Mails: Drop Ozil deeper…or drop him completely

Mails: Drop Ozil deeper…or drop him completely

Read 16 Conclusions on Arsenal’s 5-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday, then send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com in time for a Sunday Mailbox.

Drop Ozil deep
Surely even the most bullish of Arsenal fans cant be overly confident of us getting a result at Chelsea with a midfield two of Coquelin & Ox/Maitland-Niles, but I think if we’re to get any sort of a result out of this game what we really need to look at is the formation.

The midfield in its current state needs as much protection as it can get and since the switch to 3-4-3 Chelsea have dominated pretty much everyone in their path, bypassing midfields with ease and quick trasitions yet still managing to keep strength in numbers in both defence and attack as needed. N’golo Kante. How that guy has already amassed more tackles in 2 seasons than anyone over the last 3 is the most insanse stat I’ve read in a long time. Big task ahead.

The options that have at least come close or proved successful have been mirroring their formation or a 4-3-3 as with Liverpool most recently, I don’t see 4-2-3-1 being strong enough against that of Chelsea’s. I’ve long thought Arsenal, like Spurs, have a great squad for a 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 and it would really help protect a weaker midfield of 2 of the 3 above with Ozil & Sanchez just behind Giroud. Even stronger with a full strength [yes, I know] midfield. The problem with doing this right now is the inexperience with the formation and the fact that simply mirroring it doesnt make us as strong as they are in some key positions.

So how about 4-3-3? I wouldnt be suprised to see what I’m about to suggest wholly ridiculed but I do believe it could work well, if not immediately at Chelsea then going forward in the league. I wrote in at the beginning of the season with a suggestion to drop Ozil deeper to better accommodate Giroud, it quickly proved to be a moot point with Sanchez’s revalationary improvement as a central striker, but I’d like to revisit the idea now.

Have Coquelin shielding with Ozil & Ox/Maitland-Niles ahead. It might seem counter intuitive to add more bodies in a position chronically lacking depth, but I really believe Ozil has what it takes to play deeper putting his incredible passing abilities towards linking the whole team together and making attacks more fluid. A 3 man midfield would mean cover for an inexperienced Maitland-Niles or Oxlaide-Chamberlain, both of whom, while excelling against Southampton’s 2nd string, hardly proves they can do the same again here. How I see it working is in the same way in which Liverpool’s does, with a balance between attacking and defensive minded sensibilities spead throughout the 3. Put a hard working front 3 of Iwobi, Sanchez & Welbeck infront of that with the option of Giroud of the bench and just maybe we’ve got a game on our hands.

Its an idea I’d love to see attempted, perhaps if not now in such circumstances but against weaker opposition… then again who are we kidding, it’s Wenger and it’s 4-2-3-1, business as usual. Im not particularly confident going into tomorrow, more hoping to be pleasantly surprised with an upset. Either way it should be a good watch, as long as we don’t just roll over like we did at City.
Joe, AFC, Manchester [Best wishes to Freddie Hunt & his family]

Drop Ozil completely
This might sound stupid (obviously a great way to start a mail!) but is it possible that Ozil is becoming a problem. Don’t get me wrong, he is an exceptional player and has been brilliant for Arsenal but I feel like he may have become a problem. He can only play in the number 10 role. He does not do a huge amount of defending and is in my eyes much more of an attacker than a midfielder. This means we need to play with a midfield base to compensate this and that average players like Coquelin are necessary. Without Ozil I think we have players much more suited to a 4-3-3, dynamic midfielders (even with a place for Ramsey) and wide forwards with a lot of pace. We saw this blueprint against Southampton and even though we were playing their reserves there was a lot more fluidity that I feel we miss in our rigid 4-2-3-1.

I would never have thought i would be saying this at the start of the season but I honestly would not mind seeing Ozil sold, Sanchez getting a pay increase and the money spent on another midfielder that fits with our other players better.

Of course we could just finally replace Wenger and have a manager who actually has some tactical ingenuity and can find a way to get more out of one of the best squads in the league.
Dave (More game time for Perez needs to be in the agenda) Arsenal fan living in Sutton

An Arsenal plan
I fear for Arsenal this weekend against the Champions elect, especially with our lack of a midfield, but I think there is real promise in the squad if it wasn’t managed so badly.

