Xhaka

"Nah. Thats the issue with 3 at the back. You can assume danger when none exists. Mertesacker had Kos on his right and Monreal on his left behind him."
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Ummm... nope - the only reason Monreal has time to get back is because Mertesacker delays and stops the pass to Vlasic - it's quite clear on the video.

comment by ItsAboutTheBackFour (U9916)
posted 12 minutes ago
"Nah. Thats the issue with 3 at the back. You can assume danger when none exists. Mertesacker had Kos on his right and Monreal on his left behind him."
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Ummm... nope - the only reason Monreal has time to get back is because Mertesacker delays and stops the pass to Vlasic - it's quite clear on the video.

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(even if I accept your scenario and I don't)

So you tell me where the danger was? Was it abt worrying about a through ball to a player attacking from wide who may have been offside anyway. or was it center of the goal against a player who has some of the highest statistics in premier league history for goals from shooting at the edge of the box?

(will be back l8r)

Mertesacker covered one side of the goal and Vlasic at the same time, that's as good as he could do in the circumstances, The position for Mertesacker was impossible, we had too many players in advanced positions, ridiculously it was four against three in their favour in our last 25 yards and specifically two against one regarding Mertesacker.
It's not really just the lack of defensive awareness by Xhaka (which is really low), it's the whole team.

BTW, Vlasic was asking Rooney for the ball before Mertesacker reacted to the threat and he wasn't within YARDS of being offside, now you're just getting silly because I'm disagreeing with you...

Mert was in a difficult position so I don't really blame him, but I think he has to deal with the most obvious threat which is Rooney having a clear shot on goal from 20ish yards. If Rooney plays a nice pass and matey-boy scores then too bad (and Monreal was there, plus Vlasic isn't exactly a deadly goalscorer), but I still think that would have been harder to execute than scoring from the position Rooney was in (and not just saying that in hindsight cos he scored it).

comment by ItsAboutTheBackFour (U9916)
posted 34 minutes ago
BTW, Vlasic was asking Rooney for the ball before Mertesacker reacted to the threat and he wasn't within YARDS of being offside, now you're just getting silly because I'm disagreeing with you...
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No I am not. I telling you how it can be confusing for a CB if he is playing in a 3 compared to playing in a two when it is far clearer to judge where the threat is. This is my point about being drilled continuously in that formation like Conte does and I am convinced Wenger does not. Mertesacker has to go to Rooney in that position and trust his team mates to cover behind him. He cannot do two jobs and end up doing nothing like he did against Rooney.

Mertesacker has played his entire career in a two CB formation. To be asked to adapt the way he has been when he is also dealing with losing his physical attributes because of age is stupid. All our defenders are in a similar situation as is our midfield.

Wenger underestimates the job Conte has done.

comment by Gunnerthru (U6675)
posted 7 hours, 35 minutes ago
comment by 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 (U18355)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by citrenoogeht (U13932)
posted 3 minutes ago
OP is easily triggered. He posted this article 15 minutes into the game slagging off Xhaka and stating that Lacazette and Ramsey should have scored. Well if he had waited until the end of the game he would have noted that Lacazette and Ramsey scored and Xhaka got and assist! SMH
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So what? Doesn’t change that we are wasteful in front of goal and Xhaka gifts our opponents 1 goal a game on average.
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Xhaka raised his game 100% after his mistake. Why slate players off but when they do something good after no mention at all. Same with Giroud for so long. Sick of it.
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Oh my god what a load of BS

Why should it take a costly error for somebody to raise his game? And tell me why he hasn’t raised his game for all the other costly errors he has made this season?

"He cannot do two jobs and end up doing nothing like he did against Rooney."
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I don't accept your premise - so we'll have to agree to disagree on this.

With regard to going to a back 3 I suspect that you are right, Wenger probably doesn't drill them on this - although defensively he doesn't seem to drill them on almost anything...

Xhaka did look very poor all game to me. Just a very sloppy player who plays in a position that it's crucial not to give the ball away.