Arsenal v Aston Villa Match Thread 08/11/2020 19:15 | Vital Football

Arsenal v Aston Villa Match Thread 08/11/2020 19:15

The Fear

The Fear

A Wise Man (once sat next to him)
The fightback begins here.... again...!

:utv::utv:

Think I miss this, should be in Barca ready for my op. Hate missing games, however.............!
 
Arsenal haven’t been exactly free scoring in the league this season, and now we’re shipping goals like our safety is guaranteed.

Arsenal are a decent side, with a smart manager. I don’t think anyone expects this to be the same arsenal we beat 4 months ago. We have to play a different style rather than our usual 4-3-3-and-hope-for-the-best.

Plenty of variations with four at the back and one up top, to make us more solid in the middle. Sit a bit deeper, tease Le Arse forward and use our pace to counter them.

I would like to see Smith make some changes out of principle, the problem is the replacements are all pretty sub standard as it stands, so by making a change we just make the handicap worse.
 
If we don't fix our weakness down the righthand side then Aubameyang will bag a hatful.
 
Need to consider to making changes for this to freshen up from our last 2 shambles and our determination to suck the life out of a brilliant start.
So from our bench today .

Davis for Watkins
Marv for Mcginn
Engels for Mings
And maybe Conor for SJM.

That consideration didn’t take long.

Unchanged again then.
 
Melon Donkey said:
Need to consider to making changes for this to freshen up from our last 2 shambles and our determination to suck the life out of a brilliant start.
So from our bench today .

Davis for Watkins
Marv for Mcginn
Engels for Mings
And maybe Conor for SJM.

That consideration didn’t take long.

Unchanged again then.
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so we are bringing in two players for McGinn? that could work you know
 
Two possible scenarios -

1. We try to go toe to toe with them - result = lose

2. We go cagey and tight looking to counter quickly - result = draw or win

Over to you ginger Mourinho.
 
Villan57 said:
He's gone grey now
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Pretty sure every manager we've ever had in my lifetime went grey/greyer within a few months of taking the job. Only exceptions were big Ron and Di Matteo who were already bald. I'm sure there's no correlation between this and the job.
 
Definitely need to focus on not giving away so many chances. I'd personally like 2 midfielders sitting in front of the back 4 - whether that means bringing Marv into the line up, or trying to get McGinn to sit deeper I'm not sure.
Whilst I think Doug is a decent footballer, I'm not convinced he is cut out to play the DM role by himself for a team of our level. Maybe it would be different in a top team that is mostly in control of games, but we rarely seem to be.
 
garygaryshaw said:
Definitely need to focus on not giving away so many chances. I'd personally like 2 midfielders sitting in front of the back 4 - whether that means bringing Marv into the line up, or trying to get McGinn to sit deeper I'm not sure.
Whilst I think Doug is a decent footballer, I'm not convinced he is cut out to play the DM role by himself for a team of our level. Maybe it would be different in a top team that is mostly in control of games, but we rarely seem to be.
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This.... Last season there was a tendency to adjust that DM role based on the opponent, sometimes Luiz, sometimes Marv, even occasionally the two of them together or Hourihane playing deeper. In the prior season it was Whelan and occasionally Hourihane. This season it has been exclusively Luiz, (with occasional in-game adjustment to drop McGinn in beside him). Marv may not be the best passer of the ball, but there are times when you just need physicality in that position. Seems to me that Smith now has a clear first-choice 11 and doesn't even trust anyone else. Since Barkley came in we have not even substituted any of our midfielders, let alone starting anyone else.... The longer it goes on, the more rusty those fringe players become, then an injury or suspension forces a change and the replacement player looks (understandably) off the pace.... This ain't 1981...
 
Simple. We beat them deservedly in our fight back last season, by playing it tight and scoring when the inevitable opportunity arose. Arsenal are still in transition, playing at roughly the same level. We can win this. A narrow win, but we can do it.

Big question is whether we can get back to those tight performances. No reason as such why we can't. It's become a test of the manager. If we don't Arsenal have a good chance of winning.

Last time Guilbert put on an outstanding fighting performance when he came on. Maybe we need that. Would DS drop Cash?

I'll go for a tight win because we can do it. I suspect we'll get a routine loss because we won't do it.
 
gmvillan said:
This.... Last season there was a tendency to adjust that DM role based on the opponent, sometimes Luiz, sometimes Marv, even occasionally the two of them together or Hourihane playing deeper. In the prior season it was Whelan and occasionally Hourihane. This season it has been exclusively Luiz, (with occasional in-game adjustment to drop McGinn in beside him). Marv may not be the best passer of the ball, but there are times when you just need physicality in that position. Seems to me that Smith now has a clear first-choice 11 and doesn't even trust anyone else. Since Barkley came in we have not even substituted any of our midfielders, let alone starting anyone else.... The longer it goes on, the more rusty those fringe players become, then an injury or suspension forces a change and the replacement player looks (understandably) off the pace.... This ain't 1981...
Click to expand...

How would we know they were rusty:ROFLMAO:
 
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