[EPL] Arsenal 1-0 Leicester (Monreal) FT

[theYemster]

cech - 6
monreal - 8
gabriel - 7.5
kos - 6
bellerin - 7
gibbs - 5
xhaka - 7
coq - 4
ozil - 7.5
walcott - 1
alexis - 3

giroud, welbeck - 5
ramsey - 3

coaching - 7

No way Coq is 4. He gave Leicester no breathing space in the first half restricting them. He became limited when Leicester sat back and you needed subtle creativity

So, a 3 then?

[theYemster]

So Monreal is now the one scoring for Arsenal...

So? Do his goals not count?

How many titles have Chelsea won on the back of Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry goals?

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

kai, so despite this victory, we will still be behind Manure if we win our match in hand? Didnt know we were that bad....14 points behind Tottenham? And Waffi is still bragging?

[danfo driver]

kai, so despite this victory, we will still be behind Manure if we win our match in hand? Didnt know we were that bad....14 points behind Tottenham? And Waffi is still bragging?

Beating his small hairy chest!

[PapaK]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

[Gooner1]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

.

[kajifu]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

STFU Wenger knows why we buy him and pay 35 million for him.You have never been at emirate where dreams and Wenger yash licking come true or coach a sunday school game and you have the audacity to say Xhaka has been one big waste of money.Is it your money?Are you a season ticket holder?Hopefully wenger sign such players again like 3 come summer to make it 100million for the 3 new signing.
Please if you don't have anything to say,then put your head back to Wenger yash and stop questioning the greatest manager in our club.Nonsense becareful Papa K(kim Kardashian)

[kajifu]

kai, so despite this victory, we will still be behind Manure if we win our match in hand? Didnt know we were that bad....14 points behind Tottenham? And Waffi is still bragging?

Beating his small hairy chest!

When oga yemster address someone shamelss liar believe me the person has no shame,even if we head to championship the face will never come out of the yash of Wenger.
We were told this season we ready to compete,they better win on sunday not to end up finish 20 points behind dirty spurs as Manu will collect points from us hopefully not.

[pajimoh]

kai, so despite this victory, we will still be behind Manure if we win our match in hand? Didnt know we were that bad....14 points behind Tottenham? And Waffi is still bragging?

Beating his small hairy chest!

When oga yemster address someone shamelss liar believe me the person has no shame,even if we head to championship the face will never come out of the yash of Wenger.
We were told this season we ready to compete,they better win on sunday not to end up finish 20 points behind dirty spurs as Manu will collect points from us hopefully not.

What the feck is wrong with you? Can't you remove your gums from Spurs matter? Na only Spurs dey EPL?

[Cally]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

I disagree with you, PapaK. I think he's a very good player that will help Arsenal move forward as he runs off the rust from his game. We all have different opinions.

[anikulapo]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

Nna when things scared me about this Swiss Tom Huddlestone was when Wenger said he really wasn't a DM, but a box to box midfielder I mean goodness

[anikulapo]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

STFU Wenger knows why we buy him and pay 35 million for him.You have never been at emirate where dreams and Wenger yash licking come true or coach a sunday school game and you have the audacity to say Xhaka has been one big waste of money.Is it your money?Are you a season ticket holder?Hopefully wenger sign such players again like 3 come summer to make it 100million for the 3 new signing.
Please if you don't have anything to say,then put your head back to Wenger yash and stop questioning the greatest manager in our club.Nonsense becareful Papa K(kim Kardashian)

Whoa Whoa Kaji worrahell Yo take it easy dude abi una get history?

[pajimoh]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

STFU Wenger knows why we buy him and pay 35 million for him.You have never been at emirate where dreams and Wenger yash licking come true or coach a sunday school game and you have the audacity to say Xhaka has been one big waste of money.Is it your money?Are you a season ticket holder?Hopefully wenger sign such players again like 3 come summer to make it 100million for the 3 new signing.
Please if you don't have anything to say,then put your head back to Wenger yash and stop questioning the greatest manager in our club.Nonsense becareful Papa K(kim Kardashian)

Whoa Whoa Kaji worrahell Yo take it easy dude abi una get history?

I smell an attempt at sarcasm that has gone way towards proper insult

[Waffiman]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

STFU Wenger knows why we buy him and pay 35 million for him.You have never been at emirate where dreams and Wenger yash licking come true or coach a sunday school game and you have the audacity to say Xhaka has been one big waste of money.Is it your money?Are you a season ticket holder?Hopefully wenger sign such players again like 3 come summer to make it 100million for the 3 new signing.
Please if you don't have anything to say,then put your head back to Wenger yash and stop questioning the greatest manager in our club.Nonsense becareful Papa K(kim Kardashian)

Whoa Whoa Kaji worrahell Yo take it easy dude abi una get history?

I smell an attempt at sarcasm that has gone way towards proper insult

[Waffiman]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

I disagree. Put in context of our difficulties in midfield, he has been a success esp when you consider it is his first season. Here is a write up I did a few weeks ago.

Arsenal's Midfield problems are not down to Xhaka alone, it is down to the system, the different roles he has played and the ever changing players he has played with.

