Arsenal Debate: Is Arteta, Cazorla and Wilshere our best midfield trio for Stoke?
Arsene Wenger will be having the sort of headaches he likes before today’s game against Stoke but he surely won’t be complaining! Thanks to Arsenal’s excellently reduced injury list Wenger will have Abou Diaby, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Thomas Rosicky to choose from for the three players to hold the midfield this afternoon.
And there is even a chance of Francis Coquelin joining the list for selection, but Wenger didn’t sound too hopeful when he said: “Arteta is back in the squad. He has a final test this morning. Coquelin is not far from returning at all, but it would be a gamble to take him. If not able for tomorrow, he will be for the next game.”
I honestly don’t think that Coquelin would play even if he is fully fit. So who should Wenger be picking out of that star-studded list?
On early season form Diaby would have been the first name on the team sheet, and although he was left on the bench against Liverpool perhaps Wenger was saving him for this bigger, more physical game?
Jack Wilshere is definitely one of the most promising youngsters in England right now, but maybe he should be due a rest for this one with so many other options available? His agression is surely going to be played upon by Stoke and he could end up with one card at best I reckon, but I still think that Wenger should keep him on the pitch as long as possible!
Rosicky was excellent against Brighton, but again he may not be totally back to full fitness and perhaps Wenger will save him to use as an impact sub if neccessary.
Ramsey is still Wenger’s blue-eyed boy, and a few better performances recently has softened the ire of Arsenal fans lately, but surely he is not in the top three of this list, or will Wenger believe he is?
Mikel Arteta is back, and he was our most influential midfielder last season, but will Wenger throw him back in for the whole 90 minutes or give him more time to get fully fit? I am hoping that Wenger thinks he is ready to return.
So for me, I think Wilshere, Cazorla and Arteta should start. What do you think?
Diaby wilshere cazorla
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
59 
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It should be ramsey wilshere and cazorla it will be quite harsh on ramsey if he was dropped he has been playing soo well
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Arteta Wilshere Cazorla
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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Diaby cazorla wilshere
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
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The trio of Wilshere, Cazola and Arteta was not working earlier on in the season… perhaps now that Wilshere is back to full fitness it will be different. On that note Diaby and Arteta should anchor the mildfield with Cazorla at the tip. Reasoning: it will slow the game down slightly but more so mean Arsenal can control a lot more possession and minimize the pressure on a defence that doesn’t seem to wake up till half time and also contains a debutante.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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I agree arteta, JW10 &santi COYG arsenal 2 stoke 0
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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start Ramsey, Jack, Santi then at half time bring on Diaby for Ramsey and watch him slice through strokes team with his dribbling and physical pro-ess
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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could use jack, arteta and diaby. Give Santi a rest against the savages and use him as impact sub
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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diaby arteta and wilshere.. i totally agree with Jon.. cazorla needs a breather.. he is totally out of form and if he plays in the international friendly we could God forbid risk losing him to injury.. plus we need some muscle in the midfield.. jenkinson in place of sagna and koscielny in for vermaelen
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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I wouldnt play injury prone players against stoke at this time of the season. I think we should play Ramsey
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AW is bound to find a place for Ramsey, DM he is not as since Shawcroft did him his tackling ability has dissapeared, he’s also too slow and is easily dispossessed when and then often falls down looking for a foul,his backtracking is only slightly worse than our present right back, no real protection to the back four.
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Diaby cazorla wilshere
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start with diaby, arteta and cazorla
as mentioned stoke will play to wilshere’s aggression and will also target him physically, he will be needing a rest and now seems a good time
we can bring on wilshere towards the end if we need a goal or two, rosicky aswell
and ramsey is there as an option if we are winning, he can play a holding role well and can slow the pace of the game to protect a lead
COYG!
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earlier this season our only counter against crouch was diaby. i reckon diaby, wilshere, carzorla. and i would really love to see wilshere play that advanced midfield position more often, he is more useful to us there as he creates more chances and gets us free kicks. besides santi hasn’t been at his best for a while now.
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Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
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There is no doubting all 3 mentioned are excellent footballers but a fully fit Diaby has to be in there for muscle and drive.
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Arteta,diaby and wilshire ,carzola as a sub 65 mins
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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arteta ramsey wilshere, cazorla.instead of walcot, i believe wlacott wont be influential in this game, arteta can go more forward having ramsey near him…
2nd half walcott can be killing with his fresh speed with ox, while they are tired, and if we are winning, they could be killing on the counter.
