Interesting lineup for us. No pace out there, gibbs and sagna will be relied upon heavily to overlap and stretch them. Intricate passing down the middle will be the order of the day.
Looks like Arteta will revert to his position of 2 seasons ago when he played ahead of Song, with Ramsey and Rosicky on the flanks, at a guess...
Higuain apparently injured. Still a very strong eleven for Napoli though.
Im on live-text so cant say what that looked like, but arseblog described it as thus;
"Brilliant Arsenal move. Giroud flicked it to Ramsey down the right hand side, he pulled the ball back from out wide to the edge of the box, and the German's first time, side-footed finish beat Reina for his first Arsenal goal."
ozil goal here
https://www.101greatgoals.com/goals/champions-league/arsenal-v-napoli-team-sheets/
what a finish! bouncing ball, first time from the edge of the box, so much to do, that's just lovely
FT 2-0
Great result that. Ramsey subbed off on 88mins to a standing ovation. Apparently Giroud was excellent. Ozil with a goal and standard assist.
Add another W to that run of form.
Joke of the day "Ozil assisted his own birth"
Hah, good joke. He probably did.
Yeah Giroud was quality, yet again. Great hold up play and linked up well, he tries really hard these days too, which is great - if you remember when he first arrived and a ball wouldn't make it to him he'd stand around with his arms in the air for a couple of minutes but now he tracks back and puts in some hard work. Ramsey was great again, maybe guilty of trying too much at some points, but overall the top game we have come to expect from him. Rosicky was a bit rusty, fair few stray passes but he can be forgiven for that. BFG and Koscielny nice and solid at the back.
Dortmund win 3-0, those two games are going to be very exciting / nerve racking.
Epic result and absolutely class goals! So stoked Ozil scored already, good for him to get that monkey off his back quickly.
Going into WBA away this weekend I think we'll see some more rotation, hopefully Vermalen will get a start, possibly Jenkinson and Monreal too. Midfield and upfront should keep getting mixed up.
Hopefully Giroud will get a rest, I'm still getting nervous about him playing so much.
Jack looked rusty when he came on... will be interesting to see how he reacts over the next month or so - he's under a very different type of pressure now, which is great for us!
i thought he had a couple of really good touches
go gunners
Epic result and absolutely class goals! So stoked Ozil scored already, good for him to get that monkey off his back quickly.
Going into WBA away this weekend I think we'll see some more rotation, hopefully Vermalen will get a start, possibly Jenkinson and Monreal too. Midfield and upfront should keep getting mixed up.
Hopefully Giroud will get a rest, I'm still getting nervous about him playing so much.
dont think wenger will tinker with the defence to be honest, Gibbs for Nacho maybe
go gunners
Given we've got Sagna moving into CB I think we need an experienced RB to rival Jenkinson. Having 2 solid LB's battling it out we need the same at RB.
agree - although it would be a shame to put up a roadblock for bellerin, reports suggest he's one to watch
Resign Sagna for a few more years while Jenkinson is getting prepared and drip feed Bellerin in, huge wraps on bellerin
go gunners
^ agreed RTJ, that's the best approach imo, and a cheap option too.
And we have this new 19yo CB ajiaya or something, so he will be bought in to share 4th CB duties with Sagna, meaning defensive stocks shouldn't require strengthening for next season - provided Sagna re-signs.
Our squad is packed with midfielders, add Coquelin to the mix when Diaby is surely released, and we're sorted there.
Leaving striker and the wide forward positions. Wide forwards, happy with what we've got: Walcott, Podolski, the Ox and Gnabry, plus I think Cazorla will own the left wing when fit anyways. And Miyaichi is still young and promising so Wenger will likely work some magic there.
Obviously we need a striker, but apart from that the squad is looking good.
man our midfld options are mind blowing at the moment......once santi,theo,ox and poli are back WOW we could really compete
Best starting 11 for me PERSONALLY
SCZCZCZCY
gibbs Kos Per sagna
Arteta Ramsey
Theo Ozil Santi
Giroud
Bench: Wilshere, Ox, Poli, Flamini,Nacho,TV5
Bonus players: Gnabry, Jenkinson, Bendtner
go gunners
Last time we lost at home to an italian side was a decade ago to Inter.
On the scoresheet that day, one obafemi martins...
And add Rosicky, Diaby, Coquelin, Zelalem and Sanogo to your list of extras there RTJ... our squad is lookin tasty!
Obafemi ripped us one that evening
well pleased my 10 year old had the patience to teach me how to put a photo up.
great result and top goals today, missed the game and will miss the replay too. Arse.
Nice to hear Rafa speak nicely of Arsene as well, good man that Rafa.
E's Flat Ah's Flat Too
thinking about out striker situation, i think we missed a trick with Loic Remy, i think he would have suited our style of play
A major component to our current form is Giroud. Not just for his goals, but for his interplay with Ozil/Ramsey etc.
