Squad Analysis (2018/19)

Our squad as it is:

GK: Cech, Leno, Martinez, Ospina
CB: Mustafi, Sokratis, Chambers, Holding, Mavropanos, Koscielny
RB: Bellerin, Lichtsteiner, Jenkinson, Osei-Tutu
LB: Monreal, Kolasinac
DM: XHAKA, Torreira, Guendouzi
CM: Ramsey, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Smith-Rowe
RAM: Ozil, Welbeck, Nelson, Perez
LAM: Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan, Iwobi, Campbell
CF: Lacazette, Nketiah

Some talking points:

- What is our best starting XI?
- What is, in your opinion, Emery's preferred XI?
- Who's the team captain in Koscielny's absence?
- What formation(s) can and will Emery use?
- Do we need more additions and where?
- Are you happy with the squad or do you think we need more/less?

Just wanted to re-post some of Emery's quotes here

There are two ways of seeing football: aggressively or passively. You can win the ball back or wait. I always considered systems in 4-4-2, which are the newest trend in Spain, the best for preventing the opponent to get between the lines. Seeing as there are three. Marcelino’s teams are good because they do that very well. It’s difficult to get through three-lines. His teams look to win the ball back in order to counter attack, thanks to the two wide midfielders and two central players. It’s about being positioned defensively and counter attacking.

With Guardiola and the Spanish national team, a new style is developing. An all-out style, but this style is on the decline because with worse players, it is easier to control. And the 4-4-2 is made just for that. My preference is the Barcelona from before Guardiola, even though the current team is very good, with Luis Enrique’s concepts revisited and adapted by Valverde in his 4-4-2. That’s actually one of the reasons that Neymar left Barcelona. Because play is focused entirely on Messi and that Neymar has to do a lot of work up and down the wing.

What I like is provoking the opponent. It’s a more aggressive idea, which exposes you more. Bielsa’s style, Guardiola’s style. When you lose the ball, you win it back as quickly as possible. Anywhere the ball may be, the team has to position themselves to press and win it back. If play stops, everyone goes back to their position. If the ball is in play, we press, all while remaining organised tactically.

Those are my two outlooks from a defensive point of view. If the ball is in play, you press. If play stops, you reposition yourself. For me, the 4-1-4-1 is the system which facilitates that type of pressing. The 4-4-2 is designed more and more for zonal positioning. It’s less aggressive, but is more difficult to get past. That’s the case with Marcelino’s teams, Quique Sanchez Flores’ teams, Saint-Étienne when we last played them…

I am not ruling out the possibility of a 4-4-2. That’s not the idea that I privilege, but if it allows me to be more competitive, then I’ll go towards it without hesitating. We sometimes used it in Sevilla. I would put Banega in a playmaker position, and have him move to the second striker position without the ball. With two strong, physical players behind him, it provided me with the necessary cohesion to press.

In my case, the idea was not to win the ball back and counter as quickly as possible, but rather to equip ourselves once we had the ball. What Guardiola’s Barcelona did magnificently. We win the ball off of them, but those bastards always won it back. And Pep is doing it with City now. High pressure and win the ball back to start again once in position.

http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2018/unai-emery-what-am-i-missing-making-my-masterpieces-real-masterpieces-and-making-them-my-own/

Best XI:

(4-2-3-1): Leno; Bellerin, Sokratis, Mustafi, Monreal; Torreira, Ramsey; Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Aubameyang; Lacazette

Emery's preferred team:

Difficult to say at this early stage, especially as there'll probably be a lot of rotation early on before he settles on his preferred pairings.

What I think is certain at this stage is that Bellerin, Ramsey, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Aubameyang and Lacazette will be starters in whatever configuration suits them best. He'll probably want at least one of Sokratis or Mustafi in his backline for experience, as well. That leaves goalkeeper, one centre back position, left back and Ramsey's midfield partner as genuinely up for grabs.

Captain in Koscielny's absence:

Ramsey has taken the armband in most of the pre-season games so far and seems the most likely choice given he's pretty much a certain starter. Cech is the next logical choice, though he's not a certain starter anymore. XHAKA is an option, as is Lichtsteiner, despite the fact he just joined.

