Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says he’s ready to rip it up if given a chance in the team, and says he’s aware that the squad has to be used for Arsenal to be effective this season.
With Arsene Wenger reluctant to make too many changes for Tuesday night’s game against Dortmund, it looks as if heavy legs played a part in the lacklustre Gunners performance.
With players like the Ox, Cazorla and Rosicky scratching their holes on the bench, perhaps we could have done more to rotate, and former Southampton man says he’s just waiting for the nod from the boss.
“I feel good in myself and when I get told to play I will be chomping at the bit to help the team,” he said. “That is up to the boss to decide when that is but I will be ready.
“I know what this game is all about. I am a young lad in a very good Arsenal squad and understand that.
“I want to play as much as I can but I have bought into the idea of what our team wants to do this season and that means it will need all of us to pull our weight to start games or come off the bench. We have to be 100 per cent focused for when our chances come.”
And after three successive draws in the league, he’s urged his teammates to step it up ahead of the Aston Villa game this Saturday.
“It is important but we have to turn these draws into wins. That is required. We cannot look too much into results. You cannot get tied up putting pressure on yourself. We want to win but you have to focus on how you play. We know we need to start winning.”
Fresh legs are going to be required at Villa Park on Saturday, and we’d be more than happy if the Ox’s were used.
He’ll probably play ozil through his purple patch but one can only hope santi, Rosicky and or the ox get a go in his stead
I really hope this is not Ozil’s purple patch…
Clearly dvander Eboué has no idea what purple patch means.
I think its about time we switched things up anyways. 3 straight draws followed by a loss. Surely you can’t reward that type of form with more starts. Whats the point in having depth up front if we aren’t using it.
It’s about time Rosicky, Poldi & Ox get a chance. We already know what they can do and I personally think Rosicky needs to start this weekend. He controls the whole tempo of a game, which is exactly what we needed at Dortmund, an experienced head to make their passes count and bring confidence to the team.
Where’s Rosicky been? Our “classical music” football’s clearly a bit out of tune right now, who better than little Mozart to set it right?
We could do with some ‘turtle power’!
Kawabuuuuunga!!
Santi, Ox, Rosicky and even Campbell should start this weekend.
Szczesny
Chamber Per Kos Gibbs
Arteta Santi
Rosicky
Sanchez Ox
Welbeck
This will be my lineup vs Villa.
………………….Martinez
Bellerin…..Chambers…..Bould…..Sanchez
………….The Coq……..The Ox
Rosicky………..Cazorla……….Podolski
………………..Akpom
At least the bastards won’t be expecting that.
That’s the mindset we are talking about. Let’s do this! Am i the only one starting to find Podolski’s instagram uploads very annoying.
Yesterday’s particularly irked me!
I think he’s just having a laugh. I reckon he’s just as keen as anyone else to get out there and start banging ’em in.
Untether the Ox!
Need 3 points,nothing less
Sorry OX, you will be benched, next to poldi, santi, campbell and rosicky! Ozilich, wiltshere, artetargh and flaminttens will continue to play and play poorly they shall! I suspect diaby will play before you get a chance!
You cant be having fun when the team is playing poorly. Imagine the heart ache we all felt after the loss to Dortmund.
His jokes about the shin pad was ill-timed.
It was the perfect time for a deep reflection and not making jokes after one of our worst performances ever!
The team playing poorly may be down to everyone feeling low on confidence….someone like Podolski in there lightening the mood can only be a good thing.
As for heartache – the simple fact is we were shit. Dortmond werent. We lost. Hardly an epic tragedy.
We need to go back to 4 -2 -3 -1, which worked great last season. Why switch up the formation so u can fit in a few guaranteed starters. Honestly everyone should’ve to earn their place in the team. The current formation 4 -1 -4 -1 is utter disaster especially given that we don’t even have a specialised DM.
It didn’t work so well at Anfield or Stamford bridge, did it? And bare in mind we had our best performance of the season against man city using 4-1-4-1. To be honet I don’t think it makes much of a difference, last season we didn’t play a true 4-2-3-1 because Ramsey (or Wilshere or Ox) never held and always pushed on, making it a 4-1-4-1 anyway. The only time we played a true 4-2-3-1 was when we had Flamini and Arteta starting together and last time I checked we were awful.
