Bellerin would have been there to get that pass :bellerin:
Who needs Cazorla when weāve got this guy 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbhrJy4cDEw
Iām not so sure about Cazorla, but he reminds me more of the way Arteta played for us in this game. Sitting deep most of the time, cleaning up, keeping possession and dispersing it and playing some lovely through balls when it was on.
Xhaka will never replicate what Cazorla can do and thatās not a criticism but if you play him with a Cazorla, or a more mobile partner then our midfield will be a well oiled, functioning bastion of industrialism.
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I wonder who BOB is/wasā¦
I donāt know about playing him with Cazorla, because I think Xhaka is more a deep-lying playmaker than anything else. Every proper midfield, unless youāre Barcelona, has that combative type. Now there are two ways to go about that; either instruct a player who doesnāt seem ācombativeā at first glance to be like that and do the dirty work, like Ancelotti did with Di Maria, or play a midfielder like that.
Busquets?
Busquets is a pussy.
Is this really true?
@Cristo, I was talking about a combative next too the dm. Which they didnāt really have in Xavi and Iniesta for years.
@AbouCuellar, I think so. I donāt believe in a Xhaka - Ozil - Cazorla midfield. Coached by Wenger of somebody else.
Donāt think this is true. Iād go so far as to say every proper midfield weāve seen in the past years (Bayern, Barca, Real) did not have a pure destroyer. That is a big part of why they could dominate the way the did/do.
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Teams throughout history have dominated with ādestroyersā.
Soā¦ I am unsure if not having one is why they dominated. Iād imagine there are a number of factors at play.
I think if you run a two man midfield in possession, while playing possession football high up the pitch like we do it is probably more important since heāll be surrounded by wingers and a passing guy who poke and prod and kill of space rather than tackle to get the ball back once we lose the ball/are hit on the counter.
If you run a three man (or more) midfield you usually kill off more space with your midfielders alone and direct your opponents when your opponent counter attacks, Busquets and Xabi Alonso are both great at those things while getting stuck in enough to disrupt, you might be less dependent on a tough guy as you do it more through tactics and positioning.
I honestly think teams could do with or without, I think we canāt do without in the style we play right now though. Coq is the most important midfielder in the squad for us atm vs. good sides who put up a proper fight. You should all remember how the reason we stabilised in midfield when defending for the first time in many years was when Coq came into the starting IX, what a relief he was.
I wasnāt talking about a pure destroyer. I was talking about the ācombativeā type.
I still canāt believe he didnāt play against United and PSG, ah well, weāve ended up top of the CL group and only 3 pts off the pace in the league, so not too much damage done. Should be on the team sheet as fast as Alexis and Ozil now.
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Heās been very very good the last 2 games against West Ham United and Basle. I think he will be a permanent fixture in the side now and it will just be interesting to see if its Coq or Rambo partnering him for the most part.
Ya know I was thinking about this the other day. My best guess as to why heās played so little is because of the adjustment to the league. Even the best players like Ćzil and Costa came out gangbusters in the first half of their first season, only to burn out quickly in the second half. Hopefully itās part of Wengerās grand scheme to keep him fresh for our title challenge in the new year.
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I didnāt get to watch the gameā¦how was he today? Heard he gave away a penalty
Ref gave a penalty; Xhaka tackled the ball.
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What a signing
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So in Spainās midfield during the golden era Xabi Alonso, does he qualify as the combative type for you?
(Not a trick question, btw; for me Xabi Alonso definitely was a combative midfielder, but he was also an example of the fact that combativeness doesnāt have to come at the expense of quality on the ball)