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If Arsenal can get Etienne Capoue in the Summer it would be a great buy. Diaby continues to
get injured as soon he hits a run of form and leaves our defence far too
open. Mikel Arteta is more of a CM rather than CDM and I feel that although he adds to attack, our defence continues to suffer.
Capoue is definitely a defensive minded midfielder and he would definitely be welcomed by the Arsenal midfield.
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4 
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1st half arteta n 2nd half diaby santi n jack as AMs
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–kolscielny—-vermaeln—-monreal
————diaby——–arteta———–
Cazorla——wilshere——-podolski
——-walcott————giroud——
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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No…We need Diaby’s height and strength in their, to help combat that part of the stock team.
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Wenger should convert Jenkinson into a CB / RB
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Gibbs could struggle to win his place back, with Arsenal scouts rating Monreal as one of the top five left backs in world football.
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@dan.yap i agree he aint that good
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How abt a 5-3-2.
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Arteta, diaby, Wilshire. Cazorla could do with a rest, add some spark in the last 30 min for diaby
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–kolscielny—-vermaeln—-monreal
————diaby——–wilshere———–
Cazorla————arteta—–podolski
——–walcott————giroud——
i really want to see arteta in a more attacking role thats where hes best, just like last year
COYG!!
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I think wenger should let Arteta,Diaby and wilshere start.
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No way,leave Arteta on the bench,play Diaby with santi an jack.If we are winning comfortably then bring him on for the last 15mins.
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Start Diaby, Arteta and Wilshere(in the advanced role). Cazorla needs some rest. He may be introduced in the 2nd half.
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I would go for Cazorla, Diaby, Arteta for this match
Cazorla looked good against liverpool, Diaby has had a game off and is our biggest midfield physical presence, and arteta because he is very consistent plus with vermealen out we need a captain. Wilshere needs a break and a home match is perfect to try and give him one unless we really need him.
We are at home against a team that is much stronger at their own home ground so i expect us to dominate possession, with rosicky, wilshere, and ramsey on the bench we can always change it up if we still need goals. Mostly worried about our awful set-piece defence though, not our midfield trio.
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Give Santi a rest. He has played every single game this season bar two. One in the fall one against Brighton. Get Diaby, Tomas/Aaron and Jack in for a fast battling trio that will be able to close down spaces and press Stoke into reckless inaccurate passes, and then mob up the 2nd ball.
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Ramsey,Wilshere and Santi.. What do you think?..
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Thats like asking Chelsea should they play Hazard, Lampard and Mata
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We need a win, playing our best three midfielders is a must, once the game is won then change
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RAMSEY SUX (PERIOD)arteta wilshere cazorla best mid line for us
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Ramsey diaby wiltshire
Isn’t this a nice situation we find ourselves in for a change!
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Why not try rozicky cazorla wilshire arteta walcot
Caorla and rosicky on wings i bed stock city will get hammered as they wont have more then 20% possesion
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drain diaby while he is fit at the same time protect jw10. diaby arteta cazorla. jack rambo eisfeld the future.
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why not have 4? pull cazorla out to the right, have wilshere play behind walcott with podolski on the left; diaby is a must for this game for his physicality and arteta to complete the midfield
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Only wenger knows who to play.
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Diaby arteta wiltshere
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should have bought some big mugs in the transfer window… got a couple of linebackers to bleep em up… for a “short” month loan from the nfl… plenty around since only two teams left in it…
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Play shavin, ski, and diaby… bring the others on in the second half… sorted
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wilshere cazorla and ???(this region is a weekness for arsenal)
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@daniel if wilshere is rested arsenal don’t have the drive..its like riding a car without the driver..hope he stays fit he has to take take it..legend in the making rest him in FA cup game against blackburn if we need..not right now
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Three points are important for us so as have to field our best. But honestly this is a rugby team.the play dirty an will try as much as possible to haunt our best guns and here wild hard and carzola as an attempt to kill our game. This scares me on their safety.surely lets use dishy first as we watch his performance before introducing one of our two football lords. This could also be the time that we taste rosisky especially if we have already secured a confident lead and the demons of dwawing games of winning is cast away from us today.
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Cazorla on the bench…a rest for him at last.
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