26 Sep 2016 07:05:12
Has the Giroud era come to an end? I for one definitely hope so. Yes, we still developing team chemistry with the current setup, But we are definitely more lethal upfront. Nothing like some good old fashioned pace upfront. First and third goals were reliant on having a pacey forward upfront.
26 Sep 2016 08:20:07
62 has been a big advocate of playing your best 11, if that no longer includes Giroud then that's the way it should be.
His lack of game time was apparent in his cameo he was pretty woeful and actually put us in trouble giving the ball away a couple of times.
I think a lot will depend on how Perez fairs and a fit Welbeck would have been another factor.
It would probably mean like Mertesacker, Giroud may play a much smaller part this season.
26 Sep 2016 10:29:48
I'd forgotten all about Danny Red, we could well see Olly leave in January if Danny is available by then especially if Perez comes up to scratch.
26 Sep 2016 11:09:13
I had to a degree too 62 and hadn't even realised Elneny didn't even make the bench against the Chavs.
26 Sep 2016 11:46:00
Serious competition for places can only be a very good thing for the club mate, with everyone knowing that if they lose thier place they will struggle to get it back can only lead to more committed and consistent performances from everyone who starts each game.
26 Sep 2016 12:54:41
It depends who we are playing. On Saturday, we looked fabulous in the first half, with such a quick, technical performance. However, we lacked height, which wasn't exploited by Chelsea. In the second half Xhaka and Giroud came on to add height.
I noticed that whenever Cech was forced to launch the ball forward under pressure, we lost possession as we had no height in the forward positions. On Weds in the CL at home, we can play without Giroud, but away at Burnley it might be sensible to play him, as they are more likely to put us under pressure from set plays and his height would be an asset. Also, we can't expect the same players to play 3 matches a week.
26 Sep 2016 14:37:48
Yes we have the forgotten welbeck to come back. Could do a job if he gets his fitness back quick.
26 Sep 2016 14:39:12
Chelsea used least players in 14/ 15 and won the title, league cup and went the furthest in the CL then last season liecester used the least players and also won the league RG.
Rotation v Best 11 every game? Best 11 wins trophies while rotatation keeps squad players happy but short of big medals.
26 Sep 2016 16:46:17
Banbury has said before that we have a very good group of I think 15 or 16 players, he'll tell me if I'm wrong, but that has just been increased with the additions of Mustafi and Xhaka.
With that group and minimal disruption from injury we should almost be able to swap like for like in minimal rotation. The back 5 along with Cazorla, Sanchez and Ozil should be 1st names on the team sheet and keeping them fit is a must.
To think we then have Iwobi, Ramsey, Walcott, Xhaka, Elneny, The Ox, Welbeck, Giroud, Perez and Coquelin makes a good core of 18 players without mentioning Gibbs, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Holding, Ospina and the youngsters.
The group just have to maintain focus and turn up week in week out.
27 Sep 2016 01:01:56
I would say our squad is stronger than the team. What the team and the squad lacks is top class variation. That can be a minus or a plus. Leicester last season had hardly any variation in the team or squad. They didn't have many injuries so it ddidn't affect them in that way either. We are arsenal and we always get injuries, I think that is one of the reasons we have ended up with a biggish squad.