Arggh! Why couldn't his poke off the post bounced over Courtois' line rather than out? It's easy to say Lacazette should have scored the rebound, but the ball came back to him sharply and at an awkward height, not to mention on his weaker side. Bit gutted that we did not get that particular rub of the green on that occasion. That is the game ladies and gentleman, some you win, some you lose
In today's Arsenal Vision Post Match Podcast Paul (@Poznaninmypants), Elliot (@YankeeGunner) and Tim (@Stillberto) all discuss the late 1-0 win against Leicester City at the Emirates. The winners and losers of the new 3-4-3 system, Francis Coquelin’s performance, Alexis and much more all discussed on this weeks Arsenal Vision Post Match Podcast.
Anyway we have some players to add back to the squad after injury and knocks which is great. I think Arsene has been juggling his squad rather nicely in this regard. Holding players back until the right moment and I think he has done that this time with the likes of Theo Walcott, Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal. He had done the same with Aaron Ramsey and Oliver Giroud before them, keeping them away for a little longer than perhaps they would have wanted but making sure they could (hopefully) make a lasting impact rather than break down trying to rush them back in.
An Arsenal side full of freshness, confidence and full fitness can overcome that from the likes of Sunderland with a few quick passing combinations and movement from our front players which is why we beat these type of teams more often than not but when our football drops a little, it proves to be a little more difficult. I have a slight fear that without Santi and Xhaka on top of a few tired legs
So Arsene has gone with the same 11 that beat Hull City last weekend which means a return to the bench of Granit Xhaka and Lucas Perez after their impressive League Cup performances. Many are having a meltdown about our central midfield, I would personally perfer to see how the players who are starting actually perform on the day first. I know, I am a little backwards like that.
Coquelin’s role in our build up has been a cause of frustration in recent games from Arsenal fans but I don’t think that acquisition can be levelled at him yesterday. He received the ball in tight spaces between the lines and recycled quickly. He also passed between the lines without any issues. He is no Iniesta but he was fantastic yesterday. Cazorla too played an important role yesterday and linked up very well with Mesut Ozil in particular. He tired a little in the second half and was on a knife edge in regards to his early booking but it begs the question
n short, he is still adjusting, it’s about partnerships so I wonder who suits him the most and also that he sees Xhaka as a box to box player. Now I am no manager and I’m one of those weird blokes who actually thinks the Arsenal manager has a better grasp of the game than I do but I really don’t see Xhaka in any other position than deep midfield, sitting distributing and making tackles. So if Xhaka is starting in the midfield, who is the best partner for him given that Arsene apparently wants him to play as a number 8 or maybe that is further down the line
Granit Xhaka has been handed his first start in an Arsenal shirt which is pretty exciting. Let's hope he is sharper than his substitute performance last weekend. As expected Arsene has risked Laurent Koscielny back into the team but his partner is new boy Rob Holding rather than Calum Chambers which is interesting.
At least our squad will be boosted by the returning Euro boys. Mesut Özil, Laurent Koscielny and Oliver Giroud should all hopefully return but I'd be surprised to see anyone but Koscielny start the game for obvious reasons. Even that could be considered a sizeable gamble given his lack of pre season but then equally losing the game due to a defensive mistake, without our best defender starting could be also seen as a gamble. I can hear the cries either way. Koscielny limps off after 25 minutes and Arsène will be criticised for not holding him back. Lose the game and he'd be an idiot for not starting the Frenchman
So the question is, do Koscielny and Mustafi stop Liverpool's goals? It's impossible to say really isn't it? Obviously it does not help having an inexperienced centre back pairing but I think it fits the narrative of not spending a little too conveniently. When we dropped off our intensity in winning the ball high up it looked like absolutely anybody could walk through us and create shots on our goal, especially from wide. That was not down to our centre backs. When we defended as a team in the first half there could not be a bad word said of either Chambers or Holding. In fact, I thought to myself during the game that one of the highlights of this half was Chambers