For example, earlier this season we wiped the floor with West Ham playing the pivot of Coq and Xhaka, but he had Oxlade wide Right, Theo wide and Sanchez as striker. Ozil, who is no slouch in his role as the number ten or advanced play maker. West Ham pressed but we did not miss Santi's ability to escape the press much because we gave our FB's the option of playing the ball down the line to 2 pacy wingers.

With the front 3 leading the press as a unit, we forced West Ham into error after error. We got the 1st goal from that. This is how we played, alternating Ox and Iwobi until we lost Theo, Bellerin and our problems really started. When we lose key elements in the team, we then miss Santi because he is the technical leader of the team and with him we can play the pressing game and or drop deep to counter attack. Without him, we become one dimensional and can only play the pressing game or trying to defend from deep with the counter attack. This is where our problem lies.

Teams now know this and try to exploit the fact that is transition without the ball, we are useless. At the heart of this lie in the false positions we put ourselves without the ball. Look at the City game on Sunday. I saw a clip of Gundogan, City defender explaining how they work on a low long ball with one of their midfielders dropping deep to make that pass. They had Kevin De Bryne nail 2 passes then the pass they got the goal from came from Silva. Half the team pressed high to prevent the short goal kick despite City having almost scoring twice from long straight balls in first 2 mins. But the problem was the press from the Front 4 not pressing as a unit, not dropping back to fill space, not pressing or blocking lanes as a unit. Our back 4 and 2 midfield are too far apart and leaving all sorts of gaps. From a start and set position, they are fine, it is when there is quick transition, they make wrong decisions and are easily pulled apart – a sign of lacking confidence.

At the heart of this is Wenger’s failure to find a system that hides Xhaka’s weaknesses and maximises his strengths, in Germany it was different. But at Arsenal, Wenger has tried to use him differently and depending on those around him he has be very good to bad. Not the quickest, but Coq, Wenger’s preference to play with him, is quick, but low in confidence and off form. Earlier in the season, it worked and we got results, with many players off form and struggling, we are being punished with individual mistakes.

I saw Xhaka as Arteta’s replacement cos Xhaka bears resemblance to in his playing style. Just like he does to Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Nemanja Matić, Julian Weigl, Andrea Pirlo and Michael Carrick. He played as the deepest midfielder in his German team and is excellent on the ball. Xhaka is great in possession but short on acceleration. All the players above lack acceleration but a superb positionally, and in some cases have their team mates close to them for support. Xhaka is getting better on his positioning but Arsenal rarely, if ever, line up in a way that sees the team make up for his flaws. At Gladbach (his former club), Xhaka was covered by three central defenders and played alongside the incredibly athletic Mahmoud Dahoud, a young box to box midfielder. They played an intense man-marking pressing system forcing mistakes high up the pitch as often as possible, rather than stretching Xhaka across vast areas to cover with little support.

Another problem for our midfield is it has been unsettled for reasons of suspensions and injuries, Wenger has used 7 different combinations in midfield and Xhaka has started 27 games, with 24 playing as one of two in a 4-2-3-1 and three have been in more of a 4-3-3. Even in those three appearances Xhaka has switched between the deepest role and the box-to-box role. He has started 10 games with Coq, 4 with Santi, 5 with Ramsey, 4 with Elneny and 1 with Oxlade. All these players are different with different qualities, Xhaka has done well to even adapt but it has cost us points and problems off the pitch with Sanchez at the heart of it all.

The data shows Xhaka can run all day but neither have the quick feet to play around the opponent’s box nor the timing or instinct to be dangerous further forward. His strengths lie, as they always have, in taking the ball from defence and distributing it well. Finding passes through the lines to launch attacks. Switching the play quickly to leave the opposition on the back foot and on the turn. You go watch the Watford game (4-1) when he partnered Santi and he sat deep destroying Watford. See here:



He also started the Basel, Burnley, Southampton games. It has now dawned on me that Wenger’s midfield this season was to be Xhaka, Santi, Ozil with Oxlade/Walcott and Sanchez as Striker. Watching Xhaka, Ozil and Santi is just incredible and we have really been short changed this season. If we had them together for another 25 to 30 games, we win the league easily.

Coquelin should work with Xhaka but he has been off form and badly short of confidence. When we have the ball, he is now like a spare man and everything is going wrong for him. I hope he gets it together quickly because Ramsey is not is not putting in the numbers he once put in and looks to have declined physically.

Refs have been a problem for Xhaka, I just hope our fans can be patient and put his season into context. His tackling has improved immensely, just like his positioning and mobility in a much quicker league than he is used to.

His defensive work is under rated. Kante has won 2.4 tackles per 90 minutes this season, the same as Xhaka, and made 2.26 interceptions per 90 to Xhaka’s 1.96.

Our problems in that midfield is down to the options, not Xhaka. To me, Wenger must be ruthless in that position and bring in at least two top class options in the summer, whilst letting go of the same.

[PapaK]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

STFU Wenger knows why we buy him and pay 35 million for him.You have never been at emirate where dreams and Wenger yash licking come true or coach a sunday school game and you have the audacity to say Xhaka has been one big waste of money.Is it your money?Are you a season ticket holder?Hopefully wenger sign such players again like 3 come summer to make it 100million for the 3 new signing.
Please if you don't have anything to say,then put your head back to Wenger yash and stop questioning the greatest manager in our club.Nonsense becareful Papa K(kim Kardashian)

Whoa Whoa Kaji worrahell Yo take it easy dude abi una get history?

