When Jack’s back, who should drop to the Arsenal bench?
It may have been a poor start to the season for the majority of the squad but the Arsenal players have certainly turned things round, both individually and as a team. Who, then, would give way for the Gunners’ 2010-11 Player of the Season Jack Wilshere?
Whilst Song has continued his impressive consistency, Walcott – who had been under pressure to perform to avoid being replaced in the side – has proved how valuable he can be after his terrific goal and performance at Stamford Bridge at the weekend. Aaron Ramsey has experienced injury woes already this season and a couple of his appearances were below par, but he too has since shown how brilliant he can be in recent weeks. The list of improving midfielders continues with Arteta. Although he hasn’t exactly set the pitch alight, he has been quietly allowing the midfield to tick over whilst also starting to provide another option to the attack. Andrey Arshavin is yet another player whose displays have got better, particularly when played in his preferred behind the striker. Even Tomas Rosicky has played an important part in the current winning streak.
It is quite possible that at least one of these players will be injured when Jack Wilshere returns from injury, but if that isn’t the case and they continue in their rich vein of form, Wenger would have a difficult choice to make. In fact, with the English international not set to return until around March, there could even be another midfielder to fight for his place.
When Wilshere is fully fit, who should it be to stand aside?
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I Think Arteta!! Imagine what if song ramsey and wilshere plays in same midfiled..will be one of the best In epl..
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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people blaming mert for the two goals are mad. For the first goal kosienly was outside the box and lampard a midfielder got into our box before him in an open play and not a set piece why? For the second goal djorou should have marked is post as a right back just like santos did to his own an would have easily cleared out that ball. For the third goal i felt we played against 12 men because lukaku held back santos for mata to take that shot. why? Mert tackle well that day and he did not even slip like terry in a highline defence line. Support the team and stop apportioning blame to players
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Ramsey is improving in every game scoring goals, working hard in midfield, and showing great vision in his passing so dropping him to the bench would be a massive mistake.
Song is the only option for DM so he is in the starting 11 for sure.
I would drop Arteta to the bench no question.
As Zainkiani says above what a great midfield that would be.
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i think ramsey. Many people underrate arteta because he has not shown us glimpses of his attacking prowess like he did at everton. But sentiments apart this guy is a workhorse and he offer alot defensively than ramsey and this is a major factor if you play 433 formation. Besides he doesn’t connect well with ramsey but he does with rosicky,therefore you never can tell how he will connect with wilshere.
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The opponent of the day..should influence who gets fielded…
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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It’s very tight.I think he should be coming in as a substitute for a while before thinking of whom to bench.
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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in my opinion its got 2 be arteta at the moment because song is the best defensive midefielder we have and at the moment ramsey is starting to show his potential going forward whereas arteta isnt playing bad but isnt really an attacking threat,just a consistently decent performer
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Arteta for sure.
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Assess Jack first in lower profile games. If he performs, rotate him with arteta, let him rest a bit more before making a full comeback. If he produces his form Like last year, drop arteta to the bencch and play wilshere. However, it is clearly stupid to say that arteta is shit. He us a rather creative midfielder, with experience. At least, when wilshere is back, we have comfort and relief that our midfield is formidable. Then, our backup midfielder would be – Benayoun, arteta, coquelin and frimpong and rosiscky. And our starting mids would be Ramsey, song, wilshere and arshavin.
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Wojciech
Sagna – Mertesacker – Koscielny – Vermaelen
Alex Song
Aaron Ramsey(CMF) – Jack Wilshere(CMF)
Mikel Arteta
Robin Van Persie – Gervinho
I don’t really think we must drop Arteta instead of Walcott , Well Walcott need some rest , We need Gervinho alot , Vermaelen could play the LB , he just need to fix the crosses , attacking and passes.Reason of dropping Walcott : Still young , has good pace , but we need more experience player on the field like Arteta
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Rotation is the key!
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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I dont think there is a crystal clear answer on this matter
the midfield players have all had good and bad days but it seems they are much more committed this year than last year and thats why RVP is scoring
last year there were too much dependency on Fabregas and Nasri when they didnt performed ( or injured as they were mostly) then the team had no clear views to go forward
This year even Rosicky has improved. Arteta does alot of defensive work and works hard.
A healthy competition in the midfield is required to keep this commitment in the team. I like to see more of Oxlade and Ryo also on those days Walcot and Arshavin are not performing
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There are a lot of games to play, so many competitions. Plenty of opportunities for everyone to play. Rotate players sensibly and I think we’ll be laughing at the end of the season. 1 thing I like about this team is the grinding of results. They roll their sleeves up and get stuck in!!!
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The problem is that Jack and Ramsey are similar players. Arteta is more of a link guy like Rosicky.
Depending on the team we are playing( I am thinking mid level premier league teams, who park the bus) I would give song a break and play jack, Rambo and Arteta they all work so hard on defence that we may get away with not having a DM against defensive teams.