To be honest I think the 4141 was first introduced at Stamford Bridge with Cazorla and the Ox hopelessly trying to compete against Matic and Sideshow Bob. We desperately need someone to play no further than 10 yards away from Arteta in central midfield because quite frankly he just gets over run by himself
Poldi doesn’t need to do introspection while he’s not getting a chance to play. He’s a happy character. We need those to connect the team!
Unleash the Ox.
Chain up Ozil, Giroud, Arteta, Flamini, Campbell, Podolski, Sanogo and leave them in the dressing room until someone offers to take them off our books.
Go get Schniderlin, Draxler, Nastasic, Carvalho and Cavani and add some height, pace, power athletism and balance to our squad.
Or continue doing the same thing and watch your empire crumble.
Stupidest comment I’ve read in a while
That’ll cost about £200M. Need I say more?
And then you get fired from FM because you are loosing too much money, the team is not playing well and you finish 10th in the league. No worries, just start a new game…
Ox on the left- Alexis on the right- Ozil through the MIDDLE (Jesus! Already!)- and Wilshere alongside Arterta Until Ramsey learns how to do the basics again like play a simple pass?…
.
Now letz go hammer Villa…
#COYG!
If Diaby is fit, having played the U-21 game, maybe its a good idea to get him back … his talent is undoubted, his fitness has always been an issue … cannot forget his performance against Liverpool.
If he’s good to go, our DM position can be solved till the next window.
He definitely needs to start this weekend. Along with Cazorla and maybe Rosicky too.
#findramblingpete
Ox in for Ozil.
The sharpest and the best should start, and as good as Ozil is, he is nowhere near as sharp as he should be.
Perhaps this convincing loss will make Wenger consider the formation. So far we have remained undefeated, and he probably thought we will only get better the more we use this formation and that the regular wins will come in due time. Özil imo need regular game time in the number 10 role. It is the only role where he is a proven world class player, and one of the best in the world even. while out on the wing he just becomes mediocre and just another squad player. Podolski imo is better suited than Özil on the wing since he… Read more »
“I don’t see the logic [of] splashing [out] 42 million on a number 10 if what you really wanted was a Winger.” Ah, Moxxi, but you’re assuming that the manager actually knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t. He’s a has-been who’s well past his sell-by date. I spent a large chunk of yesterday reading the (mostly negative) posts on this site and others: I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help but laugh while perusing many of them. They were mostly by Wenger supporters who had believed that he was a living deity. It’s hilarious watching people wake up and smell the… Read more »
I actually do see where your’e coming from Fats but I think the only real cock up he’s made was not to sign defensive cover (including a DM in that). BUT – we seem to go through this same tired debate every season at some point and as you know, we ALWAYS make the top 4 come the season end. Which given our budget is about where you’d expect, given that financially we cannot compete with the oil/oligarch clubs. Can’t really blame him for injuries to be fair. At the end of the day I think the man has earned… Read more »
Some of us would like us to try and win, not winning is ok but not doing the best we can is inexcusable. Going into the season with only 6 defenders of which one is very injury prone and another is a rookie isn’t doing the best we can. Not buying a defensive midfielder for I don’t know how many years (since Wenger let Gilberto, Diarra and Flamini go in the same season) is not doing the best we can. Only buying adequate striking back-up on deadline day because of serious injury is not doing the best we can. That… Read more »
The situation is indeed rather confusing, and I found it confusing with Arshavin as well. Why buy nr 10s and put them on the wing? If what he really wants is a winger, just spend the same amount of money on one. They’re out there, and they’re very likely to do a better job on the wing than a re-schooled nr 10.
I honestly believe that… Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain > Raheem Sterling.
The media are convinced the opposite is true, however Sterling has had the benefit of:
– A run of games in the first team, and
– One or two pacy, world-class strikers playing next to him
After Tuesday Wenger has no choice but to rotate so Ox should get his chances. And hopefully Danny Welbeck will prove to be > Daniel Sturridge, too.
yeah I agree, Ox is a far more complete footballer, and is strong as, well… as an Ox. There’s something about him, even when he doesn’t quite have the end product in games he’s so positive in his play and exciting to watch that you don’t get that frustrated as a fan. I don’t mind at all if the media choose to hype up Sterling and let the Ox quietly get on with it. Remember that Andros Townsend fella? He went from Bale to Fail in less than a year, partly because of the hype (and partly because he’s actually… Read more »
Yeah, it’s just that Sterling gets to start week in week out for Liverpool, while Ox has a lot more competition for places. We won’t know for sure unless Ox gets more games in the middle and we should rotate anyway. Question is would you play him over Ozil, Wilshere or Ramsey in a big game?