I smell an attempt at sarcasm that has gone way towards proper insult

he's on my ignore list. He makes no sense, so I had to block his posts from my view. If you didn't quote him, I wouldn't even know that he replied to my comment. Makes no difference to me anyway, because I cant be bothered to read whatever he wrote.

[anikulapo]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

I disagree. Put in context of our difficulties in midfield, he has been a success esp when you consider it is his first season. Here is a write up I did a few weeks ago.

Arsenal's Midfield problems are not down to Xhaka alone, it is down to the system, the different roles he has played and the ever changing players he has played with.

For example, earlier this season we wiped the floor with West Ham playing the pivot of Coq and Xhaka, but he had Oxlade wide Right, Theo wide and Sanchez as striker. Ozil, who is no slouch in his role as the number ten or advanced play maker. West Ham pressed but we did not miss Santi's ability to escape the press much because we gave our FB's the option of playing the ball down the line to 2 pacy wingers.

With the front 3 leading the press as a unit, we forced West Ham into error after error. We got the 1st goal from that. This is how we played, alternating Ox and Iwobi until we lost Theo, Bellerin and our problems really started. When we lose key elements in the team, we then miss Santi because he is the technical leader of the team and with him we can play the pressing game and or drop deep to counter attack. Without him, we become one dimensional and can only play the pressing game or trying to defend from deep with the counter attack. This is where our problem lies.

Teams now know this and try to exploit the fact that is transition without the ball, we are useless. At the heart of this lie in the false positions we put ourselves without the ball. Look at the City game on Sunday. I saw a clip of Gundogan, City defender explaining how they work on a low long ball with one of their midfielders dropping deep to make that pass. They had Kevin De Bryne nail 2 passes then the pass they got the goal from came from Silva. Half the team pressed high to prevent the short goal kick despite City having almost scoring twice from long straight balls in first 2 mins. But the problem was the press from the Front 4 not pressing as a unit, not dropping back to fill space, not pressing or blocking lanes as a unit. Our back 4 and 2 midfield are too far apart and leaving all sorts of gaps. From a start and set position, they are fine, it is when there is quick transition, they make wrong decisions and are easily pulled apart – a sign of lacking confidence.

At the heart of this is Wenger’s failure to find a system that hides Xhaka’s weaknesses and maximises his strengths, in Germany it was different. But at Arsenal, Wenger has tried to use him differently and depending on those around him he has be very good to bad. Not the quickest, but Coq, Wenger’s preference to play with him, is quick, but low in confidence and off form. Earlier in the season, it worked and we got results, with many players off form and struggling, we are being punished with individual mistakes.

I saw Xhaka as Arteta’s replacement cos Xhaka bears resemblance to in his playing style. Just like he does to Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Nemanja Matić, Julian Weigl, Andrea Pirlo and Michael Carrick. He played as the deepest midfielder in his German team and is excellent on the ball. Xhaka is great in possession but short on acceleration. All the players above lack acceleration but a superb positionally, and in some cases have their team mates close to them for support. Xhaka is getting better on his positioning but Arsenal rarely, if ever, line up in a way that sees the team make up for his flaws. At Gladbach (his former club), Xhaka was covered by three central defenders and played alongside the incredibly athletic Mahmoud Dahoud, a young box to box midfielder. They played an intense man-marking pressing system forcing mistakes high up the pitch as often as possible, rather than stretching Xhaka across vast areas to cover with little support.

Another problem for our midfield is it has been unsettled for reasons of suspensions and injuries, Wenger has used 7 different combinations in midfield and Xhaka has started 27 games, with 24 playing as one of two in a 4-2-3-1 and three have been in more of a 4-3-3. Even in those three appearances Xhaka has switched between the deepest role and the box-to-box role. He has started 10 games with Coq, 4 with Santi, 5 with Ramsey, 4 with Elneny and 1 with Oxlade. All these players are different with different qualities, Xhaka has done well to even adapt but it has cost us points and problems off the pitch with Sanchez at the heart of it all.

The data shows Xhaka can run all day but neither have the quick feet to play around the opponent’s box nor the timing or instinct to be dangerous further forward. His strengths lie, as they always have, in taking the ball from defence and distributing it well. Finding passes through the lines to launch attacks. Switching the play quickly to leave the opposition on the back foot and on the turn. You go watch the Watford game (4-1) when he partnered Santi and he sat deep destroying Watford. See here:



He also started the Basel, Burnley, Southampton games. It has now dawned on me that Wenger’s midfield this season was to be Xhaka, Santi, Ozil with Oxlade/Walcott and Sanchez as Striker. Watching Xhaka, Ozil and Santi is just incredible and we have really been short changed this season. If we had them together for another 25 to 30 games, we win the league easily.

Coquelin should work with Xhaka but he has been off form and badly short of confidence. When we have the ball, he is now like a spare man and everything is going wrong for him. I hope he gets it together quickly because Ramsey is not is not putting in the numbers he once put in and looks to have declined physically.