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Will be Mikel Arteta on current form… Mikel is a very good player, though he doesn’t pass the ball forward enough / create scoring chances for the AFC forwards… and we all know how good Wilshere is, at doing just that… Mikel is a good link-man when moving the ball quickly out of defence, though nothing much more than that at the moment… However, if his form improves, it will be between him and Ramsey for a starting berth in midfield once Wilshere makes his return
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squad rotation! fresh legs!
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I will go for Arteta. But one thing sure, Wilshere will definitely and should be in front of Rosicky and Diably when it comes to pecking order.
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@wentworth thank you for that comment. Its a breath of fresh air to see somebody actually commenting from careful observation. We actually started to collect points after Mert came in, we were leaking at the back. Watch the chealski game again if possible and you will notice how Mert try as hard as possible to clear anything in the box. Arsenal have a history of indecisiveness in the box in the last few years taking as many touches in the box rather than blasting it away from danger. Mert is different, a no no nonsense defender. I am waiting to still see a goal to fault him on. This guy is excellent and should be our backbone in the defence. He is a quiet operator. With better stability in the full backs and him with Kosh/Verm we will have loads to celebrate!!!
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I think ramsey should keep on the bench as a subtitute for arteta while wilshere is to be left for the complete 90 min.
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@wentworth very true again. After our start one thing was very clear. We had huge holes in the back and our Midfield was unable to go forward hence problems creating goals. Our power is in going forward. With Na$ri n Fab gone we struggled to do anything from the mid hence the horror show at the start of the campaign. But Arteta has done well to change that, Ramsey is good n Song brill. To even score 5 goals away from home no matter how bad the chelski defence was points to our mid control. VP has been very busy since as has Gerv. Arteta is another quiet workhorse n deserve more praise
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Our midfield has been outstanding, hats off to all of them. Who gets dropped depends on the team we play and their formation and strategy. I think Arteta is more skilled than Ramsey and far more consistent. I would rather have consistent players than players who play well 1 in every 3 games, especially in a position as key and vital as the midfield. Arteta is like our Xavi, always keeps the passing going and he is damn accurate. He is nobody’s bitc* either, he is quite tough and fights too. Not that Ramsey doesn’t, but I think Arteta is more experienced and a better option.
It is good we have to have this conversation, it means we have players equally good for their positions in the squad. Competition only means performance. We will have to see how well Jack plays next to Arteta though, I think we will be seeing fantastic one twos between the two.
What a win against Chelsea. If we can beat them we sure as hell can beat the other top teams. Our guys are gelling nicely now, things can only get better.
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What a silly question. In fact this is exactly the mentality that will deny us achieving our potential. Why should any one be moved to bench. The players who have done so well in the absence of Jack deserves to keep playing. Jack should sit on the bench and fight for his place in the team. That should be the same for anyone coming back in to team, even Vermaline.
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I think it’s to early to talk about who plays when wilshere is fit, if Ramsey keeps improving like he obviously is and arteta for me has had a great start to the season for us and really does keep our midfield ticking over smoothly with his passing, I’m sure we have all noticed that he never really gives away the ball, his pass completion ratio is mustard and song is our rock in front of the back four so why should Wilshere just walk straight in to our team??? We have so many midfield players its crazy. All of these players I list now can play in the midfield three system wenger is using right now. Ramsey, song, arteta, rosicky, diaby, benayoun, frimpong, coquein and of course wilshere. In my eyes with have a really good team which is improving with a lovely mix of young and experienced players, the only concerns I have is djorou and jenkinson as our cover for sagna, we need another quality right back in january and If van persie gets injured can park do the job on a regular basis for us, coz chamackh definitely can’t and we need to let him to go ASAP. If we sign another quality striker and right back and bring a world class playmaker like hazard I honestly think we will be challenging for everything. Fingers crossed.
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I find it TOP TOP BANTER how the midfield has of one of the worlds best clubs has to make way for little 19year old Jack Wilshere. What a F@cking player.
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Wilshere will be back but it will take him some time to get back into top form again…will see…i would suggest to keep Arteta in the field…but Benayoun should get more games too as i think he is great..time will tell..i just hope Arsenal ends up on the top 4 this season
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I think Ramsey and Arteta would share the place between them, song n wilshere will start obviously, so i believe ramsey and arteta will start and be replaced at 70min among themselves in any order, depending on the game
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when wilshere backs..benayoun n rosicky wil only get tim playin on carling cup n fa cup r even one r two wen we needed them..myb as a sub..wenger wud do that.. arteta,song,wilshere,ramsey,diaby. .the three of them wil get into first team n we cn hv two from them in the benched..up to wenger to rotate n chus hu that dserve to b in the first starting lineup..wenger still keen on goetze..f he cmes..ramsey i think wil on the benched n cme as a sub..plenty of match..goetze wil tke atacking midfield place..we need that creativity playmaker..n ramsey c developed further..with wilshere cmbine with arteta..r song r diaby. .wenger wud hv a lot of choices..hpe the best player stay fit..dnt mind squid r almunia bein injured long term as long our first team stay fit..
