₦airaland Forum

Jencejyde:
The way we start in that first 15 to 20 mins will say a lot about what we are to expect. Like i said, i enjoyed the Spurs game not because we drew but because the players were at it from start to finish not giving spurs anytime whatsoever to settle on the ball and they did that in quite an organised manner albeit they were disjointed a few times. Its an away game and i expect that we counter any opening surge by the home team in those first 15 to 20 and then take control. We need to establish our authority on the game and put back the fear factor in teams which honestly has disappeared for some years now and i doubt if that will come back soon enough. And Emery needs to put out a strong team and stop this overcautious approach. For crying out loud, this is Arsenal vs Watford with no disrespect to them but 3 points is a must for us in these types of fixtures and we need to show a more attack minded approach consistently. COYG!

the annoying thing is there’s nothing cautious about his stupid lineups. He’s just clueless.We either lose or or manage to win, while we struggle either way. We struggle to defend, struggle in midfield, struggle to score, struggle to keep the ball. We are the only team among the big six that’s yet to score more than 2 goals in a game this season and we’ve managed to do that just twice out of four.

Jodera:
For now, Reiss isn't better than Iwobi. Yes, he might grow to be better than Iwobi, but for now, he's not better. Both is good as sub players for arsenal tho. Both Nelson has to do lot better to break into that squad, now that LW is probably vacant. See willock as he's grabbing his chance. Nelson should just try improve o

Good point.

ARSENAL TEAM NEWS

Arsenal team to play Watford: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Luiz, Kolasinac, Ceballos, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Ozil, Aubameyang, Pepe.

Subs: Martinez, Chambers, Torreira, Saka, Willock, Nelson, Martinelli.

Lineup

...... Strange formation

.... But I was nearly correct with my lineup, just didn't expect Ozil to start in an away game.

Nketiah has been on fire this season for Leeds and the U-21 for England. I have big hopes for him next season.

Ceballos and Özil could be an interesting partnership .

solomonbrown64:
...... Strange formation

.... But I was nearly correct with my lineup, just didn't expect Ozil to start in an away game.

Holding is still not ready? The line up is ok for me except Xhaka. Ceballos, Guendouzi, Özil, Pepe, Aubameyang in the same team, all starting! I love you Emery. If only we had someone like cazorla pulling the strings.

Torreira is the closest thing to Kante we have. His work rate is phenomenal, why Emery doesn’t use him is beyond me.

A midfield of Ceballos, Ozil, Xhaka, and Guen na disaster non of the above listed are good with tackles and defence.

God epp us.

kokaneprodigy:
Torreira is the closest thing to Kante we have. His work rate is phenomenal, why Emery doesn’t use him is beyond me.

A midfield of Ceballos, Ozil, Xhaka, and Guen na disaster non of the above listed are good with tackles and defence.

God epp us.

Replace Xhaka with Torreira and it's a perfect line up.

Swissh:
Replace Xhaka with Torreira and it's a perfect line up.

true xhaka is becoming another mustafi

kokaneprodigy:
[s] Torreira is the closest thing to Kante we have [/s] . His work rate is phenomenal, why Emery doesn’t use him is beyond me.

A midfield of Ceballos, Ozil, Xhaka, and Guen na disaster non of the above listed are good with tackles and defence.

God epp us.

Point of correction, Torreira is the closest thing to Coquelin you guys have.

Swissh:
Holding is still not ready? The line up is ok for me except Xhaka

.... Holding? Lol... be like say you no like the guy bro. That injury na serious one, did you see the visible scar on the affected knee? We have to ease him in before he goes back to the treatment table, besides what's the rush, we have Chambers waiting. He will start one of our Europa games this month I expect, maybe Wednesday but not premier league matches just yet.

.... I am sure you have seen the remarks of Emery concerning him; he won't drop Xhaka anytime soon until he is injured or we get a replacement. Xhaka is the only tall physical player that is actually a midfielder we have in the team, the rest are lightweights. We will just have to turn a blind eye to his shortcomings.

thorrvik55:
Point of correction, Torreira is the closest thing to Coquelin you guys have.