Then there's Ozil, who wore the armband against PSG and was backed by Cech for the role. It seems the most un-Ozil thing ever, but who knows, maybe he'd thrive under that responsibility? He certainly seems to be in the frame, regardless.

Formations:

It's looking like 4-2-3-1 as most of us predicted, with the occasional use of 4-3-3 depending on the personnel. I image we'll see both used for certain matches. For example, I can see us playing 4-3-3 away to a big team to allow a third midfielder to come in, which may see Ozil move out wide.

It was interesting to see us return to the 3-4-2-1 against Atletico Madrid, and apparently we've been working on this in training a fair bit. I don't think it's Emery's preferred choice, but perhaps something he might have to use if his backline doesn't perform as well as hoped.

More additions and where:

I'm nervous about our left back options. Monreal is aging and struggled against pace the last couple of seasons, while Kolasinac's positioning and anticipation have been quite poor whenever he's played as a conventional left back. It looks unlikely now, but I think I would have taken the money on offer for Monreal and gotten a new left back in.

A winger wouldn't go amiss at this stage, either. We've a lot of young talent on the flanks, so it might not be an urgent addition, but we don't have a first team player who can take people on and whip a good cross in, especially on the right hand side. While we have very good options in attack, a winger wold be a very useful asset to have. Alternatively, this could be a great opportunity for Reiss Nelson to take that spot, because he's exactly the sort of player I'm talking about.

Am I happy with the squad?:

On paper, I think it's a good squad capable of a top four finish. The midfield looks a lot stiffer with Torreira and Guendouzi in there, and the attack is one of the best in the league. Goalkeeper and defence are where my main concerns are, since Leno has a fair bit to prove and I don't think we have an "elite" defender in the whole squad. It's the weakest area of the squad in terms of outright quality.

At this point, we could do with trimming the squad down a bit more. There's still some deadwood like Jekinson and Campbell floating around, and I'm not sure about the prospects of Lucas and Welbeck beyond this season. Reducing the squad size and replacing them with one or two high quality players will hopefully be the priority from now on. For now, it's best to see how the current squad does before adding any more.

i think in big games some sort of Hybrid system can work

433 in possession and high press,then dropping to 442 for deep block with RCM covering for Mesut

So some things have changed or are changing since the thread was created:

- Chambers has joined Fulham on loan (1m loan fee)
- Lucas Perez is very close to joining West Ham for something in between 4m-10m (Various Reports)
- Ospina, Jenkinson, Campbell are expected to leave before the transfer window closes.
- Welbeck has been told he can leave according to Evening Standard.
- Ramsey still hasn't signed and could enter the last year of his contract if nothing changes.

If all of these things happen our squad looks like this:

GK: Cech, Leno, Martinez
CB: Mustafi, Sokratis, Holding, Mavropanos, Koscielny
RB: Bellerin, Lichtsteiner, Osei-Tutu
LB: Monreal, Kolasinac
DM: XHAKA, Torreira, Guendouzi
CM: Ramsey, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Smith-Rowe
RAM: Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Nelson
LAM: Aubameyang, Iwobi
CF: Lacazette, Nketiah

In my opinion we'll be a little thin in attack if all of these outgoing transfers happen. Also for the CB position we'll be relying too much on Mustafi who has been poor in his entire time here and Sokratis who is normally used as a RCB rather than the LCB he's been playing.

With that said we're still linked with two players in positions where we need additions, a LCB (Vida) and winger (Dembele).

We'll see what happens, the Premier League transfer window ends in two days.

Emery has named his five captains: Koscielny, Cech, Ramsey, Ozil and XHAKA.

So with Kos out injured and Cech probably not being first choice, we're going to see Ramsey and Ozil with the armband quite a lot.

Emery on Welbeck: "Danny has multi-position possibilities - right winger, left winger, striker. And, yesterday (Thursday), he worked with us at left back. His performance was good!" #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/jHE9IkTnGx

— Gurjit (@GurjitAFC) August 11, 2018

tears in my eyes

Maybe Wele becomes our very own Antonio Valencia

left back

Bellerin could play as right winger