Miguelito

I ended up catching the game and brilliant stamina shown today. Some of the runs he made at the end of the game were incredible. Starting to warm up more to him as a wingback, it's where he played today. I think his decision making is excellent and his final ball/passes in the final third are good too. Needs to work on his finishing though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My biggest critique of him is that he gives the ball away in dangerous situations way too often. You want him as far away from your own goal as possible. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Would be a really good game to watch to see the Ox there and sanchez in a similar formation to ours. I'll have to catch it later

Anybody watching the arsenal vs Middlesbrough game? I can't watch it but according to the PL app, it seems arsenal are playing 3 in the back, possibly with Monreal and the Ox as wingbacks. Was wondering if this is true or if they just have the formation wrong? And how does the Ox look as a wingback if he is there?

the following is about Cahill....I definitely disagree with that. I think that he often just has a lot of time and space when he gets the ball. He always makes the simple pass either to a center mid or to Luiz or to Alonso on the left. That's about it. But when he doesn't have that space to dribble the ball into or the time to make simplest of passes, he greatly struggles. If he is under any type of pressure he often boots it away, he definitely isn't calm in those situations. There are times and every single game where he should be keeping the ball, but is not comfortable enough to do so. There's also times where he needs to make a more advancing pass, but he only makes the simple short pass because that is what he's comfortable with and is able to do. He really limits us in possession

Exactly, we can't just be happy with the status quo. It's the same with how Cahill has been performing pretty well recently, but he has massive limitations. Cahill is very poor in possession and is overly passive in defending (among other things). Alonso is very slow and gets skinned often around the edge. He also is sometimes a little predictable. That is not taking away from the great things he brings to the team, because he is vital part at the moment. Like you said, if we are to take the next step as a team, we have to improve.

I love him as a player. He has so much passion too. There's been a few times he's gotten really frustrated at the lack of effort from his fellow Arsenal players. He wants to win. I see more as a CM though. I think that's his best position. But I am not sure if he would fit in the best in our current formation there. I just think he could be limited at RWB, although I think he could be good there. What are your thoughts about him as a CM? And do you think he would be too limited as a RWB?

Agree with you and@manpe. He takes the ball and dribbles forward with it quite often. That automatically makes the defending team adjust their position. It opens up more space than is easily seen. He's brilliant at taking it forward in to the space and finding the right pass. And more often than not, it's the right pass. It creates a little overload on that right side, and is especially important when we are attacking with numbers.

Agreed. I really like him as a player. Versatile, but I think CM is his best position. You can tell he's been getting so frustrated with the team. There's been a few games he has been working so hard near the end and nobody else is trying to press and win the ball. Can't blame him for wanting to leave. Mentality.

Flat-track bullying and grinding out results against top teams really is the best formula to win the league.

I think you have to be a certain age to be able to do that. I want to say the rule is you have to be like 23 or 25. I could be wrong though

Yea I was upset about Cahill not coming too. He should have, especially after assessing him and finding "not really good" at halftime. I get upset so often in sports when head injuries happen and they continue playing. It's not worth that. Get properly checked out, and if there's hints of a concussion, get out of the game right then. Concussions have terrible long term effects and they are compounded when people continue to play right after it.

I actually think he is pretty poor at shooting. Obviously scored two goals and had nice volley yesterday, but he's been very poor at shooting this season.

My favorite thing about him might be his body language. He runs, walks, etc around the pitch like he OWNS it. Just so confident. I'm very much with@OhForAGreavsie in the camp that he should be starting over matic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think the rule is that you cannot play for 3 separate clubs in a single season. I want to say that's UEFA (or something similar) rules.

Has anyone noticed how when the ball is coming to him, he is constantly back pedaling? If the pass is basically to his feet, he backpedals while looking for somewhere to pass it. It usually takes 2 extra seconds for him to actually touch the ball. It slows down the play so much and gives time for the defense to get set. It also allows someone to close him down. It just disrupts the flow. I don't know if he does it because he isn't aware of his options beforehand (if so, he needs to change that) or what. But he needs to take passes in stride quickly, taking the ball towards the way he's going to pass instead of backing off when it comes to him. It's so frustrating. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He's known to be pretty reliable with Chelsea things. He did deny that Luiz would be returning for a whole day, then the next morning said something like "well....I was wrong, he is returning to Chelsea". Clearly on that one his source(s) were just behind on getting the news. This is unbelievable if we get that much.

I was actually a bit upset with Conte when I saw Fabregas was starting and not Chalobah. Thought it was kind of a kick in the face since Chalobah has been ahead of him in the pecking order all season (obviously injuries had to do with that). Glad it worked out good, but I hope Chalobah doesn't take it the wrong way. He excites me so much. Passion, quickness, drive, quality on the ball, ambitious passing. Love the guy.

I know that it should have been already well known, but I am glad Tottenham showed the weakness of playing out of the back under high pressure. I think in doing that, Conte will be working in overdrive this week with the team on it. I am hoping during that, our players start to be more comfortable with passing patterns from there. Where to pass, where to open up, where to move after we pass to create space. Do I think these particular players will ever be great at it? No. But practicing the patterns will improve it. Tottenham showing that weakness so obviously I think will force Conte's hand to work on it more.

True, but the game is played 90% on the ground, especially now-a-days. Their physicality more than makes up for it. My dad tried to convince me that the reason Kante isn't the the best CM in the league is because he's short. That's never a reason to not be considered the best at position such as cm.

@Jim any update on Tapatalk? I used it for at least 90% of my browsing here

My stream died. Anybody got one?

For me, the most important he has done for us is that he has us playing well (and dominating at times), without Hazard being unreal. By that I mean there have been many times in the past 2-3 years where we played really good stuff, but it almost always coincided with Eden being unplayable on that day. And then the next game, if Eden didn't play as well, we didn't play as well as a team. It seemed to rely way to heavily on his (or a couple others) performances. Now we aren't just playing well individually, but as a team. One big difference I notice is that you can tell he has instructed us to play much quicker. There's been a large improvement in the number of first time passes and one or two touch then pass. We look to go out wide very early and switch sides of the field much quicker than before. This in turn stretches the field and opens up spaces for attacks. It's clear that this is growing process in this regard. You can tell we are still getting used to doing this and some struggle with the quick passing (matic particularly). This will take at least a season to really be engraved in their natural play. It seems we aren't as reliant on individual brilliance or a player having to take over a game for us to dominate. We actually look like we have a bit of a game plan attacking-wise. I know it's still early days and we have really struggled against bigger teams, but long may this improvement continue.

He's just brilliant. I thought Matic did pretty well today, but imagine an energetic, quick, technical player next to him. What a midfield we could then have.