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I think it will be Ramsey, Jack, Song
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I think arteta should be benched. He’s playing the same role Jack did last year but is being less effective attacking than Jack was. Ramsey and Jack are our midfield of the future so might as well start playing them together as soon as possible
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It will be a real problem for Wenger considering how these player play at the moment. By the way that is what we the fans want. I mean competition in every department and that alone will spark some players to perform well so that he won’t drop from starting IX
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no one needs to be dropped we need to rotate… and besides, always someone gets injured, so everyone will get plenty of time…
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Song to the bench.
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I think Arteta would give way for Wilshere cos he will be the less vibrant of the midfield bunch.
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@wentworth, you have not answered the question. The team is improving and should be rotating the players if the number of midfielders continue to grow. Wilshire may have to fight for his place in the team.
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The partnership of Jack and Ramsey could become like Xavi and Inesta!!!!! Watch the space
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@wentworth. My bad, I did not see your other wonderful comments which had great insight, my apologies. Rotate the players. Jack is a terrific midfielder, but nobody should slot straight into first team after months out in a big club such as arsenal.
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Rotation would be best, have Ramsey and arteta, Ramsey and wilshere, then slowness and arteta. If it’s jack and arteta, they would switch the more attacking role more often cos they can both defend and attack well, Ramsey is good in attack (his passing has been outstanding, except against rottenham) but he’s not as strong defensively as arteta and wilshere
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Comeon… arsenal is improving from one week to another but the return of wilshere will be a mojor boost for arsenal attack. if he adapts easily at that time he’ll help the team because we have seen arsenal getting weak at the end of every season so i hope wilshere returns back well and be a nice return
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Ramsey should giveway to Wilshere. Ramsey seem to be a shadow of himself when we face an elite team or tougher team maybe he seing himself over raw. tend to make silly passing,Not showing eagerness to compete.Although technically gifted but still lack the vision passing and the combative prowess of the quality midfielder.
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Ramsey will
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Our starting mid 3 should be wilshere, song, rosicky. People underrate rodicky so much, he is our most creative midfielder along with wilshere, also like wilshere hes not afraid to track back and throw in a tackle, he has years of experience and if wenger can get him back to his best then he will easily be able to replace fabregas. People forget how good this guy actually was
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rotation boys, rotation
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Song should not be dropped. We need someone who plays the way he does in our team, and at the moment we have nobody who can do that apart from him. I really don’t think we should be looking at who we can push away for Jack, the person dropped to the bench should really be whoever is performing the worst at that time. Even if that means Wilshere, so be it, because there’s no point in playing him if others are gonna put in better performances and make more of an impact…
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A formation change is an alternative. IMO jack shouldn’t be used wide. maybe
chesney
sagna-koscielney-verminator-gibbs
song
walcott-rambo-jacko-arteta
RVP.
Arteta has played out wide for the toffs on plenty of occasions and can interchange at any stage. That formation above is pretty much what were playing now slightly tweeked, but can incorporate everyone in a strong position.
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Rotate but definatly not arteta his passing accuracy per game is over 90% and he does alot defensivley. Xabi alonso got the same treatment at lfc and when he werent their the team couldnt keep possession. Artetas attacking aint as good rosicky and ramsey but he looses the ball far less and defends but hey people forget those players and just care about attackers.
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Also look on youtube for arteta vs chelsea then you will see he brings alot to the team
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i would play rotate him with rambo for a while but some games i would play jack on left of Rvp with Theo or gervinho on right
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I think perhaps in importent games, Wilshere and arteta or Wilshere or ramsey should play. Arteta is a very importent part of the midfield in holding possesion and stopping play from progressing along with song, In the games that we are confident in defense and need an all out attack, i would probobly say wilshere and ramsey, and when we need to just slow things down and chip away at the opponent to get a goal, arteta is an absolute must. Song cannot be dropped, he is simply world class.
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I think Jack will be eased into it, not replacing Ramsay or Arteta immediately upon match fitness. He’ll come on as sub for them or start lower profile games to get him up to speed. If he starts off blistering like his good old self, I believe he’ll be on rotation with Ramsay and Arteta where some games we’ll have Wilshere & Ramsay, Wilshere & Arteta or Ramsay & Arteta.
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Gotze and Hazard will be an awesome addition
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There will be lots and lots of games coming up. Enough for everybody. “1st eleven” is an out of date concept in the modern game.
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Arteta….. though he has not reach his full pontetial yet but knowing what wishere can do definetely it will be awesome to have him back to give us more creativity in the middle of the park so yes Song,Wilshere,Wallcot,Ramsey who can stop that combination absolutely stunning……unbelievable……..
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