His flick-on down the line for ramsey for that first goal was excellent - he is busting that stuff out all the time now, and with accuracy. He's a real team player - you can see that in situations like ramsey's goal against swansea, giroud should've shot really, but ramsey gave him the 'clap clap give it here' and he passed without questioning, just trusting that his teammate must be in a better position to score. Wenger must've creamed his daks over that, he loves that stuff.
Jack looked rusty when he came on... will be interesting to see how he reacts over the next month or so - he's under a very different type of pressure now, which is great for us!
i thought he had a couple of really good touches
thinking about out striker situation, i think we missed a trick with Loic Remy, i think he would have suited our style of play
Interesting thought. I thought of him not having been a great success. But in 14 games for QPR last season he bagged 6 goals, in 4 games for Newcastle he has scored 3...
I still think Higuain is the one we should have nabbed, and by all accounts it's all on us for missing out on him.
However with the way in which we are currently performing, and with the quality in the side (Ozil, Cazorla, Giroud, Walcott, Ramsey) we are an inviting proposition for a world class striker. Who that is...well that remains to be seen.
My personal request would be one Kun Aguero.
aguero mmmmm yes please but will never happen
I think if we got Higuain we wouldnt have got ozil......Ozil is doing well at the moment, cant wait till he really gels. Him and Santi will be very very tasty
go gunners
Jack looked rusty when he came on... will be interesting to see how he reacts over the next month or so - he's under a very different type of pressure now, which is great for us!
i thought he had a couple of really good touches
game time and rest if that makes sense LOL i'm really hoping he'll be hitting his straps through december/jan period
go gunners
thinking about out striker situation, i think we missed a trick with Loic Remy, i think he would have suited our style of play
Interesting thought. I thought of him not having been a great success. But in 14 games for QPR last season he bagged 6 goals, in 4 games for Newcastle he has scored 3...
I still think Higuain is the one we should have nabbed, and by all accounts it's all on us for missing out on him.
However with the way in which we are currently performing, and with the quality in the side (Ozil, Cazorla, Giroud, Walcott, Ramsey) we are an inviting proposition for a world class striker. Who that is...well that remains to be seen.
My personal request would be one Kun Aguero.
aguero mmmmm yes please but will never happen
I think if we got Higuain we wouldnt have got ozil......Ozil is doing well at the moment, cant wait till he really gels. Him and Santi will be very very tasty
a.haak
A major component to our current form is Giroud. Not just for his goals, but for his interplay with Ozil/Ramsey etc.
His flick-on down the line for ramsey for that first goal was excellent - he is busting that stuff out all the time now, and with accuracy. He's a real team player - you can see that in situations like ramsey's goal against swansea, giroud should've shot really, but ramsey gave him the 'clap clap give it here' and he passed without questioning, just trusting that his teammate must be in a better position to score. Wenger must've creamed his daks over that, he loves that stuff.
this, i think Giroud is enjoying having Ozil to work with, and Ramsey hitting the form of his life - just give the man the ball and he'll score.
Queenslander 3x a year.
A major component to our current form is Giroud. Not just for his goals, but for his interplay with Ozil/Ramsey etc.
His flick-on down the line for ramsey for that first goal was excellent - he is busting that stuff out all the time now, and with accuracy. He's a real team player - you can see that in situations like ramsey's goal against swansea, giroud should've shot really, but ramsey gave him the 'clap clap give it here' and he passed without questioning, just trusting that his teammate must be in a better position to score. Wenger must've creamed his daks over that, he loves that stuff.
this, i think Giroud is enjoying having Ozil to work with, and Ramsey hitting the form of his life - just give the man the ball and he'll score.
Not forgetting his immense workrate off the ball. He's like Chris Greenacre but good in the air. He won every aerial battle in the NLD.
tough call but i'd just about say the napoli game was ramsey's best performance of the season, even though he started wide right!
If i was wenger I'd be considering putting him on the flank again this weekend, he's a better option there than jack right now, who could drop in the middle, or we could start flamini and arteta together again (thought mikel had a great game against napoli too). I'd perhaps consider resting flamini with arteta now back and fit.
With that in mind, perhaps this weekend I'd go for;
Szczesny
Sagna-Mertesacker-Koscielny-GIbbs
Wilshere-Arteta
Gnabry-Ozil-Ramsey
Giroud
Although i wouldnt be surprised if wenger gave giroud a rest after 90mins midweek, bendtner could get his chance
It's about now I wish Walcott or Podolski or Sanogo was fit, they're who I see being more proven back ups for Giroud. There's just something about Bendy covering him that makes me nervous...like the mental side of his game not the technical. Although I do appreciate the way he has reincarnated himself as a samurai ninja.
As an aside Klopp's sideline ban has extended to his match against us. I like this a lot. I know it's not a significant blow to their side, but I'll take any little advantage going into that match.
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