One of my issues with Wenger is that he picks a team and sticks with it as long as they win, rather than picking a team to beat the opposition in front of us. Like last season, when he picked Gabriel in defense instead of Mertesacker when going up against Andy Carroll’s West Ham. Or not picking any players that demolished Southampton midweek because he was reverting back to his “first team” for the league.

The only time he ever mixes things up is when we lose, so maybe the Watford defeat might mean a slightly different looking team. Not that I think even a victory will stop Chelsea from winning the league, but it’s nice to at least be competitive, right? Here are some changes I would like to see, if not tomorrow, then soon:

– Sanchez up front doesn’t really work against teams that defend deep, so switching him there against Watford once they were already 2-0 up was pointless. Against Chelsea away however, where they will try to come out to win the game, he could be lethal. Once again, pick the team to win a match Arsene!

– As has been mentioned before in the mailbox, Perez has looked very good every time he has played and should be getting his chance. Against Chelsea I would play him on one of the wings.

– On the other wing, I would drop Theo in favour of The Ox or Dat Guy, who looks pretty sharp right now. Whichever is picked can be replaced by the other one if they need to be.

– Central midfield is the hard bit right now, and I would be tempted to start with Coquuelin and Maitland-Niles, who has impressed every time he has played. The Ox has also looked good there, but he wont have the time on the ball he had against Watford or Southampton tomorrow.

– Iwobi stays in the team because he has been our best player recently but I would be interested to see how he does in the middle instead of Ozil who has been struggling recently. Also, he is a bit lightweight and will be bullied by Kante and Matic, whereas Iwobi is much stronger and more persistent.

– Bring back Bellerin at full back. Obviously.

– I would also be tempted to try Ospina in goal at some point too as Cech has been struggling and Ospina has looked pretty damn good every time he has played this season.

So there you have it. A team to possibly compete (but probably still lose) against Chelsea tomorrow.
Adonis Stevenson, AFC

Forget Dembele; we’ve got Tammy
Reading the mailbox this morning brought a smile to my face, finally I’m not the only person thinking that spending £40m+ on Celtic’s Moussa Dembele is a huge risk and quite silly when we (I’m a Chelsea fan as you may have guessed already) have Tammy Abraham, we all know how weak the SPFL is and that the transition from a weak league to a strong league can be a sink or swim affair, Tammy has been scoring goals for fun for a Bristol side who are struggling in a relegation battle, this seems to show he could be a natural goal scorer, maybe like a certain Jermain Defoe.

Now even though he is playing in the Championship he should be given a chance to perform in the Premier League or at least in Pre Season, thankfully Antonio Conte shows he does give youth a chance so hopefully Tammy will be the next Chelsea academy player to breakthrough into this exciting Conte side next season.~
Mike Clewer, (Wouldn’t complain if we signed Alvaro Morato though) CFC

Demebele of the year
MB, I imagine Chelsea would consider singing Moussa Dembele because of the following:

6 CL appearances, 3 goals. Including 2 goals and a dominant performance against a direct EPL rival.

He also has 2 goals in the CL qualifiers, the winner in a cup semi final and another goal in the final. His career is quite clearly on an upward trajectory and he’s quickly adapted to each step up in class and the pressure of performing for a team who are expected to win every game.

Or perhaps Chelsea have looked at Southampton singing Virgil Van Dijk for £13m, Victor Wanyama for £11m and Fraster Forster for £10m and they realize that actually, just because the SPL is a poor league that doesn’t mean it’s populated by players unable to shine in the Premiership. Imagine where Liverpool would be if they spent £34 on those 3 players.

Maybe Chelsea have realized that the English Championship is severely lacking in quality and scoring goals in that league is no guarantee that you can make the step up. Daryl Murphy scored 3 SPL goals for Celtic in 21 games (2 of them were pens) and was easily one of the worst, least mobile strikers I’ve seen in years. Two years ago he was the top scorer in the Championship with 27 and hit double figures again last year.

I’m sure your flatmates will have pointed all of this out to you but I imagine your dismissive attitude to Scottish football has been, well, unbearable for them.
Peter, Glasgow.

No surprise
I’m getting really tired at the shock of Chelsea been right at the top. Granted I didn’t expect them to run away with it but is it really that shocking?

This is a team that added one of the worlds best managersand one of the worlds best central midfielders to a team that won the league a 2 seasons ago.

