For now, at least, it seems the future of Alexis Sanchez is relatively certain. Asked about the Chilean earlier this week, Arsene Wenger said, “The decision has been made and we will stick to that – the decision is not to sell.”
Speculation mounts over where Olivier Giroud and even Theo Walcott might play their football next season, but it seems clear that the new record signing is earmarked for the central role with Sanchez and Mesut Ozil providing him the ammunition.
Speaking after the win over Bayern Munich yesterday, the Arsenal manager revealed that’s exactly what he’s thinking ahead of the new campaign.
“Lacazette will play centre forward,” he said. “Alexis plays where he plays always, on the left, sometimes on the right but normally on the left.”
There were signs of how it might work during the Bayern game when the French striker was slipped through beautifully by Ozil in the first half, but he was denied a goal by a fantastic save.
As well as being the club’s leading scorer last season, with 30, Alexis also provided more assists than anyone else with 14, so if he can replicate that, and Ozil can find his best form, there’s the potential for a seriously potent front three.
And on the right side, lemar ? Lacazette alexis lemar and ozil, strong attack potential !
Wait, what?
Don’t think he’s got to grips with the new formation yet
I think he was thinking of the 4-2-3-1 formation. It’d be naive to assume we’ll line up with three at the back every time next season.
I totally agree.. Methinks we have a better chance of winning or at least challenging for the league if we have more than 1 system we can change to. The unpredictability gives us an edge albeit slight, imagine managers like Jose tearing their hair out trying to figure out how we would line up.
Too often in the past, the predictability of our line up had given our opponents an edge over us.
Here is to a new Arsenal!
Appreciate the need for variety of set-up. But with our current midfield options, then until we bring in someone new in that position I hope we stay as far the fuck away from 4-2-3-1 as possible this season.
Why the thumbs down ? Why are fans so negative to such a positive comment ?
I love blueberry pie coyg!
Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense though does it.
Hahahahaha
The thumbs aren’t always starkly “negative” or “positive”. Think it’s just a quick, convenient way for people to say “I agree” or “I disagree” without having to compose a reply.
If people actually typed out what they were thinking all the time, this place could be frightening.
I’m far more concerned with how our midfield lines up. We’ve always had goals in us and the 3 at the back appears, in part, to have shored up the defence. But the midfield was all over the place last season and we haven’t invested in it at all. Rambo still has to do a lot to convince me he’s worth a place in the starting line up, Coq has been redundant without Santi and Xhaka can be incredibly naive at times. It’s our midfield where games will be won and lost.
Xhaka should improve in his second season. Let’s hope so
More than Tomas Lemur, we need a Vieira replacement – it is only 10 years in the making.
Class
Trying to get the thumbsdown; is it Lemar? Apart from that I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Besides, I thought we all wanted him in.
If Alexis is playing on the left and we’re trying to buy a player who played on the left for Monaco for most of last season.
Just saying….
We are buying a 21 year old who can be with us for years.. Alexis won’t stay with us forever and he won’t stay 29 forever either. Lemar will cost twice as much next season. Just saying.. Logic. Apply it before you try to come up with theories.
Burn.
I wasn’t coming up with a theory.
Please go back and read correctly, you may need your glasses? Or simply miss read?
I was just saying that he’s see’s Alexis playing on the left and we’re linked with a left sided midfielder.
The only person who’s applied a theory here is you.
So please take your own logic and apply it to yourself.
Ah, Miss Read, looked cute in those glasses
Alexis is currently 28 and I’m glad you’ve cleared up the he won’t be 29 forever.
This is a logical theory if ever I’ve seen one.
If we get back into the CL, Sanchez will stay. If we were to keep a Sanchez-Laca-Ozil trident for 3 years, we will rule the league.
Deluded, Sanchez is turning 30 next year. At max we have 2 years of valuable contribution from him.
Yeah because a 29 year old Alexis is showing signs of slowing down after almost 2 years of non stop football.
I think alot of people are deluded in thinking he is the same as the average player in that he can’t keep up once he hits 30. He is the exception to the rule and imo will go an extra couple of years at the top after his ‘prime’
Totally agree. He’s superhuman in his fitness, but also a lot of his game is based on explosiveness. Ozil will be the one who lasts, since his game is more cerebral. Sanchez will soon be an old man playing a young man’s role. Not yet though, so I’m excited for next year!
Alexis is likely gone next year regardless of how we finish this year (unless we win the league). He wants that big payday as well as a chance to win the league and UCL. He obviously doesn’t feel that Arsenal can do that.
I love the way everyone states things so definitively! Truth is no one knows if alexis will leave and no one knows how long he play at the top level. We’ll just have to wait and see, exciting isn’t it?
And how much will he want if he does stay? If he (allegedly) wants £400k with twelve months left on his contract I’d hate to guess what he’d want as a free agent. Or do we believe it really is just about playing CL?