Refs have been a problem for Xhaka, I just hope our fans can be patient and put his season into context. His tackling has improved immensely, just like his positioning and mobility in a much quicker league than he is used to.

His defensive work is under rated. Kante has won 2.4 tackles per 90 minutes this season, the same as Xhaka, and made 2.26 interceptions per 90 to Xhaka’s 1.96.

Our problems in that midfield is down to the options, not Xhaka. To me, Wenger must be ruthless in that position and bring in at least two top class options in the summer, whilst letting go of the same.

See my buddy Al Waffi the walking contradiction anyway make I no waste time with you today ... see as your words dey come back to bite you for nyash despite your long propaganda sheet

[PapaK]

Waffiman, a good player doesn't require long defense. His qualities will be easy for all to see. I agree with most people that he has good passing range. Nevertheless, even to a lay man like me, it's easy to recognize a player that has zero mobility, easy to run past in the midfield, always causing fouls whenever he attempts to tackle, gives away penalties in tight matches, etc. I really cant believe that we went for him when Ngolo Kante had a release clause that was lower than Xhaka's price. Anyway, I don't think I will be able to convince you on this, but for me, he's a big waste of money, especially if we now have to go and spend big money to buy another partner for him. He's a major reason our midfield has been dysfunctional this year, because the 1st job we need him to do (i.e. win his midfield battles), he's too slow and too clumsy to do.

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

I disagree. Put in context of our difficulties in midfield, he has been a success esp when you consider it is his first season. Here is a write up I did a few weeks ago.

Arsenal's Midfield problems are not down to Xhaka alone, it is down to the system, the different roles he has played and the ever changing players he has played with.

For example, earlier this season we wiped the floor with West Ham playing the pivot of Coq and Xhaka, but he had Oxlade wide Right, Theo wide and Sanchez as striker. Ozil, who is no slouch in his role as the number ten or advanced play maker. West Ham pressed but we did not miss Santi's ability to escape the press much because we gave our FB's the option of playing the ball down the line to 2 pacy wingers.

With the front 3 leading the press as a unit, we forced West Ham into error after error. We got the 1st goal from that. This is how we played, alternating Ox and Iwobi until we lost Theo, Bellerin and our problems really started. When we lose key elements in the team, we then miss Santi because he is the technical leader of the team and with him we can play the pressing game and or drop deep to counter attack. Without him, we become one dimensional and can only play the pressing game or trying to defend from deep with the counter attack. This is where our problem lies.

Teams now know this and try to exploit the fact that is transition without the ball, we are useless. At the heart of this lie in the false positions we put ourselves without the ball. Look at the City game on Sunday. I saw a clip of Gundogan, City defender explaining how they work on a low long ball with one of their midfielders dropping deep to make that pass. They had Kevin De Bryne nail 2 passes then the pass they got the goal from came from Silva. Half the team pressed high to prevent the short goal kick despite City having almost scoring twice from long straight balls in first 2 mins. But the problem was the press from the Front 4 not pressing as a unit, not dropping back to fill space, not pressing or blocking lanes as a unit. Our back 4 and 2 midfield are too far apart and leaving all sorts of gaps. From a start and set position, they are fine, it is when there is quick transition, they make wrong decisions and are easily pulled apart – a sign of lacking confidence.

At the heart of this is Wenger’s failure to find a system that hides Xhaka’s weaknesses and maximises his strengths, in Germany it was different. But at Arsenal, Wenger has tried to use him differently and depending on those around him he has be very good to bad. Not the quickest, but Coq, Wenger’s preference to play with him, is quick, but low in confidence and off form. Earlier in the season, it worked and we got results, with many players off form and struggling, we are being punished with individual mistakes.

I saw Xhaka as Arteta’s replacement cos Xhaka bears resemblance to in his playing style. Just like he does to Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Nemanja Matić, Julian Weigl, Andrea Pirlo and Michael Carrick. He played as the deepest midfielder in his German team and is excellent on the ball. Xhaka is great in possession but short on acceleration. All the players above lack acceleration but a superb positionally, and in some cases have their team mates close to them for support. Xhaka is getting better on his positioning but Arsenal rarely, if ever, line up in a way that sees the team make up for his flaws. At Gladbach (his former club), Xhaka was covered by three central defenders and played alongside the incredibly athletic Mahmoud Dahoud, a young box to box midfielder. They played an intense man-marking pressing system forcing mistakes high up the pitch as often as possible, rather than stretching Xhaka across vast areas to cover with little support.

Another problem for our midfield is it has been unsettled for reasons of suspensions and injuries, Wenger has used 7 different combinations in midfield and Xhaka has started 27 games, with 24 playing as one of two in a 4-2-3-1 and three have been in more of a 4-3-3. Even in those three appearances Xhaka has switched between the deepest role and the box-to-box role. He has started 10 games with Coq, 4 with Santi, 5 with Ramsey, 4 with Elneny and 1 with Oxlade. All these players are different with different qualities, Xhaka has done well to even adapt but it has cost us points and problems off the pitch with Sanchez at the heart of it all.

