enger is too tied to this formation. I really dislike Campbell out on the right wing and Oxlade-Chamberlain glued out on the left wing. If you don't have the players you need to play your main formation, change that darn formation!
I'd love to see Arsenal play 2 up front today with Joel Campbell alongside Oliver Giroud.
I've long wanted to see Giroud and Walcott paired up together up front. I think they'd be very good together. The pace of Walcott combined with the target man play and link up of Giroud. Or Alexis Sanchez who I think would thrive with that extra attacking freedom up front alongside Giroud. I thought Sanchez had his best moments in the center last season rather than being pushed out wide by Ozil as he was in the 2nd half of last season and early this season.
What do you think about playing the Ox inside? I like him there with Alexis and Walcott down the wings. I also don't see why Giroud and Welbeck cannot form a decent partnership up front.
I am not a fan of Oxlade-Chamberlain. He started very well this season and he may win me over if he maintains this form but I haven't been convinced by him in the past. Occasional great performance mixed with a lot of mediocrity. I thought Ox was out of his depth at Arsenal. That he belonged at a mid-table club. That that was his level.
I am still not entirely convinced that he is skillful enough to be a winger or an attacking midfielder at a title-contender like Arsenal. That he lacks the trickery and vision to unlock defenses regularly at the highest levels. That he is too reliant on his speed and athleticism and while that is good enough against most of the lower and mid-placed Premier League teams ... it is not enough against the best teams of the Premier League or Europe.
I don't like Ox as a central attacking midfielder. I don't think he has the judgement for it. How to organize and manipulate attacking movements. I think he'd do fine as a counter attacking attacking midfielder at a lesser club. Where he could use his pace to good effect. But not in a possession based team like Arsenal where more fantasia is required.
A year ago, I would have said that his best position was as a box-to-box midfielder. I think he is more of an all-rounder than a skillful attacking threat. So I like the box-to-box position for him because it is a great place for him to use his athleticism, strength and stamina along with his well-rounded skill on the ball to strong effect.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has said that he was playing through injuries for the last 2 seasons and that he is finally healthy now ... so maybe his performances this season are his true level and I have been wrong about him in the past. I hope so. It would be nice to see Arsenal get some quality wide play this season. So frustrating when they get obsessed with short passes around the edge of the box against packed defenses and ignore the rest of the width of the pitch.
