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With two winners in two starts, Olivier Giroud and Arsene Wenger have defied my tactical analysis, and the confident Frenchman looks set to start his third game of this season. This will come against a Bournemouth side who are looking very solid defensively, However, despite Mesut Ozil being out against Crystal Palace and looking doubtful for Tuesday, Arsenal clicked […]
A game against a Big Sam team never seems easy, but when you look at his poor record at the Emirates, Arsenal should – and must – feel confident about beating Crystal Palace/ The most clear threat tomorrow is down the flanks. Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend have been Palace’s bright sparks in a mediocre season, and we […]
Tony Pulis. Four no nonsense centre halves in the back line. Travels round the country stinking out places…or does he? A new look attacking lineup for West Brom could prove crucial this Boxing Day. Tactically, West Brom have proved excellent when sitting deep and allowing the individual flair of the attacking players to shine. This, […]
Some things never change; the packed winter schedule and Arsene Wenger’s long coat, for example, But other things do. A November without a loss, and a tactic where Arsenal seem to be playing great football without compromising the defence, 12 goals in the last three games highlight this. Formation Both Everton and Arsenal will line up in a fairly standard 4-2-3-1, but […]
Arsenal travel to the fabled Olympic Stadium to face a struggling West Ham, albeit one that got four points off us last season. Southampton showed the way to shut Arsenal down – two or three combative midfielders and pacy wingers for the counter. Expect some muscle from Bilic, perhaps in the form of Obiang and […]
The League Cup is generally seen as the Mickey Mouse cup – something to test fringe players in, and a chance for a day out to Wembley. This is the case for most clubs, except Tottenham… I share the view of going as far as we can – the more games he gets, the more chances Ainsley […]
Arsenal welcome French Champions PSG to the Emirates on Wednesday night. With the news that Serge Aurier has been blocked from entering the UK, it means two things: 1) Nacho Monreal is no longer in trouble, I would have recommended Kieran Gibbs otherwise. 2) There are now two weaker full backs we can exploit. Thus, a flank-based […]
The Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger feud returns this weekend as Arsenal travel to an unhappy hunting ground, Old Trafford. Tactically, Mourinho, if he sticks to his usual self, should set up to lock up – happy with a 0-0 against a free scoring Arsenal, but happy to nick a goal with the hundreds of millions invested in attack. They’ll probably set […]
As we go into the nervous November stretch, it’s time to look back at Arsenal’s season thus far – more specifically, the players and how they have performed. Two points off the top, top of the Champions League group and through to the Quarter Final of the League Cup, the season has started extremely strongly, […]
It’s hard writing a tactical analysis for games like these, as derbies often end up as scrappy yet entertaining affairs where all notion of shape or instruction go out of the window, only to be replaced by passion. Still, worth a go. Arsenal come into this on a 15 game unbeaten run, and with returing […]
Arsenal’s result at Sunderland showed two things: 1) Away games against lower opposition (Burnley being the anomaly) are perhaps less of a banana skin than home games, as Arsenal are able to sit back and counter more often. 2) Olivier Giroud is a very effective Plan B option who, in my opinion, will be one of the […]
Arsenal host Reading in the EFL Cup in what is set to be a great test of squad depth, how can the second string fit in? Arlen Wenger confirmed today that Aaron Ramsey isn’t ready, but also said: We will have Gabriel, Holding, Jenkinson will be back and will play. Jeff Reine-Adelaide will play, otherwise I think Iwobi, Lucas, […]
