Match Review : LCFC vs Arsenal

By Alameen KH

There were tears and cheers as we faced Leicester in our second match. If the signing of Petr Cech was supposedly worth an extra 10-15 points in the last season, then it might be worth applying the equivalent logic to the other end of the pitch. That might be harsh on Alexis ,but deploying him in an unfavourable position in the centre proved the fact that arsenal need a savvier presence infront of the goal.

Match overview

The first-half was a strange one. While Arsenal kept knocking at LCFC’s goal, the champions mainly stuttered in the first 45 minutes. Arsenal arguably created the two best chances in that period. One, a sublime solo effort by Ox and another, a clear miss by Walcott.

The second half was more instinctive after the introduction of Ozil and Wilshere into the side. Though Wilshere and Ozil had created a couple of one-two build up moves, they failed to materialize into a much needed goal. Ox and Bellerin had tried some long shots in the match which Schmeichel barely managed to keep out.

In all, the disappointing result summed up the frustration that the Arsenal fans felt and that which seeped on the pitch with chants post the match, as the Gunners primarily laboured to get through Leicester’s defences.

It’s worth giving some credit to Leicester because, in the first-half in particular, they made it really difficult for Arsenal to play, blocking the centre and forcing the opposition to pass through the wings where Walcott and Monreal made utterly waste crosses. . The Gunners rose to the bait, not especially because they were suckered into it but because this is how they play out anyway, luring the opponents to press them in an attempt to open up the middle of the pitch.

On the whole, Leicester used a narrow 4-4-2 shape, with Vardy, Mahrez, Okazaki and later Musa giving width with their quick feet prowling through the wings.

Arsenal used their traditional 4-2-3-1 with Xhaka and Coquelin sitting at deep mid. What was curious is how Mendy outplayed Xhaka in the first half. Which may be attributed to the deteriorated consequences of playing a Xhaka and Coqueline engine with not so efficient Cazorla up front.

Xhaka needs a parter who can pass and Coquelin needs a partner who can go up and do dribbles like Ramsey,Cazorla or Wilshere.

Though there are a lot of pressing concern in this team , tactically arsenal need to answer the million dollar question once again  that  – which would be the best midfield patnership at the deep mid (Please keep in mind that this shall also be our AKSC poll of the month this August).

Whether it elneny-xhak,xhaka-caz, coq-caz, caz-elneny  xhaka- ramsey or xhaka-wilshere we want to answer that question as soon as possible since wenger makes all his tactics based on the center mid patnership.

In the last season when coq-zorla partnership played, we played  a fast pressing style with ramsey cutting inside and bellerin going out wide and during ramsey-elneny we played a type of a possession football with fast moving  mobile forwards in Welbeck and Sanchez.

So what i think is that our game tactic is based on the centre mid patnership but the coq-xhaka combination against Leicester and coq-elneny against liverpool are not the long term solution but rather a short term patchwork in our injury hit current squad.

May be cazorla -xhaka with ozil upfront up would be a better solution to the midfield but to work it we need a mobile forward with sanchez cutting inside with little creativity from wings. Coming to the last match with playing xhaka-coq in the mid with sanchez upfront and cazorla as attacking mid we lost our creativity from wing and centre in a one stretch since it forced sanchez and cazorla to unfavourable positions and by playing walcott,Ox in the wings Arsenal turned into a one dimensional attacking side missing that key pass in the final third.

In the second-half, after the introduction of Ozil and Wilshere,  Arsenal started attacking with a renewed urgency and it was the late running of Ozil in particular that nearly forced the breakthrough on more than a few occasions. As he mentioned in an interview with Henry Winter for the Times  last  season, Arsenal mix the play better and when he sees space, he will run into it. As such, he can almost be a second-striker at times like in the last season. His drive set the tone for Arsenal to try and find the goal, while his deliveries always seemed to become dead in the final third. During last match we had a couple of moments where though we had a clear cut chance with the combination of pass between ozil and wilshere but seemingly dead due to the lack of urgency in the final third.

Still, after Walcott celebrated his 10th year at the club, it’s amazing how he’s failed to add much subtlety or variation to his finishing. He’s made a “brand” out of his movement, as Wenger says, thus he still his value in the side as a puller of defences,  although pressure then falls on others to pick up the slack if he doesn’t.
That  goalscorer in the side should be Ox, who played as a sole attacker in the last game. The freedom suits Ox because he’s the one that can be the most devastating and he’s key to making Arsenal play.

Overwhelmingly, after a slow start, all the play was coming down the left with Ox, bar the odd cross from the right. Bellerin stayed back while walcott and cazorla fired the ammunition but in the end, it was to no avail.
Leicester hold on.

#StrongerTogether

Arsenal fans across the state tuned in to watch their favourite team face the champions last Saturday and AKSC conducted official screening events in Thrissur and Kochi.