The data shows Xhaka can run all day but neither have the quick feet to play around the opponent’s box nor the timing or instinct to be dangerous further forward. His strengths lie, as they always have, in taking the ball from defence and distributing it well. Finding passes through the lines to launch attacks. Switching the play quickly to leave the opposition on the back foot and on the turn. You go watch the Watford game (4-1) when he partnered Santi and he sat deep destroying Watford. See here:



He also started the Basel, Burnley, Southampton games. It has now dawned on me that Wenger’s midfield this season was to be Xhaka, Santi, Ozil with Oxlade/Walcott and Sanchez as Striker. Watching Xhaka, Ozil and Santi is just incredible and we have really been short changed this season. If we had them together for another 25 to 30 games, we win the league easily.

Coquelin should work with Xhaka but he has been off form and badly short of confidence. When we have the ball, he is now like a spare man and everything is going wrong for him. I hope he gets it together quickly because Ramsey is not is not putting in the numbers he once put in and looks to have declined physically.

Refs have been a problem for Xhaka, I just hope our fans can be patient and put his season into context. His tackling has improved immensely, just like his positioning and mobility in a much quicker league than he is used to.

His defensive work is under rated. Kante has won 2.4 tackles per 90 minutes this season, the same as Xhaka, and made 2.26 interceptions per 90 to Xhaka’s 1.96.

Our problems in that midfield is down to the options, not Xhaka. To me, Wenger must be ruthless in that position and bring in at least two top class options in the summer, whilst letting go of the same.

[anikulapo]

Waffiman, a good player doesn't require long defense. His qualities will be easy for all to see. I agree with most people that he has good passing range. Nevertheless, even to a lay man like me, it's easy to recognize a player that has zero mobility, easy to run past in the midfield, always causing fouls whenever he attempts to tackle, gives away penalties in tight matches, etc. I really cant believe that we went for him when Ngolo Kante had a release clause that was lower than Xhaka's price. Anyway, I don't think I will be able to convince you on this, but for me, he's a big waste of money, especially if we now have to go and spend big money to buy another partner for him. He's a major reason our midfield has been dysfunctional this year, because the 1st job we need him to do (i.e. win his midfield battles), he's too slow and too clumsy to do.

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

I disagree. Put in context of our difficulties in midfield, he has been a success esp when you consider it is his first season. Here is a write up I did a few weeks ago.

Arsenal's Midfield problems are not down to Xhaka alone, it is down to the system, the different roles he has played and the ever changing players he has played with.

For example, earlier this season we wiped the floor with West Ham playing the pivot of Coq and Xhaka, but he had Oxlade wide Right, Theo wide and Sanchez as striker. Ozil, who is no slouch in his role as the number ten or advanced play maker. West Ham pressed but we did not miss Santi's ability to escape the press much because we gave our FB's the option of playing the ball down the line to 2 pacy wingers.

With the front 3 leading the press as a unit, we forced West Ham into error after error. We got the 1st goal from that. This is how we played, alternating Ox and Iwobi until we lost Theo, Bellerin and our problems really started. When we lose key elements in the team, we then miss Santi because he is the technical leader of the team and with him we can play the pressing game and or drop deep to counter attack. Without him, we become one dimensional and can only play the pressing game or trying to defend from deep with the counter attack. This is where our problem lies.

Teams now know this and try to exploit the fact that is transition without the ball, we are useless. At the heart of this lie in the false positions we put ourselves without the ball. Look at the City game on Sunday. I saw a clip of Gundogan, City defender explaining how they work on a low long ball with one of their midfielders dropping deep to make that pass. They had Kevin De Bryne nail 2 passes then the pass they got the goal from came from Silva. Half the team pressed high to prevent the short goal kick despite City having almost scoring twice from long straight balls in first 2 mins. But the problem was the press from the Front 4 not pressing as a unit, not dropping back to fill space, not pressing or blocking lanes as a unit. Our back 4 and 2 midfield are too far apart and leaving all sorts of gaps. From a start and set position, they are fine, it is when there is quick transition, they make wrong decisions and are easily pulled apart – a sign of lacking confidence.

At the heart of this is Wenger’s failure to find a system that hides Xhaka’s weaknesses and maximises his strengths, in Germany it was different. But at Arsenal, Wenger has tried to use him differently and depending on those around him he has be very good to bad. Not the quickest, but Coq, Wenger’s preference to play with him, is quick, but low in confidence and off form. Earlier in the season, it worked and we got results, with many players off form and struggling, we are being punished with individual mistakes.

I saw Xhaka as Arteta’s replacement cos Xhaka bears resemblance to in his playing style. Just like he does to Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Nemanja Matić, Julian Weigl, Andrea Pirlo and Michael Carrick. He played as the deepest midfielder in his German team and is excellent on the ball. Xhaka is great in possession but short on acceleration. All the players above lack acceleration but a superb positionally, and in some cases have their team mates close to them for support. Xhaka is getting better on his positioning but Arsenal rarely, if ever, line up in a way that sees the team make up for his flaws. At Gladbach (his former club), Xhaka was covered by three central defenders and played alongside the incredibly athletic Mahmoud Dahoud, a young box to box midfielder. They played an intense man-marking pressing system forcing mistakes high up the pitch as often as possible, rather than stretching Xhaka across vast areas to cover with little support.

