Short But Sweet – Laca Double Up Please
Aug 18th, 2017 by 'holic
It’s been a busy week speculation wise with regard to potential departures as well as arrivals. It’s fair to say that the second actual Premier League football match of the season, despite it’s location, will provide (hopefully) a welcome distraction.
Hopefully the string of poor performances at the Britannia/Bet365 Stadium came to an end with our wonderful 1-4 triumph there in May. Last week Stoke opened the season with a single goal defeat at Everton. It’s too early to know what we will see from them this season.
The Gunners welcome back Skhodran Mustafi and Per Mertesacker who should make a difference to what we saw in our free-scoring opener against Leicester City. Rob Holding or Nacho Monreal are the likeliest options to be the third defender. Nacho’s experience may be decisive in what is usually a difficult away day. Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac look set to be the wing-backs and it will be interesting to see the latter in this most venomous of fixtures.
Although Francis Coquelin also returns to the squad this week it is likely that Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey will operate behind Mesut Ozil in the midfield. As ever if they are able to impose themselves we have a very good chance of proving too strong for our opponents.
Where Arsene Wenger has a real decision to make is up front. Alexandre Lacazette is a given to start but will it be alongside Danny Welbeck, very mobile and one who works hard to press the defenders where they don’t want to be pressed? Could this be a fixture in which the former United man makes way for Olivier Giroud who could not only form a very good ‘little and large’ partnership with his French national team-mate, but also provide much needed height in defensive situations.
Mark Hughes line-up at Everton could be bolstered by forward Jese Rodriguez, signed on loan from Paris St Germain this week. Kurt Zouma looks a typical Stoke acquisition, a no-nonsense central defender. Did they really need another of those? Darren Fletcher adds to their succession of ageing midfielders, but we should not be surprised at the quality of his passing on occasion. Lest we forget, the highly regarded Jack Butland is back between the sticks for them.
The ‘holic pound
You listened to Monday’s ABW podcast, right? You know then that I am on the Gunners 1-3 away win with a second successive Alexandre Lacazette strike at any time. Obviously Stoke’s sponsors are obliged to offer the best odds of 14/1 against that scoreline. I’ve checked their website and doubling that with Boom Xhaka Laca (just Laca really) to score at any time gets you a disappointing 18/1. Both are done, however.
Have a great one ‘holics.
64 Responses to “Short But Sweet – Laca Double Up Please”
Glug glug..
4-4-2 or 4-3-3 tomorrow please. Enough of this unconvincing 3-5-2 shit.
Non alcoholic cider on the bar for anyone who wants it, or you can drink from the trough in the gents. Same difference.
Bang……..
Cynic, that unconvincing 3-5-2 shit that has seen us lose just once in 12 competitive fixtures and win at Wembley v Citeh and Chelsea? I love you mate, but it’s time to recalibrate?
Thanks, ‘holic. Xhaka Laca dance to follow?
THAT would make my weekend. 🙂
Nice one Guvna. Let’s establish a run of victories at that venue. Hope your punt comes in, H.
Pints on the bar.?
Let’s be honest, who knows what will happen. It’s way too early for us to say that we have lost our predictably unpredictable label. Hopefully the changes at the back will make us stronger and far more organised at the back and as a whole. I thought we looked quite good going forward against Leicester so more of the same please.
Potentially, what will make us stronger at the back is the confirmed departure of Gabriel. Another total waste of money who, in my opinion, looked a fish out of water for the vast majority of his Arsenal stay. We are in times of ridiculously inflated transfer prices so the fact that he has been sold for a loss on the price we paid 2 years ago tells you all you need to know.
For those going tomorrow remember the disinfectant. You will need it before you start your journey home.
Ah the Orcs in Mordor ! I wonder if Laca and Sead have been prepared to listen to Ramsey being booed to the echo for having the carelessness to have his keg shattered back in the day. Frankly August is a nicer time to visit than November or January but Hell isn’t a great place to visit anytime.
I think Holic is right on the money if we can defend and if the ref is able to spot Crouchy punching the ball in this year.
