Martinelli wasn't on the bench v Lens

comment by Castor Troy (U8700)
posted 15 minutes ago
Martinelli wasn't on the bench v Lens
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True. My mistake on that!!!

Martinelli won't start.
Rice definitely should not be moved from the role he has been excellent in to a role where the weaker part of his game will be exposed. Not sure the obsession with playing him out of position comes from. If you are going to force Partey in to the detriment of Rice then you can't play Zinchenko and go for a more orthodox LB - who we loaned to Sociedad.Tomi could come in I guess, but it would be a very defensive line up.

You lot expecting Raya to be dropped? I know he messed up midweek but surely that’s really bad for his confidence?

comment by Striketeam7 - There used to be a football club over there (U18109)
posted 31 minutes ago
You lot expecting Raya to be dropped? I know he messed up midweek but surely that’s really bad for his confidence?
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It was hardly a mistake

comment by Castor Troy (U8700)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Striketeam7 - There used to be a football club over there (U18109)
posted 31 minutes ago
You lot expecting Raya to be dropped? I know he messed up midweek but surely that’s really bad for his confidence?
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It was hardly a mistake
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True, even more baffling then why you want Raya dropped?

I expect

-------Raya-------
--White--Saliba--Gabriel
------------Rice--------Zinchenko
Saka--Ode---Havertz--Jesus
------------Nketiah------

If Saka is out the Trossard comes in.

City don't have Rodri so I expect us to go full press. But I don't see Eddie starting if Saka is fit.

We don't know how Rice might fair further forward with Partey then at DM, could be a master stroke could, fail badly. Not many would've predicted how much better we and Xhaka got with him pushed right up in the midfield.

All that said, unless we end up having a string of poor results it's probably not worth trying but there's no good reason not to give it a go if we do need to shake things up.

Well I would rather play with two 6s v City

comment by Two Balls, One Saka (U19684)
posted 41 minutes ago
We don't know how Rice might fair further forward with Partey then at DM, could be a master stroke could, fail badly. Not many would've predicted how much better we and Xhaka got with him pushed right up in the midfield.

All that said, unless we end up having a string of poor results it's probably not worth trying but there's no good reason not to give it a go if we do need to shake things up.
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Tbf Xhaka played further forward before he joined us, and for Switzerland. Playing him at DM or deep was the experiment that went of for years and failed.

Bringing in ramsdale would be a bizarre selection.

People need to wake up and realise Raya is arteta's no 1 now. It hasn't been the best of starts for him, but the manager wants to use the goalkeeper as an outfield player in possession, and Raya is more suited and more confident to pull it off.

I suggest Rice in the LCM role because I think he can still do what he does best WITH the added assurance of another great DM behind him. The other part is that Rice can actually make late runs into the box and can score goals (based on limited viewing of West Ham). That is exactly what we need in that role.

Pace, energy, tackling, strength - no other player has all that.

I am worried if we miss pace on the wings though. If Saka and Martinelli are both out, I'd even throw in Nelson for pace on the wings.

Partey is a bit sloppy on the ball when he's in form, there's no telling how he'll perform after a month out. I personally think this game is too big just to drop him in after a week's training.

No one was spending £100m on Rice as an attacking midfielder. Man City wanted him for a CB/DM role.

If we want completely dominated midfield, we can play two inverted midfielder full backs.

Partey -- Saliba -- Gabriel -- Zinny

It's very risky introducing that in a game against city. Rice would have to drop deeper into the CB line to accommodate it.

He does that anyway.

Saliba and Gabriel split wide right/left and Rice drops into the backline when we have possession.

That's how we conceded against Lens. Raya had a very poor pass out, and we could not set till it was too late.

In theory, Partey is faster than White or Tomi to get back.

Yes, but only on the odd occasion to fill in. Arteta likes saliba to be the Central CB. Also you're asking partey to defend doku while also helping to control the midfield after he's only just come back from injury.

I like the idea, and would like to see if it works but I think it's just too much change for one game against the champions.

Not on the odd occasion. It's our style. When we have possession. We play 3 CBs:

Saliba ----------------- Gabriel
---------- Rice --------------
White------------- Zinny --------