Arsenal News Capital One Cup

Ox or Bielik to solve Arsenal´s League cup midfield crisis?

After Arsenal completed a fantastic week of beating Watford and Bayern Munich by extending our great run against Everton on Saturday, which was enough to put us level on points at the top of the Premier League table and keep the Champions League dream alive, no one is going to be too hard on the boss for taking his foot off the gas when it comes to the League cup.

At the same time, we always want to win and a tie with lower league opposition, even though it is away from home, gives the Gunners a good chance to progress. We know that Arsene Wenger likes to use the Capital One cup games as a chance to hand some valuable playing time to young players and those that have not featured too much but he can only do that if we are still in it.

But Houston, we have a problem, a central midfield problem, because our captain Mikel Arteta was injured on training ahead of the Everton game and he joins Ramsey, Wilshere and Rosicky on the sidelines. You know that Arsenal need to rest Coquelin, Cazorla and Ozil, so that leaves us very short. Apart from Mathieu Flamini, no fit and available players have played there for us, so what can Wenger do?

Perhaps it is time to see if Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can shine in the position that was said to be his future role. The only problem then is that he leaves a gap in the wide forward role. Maybe Wenger could try young Krystian Bielik who came to the club being compared to a young Patrick Vieira.

What do you think Gooners?

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Tags Arteta chamberalin Flamini

20 Comments

  1. Listen Baby Please

    We are NOT in a Crisis
    As you said we can play Oxlade and Flamini
    Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil can be on the bench if needed. Chambers can play DM

    If OX plays MF, then Walcott can play RW and Giroud can play up front

    No need to panic. We can still rest players like Cazorla, Ozil, Alexis, Coquelin and still win

    We should not underestimate Sheffield Wednesday though. We should not get cocky or overconfident

    1. Cech
      Debuchy – Chambers – Gabriel – Gibbs
      Flamini – Bielik
      Ox – Adelaide – Campbell
      Giroud

      Subs: Macey, Pleguezuelo, Moore, Sheaf, Kamara, Iwobi

  2. I don’t know why people keep talking about the Ox’s future role being in central midfield, he’s hardly played there thus far and he’s not even that good a passer of the ball. I know he has that burst of speed that can take out 2 or 3 players in flash, similar to what Rosicky does at times, but surely the primary attribute of a top central midfielder is quick incisive passing, great first touch and speed of thought. A good example is Ramsey. He is a CM by trade, but even he can’t get a game in a central midfield because his passing can be poor and he dwells on the ball too often. I don’t know who’s been doing well as a central midfielder in the reserves, but surely give one of the youngsters a chance. Especially considering it’s probably Arteta and Flamini’s final season with us. Let’s see if we have a good replacement within.

    Sorry for the rant, but we’ve had so many years of players in the wrong positions, and it’s still going on! I just wish we could consistently have players in their natural positions. Is that really too much to ask for?

    1. Ramsey in CM offers more goals than Cazorla and Ozil combined. And Chamberlain has good vision and passing, you probably haven’t seen his through balls, he just needs confidence which he will get when he gets a run of games. He’s 22 so we can’t expect him to play like he’s 27

    1. Reine-Adelaide is a talent. Use reserves and youngsters. Give Debuchy a game. Oz on the right with Debuchy seems fair. Who’s covering for Akexis?

  7. ****OT****
    Sad to here the bad news of my all time Favorite footballer Johan Cruijjf OON, who was diagnosed with lung cancer.
    You made it all look so easy…
    “Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple”
    He is hands down, the true Master of the game…

  8. What gives people the impression that the OX would do better in central midfield??? You need to have a high pass accuracy and possession to succeed in midfield – the OX doesn’t have that.

    1. Could you please get off the Ox´s back. He has had a rough year and a half with injuries and needs our support. He is a young lad that can play in CM or have you forgoten the Milan game.
      Yes, he has not been playing well of late but do not start righting him off when he needs our support more than ever.

  9. Listen Baby Please

    Some of you have put Campbell up front. I have nothing against Campbell but he rarely scores and has performed very average the last few seasons.

    If we play him, I would play him on the wing and play either Giroud or Walcott up front.

    Again, no disrespect to Campbell. His goal at World Cup was awesome but he has played lots of matches on loan and has failed to impress. If Welbeck was healthy, this would be a perfect match for him.

    1. @BabyPlease
      I think Joel deserves a chance to prove himself. We all know the guy is talented. He keeps getting frozen out though…

  10. Macey
    Debuchy Chambers Mert Gibbs
    Flamini Bielik
    Ox Reine-Adelaide Iwobi
    Campbell

    Bench — Cech, Bellerin, Coquelin, Walcott, Giroud

    The only place I want to see Ozil, Cazorla and Sanchez is up in the boxes next to Henry, Pires and Ljungberg. Yes, I want to win. With that being said, it’s the Capital One cup, and it’s more important to stay healthy and match fit.

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