Football Special Report: Chances of Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League – Part 5
Chelsea’s win is doubtful only (and only) in case that the English star Wayne Rooney finds his form back. Many say that the English “ogre face” is overrated but he is definitely not. Even with Cristiano Ronaldo around, Rooney will
totally change the game round. He was definitely one of the only few players who can meet the pace of the Portuguese captain and he is definitely an outstanding striker.
Everyone saw last year how Manchester United only lost the season with a single point while the Gunners were far behind from both the teams. Even this year, Arsenal simply has no chance especially with their “dark November” approaching.
They are definitely not the best side in England and it is obvious that they are not the best side in Europe either.
As long as Arsene Wenger keeps playing his favourite 4-3-3 formation, Arsenal are never going to succeed. The best formation that he can play at the moment is definitely a 4-5-1 or something that can be redefined as a 4-2-3-1.
With two defensive midfielders like Abou Diaby and Alex Song at the back, all the teams are going to find it difficult to break Arsenal’s defence; not only the teams like Sunderland but also teams who face Arsenal and only expect
to win such as, Chelsea and Manchester United.
The three midfielders will include Cesc Fabregas playing as an attacking midfielder while Samir Nasri and Andrei Arshavin can play on the flanks. With these two on the flanks and with Fabregas in the attacking midfield role, Marouane
Chamakh or Robin Van Persie can easily take the position of the “lone striker” and any of these attackers can easily get the job done for the team as both of them are extraordinary finishers.
If Van Persie is the one playing up front, he has the class to fall back to help the team in the mid and then make a move forward to score goals. On the other hand, Chamakh can stay forward and help the team score goals with his
great aerial ability as Nasri, Arshavin and Cesc Fabregas can drive in killer balls so that he can eat the opposition’s defence.
Andrei Arshavin is definitely one of those players that the team should rely on but he is not always the one who comes out on top. The inconsistent Russian is the most experienced player in the line-up and he is supposed to do
wonders but he simply lags the spark whenever the team needs him. He was simply silent throughout the game against Sunderland and against Chelsea he was the only one who managed to strike the ball on target.
On the other hand, Samir Nasri is definitely a wonder kid. He is also one of the best players that Arsenal has and with his great “holding” ability he simply does not let the ball go, and passes the ball around to help the team
win games. Samir Nasri is definitely a first choice and the Gooners should simply pray that he never goes out of action because there is simply no one who can replace him on the right flank.
Arsenal do have the ability to win the European gold but comparing to the side that managed to reach the final of the UEFA Champions League final in 2006 against Barcelona, they definitely do not have the sort of players that they
had back then. They had Thierry Henry along with a great defence and a good goalkeeper; however, this time they do not.
If Arsenal can start playing physical football along with the possessive style of play, they do stand a chance but the amount of competition in the world at the moment is so much that Arsenal are simply no match for them. Their
defensive line-up is “c**p” and they simply “go to waste” whenever a good striking force comes up against them.
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