Factor in the that they have no European football to deal with and now ask yourself if it’s really that surprising?
Dale (Leeds)

Howe does he do it?
It was good to see Bournemouth supporter Steven, AFCB agree with me that while Eddie Howe is a very good football manager, he’s not a good talent-spotter at Premier League level. Since their promotion, here’s a list of players Bournemouth have acquired, in some cases for real money, that have had little or no impact: Max Gradel, Lewis Grabban, Jordon Ibe, Glenn Murray, Juan Iturbe, Lee Tomlin, Christian Atsu, Lys Mousset.

Besides Jack Wilshere, which was a no-brainer, I see one success (Josh King) and one on which the jury’s still out (Benik Afobe). Nathan Aké is somewhere in the middle, because Bournemouth allowed more goals per game with him as a starter (1.875) than they have without him (1.71). Brad Smith might yet be useful.

That’s not a great record. Assuming they lose Wilshere (I really hope he stays), they’ll have progressed very little personnel-wise in two years, and that sort of thing can get you dropping in the table very quickly. I’d be surprised if they go down while Howe is manager, but his approach to transfers needs to change somehow. He’s a smart guy, so here’s hoping.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA

On Saido
I have to take issue the statement that Berahino has ever been grateful for anything the Albion have done. I know this site has a tendency to want to ridicule Pulis but he has always tried hard with Saido.

The truth is Saido has proven time and time again that he is not a particularly pleasant person. He was sent back from loan spells with Peterborough and Northampton both times in disgrace. He missed his England chance as it came in the same week he received a driving ban. From the moment he got into the first team he was constantly talking about moves to ‘a bigger club’. He got a bumper new contract then tried to go on strike when Spurs came in for him. He then signed another bumper contract, scored a couple and wanted to move again. Then we have this latest FA ban.

You can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. The Albion have tried time and time again with Berahino only to have it thrown back in their faces.

When in the mood he is a world class finisher with his feet but he is deceptively slow and his ball control ropey.

So no Berahino has never been gracious, magnanimous or committed to the Albion.

I see this going one of two ways. He will either flop and be on loan at Reading in 18 months time or he will score a few and begin talking about Stoke being a stepping stone. Ready to repeat the cycle once more.

However he will undoubtedly score against us tomorrow
Ben the Baggie

Silly Foxes
Last season when Leicester were about to win the league I wrote I saying that this season could be there defining moment. Stick or twist. Stay loyal to the players that got you there (champions league) and build out your squad or take advantage of a once in a lifetime achievement and buy some stars within their new found remit, relegating those that got you to where they were to the bench. They really should have taken advantage, loyalty to players is all well and good and can cause unrest amongst a few but they will never (are unlikely ) to be in this situation again and could very possibly be relegated from the league.
Francis

Calling out Thomas the Tank Engine
Maybe Ringo and Arsene should swap roles?

Although, one wonders whether kids will want to hear about the superior mentality of Gordon and Percy as they face months in the garage after continual breakdowns.

I guess Walcott is Thomas – an inoffensive but ultimately crap little engine.

Yeah, I called Thomas out. I don’t like Jimbo out of Jimbo and the Jet Set, Hank out of Dungeons and Dragons and don’t get me started on Bungle – he’s an abomination.
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

Loans
Carl Jenkinson failing to agree wages with Palace got me wondering about how loans nowadays work. Now most of my knowledge about loans comes from FM and I’d like to think the game was pretty accurate. But doesn’t the main club continue to pay the players wages and the club wanting to loan the player give them a % towards said wages? Why would Jenkinson need to agree a wage with Palace? Unless the main club stops paying wages and the new club only pays the player which seems weird. Can anyone shed any light on this?
Jason (confused in Nottingham)

One of many
H (morning mailbox), thanks for the MegaLOLZ on a Friday morning! You do realise that for Liverpool to be seven points off the top at the end of the weekend would actually require Arsenal to win at Stamford Bridge?

A double order of whatever you are having please.
Jamie Bedwell, Cheltenhamshire

Chicken dinner
‘and player tunnels so labyrinthine that they have their own resident minotaur’

Excellent from the Last Defender
Scimmino

 

Praise for Degsy
In reference to Conte: “The Italian essentially went to work on Chelsea like he went to work on his own male pattern baldness. The results, for both, have been staggering.”

That has absolutely done me. Well done Degsy.
Mike T, Nuneaton

But also…
I’m sure you have had 427,000 of this same email this morning but please ask Degsy very nicely to refrain from using Big Sam and Horny in the same sentence ever again.

I actually spewed my food, which unfortunately was a banana, on to my computer.

Yours horrified,
Jamie, Kilkenny