Expect Alexis at least on the bench and don’t be that surprised if he scores. I know many who never expect to see him in Arsenal colours again but I hope he will be tomorrow.
I’d love Kolasinac to give them a taste of their own medicine and of course Ramsey to score.
COYG!
I’m with Cynic. 4.3.3 please. The two Germans in the middle with Hec and Nacho either side. Kol and Xhaka in midfield. Theo, Rambo and Lacaz, with OG up front.
OG has to play for his defensive qualities (he would have been where Danny was for Vardy’s second, and would have intercepted). Also for much needed height in attack, where Lacaz will be the shortest player on either side.
Lol. Make that 4.2.3.1. 😀 Just not more 3.4.3.
Hallo there ‘Holics…it’s been a minute.
We have nothing to fear oop Noorf. Let’s stuff the troglodytes and keep the momentum going.
Come on you, Reds. HMBD.
Howdy Lonestar. H, not BMBD? Not Hull, surely.
Eightball, my man!
“H” for “Hatred”…BMBD won’t be appropriate for a good long while.
HMBD
@TTG in the previous drinks
Of course I agree that if Alexis is
now sold without replacing him
then it makes a nonsense of the
decision-making process.
I wouldn’t be surprised as football
is a funny old game and all that,
but i would be annoyed.
The only logic of the situation with
Sanchez is that we’ve a better
chance of winning the PL with him
(and Ozil) in the team.
It’s a risk keeping him but a bigger
risk letting him go now as I doubt
we can replace him in time. A risk
from a footballing not financial point
of view I mean.
My point is that the Sanchez situation has always been the road block preventing resolution of our summer trading. We have known it would be since before last season ended, ergo it has been incumbent on AW, or whoever, to ensure either his contract was extended or he was sold as early as possible in the window. Yes, even to Shitty, as seems inevitable now.
Not surprisongly either has happened and we are hamstrung in consequence. As we always seem to be at this time of the year. AW needs to stop trying to get all his eggs in line and start juggling some chickens before his cows come home to roost.
And I don’t give a hoot about Ozil. We are over-stuffed with midfielders and I’d rather see Rambo in the 10 spot anyway. 😀
*D’oh! Not surprisingly neither has happened…
Chris.
We are over-stuffed with midfielders? Part of your solution to this problem is to play our new full back in midfield???
Struggling with that one.
Chris,
We signed Kola and Laca, and at
least tried to sign Lemar. So the
Alexis thing hasn’t really blocked
us I think.
I don’t want to come over all
Happy & Glorious about the
situation as after all we wanted
to keep Alexis and look almost
certain to fail at the end of the
season. But we have done some
business and I think we will move
on a couple more too.
GH,
Almost forgot to wish you the
best of luck with the holic pound.
I’m expecting a tense 2-1 myself
but i hope you’re right!
Osaka … we haven’t been properly competitive in the Prem, never mind the CL, for more than a decade. In consequence you may have noticed the discontent aimed at AW in recent seasons.
With talk of spare millions in the Arsenal coffers many would like to know when it’s going to be put to improving the squad and, hopefully, becoming competitive again. Key to any improvement is buying better players than we have now.
So far we’ve bought Kola and Laca, and both look promising. But there’s a limit to how many transfers in we can sign without first resolving Sanchez. And if he leaves and there’s no time for more signings the net benefit would be minimal. We’ll end up in no better position than we were before, and the natives will soon be getting restless again.
Chris,
I thought I’d seen the odd plane
flying around 🙂
Of course I agree we need to improve
the team and challenge for the PL but
I’m still at the optimistic stage for this
season at the moment. This time…..’
I’ve been optimistic at the beginning of every season for the past 67 years, Osaka, but not every one of them has worked out.
I am yet to be convinced that the addition of Lacaz and Kola will be enough even if Alexis stays. The defence still needs work imo, and more steel in the MF.
Well, I’m about 20 seasons behind
you. But I know what you mean.
I’d be happier if we had a fully
fit Santi but sadly the chances of
that ever being so don’t look
good. All our enemies have
problems though, so to me it will
come down to bottle when the
going gets tough – i.e. will we have
any?
