POLL - Preferred central midfield without Santi

The sad thing is we, as Arsenal, should be expecting to be overrun in the midfield about 5 times a season max. Preferably in away fixtures in the latter stages of the CL.

Would have been nice to see Xhaka play a little more with Caz. Really build up the young mans confidence playing with a like minded mentor in the CM. Unfortunately Wenger’s an awkward cunt and reaps what he sows. The budget fixes of Coq/Elneny/Rambo will always take precedent over his so called ‘philosophy.’

Coquelin and Xhaka went some way to proving they can function well together. When Coquelin applied pressure further up, Xhaka seemed to cover him well. Coquelin did similar for Xhaka while he was picking out those pinpoint passes. It certainly looks the “safest” of all the options. The others are very risky in comparison (even if say Xhaka-Ramsey can work out).

It’s just two games against Spurs at home and a dysfunctional side away though. We need to see a lot more of it. Good stuff so far though.

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Yeah based on todays game I would just continue with it to be honest, it helped that the Hammers were utter garbage but they did pretty well.

I don’t mind a Xhaka-Coquelin pivot at all. But because our wingers are bad there’s a certain lack of creativity obviously. We really need to add a player in the mold of Pires or Hleb.

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So chaps. What do we reckon on Ramsey and Xhaka?

Ramsey does tend to roam a looooong way from the central areas, so Xhaka has a lot of work to get through (needs helping from the wide forwards). I still like Xhaka/Coquelin the most unless Ramsey sorts his tictactical discipline out a bit more

At least Wenger seems to have sorted out the Xhaka part lol. Not sure it really matters too much between the other three. All pretty rough.

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For me in a two man midfield we should play one defensive mid and one central play maker for the most part.

I’d sort them in that aspect from left to right as: Coq - Elneny - Xhaka - Cazorla. I would prefer it if we pick the one furthest to the left and right out of the ones who are fit whenever we play a strong team. If we’re want to secure a lead we can move to the left on the scale, if we’re chasing a goal we move to the right, with subs.

Wenger trains most players in various positions so I expect them to rotate a bit based on who needs rest/match fitness etc. Ramsey I think works best in a 3+ man midfield, for now he plays wide in AM and I’ve never been convinced of his job there. Maybe he can train more for it or for one of the two midfield roles, or something has to give or he’ll be a squad filler. He has that +1 for the home grown quota.