Well Bayern thought he quoted them silly numbers too. Methinks he wants to go to City. Anyone else is going to have to pay him silly money to change his mind. Which is all odd, because at Bayern he’d be in with a real shout to win a lot of German trophies and the UCL. City is no guarantee of any of that.
if sanchez stays i see no reason we are going to bring in lemar this season…I am even sure wenger is not looking to really upgrade his midfield or maybe a rob holding like signing in midfield but not marquee,it seems we are done with this season’s transfer session..
I think we’ll sign a midfielder (and helpfully a right back). I expect us to sell JW10, CJ,MD2. Their combined wages would be enough for a decent midfielder and a promising right back.
There’s no way. Maitland-Niles is being moved to the first team and fills either/both roles, and signing either means Ox won’t re-sign and Arsene seems against that. And the boss has already said he’s not interested in depth signings–he wants signings that improve the first choice. If that’s true you won’t see either, because Bellerin isn’t going anywhere, Ramsey is an Arsene favorite, and Xhaka is last year’s premier signing. About the only place we can still improve the first choice squad is out right in the 4-3-2-1. That job is Lemar’s if Monaco lets him go. Otherwise I guess… Read more »
Lemar is not for one season, he is young and having Alexis around, even if for only a year, would help him settle down and take over from him going forward. I would call it a good move if we could get him now
That’s how I see it too. Alexis and Ozil, with Lemar and Iwobi waiting in the wings (somewhat literally) and developing. Excellent rotation material there.
Next season I see Lacazette and Alexis combining beautifully to hold the Premier League trophy aloft on top of a big fuck off red bus on the streets of Islington screaming ‘WHADDDDDYA THINK OF T*TTENHAM?’ to hundreds of thousands of jubilant gooners.
…it’s not the despair, it’s the hope…
Ahh, don’t you just love the smell of pre-season optimism in the morning.
I don’t think its that an absurd an ambition. Look how well Chelsea did by only playing once a week due to being out of the Champions League. I’m presuming of course that we’re not going to take the Europa league seriously. I hope so anyway
Keep telling yourself that. It might come true.
Maybe we can finish outside the European places altogether next season and have a real crack at the league in 2018/19.
Yea man you’re spot on. If we can’t give the league a real go next year, I don’t know what’s wrong with us. No champions league is huge and that is backed up by the numbers, champions league winners win their domestic title in the same year only around 50% of the time
Haha, with Jack Wilshire wearing sunglasses and holding the microphone!
Who will play on the right, though? I’m assuming Ozil will occupy the space behind Laca however who is an ideal candidate for the right position? Walcott? God, that’s like biting into a Dairy Milk, enjoying the milk chocolaty goodness only to find out it’s Fruit and Nut and not the perfect plain Dairy Milk chocolate you thought it was.
You may have noticed that we were playing 5-2-3 last season ie 3 upfront. (or 3-4-3 if you prefer expressing it that way).
I believe Wenger said he will be switching formations depending on opposition. So the question still stands…
That will be a first; If you said ‘I believe wenger will be switching formations on a whim’ it may have been more accurate 😀
I think it is time Alex Iwobi is given a chance on the right.
Iwobi is much better on the left.He is a totally different player when he plays from the left.
I’ve done that so many times. Bought a Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate bar only to discover it’s actually Fruit & Nut. It’s as gutting as missing out on CL football
What! You guys can’t feel the nuts bulging out the chocolate/wrapper? You deserved it, both of you 😛
Just loathe Dairy Milk.
Or biting into a fruit and nut bar, and realising they forgot to put the fruit and nuts in!
I’m bored of pre-season…
I’d like to see Mahrez on the right.
You are alone in that one
Totally wrong.
Mahrez on the right with Alexis on the left would make us the most feared team in the league.
Mahrez over Özil? Haha. Funny man.
Well, at least over Theo. I mean the fella won Leicester city the premier league……He is certainly better than a lot of our players
He may be a talented player on his day, but his attitude is not something I want to see anywhere near this club.
I’d like to see 4 top players fighting it out for 3 positions but I suppose I’m just greedy
Exactly why I think we should get Mahrez
Common, he won’t play his record signing out of position.. If alexis leaves, we need lemar. If he stays we still need lemar.. 3-4-3 with monreal and kolasinac as lcb and lb can easily become a 4 man defence.. 4-3-2-1, 4-2-3-1.. Point is lemar, like i’ve said before will end up in midfield replacing santi.. Arsene will repeat what he did with santi on lemar.. You see, Lemar is technically gifted, starts most of monaco’s counter attacks, comes in from deep a lot for a winger, isn’t really two footed but he is 21.. And most important people, HE IS… Read more »
I don’t get why we’d sign Lemar for huge money and move him to the center when we can buy actual center midfielders for less.
“I could see myself at Arsenal for all my life, and I don’t hide the fact that is still my dream.” Tear-jerking right there…Here’s to hoping for a glorious return to Arsenal later in his glorified career in Italy to become the next lovable lunatic since Lehmann
Please don’t leave Olivier!