Another problem for our midfield is it has been unsettled for reasons of suspensions and injuries, Wenger has used 7 different combinations in midfield and Xhaka has started 27 games, with 24 playing as one of two in a 4-2-3-1 and three have been in more of a 4-3-3. Even in those three appearances Xhaka has switched between the deepest role and the box-to-box role. He has started 10 games with Coq, 4 with Santi, 5 with Ramsey, 4 with Elneny and 1 with Oxlade. All these players are different with different qualities, Xhaka has done well to even adapt but it has cost us points and problems off the pitch with Sanchez at the heart of it all.

The data shows Xhaka can run all day but neither have the quick feet to play around the opponent’s box nor the timing or instinct to be dangerous further forward. His strengths lie, as they always have, in taking the ball from defence and distributing it well. Finding passes through the lines to launch attacks. Switching the play quickly to leave the opposition on the back foot and on the turn. You go watch the Watford game (4-1) when he partnered Santi and he sat deep destroying Watford. See here:



He also started the Basel, Burnley, Southampton games. It has now dawned on me that Wenger’s midfield this season was to be Xhaka, Santi, Ozil with Oxlade/Walcott and Sanchez as Striker. Watching Xhaka, Ozil and Santi is just incredible and we have really been short changed this season. If we had them together for another 25 to 30 games, we win the league easily.

Coquelin should work with Xhaka but he has been off form and badly short of confidence. When we have the ball, he is now like a spare man and everything is going wrong for him. I hope he gets it together quickly because Ramsey is not is not putting in the numbers he once put in and looks to have declined physically.

Refs have been a problem for Xhaka, I just hope our fans can be patient and put his season into context. His tackling has improved immensely, just like his positioning and mobility in a much quicker league than he is used to.

His defensive work is under rated. Kante has won 2.4 tackles per 90 minutes this season, the same as Xhaka, and made 2.26 interceptions per 90 to Xhaka’s 1.96.

Our problems in that midfield is down to the options, not Xhaka. To me, Wenger must be ruthless in that position and bring in at least two top class options in the summer, whilst letting go of the same.

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

Waffiman, a good player doesn't require long defense. His qualities will be easy for all to see. I agree with most people that he has good passing range. Nevertheless, even to a lay man like me, it's easy to recognize a player that has zero mobility, easy to run past in the midfield, always causing fouls whenever he attempts to tackle, gives away penalties in tight matches, etc. I really cant believe that we went for him when Ngolo Kante had a release clause that was lower than Xhaka's price. Anyway, I don't think I will be able to convince you on this, but for me, he's a big waste of money, especially if we now have to go and spend big money to buy another partner for him. He's a major reason our midfield has been dysfunctional this year, because the 1st job we need him to do (i.e. win his midfield battles), he's too slow and too clumsy to do.

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

I disagree. Put in context of our difficulties in midfield, he has been a success esp when you consider it is his first season. Here is a write up I did a few weeks ago.

Arsenal's Midfield problems are not down to Xhaka alone, it is down to the system, the different roles he has played and the ever changing players he has played with.

For example, earlier this season we wiped the floor with West Ham playing the pivot of Coq and Xhaka, but he had Oxlade wide Right, Theo wide and Sanchez as striker. Ozil, who is no slouch in his role as the number ten or advanced play maker. West Ham pressed but we did not miss Santi's ability to escape the press much because we gave our FB's the option of playing the ball down the line to 2 pacy wingers.

With the front 3 leading the press as a unit, we forced West Ham into error after error. We got the 1st goal from that. This is how we played, alternating Ox and Iwobi until we lost Theo, Bellerin and our problems really started. When we lose key elements in the team, we then miss Santi because he is the technical leader of the team and with him we can play the pressing game and or drop deep to counter attack. Without him, we become one dimensional and can only play the pressing game or trying to defend from deep with the counter attack. This is where our problem lies.

Teams now know this and try to exploit the fact that is transition without the ball, we are useless. At the heart of this lie in the false positions we put ourselves without the ball. Look at the City game on Sunday. I saw a clip of Gundogan, City defender explaining how they work on a low long ball with one of their midfielders dropping deep to make that pass. They had Kevin De Bryne nail 2 passes then the pass they got the goal from came from Silva. Half the team pressed high to prevent the short goal kick despite City having almost scoring twice from long straight balls in first 2 mins. But the problem was the press from the Front 4 not pressing as a unit, not dropping back to fill space, not pressing or blocking lanes as a unit. Our back 4 and 2 midfield are too far apart and leaving all sorts of gaps. From a start and set position, they are fine, it is when there is quick transition, they make wrong decisions and are easily pulled apart – a sign of lacking confidence.

At the heart of this is Wenger’s failure to find a system that hides Xhaka’s weaknesses and maximises his strengths, in Germany it was different. But at Arsenal, Wenger has tried to use him differently and depending on those around him he has be very good to bad. Not the quickest, but Coq, Wenger’s preference to play with him, is quick, but low in confidence and off form. Earlier in the season, it worked and we got results, with many players off form and struggling, we are being punished with individual mistakes.

