost exploded in apoplectic rage at the fact that during analysis of the Palace match on Match of the Day, Alan Hansen chose to highlight the circumstances leading up to Arteta’s sending off by comparing it to a goal conceded against Everton in 2010 – drawing the conclusion that Arsenal all too often leave themselves exposed to counter-attacks which prove to be our undoing. While his attempt to make the point was ham-fisted at best, I feel it was a point that was entirely valid – and so it proved with the first Chelsea goal as Cesar Azpilicueta somehow managed to bomb on and score from a passage of play that actually begun with Arsenal taking a corner kick! At the risk of coming across lazy and repetitive

Chelsea (h) Thoughts & Line Up:: Serge Gnabry deserves his chance to shine

29th October 2013 admin

Chelsea will be strong even with a second side because like I said, they have a squad without many injuries as well as great quality. Juan Mata will have to be dealt with and the man responsible may well be young Isaac Hayden. He should be playing in front of the back four tonight, in the area that Mata likes to occupy. Talk about being thrown into the deep end. That said, I am sure we will have to

Arsenal not prepared to release handbrake? The best is yet to come

29th October 2013 admin

Perhaps Arsene is forced to manage the squad physically because of injuries to players he could rotate in and out of the squad. We've done without a key component in our game for weeks now. A wide player who can get close to Giroud, who can get beyond Giroud and score goals. Walcott, Podolski and Chamberlain are all different types but all players who can function in wide areas and get close to our main striker. So it is with great interest that I look ahead to a run of difficult fixtures we have on the horizon. I don't need to go into what teams we will be playing, I am sure you've already seen the teams. Here is the thing, I look at our squad and think wow, we can beat these teams. Nobody has a better midfield than Arsenal, especially creatively. Not many have a striker playing with the belief of Giroud, we do have a couple of guys heading our way

Crystal Palace (a) Upward Serge, Woj you believe it & More – Iron Man's Match Thoughts

27th October 2013 Iron Man

statistics, but if none of this dominance with the ball translates into goals or at least clear cut chances, then you are neglecting what it is actually important and only doing half the job. This was highlighted by the fact that it was Palace who were actually far more proactive in trying to open the scoring on the few occasions they saw the ball. Our tepidness going forward seemed to galvanise them and as the half drew to a close, it was they who were in the

Crystal Palace (a) Pondering the pivots, Santi in for Jack? & Starting quickly

26th October 2013 admin

Arsene will make a couple of changes to the line up. Santi Cazorla injected the team with real quality when he came on against Dortmund so he will surely start on the left and keep his place from now on in a bid to get him match sharp. Flamini will also come back into the side but the question is whether Arsene decides to give Ramsey a breather or if he will replace Arteta instead. There are two ways to look at those options should they be on Arsene's mind. Firstly Arteta was one of our better players against the Germans. But Arteta and Flamini

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