One more signing needed IMO. A flairy, quick footed, ball carrying, dribble out of tight situations centre midfield player to replace Cazorla. Obviously I would love to rely on Cazorla’s fitness but I don’t think we can do that. Ramsey & Xhaka looks like a good combo but I think if Cazorla was also fit it could take us to another level. It would feel wrong leaving out someone like Ramsey but that’s what the successful clubs do – they have very strong benches.
Ramsey only had one season with more than 45 games. It would be absolute madness to go into the season expecting to get that many games out of him. Cue Jack Wilshere LANS…
Cazorla is pretty much done, there’s no way he will come back as a reliable first team player. Centre midfield should be absolute priority. But then again w2e’re the club that relied on Diaby, Ramsey, Wilshere or Rosicky staying fit…
Very true. Elneny, Ox, Maitland-Niles, Bielik, Coquelin will be there all season to call on I imagine, so we’ve got the depth, but they are all pretty average/young.. not gonna set us apart from anyone else challenging for the title.
Bielik is going out on loan.
Wilshere is the key, if he’s up for the fight.
If Calum Chambers leaves, then it might be prudent to hang onto Bielik..?
We also purchased a player who was nearly retired and injured. We will survive. But I don’t want to. I want to win fucking everything
I think, one of the reasons why our 3-4-3 formation worked so well is because with 1 more player in the middle this set-up makes it possible for us to not to rely so heavily on the technical capebilities of players like Santi. This way Xhaka’s strenght and Ramsey’ stamina were able to compensate the spaniard’s close control. If this formation remains and we put Lemar in the middle – Ramsey or Xhaka needs to be dropped and one of their strenghts need to be compensated. I think the frenchman with his 170cm hight will have serious problems to do… Read more »
This is what i think we need but I’m not sure I expect us to get it.
Might get away with it but it certainly does seem a risk.
Very relieved to hear this
This shouldn’t be used to rule out the Lemar signing. We have our longest season coming up, with loads of games, that 3 (Sanchez, Lacazette, Ozil) won’t start every game, there will be times that we move to 4-2-3-1 (I think its interesting that he mentions Sanchez playing on the right as this would leave space for Lemar in his favourite position), and there may be times that he gets to play centre mid either next to Xhaka or as part of a 3. He’s 21, he’s incredibly promising but he only broke into Monaco’s team last year. I would… Read more »
And no, I’m not just writing this to reasurre myself as I’ve bet a mate a hundred quid that he’s joining.
One thing I’ve learned every season is that every year, we always buy all the players we need minus one. So, this time I expect that CM position to be our minus one. That’s why I won’t be surprised at all if we don’t sign anyone else. I will gladly eat my words if I’m wrong.
5-2-3 LWB- Lemar/Kolasinac LCB- Holding/Monreal CB- Kos/BFG RCB- Mustafi/Gabriel RWB- Bellerin/Ox CM- Xhaka/Ramsey + El Neny/Coq and Cazorla when he is back. Lemar and Ox can also play there. LF – Alexis/Danny CF- Giroud/Lacazette RF- Ozil/Theo That’s two first team quality players in each position. Then we have players like Iwobi and Maitland-Niles who are there to add depth. If Bellerin starts then Lemar plays LWB If Kolasinac starts the Ox plays RWB. There is no need to sell any first team player. Lucas,Gibbs,Debuchy, Jenkinson ,Chambers and Wilshere are the ones we should be sacrificing. If we can’t find buyers… Read more »
Time for Theo to go…and CM needs a two player upgrade – DM Vieira replacement, and a skillful deep lying playmaker.
I know it would mean a change in formation, but I’m sure Laca could play behind Giroud the way Greizmann does for France.
Laca is the best finisher at the club, and he plays on the shoulders of defenders (the type of striker we’ve needed for years). Why would you sacrifice that and drop him deeper just to get giroud in the team?
Makes sense to me and I’m sure it will make no sense to you once laca starts banging them in
Hopefully if Sanchez stays,we are going to be a real threat upfront.however to challenge for the title, we still need a defensive midfielder, the Vieira type and an experienced defender. Gabriel has proven on numerous occasions that he can’t be counted on. Moreover why not go for Mahrez for 45million considering his experience in the league than to pay 80million for Lemar. GUNNERS FOR LIFE.
I’m worried as it seems Wenger is not going to reinforce the midfield. We badly need some creativity there
IF he keeps Alexis. I think much of that may still be up in the air, plenty of moving parts. IT depends largely on who we can replace Alexis with should we decide to sell. Mahrez is obvious but Leicester aren’t making it easy. Nor are MOnaco and the prices quoted make it attractive to consider holding on and ammortising on Alexis in last year of contract. Lacazette in that case (should Alexis leaves) will be dual-role, capable in playing up top as alternative to Giroud OR from the left off of Giroud or Welbeck like Alexis does. There are… Read more »
—————Lacazette————
——Sanchez————-Ozil——–
Kolsanic——-Xhaka–Lemar——Bellerin
—-Koscielney–Mertesacker–Mustafi—-
——————-Cech—————–
If no Lemar then Ox will get the central role
Rambo will play central