That is all a matter of who is in form.
A bit off, buh when one of us down, we all are down…
Click and show your support…
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Hallelujah for that. Özil donated his entire World Cup winnings worth 400,000 euros to sick children in Brazil. The twats at the Daily Mail who accuse Özil of “nicking a living” should be banned from our press conferences.
Oh, and, Wenger please ditch the 4-1-4-1 (presumably dreamed up in order to fit both Ramsey and Wilshere in the team, rather than for tactical reasons). You will get more out of Ramsey and Wilshere if they alternate matches, in the ‘box-to-box’ role.
Great post. I will be at the next home game (the Spuds!!) and hopefully the song will take off.
COYG!
Ox needs more playing time generally. For Saturday, his pace is needed because I see Villa sitting back and waiting for the counter. Carzola needs to start also and Rosicky needs to come in at some point. Give Ozil and Ramsey a rest or better still, take them out of the firing line for a while. Play Welbeck, I feel he will open his account this weekend
I think we need to rotate the squad
Joel Campbell, Ox CAzorla/Rosicky and Ospina need to be given a chance IMO
Seriously disappointed that we didn’t sign Carvalho!
Honestly, when was the last time the Ox actually played badly? I feel like he’s delivered virtually every time he’s given a chance. Hope he gets a start this weekend
Chelsea away and Swansea at home last season. But apart from those I can’t remember a bad game he’s had for us
I’ve seen a few game were he has been wasteful but he is always positive and going for it
Great attitude for a young player
He’s got bags of go and up-tempo, I think once he develops his ability to control the tempo when it wants to be slower and possession with composure then he will be a more complete player.
But it’s wonderful to watch a live wire run at the opposition and take it to them. And it’s huge for the team because when we need it he’s there and almost always delivers something that adds energy.
He would have been on right after BvB’s second (or sooner) if I called the shots. But it’s probably a good thing I don’t.
He has excellent control and technique.
Have to give credit to Southampton academy. We have ourselves 3 good players in Walcott, Ox and Chambers, all well schooled technically compared to other Britsh players.
Wenger is not using his assets at his disposal. We have plenty of pace out wide and should have used it against Dortmund. Podolski and Ox were good options. Santi’s nimble ability in the middle would have been better to start with than two out of form players in Ozil and Ramsey. This was a massive handicap and tantamount to fighting with one hand tied to your back. When you look at it, it is very difficult for the defense to function with so much pressure asserted because our midfield were not efficient in pressing Dortmund higher up. Mistakes (to… Read more »
To me your Rosicky and Ox comments are right on. Rosicky is so good at finding space, and circulating the ball into space to transition quickly, and closing down. And Ox would have given the missing work rate and run at the defense. And we might have actually shot the ball. It’s hard to leave an in-form Jack or a Ramsey off the team sheet though. The Santi one is tough. Incredible footballer but I can see possibly fearing he’d be overrun by their big, aggressive, and packed middle of the field. But he is great at turning away from… Read more »
Campbell another player we should be using.
Even with welbeck (and let’s gibe him the benefit of the doubt over 8 games to break is bad habits from United), we should have alternatives up top sans Giroud.
Short of Sanogo, we can also try Alexis with Podolski supporting/rotating. Or Campbell who has demonstrated an ability to play CF for Costa Rica.
Many options remain unexplored and frankly we need it in case of form or developing abilties as yet unfulfilled.
Campbell also looks like he can finish too!
Off topic. But seriously. Analyzing the goals we conceded against Dortmund we will see that not having a dominant CDM actually DIDN’T matter. Maybe we got exposed by Arteta’s lack of speed and strength. But that’s not the largest factor. What we needed was someone who could pick up the ball in that deep role and play a long ball into Welbeck or on through for Sanchez. And if I recall Wenger denied the player who could do that the best. *cough Cesc cough*. Stop scapegoating Arteta. United and Barca both have won their respective leagues a lot many times… Read more »
the boss need to be ruthless. i don’t get him at all. he’s gone through hell this last ten years. now that the club has finance ( not as much as the oil boys or the barca and real ) so he should stop being sentimental and stop overprotecting his players. when they are shit they are shit. just fucking drop them, be they world champion or not.i love ozil but if just ask maureen how to treat him.when he was at real , maureen publicly bashed him and benched him.mesut is the kind of player who need a kick… Read more »
I don’t bloody care how you play Ox, just WIN