H – How many of those 3-5-2 wins have been achieved after scrapping the system and going to a four at the back though?
It seems to me that we frequently abandon it to get a positive result, whether that is to scrape a draw or to win with a gung ho effort.
I can’t be bothered to look it up though 🙂
I really do struggle with the 4-3-3 ers when the new formation turned our season around and has seen us beat the champions twice at Wembley.
The idea of Ramsey being a 10 makes more sense but we are short of midfield quality and Wenger doesn’t trust the Ox. He has bigged him up this week as the best English player of his generation but hasn’t got a starting position for him.
I’d use him today on the right of the 3 upfront but when Sanchez returns he won’t start.
What a pessimistic lot we have this morning. Providing we have the BFG and a fully fit Mustafi in situ our pace and goal threat should see us home ? 1-3 !
I half expect to see Giroud up front with Lacazette on the left at the expense of Welbeck. Went to Stoke last season when a last minute ticket came available. I’ve been to far worst grounds and the locals we met were much the same as anywhere else I’ve ventured to on my travels with Arsenal.
Still looking for us to buy a Gilberto clone, time is short Arsene !
COYR
Cheers Holic !
Some lovely mixed metaphors above, Chris, but then …..
Sanchez is the “out” that is blocking our “ins” …. ?
What about Jenkinson (much as I love his spirit),
Debuchy,
Gibbs,
Wilshere (with extreme reluctance, but it appears he is just not going to be able to stay fit),
Gabriel (now going),
Perez (some reluctance again but the manager is clearly not going to play him).
Stuffed with midfielders …. ?
Looking at Ned’s list, midfield looked like the obvious problem to me – in quality rather than numbers.
And then ……
Theo in the team away at Stoke …… ?
I’d rather see him in the list six lines above.
I’d go with
Cech
Mus, Mert, Nacho
Ox, Ramsey, Xhaka, Kola
Ozil, OG, Laca.
But i think AW will go with
Danny.
Osp, Hector, Holding, Elneny,
Coquelin, Theo, Danny or OG
on the bench.
This game’s history is always going to give us the jitters but we really should have too much for Stoke today. Two of their most reliable performers against us, Whelan and Walters have gone and the third recurrent thorn in our side, Crouch should surely be neutralised by Per returning. I think the history is hard for us to forget though and hence the pessimism noted by Delia.
I certainly hope that Per and Mustafi return to bring CB nouse to our back three and would favour Monreal’s experience over Holding’s raw talent for this fixture as a bruising from Stoke would not help his development after his mare against Lesta. However if Arsene thinks that getting straight back into the saddle on this bucking fronco is the best approach, I will, no doubt to the annoyance of some, accept the boss knows better than I.
I favour Hector and the Tank as the wing backs. I want to see the Orcs bouncing off our Bosnian body armour. I think CMF has to be Rambo and Xhaka hoping Rambo can silence the hordes with at least one goal and that the latter can rise above the provocation of their varmints.
We have to start HFB as I believe his strength up front and more particularly his defensive contribution during aerial bombardment are essential to our success here. Danny, for all his stature, doesn’t cut it to the same extent. Lacazette and Oil complete the mix, finisher and creator respectively hopefully.
Able late subs to run the tiring Orcs into the ground will be Danny, Elnenny and the Ox.
4-1 to the good guys again.
I see OsakaMatt concurs in the selection. Great minds….
Oh he doesn’t! Fine margin there for Ox over Hector. I think Ox was better v Lesta. I think Hector needs game time. However I will defer.
I really do struggle with the 4-3-3 ers when the new formation turned our season around and has seen us beat the champions twice at Wembley.
Have a look at all the games, try to remember how comfortable we looked with three at the back (clue – not a bit) and how often we shifted to 4-3-3 in those games to get the desired result.
I honestly do not believe 3-5-2 turned our season around at all. What did it was the tactical flexibility to try it and also to abandon it when it wasn’t working, as it often didn’t as far as I remember.
