Would prefer ESR false 9 and Martinelli on the left.
I’m intrigued(and scared) to see what Arteta does if Laca is unavailable for some reason.
I assure you, Mikel is working very hard behind the scenes to find something that he can have a falling out over with LacaThreat, before banishing him from the first team.
That could work too.
They could interchange positons ideally, naturally they like to drift all across the dront line… Potentially could look very good.
I honestly thought the discussion here was sparked by what Mikel said about him being able to play as a striker. That’s why I suggested he plays as a false 9 with Martinelli on the left. 
ESR has a lot of learning to do off the ball in order for me to be convinced about him as a 9. His off ball quality is his biggest weakness alongside his fitness.
When he has the ball he is direct and I love that, he has some silky touches and good technical proficiency.
I do agree that his future probably lies somewhere closer to the goal in a central capacity.
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He is never a 9. Does anyone remember what happened in the Villarreal game?
God, how dumb can this club and manager get.
Play ramsdale as 9. Why not? Might as well. Being a GK, he’ll know all the secrets on how to beat GKs. Makes sense 
ESR will do well as a no. 9 with all those crosses
I remember some lunatic saying he’d be better than Cesc.
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I’m not sure I’d use his one shot at being a false 9 last year as an indication that he’d never be good there.
What’s clear is he isn’t ready for that role yet but I don’t think he has the quality to impact the game the way you might want him to from deeper. So it’s sensible to get him as close to goal as possible where his best assets (his goalscoring and dribbling) can be utilised appropriately.
Time will tell what his best position is but I’m already certain he shouldn’t be used out wide and that he needs to be playing as close to goal as possible.
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It doesn’t matter where he starts. He gets a lot of tactical freedom anyway.
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I like him in his current “False” wide position, he’s not limited to being a touchline winger at all. It gives him plenty of opportunity to get into the box relatively unmarked and to get beyond Lacazette centrally and usually the most space on the football pitch is in behind the full back which he is pretty good at getting in to.
I think playing him centrally there is far more reliance on him to be busy on the ball and start bringing the attack together which right now im not sure suits him.
ESR is definitely more of a goalscoring #10 rather than a creative #10. A lot of what he does when playing centrally is acting like a pivot to play off of. I can see certainly see why Arteta would be willing to try him there again.
The other issue is the fact that we’re unable to field Martinelli, ESR, Odegaard and Saka, our 4 best attackers. One of them has to miss out atm.
———————-
I made the below post when he hadn’t scored a single league goal for us despite playing 10 times. I’ll take a small victory lap 
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I get the logic behind it but, to echo @Flexo , I see him as a goalscoring #10 more than anything else which would effectively leave the onus for creativity on the midfield and the wide men. I’m not sure I like ESR as a creative threat, I’m like you in that I don’t think he has the right skill set to bring the attacks together right now (if ever).
Will be interesting to see where he ends up for sure.
Why do people get obsessed on positioning of young players.
Odegaard, Saka,ESR will all develop better playing and trying different roles in development.
It’s a learning process and actually quality coaching.
Pep Klopp do this all the time with their players. Top teams forever and a day have done this for years and best players in the world adapt and evolve.
How many legends do you need as examples. Try Messi and Ronaldo and work back to Beckenbauer and Cruyff.
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We need to patch Laca
Saka Ode ESR
Martinelli
Give this a run
Smith Rowe is the best finisher out of the wide players. Plus he gets More space and effective there For Me, then 10 or at false 9 or whatever.no one will argue, he’s our best chance at goal, does a good job attacking out wide and keeps the ball well which is what we need against Wolves.
We should get that guy that scored a hat trick for Barca at the weekend.
He looks really good.
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Get over it 
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Sure, when Arsenal get over the 5th spot in the PL
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when did that prick help us to anything near an CL spot? Yet your fawning over him, the guy wasnt playing for us so sod him.
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