Cesc Fabregas showed last night within minutes, why he is so vital to Arsenal. His pass to Theo Walcott was Xavi like in it’s execution, and Theo hit the post. The ability not only to see a pass, but usually execute it to with balance and perfection are Cesc’s strengths. Any sensible Gooner will agree with me, that Fabs should be rested for the Carling Cup final, and allowed to heal for the Barcelona game in the Nou Camp. We do have options that if the players are willing to work hard, which will enable the impact of his possible absence to be less crucial at Wembley.
Before coming to that, I would like to congratulate our team in winning ugly last night, with all the pressures that the Stoke team gave us. They had a plan, which was to try and only concede one goal, and save their efforts for the last ten minutes to try and “nick” a point. In fact it almost succeeded as the Referee did his utmost to allow Stoke to complete attacking movements even though the time had exceeded the five minutes allocation. This is one big argument for timekeeping to be taken away from Referees. He should not have waited for a particular phase of play to be completed, he has a duty to keep time, not decide when in the course of play it seems right to blow the whistle. He should also have taken action against Delap for timewasting. When are the Premier League going to wake up to the clear abuse that his cleaning of the ball and the extra time required imposes on the opposing teams.
If the Goalkeepers were to take as much time with every goal kick, then they would soon receive a yellow card. I am firmly of the view that Delap is now gaining an unfair advantage by this tactic. There is no rule that states the ball must be cleaned in fact the misconduct section of the football regulations allow referees to give yellow cards to players when gamesmanship is used to gain an unfair advantage for the following…
“Players who feign injury, kick the ball away, obstruct the taking of a quick free kick by an opposing player, or delay the taking of their own free kicks or throw ins.”
So less ball wiping, or give him a yellow card, because to take as much time as he does,effectively prevents the other team regaining possession of the ball, and with the subsequent time added on at the end increase the chances of more “set piece” throws to be used in the closing minutes. Stoke can’t play decent football, and their negative tactics and gamesmanship is a disgrace, They are the new “Bolton” so I hope that soon they will be relegated to the Championship where they belong.
Coming back to the dilemma facing our midfield if Fabregas is rested for the Carling Cup final as he should be with Barcelona in mind, then the return of Aaron Ramsey is a possible option. It seems more likely that he will be put at least on the bench as later reinforcements. In Cesc’s absence I would argue that Arsene Wenger should drop Samir Nasri back centrally as playmaker thus getting him to work with Andrey Arshavin. Arshavin’s return to form is the key to success on Sunday.
Song will have to ordered to drop deeper into a more formal holding role and not make the forays forward, it is Jack Wilshere who we should allow to have a free role, as he has demonstrated that he too can distribute the ball well. If this is the strongest formation then Robin van Persie’s fitness will decide the final midfield player. The current formation of Jack Wilshere, Song, Nasri and Arshavin lacks pace on the flanks if Nasri plays the midfield orchestrator. This is why the loss of Theo Walcott is so annoying, Theo has the effect of pushing back the opposing back four as they fear his pace. The midfield will become more congested with his absence. Add Robin van Persie and his tendency to drop deep again reduces our width.
This is why I am going to suggest that Emmanuel Eboue will prove useful wide out on the right side of midfield. Eboue can when focused, go beyond the last player and his crossing ability is superior to Sagna’s. Eboue is also keen to attack the defence and has the odd trick that would prove valuable. Having Sagna and Eboue both on the field would also increase the defensive formation when we lose possession. If Eboue is not favoured in order to provide width, then it is probable that Nik Bendtner will start out wide right. This would also give us an additional aerial presence.
Are there other formations? Well this depends on whether Diaby is close to returning to fitness, he could provide an option along side Nasri now that he has served his suspension . Rosicky is going through a difficult time at the moment and seems unable to keep possession of the ball, or make decent completions. He cannot play out wide and when put there he drifts in constantly, causing an imbalance.
So my final team formation for Sunday would be the following
Szczesny,
Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy,
Eboue, Song, Wilshere, Arshavin
Nasri,
van Persie
What do you think?
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