Thought Monreal had a good game too personally
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Moreal looked like heâs getting back to his former levels, good game for sure.
Xhaka was good clearly playing with restraint, not even a single yellow in a derby so thereâs hope for him yet!
I still canât believe he isnât starting for us at the moment, itâs fucking bizarre stuff from Wenger. Thereâs some things that he does that leave you scratching your head but usually thereâs at least some sort of thinking behind it but not this.
We had HUGE problems in CM last season in Cazorlaâs absence, first with the hideous Flamini/Ramsey partnership through December/January and then later with different combinations of Coquelin/Ramsey/Elneny, Elneny/Coquelin was probably the best of a very underwhelming bunch of those. So he goes and splashes ÂŁ35m on a deep lying central midfielder. For Wenger to do this, itâs clear he thought we were lacking in this area/this type of player and he obviously rates Xhaka to spend that sum on him. Okay, so Coquelin and Cazorla were getting the job done before Cazorla went down, fair enough, their record is very good whenever theyâre both playing together. But using Coquelin with Elneny and Ramsey now in back to back games with Xhaka sitting on the bench, and seeing the same hideous midfield performances we saw last season, really makes you think wtf is going on.
I remember when Alexis first came he was surprisingly left out of the team on a few occasions, but it definitely didnât last this long. Is he doing bad things in training? Does Wenger think he is a b2b? Iâm stumped.
Iâm off Coquelin now. He plays with Cazorla or not at all.
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I think the thinking is that Coquelin is our first choice DM because he shields the defense better than anyone else. And that Xhaka is currently Coquelinâs back up because Elneny isnât a combative ball winner, only Xhaka is. If you play Coq and Xhaka and both get injured youâll have big issues as a result.
Anything that Coquelin brings us defensively is outweighed by his limitations when weâre in possession IMO. I donât like Xhaka and Coquelin together, I want to see Xhaka and Ramsey. Lets not pretend Coquelin is flawless defensively, he was bullied by Dembele against Tottenham for the penalty and for the biggest opening against United in the first half by Pogba. His best attribute at the moment is winning the ball high up which Ramsey could do just as well when he regains fitness anyway.
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We should get Isco as Cazorla replacement and Dahoud for Ramsey.
Problem solved.
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Well arguably yes Xhaka is obviously a far better passer but Coq saves us time and again in a way Xhaka canât. Xhaka also regularly gets skinned and commits stupid challenges that see him get booked/sent off. Coquelin winning the ball back all over the pitch also starts many an attack.
Regardless of who you consider better though, the reality is if you play both you risk not having a genuine DM
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Wouldnât be problem solved when theyâre on the bench with Coquelin preferred
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Talk about under rating a player. Coq is a combative DM that excels in breaking play and provides a very unique dynamic in an otherwise absurdly lightweight team.
He balances out Ozil rather nicely in this aspect, but absolutely needs others around him in order to compliment Ozilâs skillset. So the pining for Xhaka is understandable.
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This twitter thread has a bunch of quotes from an interview Xhaka done with Viasat Sport.
Talk about overrating a player. What top club these days employs a pure destroyer to break up play? Maybe Real under Zidane, but theyâve got the two best central midfielders in the world playing infront of such a player. Weâve got Elneny and Ramsey. When I look at our squad I see a need for functional build up play from deep, not for another tackle oaf that caters to the English fansâ desperate need for a proper masculine enforcer. Some people are really stuck in the Keane era.
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He really should play the full 90 against Bournemouth.
I read during the summer that Wenger had to be talked into spending ÂŁ35m on Xhaka. Further evidence, if you needed any, of just how out of touch with the modern game our manager is.
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Or just how gullible Arsenal fans are that they think Wenger will be forced into managing a player.
Especially considering Xhaka was bought straight away early in summer.
This is the reason I canât relate to you guys.
Hate on Wenger all you want for not giving you football or achievements you want.
We can discuss that.
But you lot have reached the stage where you will take every bit of speculation to criticise him.
I can only mock, not discussion.
And speculation so stupid to begin with. In line with âWenger doesnât buy big players because he canât man manage or handle egosâ
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Even because we need to rotate in this busy period.
I read during summer that Wenger was forced into buying every player that turned out shite for us in the last 20 years, we now have further evidence that he is the best scout in the world by insane margins having only bought good players ever in his 20 years at Arsenal. Splendid. Glad to have him then phew
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That doesnât mean Coq isnât a good fit for us imo. But the balance in this squad is bad. The lack of a proper playmaking cm, who can replace Cazorla, and creativity on the wing is more a problem than the limitations of Coquelin.
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You donât support Arsenal. You are merely a fan of Arsene Wenger, hence why you so blindly defend every last inch of his continued failure. This is why you read the slightest bit of criticism aimed at your idol and you jump to his defence at every given opportunity.
You know I was told by a prominent BBC journalist about 5 years ago that he stood in a room with Wenger and a host of wealthy people within the club and he was told that Wenger could essentially convince them to open up their cheque books to sign any player he wanted to sign. But this journalist told me that Wenger wanted to do things his way. He wanted to pay the stadium debt off the âcorrect wayâ. He wanted to nurture youth and get them to play the game âhis wayâ. Wengerâs ego and obsession with creating a long lasting legacy is limiting our clubs progression.
It doesnât matter whether you believe the above or not, but the last 5 years since I was told that is everything I ever needed to know to believe what I was told that day.
Selling RVP to Manchester United because they offered more money than European teams was a disgraceful decision and essentially sums up Wenger as a manager and his decision making.
Not to mention his continued complaints about the inflation of the market despite our clubs record turnovers, highest cash reserves in the sport, a record television deal and having some of the wealthiest men in the world with significant interest in our club.
Itâs time to stop making excuses for Wenger. His first ten years at the club were glorious but his last ten years have been a failure.
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âIâm a better fan than you blah blah blahâ
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Your arrogant generalisation of English fans really made a few things clear to me. 
Purely combative DMâs may be phasing out of football in favour of a more technical skillset, the âMakeleleâ role now requires that the player can distribute. You wonât find anyone that would turn down a player with that skillset.
However in our club, no one is close to the defesive level of midfield cover that Coquelin provides, and simply being able to pass the ball 40 yards doesnât negate what he provides. I addressed the issue of his range of passing so not sure why you needed to rehash it in response to me?
The world has evolved so that many modern DMâs can be technical, thatâs great, but they still need to have a high degree of talent and ability with regards to the âdefensiveâ aspect.
The clue really is in the name. If the skillset for being a good DM didnt require this particular âtackle oafâ type of defensive work, Cazorla or Ozil would be our DM on occasion.
Dumbing the role down to âtackle oafâ, is a little much. When, all you have to do is watch any game of football to see how important a tackle is.