I saw Xhaka as Arteta’s replacement cos Xhaka bears resemblance to in his playing style. Just like he does to Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Nemanja Matić, Julian Weigl, Andrea Pirlo and Michael Carrick. He played as the deepest midfielder in his German team and is excellent on the ball. Xhaka is great in possession but short on acceleration. All the players above lack acceleration but a superb positionally, and in some cases have their team mates close to them for support. Xhaka is getting better on his positioning but Arsenal rarely, if ever, line up in a way that sees the team make up for his flaws. At Gladbach (his former club), Xhaka was covered by three central defenders and played alongside the incredibly athletic Mahmoud Dahoud, a young box to box midfielder. They played an intense man-marking pressing system forcing mistakes high up the pitch as often as possible, rather than stretching Xhaka across vast areas to cover with little support.

Another problem for our midfield is it has been unsettled for reasons of suspensions and injuries, Wenger has used 7 different combinations in midfield and Xhaka has started 27 games, with 24 playing as one of two in a 4-2-3-1 and three have been in more of a 4-3-3. Even in those three appearances Xhaka has switched between the deepest role and the box-to-box role. He has started 10 games with Coq, 4 with Santi, 5 with Ramsey, 4 with Elneny and 1 with Oxlade. All these players are different with different qualities, Xhaka has done well to even adapt but it has cost us points and problems off the pitch with Sanchez at the heart of it all.

The data shows Xhaka can run all day but neither have the quick feet to play around the opponent’s box nor the timing or instinct to be dangerous further forward. His strengths lie, as they always have, in taking the ball from defence and distributing it well. Finding passes through the lines to launch attacks. Switching the play quickly to leave the opposition on the back foot and on the turn. You go watch the Watford game (4-1) when he partnered Santi and he sat deep destroying Watford. See here:



He also started the Basel, Burnley, Southampton games. It has now dawned on me that Wenger’s midfield this season was to be Xhaka, Santi, Ozil with Oxlade/Walcott and Sanchez as Striker. Watching Xhaka, Ozil and Santi is just incredible and we have really been short changed this season. If we had them together for another 25 to 30 games, we win the league easily.

Coquelin should work with Xhaka but he has been off form and badly short of confidence. When we have the ball, he is now like a spare man and everything is going wrong for him. I hope he gets it together quickly because Ramsey is not is not putting in the numbers he once put in and looks to have declined physically.

Refs have been a problem for Xhaka, I just hope our fans can be patient and put his season into context. His tackling has improved immensely, just like his positioning and mobility in a much quicker league than he is used to.

His defensive work is under rated. Kante has won 2.4 tackles per 90 minutes this season, the same as Xhaka, and made 2.26 interceptions per 90 to Xhaka’s 1.96.

Our problems in that midfield is down to the options, not Xhaka. To me, Wenger must be ruthless in that position and bring in at least two top class options in the summer, whilst letting go of the same.

PapaK sometimes sees road when he is not blindly defending Wenger.

My problem with Wenger is that he is the one that persists with poor players...

[Cellular]

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

STFU Wenger knows why we buy him and pay 35 million for him.You have never been at emirate where dreams and Wenger yash licking come true or coach a sunday school game and you have the audacity to say Xhaka has been one big waste of money.Is it your money?Are you a season ticket holder?Hopefully wenger sign such players again like 3 come summer to make it 100million for the 3 new signing.
Please if you don't have anything to say,then put your head back to Wenger yash and stop questioning the greatest manager in our club.Nonsense becareful Papa K(kim Kardashian)

Whoa Whoa Kaji worrahell Yo take it easy dude abi una get history?

I smell an attempt at sarcasm that has gone way towards proper insult

The role of Waffiman is being badly played by Kajifu. Kajifu please stick to Nollywood... your acting range no reach diswan....

[Coach]

Groundnut Xhaka is the new Alex Song and much like his predecessor, is the best midfielder in Europe. Xhaka's failing thus far is more a consequence of having poor strikers on the end of his passes.

[Cellular]

Waffiman, a good player doesn't require long defense. His qualities will be easy for all to see. I agree with most people that he has good passing range. Nevertheless, even to a lay man like me, it's easy to recognize a player that has zero mobility, easy to run past in the midfield, always causing fouls whenever he attempts to tackle, gives away penalties in tight matches, etc. I really cant believe that we went for him when Ngolo Kante had a release clause that was lower than Xhaka's price. Anyway, I don't think I will be able to convince you on this, but for me, he's a big waste of money, especially if we now have to go and spend big money to buy another partner for him. He's a major reason our midfield has been dysfunctional this year, because the 1st job we need him to do (i.e. win his midfield battles), he's too slow and too clumsy to do.

Who is the scout that made Wenger buy Xhaka?

Xhaka has been one big waste of money in my opinion. Immobile, cant tackle, hardly win headers. I cant see why we bought him, let alone for 30m+

I disagree. Put in context of our difficulties in midfield, he has been a success esp when you consider it is his first season. Here is a write up I did a few weeks ago.

Arsenal's Midfield problems are not down to Xhaka alone, it is down to the system, the different roles he has played and the ever changing players he has played with.

