Match Thread Arsenal v Everton. 24th Oct at 1730.

[yakublue]

Mirallas/Deulofeu on the right and Cleverley on the left would be ideal for me.

Really hoping not to see Naismith start. Although I will happily eat my words if he scores another timely hat trick.

 

[Jxg]

If we're going to get anything out of this game, we need a midfield staying on top of their defensive duties aswell. I'd play Kone and McGeady tbh

Out.

 

[FTY]

I'd go with Lennon and Mirallas in a midfield 4 and just counter, their full backs tend to bomb on and their centre halves are slow.

Lennon Cleverley McCarthy Mirallas
---------------Barkley
---------------Lukaku

 

[Furey1878]

I'd go with Lennon and Mirallas in a midfield 4 and just counter, their full backs tend to bomb on and their centre halves are slow.

Lennon Cleverley McCarthy Mirallas
-----------Barkley
-----------Lukaku

I could see Lennon and Mirallas starting on the wings.

Obviously Barry and McCarthy will be the CM pair, like. It'll be interesting to see who Martinez plays there instead should injury/suspension befall either of them.

 

[faddy the blue]

I'd like to see us keep composure in this one and not concede early or not concede in the first half as that has been the trend. We concede cheap goals due to stupid mistakes and then look to get a goal back. Keep it nice and tidy, wait for as long as it can take, frustrate the likes of Walcott and Sanchez. Some tiredness will kick in around the 70th min mark for them and then we can throw Del and Lennon on to snatch a win. We're not gonna get a 0-3 or a 0-2 by being overzealous.

 

[navidson]

Remember the last time we had Man Utd and Arsenal in the same week? It was the best footballing week we'd had in many a year, and we went to the Emirates and dominated them

Have we improved or gotten worse since then?

 

[Big Fat Sam]

Remember the last time we had Man Utd and Arsenal in the same week? It was the best footballing week we'd had in many a year, and we went to the Emirates and dominated them

Have we improved or gotten worse since then?

 

[AlE]

Remember the last time we had Man Utd and Arsenal in the same week? It was the best footballing week we'd had in many a year, and we went to the Emirates and dominated them

Have we improved or gotten worse since then?

Well we've just been battered 3-0 by United...

But I don't think two matches can define whether or not we've improved

 

[navidson]

Well we've just been battered 3-0 by United...

But I don't think two matches can define whether or not we've improved

I think what bothers me more is that we already seem resigned to a crushing defeat - Whereas 2 years ago, Martinez in his first season (with what I would consider to be a weaker team) engineered a superb performance against an Arsenal side 5 points clear at the top of the table.

Everything seemed possible at that point - turned out it wasn't to be.

 

[mawders]

Unfortunately, I think this will be a straightforward win for Arsenal.

Then we can move on and focus on games that are more winnable

 

[Jeff Jones]

the overwhelming opinion of GOT seems to continually be to play Kev and Del together for their superior attacking prowess (in the hope at least one will be having their 1 in 3 week performance when they are actually unplayable).

Do you think both of these players do enough when we don't have the ball in regards high pressing and tracking back? Something that Naismith, Kone and Lennon do very well?

You lessen your chance of scoring with less outwardly attacking players on the pitch, but you have to have possession and pressure in the right areas to increase the odds of them creating chances in the first place. Can we afford to play both at the same time?

That's a fair point you make, but isn't it worth the gamble in a match like this?

If a combination of Del, Kev, Barkley and Lukaku all fired together, surely there's a good chance that the sheer force of the
attacking momentum would be worth the risk in a game where we're not likely to succeed by expecting forward flare to support defence.

 

[CahillsCornerFlag]

That's a fair point you make, but isn't it worth the gamble in a match like this?

If a combination of Del, Kev, Barkley and Lukaku all fired together, surely there's a good chance that the sheer force of the
attacking momentum would be worth the risk in a game where we're not likely to succeed by expecting forward flare to support defence.

Agreed. I'd rather us go for the jugular on the counter and really give them something to worry about. Playing Naismith out wide negates that completely, and I'd rather lose with Kev and Del on the wings than meekly limp to a 2-0 where we never really looked like scoring.

 

[matty1878]

Not beaten these away in nearly 20 years
Wow. They are bang in form score for fun and have just best Bayern. If they score early could be a cricket score ! Not watching this and scrapping it of as a loss.

 

[SpurtingLesbian]

That's a fair point you make, but isn't it worth the gamble in a match like this?

If a combination of Del, Kev, Barkley and Lukaku all fired together, surely there's a good chance that the sheer force of the
attacking momentum would be worth the risk in a game where we're not likely to succeed by expecting forward flare to support defence.

yeah, but when it doesn't work we don't stand a chance in the Midfield and Bobby (+ Barry and McCarthy) will get ripped to shreds because of it.

I think he's also trying to protect Galloway and Browning by putting hard workers in front of them which is fair enough, with Coleman back now ( and getting up to full match fitness in the next couple of weeks) and the soon-to-return Baines it shouldn't be so important, but at the moment he feels he's got to stop people overloading Galloway (which is exactly what we'd try to do if we were the opposition)

I think he will only try Del AND Kev when Baines is back, it's probably safer that way. With Coleman back however there is no real reason not to at least give Del a run out to see if he's going to do something.

 

[Tubey]

This is a write off game basically. They should win by a few, but the start of the season has been better than expected so there is less pressure on getting something than we would have thought in August.

The games after this one are the important ones. A point here would be an unexpected bonus.