Mr Man move back to your thread. We don't welcome rubbish here.

ndidibabe:
ARSENAL TEAM NEWS

Arsenal team to play Watford: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Luiz, Kolasinac, Ceballos, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Ozil, Aubameyang, Pepe.

Subs: Martinez, Chambers, Torreira, Saka, Willock, Nelson, Martinelli.

This looks like a 4-3-1-2 formation with Ozil playing behind Auba and Pepe. I am happy to see Ozil and Ceballos on the pitch at the same time, it is important to know if that combination will be productive for us especially when we have possession. I expected to see one of Willock/ Torreria start and once again, I am worried Torreiria will leave during the summer and it will be down to Emery's mismanagement and nothing more. Guen deserves his place in that midfield after a terrific performance against Spuds and I hope he builds from that performance. We should dominate possession with Ceballos/ Ozil and I hope we can be creative in the final 3rd.

Emery is running out of time, I am one of those who chose not to judge him after last season but I made it very clear that this season will define his time with us and thus far it has not been exciting but today is another opportunity for him to prove his worth. I imagine Emery liked what Auba and Pepe offered against Liverpool during the counter with their pace and that is why he chose the forward 2.

sod09:
true xhaka is becoming another mustafi

Attack should be lethal today but Defending? We shall see. Expecting one or two mistake from Xhaka.

It’s 4-1-3-2 today new week new formation

We should sha outscore them I’m not expecting a clean sheet.

sod09:
true xhaka is becoming another mustafi

he can’t drop Xhaka, Set pieces defending and attacking.

kokaneprodigy:
It’s 4-1-3-2 today new week new formation

We should sha outscore them I’m not expecting a clean sheet.

The formation looks balanced. Not seen a formation or midfield so far this year that looked this balanced.
Its got pace upfront & three players very comfortable on the ball in midfield... The Dani / Özil Combination will be huge.

It is a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Leno

Niles Sokratis Luiz Kolasinac

Xhaka Guendouzi

Pepe Ozil Ceballos

Auba

kokaneprodigy:
the annoying thing is there’s nothing cautious about his stupid lineups. He’s just clueless.We either lose or or manage to win, while we struggle either way. We struggle to defend, struggle in midfield, struggle to score, struggle to keep the ball. We are the only team among the big six that’s yet to score more than 2 goals in a game this season and we’ve managed to do that just twice out of four.

Lol i hope we do not struggle throughout the season oh. But this line-up is good enough for me if only Xhaka and Guen can stay disciplined defensively. If the 2 silva's and Kevin of Man city playing together can produce consistent high class performances home and away consistently, then ozil an ceballos should be doing the same for us. These are days when i personally still miss Cazorla but we need to make do with what we have now. I just hope they start with good intensity and maintain it for most part of the game. I also hope Martinelli can get some game time if we need more width on the left depending on the game situation

Swissh:
Attack should be lethal today but Defending? We shall see. Expecting one or two mistake from Xhaka.

even BBC are surprised he's starting again

kokaneprodigy:
he can’t drop Xhaka, Set pieces defending and attacking.

The guy is a problem

No matter how good Guendouzi has turned out to be, he just has a problem if holding on to the ball too much

Luiz with a give away pass.

Watford na agberos, see as dem dey bundle guys

We are spending too much time on the ball in the midfield, worse still, it is with players who lack ball-playing skills. We need to move the ball into the final 3rd faster.

We no get pattern walahi!

Roland17:
We are spending too much time on the ball in the midfield, worse still, it is with players who lack ball-playing skills. We need to move the ball into the final 3rd faster.

It’s good for padding pass completion stat.

BlueRayDick:
We no get pattern walahi!

Look at purposeful attack by Watford.

BlueRayDick:
We no get pattern walahi!

15 minutes in and I can not tell for sure what style we are playing

We seem to lack ideas at the moment.