For example, earlier this season we wiped the floor with West Ham playing the pivot of Coq and Xhaka, but he had Oxlade wide Right, Theo wide and Sanchez as striker. Ozil, who is no slouch in his role as the number ten or advanced play maker. West Ham pressed but we did not miss Santi's ability to escape the press much because we gave our FB's the option of playing the ball down the line to 2 pacy wingers.

With the front 3 leading the press as a unit, we forced West Ham into error after error. We got the 1st goal from that. This is how we played, alternating Ox and Iwobi until we lost Theo, Bellerin and our problems really started. When we lose key elements in the team, we then miss Santi because he is the technical leader of the team and with him we can play the pressing game and or drop deep to counter attack. Without him, we become one dimensional and can only play the pressing game or trying to defend from deep with the counter attack. This is where our problem lies.

Teams now know this and try to exploit the fact that is transition without the ball, we are useless. At the heart of this lie in the false positions we put ourselves without the ball. Look at the City game on Sunday. I saw a clip of Gundogan, City defender explaining how they work on a low long ball with one of their midfielders dropping deep to make that pass. They had Kevin De Bryne nail 2 passes then the pass they got the goal from came from Silva. Half the team pressed high to prevent the short goal kick despite City having almost scoring twice from long straight balls in first 2 mins. But the problem was the press from the Front 4 not pressing as a unit, not dropping back to fill space, not pressing or blocking lanes as a unit. Our back 4 and 2 midfield are too far apart and leaving all sorts of gaps. From a start and set position, they are fine, it is when there is quick transition, they make wrong decisions and are easily pulled apart – a sign of lacking confidence.

At the heart of this is Wenger’s failure to find a system that hides Xhaka’s weaknesses and maximises his strengths, in Germany it was different. But at Arsenal, Wenger has tried to use him differently and depending on those around him he has be very good to bad. Not the quickest, but Coq, Wenger’s preference to play with him, is quick, but low in confidence and off form. Earlier in the season, it worked and we got results, with many players off form and struggling, we are being punished with individual mistakes.

I saw Xhaka as Arteta’s replacement cos Xhaka bears resemblance to in his playing style. Just like he does to Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Nemanja Matić, Julian Weigl, Andrea Pirlo and Michael Carrick. He played as the deepest midfielder in his German team and is excellent on the ball. Xhaka is great in possession but short on acceleration. All the players above lack acceleration but a superb positionally, and in some cases have their team mates close to them for support. Xhaka is getting better on his positioning but Arsenal rarely, if ever, line up in a way that sees the team make up for his flaws. At Gladbach (his former club), Xhaka was covered by three central defenders and played alongside the incredibly athletic Mahmoud Dahoud, a young box to box midfielder. They played an intense man-marking pressing system forcing mistakes high up the pitch as often as possible, rather than stretching Xhaka across vast areas to cover with little support.

Another problem for our midfield is it has been unsettled for reasons of suspensions and injuries, Wenger has used 7 different combinations in midfield and Xhaka has started 27 games, with 24 playing as one of two in a 4-2-3-1 and three have been in more of a 4-3-3. Even in those three appearances Xhaka has switched between the deepest role and the box-to-box role. He has started 10 games with Coq, 4 with Santi, 5 with Ramsey, 4 with Elneny and 1 with Oxlade. All these players are different with different qualities, Xhaka has done well to even adapt but it has cost us points and problems off the pitch with Sanchez at the heart of it all.

The data shows Xhaka can run all day but neither have the quick feet to play around the opponent’s box nor the timing or instinct to be dangerous further forward. His strengths lie, as they always have, in taking the ball from defence and distributing it well. Finding passes through the lines to launch attacks. Switching the play quickly to leave the opposition on the back foot and on the turn. You go watch the Watford game (4-1) when he partnered Santi and he sat deep destroying Watford. See here:



He also started the Basel, Burnley, Southampton games. It has now dawned on me that Wenger’s midfield this season was to be Xhaka, Santi, Ozil with Oxlade/Walcott and Sanchez as Striker. Watching Xhaka, Ozil and Santi is just incredible and we have really been short changed this season. If we had them together for another 25 to 30 games, we win the league easily.

Coquelin should work with Xhaka but he has been off form and badly short of confidence. When we have the ball, he is now like a spare man and everything is going wrong for him. I hope he gets it together quickly because Ramsey is not is not putting in the numbers he once put in and looks to have declined physically.

Refs have been a problem for Xhaka, I just hope our fans can be patient and put his season into context. His tackling has improved immensely, just like his positioning and mobility in a much quicker league than he is used to.

His defensive work is under rated. Kante has won 2.4 tackles per 90 minutes this season, the same as Xhaka, and made 2.26 interceptions per 90 to Xhaka’s 1.96.

Our problems in that midfield is down to the options, not Xhaka. To me, Wenger must be ruthless in that position and bring in at least two top class options in the summer, whilst letting go of the same.

PapaK sometimes sees road when he is not blindly defending Wenger.

My problem with Wenger is that he is the one that persists with poor players...

PapaK, no fit see road. This man and shrining useless pipul like TMWMP, Wenger just to name a few.

If not that I learned my Otimkpu trade under the combined tutelage of PapaK and Waffiman for don abuse dem die.

Make I PM unku 1Naira. His services are needed here.