What turned our season around was Wenger altering the template very slightly and showing he could be flexible, even though he did revert to type more often than not.
I wish I had the time and anoraky mindset to go over every game we played with that system and check how often he switched to a four and what the state of the game was when he did it, but I remember us being completely at sea defensively far too frequently, and my memory may be cheating, but I cannot recall many (if any) games where we stuck to the three for the whole 90.
Bath,
It was toss-up between Hector and
Ox but i thought with a more
defensive player in Kola on the
left then Ox provided the better
balance. I’d be fine with either too.
Let’s leave it up to AW 🙂
By the way, if the usual suspect(s) decide to barge in and do the Perfect Fan routine on me, don’t waste your time.
I’m just mulling aloud.
If my mulling is correct, I’m not going to rub anyone’s nose in it.
If it’s wrong, and I’m misremembering how uncomfortable we looked last season with a three, I couldn’t give a dog’s bollock either.
Just mulling.
Given the way we defend in most games regardless of how many we play at the back, I think we might as well revert to the the most popular formation in the 1860-70s, 1-2-7, one centre back, two half-backs and seven forwards. Solves all the questions of whether to play Danny or Ollie G or Theo or Lucas. They would all get a game.
Well even Chuba might get a game
then.
On a less flippant historical footnote, we won five league titles and two FA cups between 1931 and 1939 playing three at the back. Herbert Chapman’s innovative W-M formation would be described today as a 3-2-2-3.
Manure winning 4-0 again.
Was still 1-0 with 10 min to go
and Swans missed a couple of
chances to equalise damn them.
Here is a weird fact: over the course of our last 15 league games, every time we have come up against a club with a thing with wings in their badge we have lost — Liverpool, WBA, Crystal Palace and the neighbours. And they are the only four games we lost in that run.
No wings on an orc.
Truly amazing, Ned !
Those monks are either inspired or bored witless …
I’m happy to go with inspired ??
Hornets have wings so you may be on to something.
Watford’s badge has a hart on it (something to do with Hertfordshire, apparently), not a hornet, but definitely guilt by association.
Good for you, Trev.
Arnautovic joins Cahill in the red-carded three week holiday camp.
Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Monreal, Kolasinac, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Xhaka, Ramsey, Welbeck, Ozil, Lacazette
On U.S. TV feed, here’s Lee Dixon’s answer to the question re whether Mustafi improves the defense: “Well, he does until he doesn’t.”
Why not start Giroud against these orcs and bring on Lacazette when they are tiring?
Most useful player in that half: Ox
Least useful: Xhaka
Zzzzzz – literally fell asleep watching that after the first 15 minutes. 🙁
We weren’t bad for the first fifteen. You missed nothing after that apart from a pen that wasn’t awarded to us.
Meh, people say Lacazette is a bit like wrighty, he might have to be in this game to create himself a chance – Wrighty was a master let’s hope this boy is too, We so need midfield reinforcements it’s scary how little option or quality we have there – Hopefully we will nick it and go to victimville we max points,
Up The Arse,
Need to speed up play. Slow round and round won’t help. COYG.
Jesé is a great acquisition for Stoke and he just showed why. 1-0.
And there we go. Back to the four.
We should get a point or three out of this one…
That goal was onside…ah well.. what’s new..!
Lacazette denied by linesman, definitely not offside.
Laca’s first touch has let him down twice. Like Lukaku in that respect.
Terrible performance today, no penetration or potency, no ideas.
Sorely miss Alexis.. ah well same old same old..
Pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass
What shit.
Three points dropped and at a place I hate for it to happen.
Certainly deserved to win that game but same old issues season after season come back and bite us on the arse, They need to take the Europa league seriously as I’m afraid that’s about or level,
Bin Dippers next – Mane will cause carnage between our lines,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hugely disappointing it’s so hard to be upbeat after losing there. We are nowhere near a title challenge with this group. Let’s do ourselves a favour and not blame the ref or linesman. We could have got lucky but the decisions that went against us were marginal .
The big lesson is don’t go behind at a place like the Brittania