02 Aug 2018 16:59:17
Overall, I didn’t think the performance was all that bad. One thing that worry’s me, besides Morata’s confidence, was how open our midfield looked when we lost the ball. I’m sure this will all change when Kante comes back into the mix, but every match so far has seen our midfield be caught out a fair few times. What do you think?


1.) 02 Aug 2018
02 Aug 2018 17:24:37
I would not play Fabregas unless as a sub as he has no defensive ability and needs far too much time and space on the ball when he gets it. Barkley is currently not the answer as he still looks woefully unfit. Unless we buy somebody I would play David Luiz alongside Jorghino and Kante, good cover and the ability to turn defence into attack quickly.


2.) 02 Aug 2018
02 Aug 2018 17:36:53
In fairness to Cesc it happened far more in the second half when Drinkwater had replaced him and Jorginho started to look a little tired. But as mentioned already we still have Kante to return and possibly the arrival of Vecino who, albeit I've never watched him, has been spoken highly of with regards to his defensive abilities. I don't think we can afford to use Luiz as a midfielder whilst he continues to perform as a leader at CB. Him and Rudiger looked awesome and didn't let Aubameyang in the game. I think Sarri likes Luiz a lot.


3.) 02 Aug 2018
02 Aug 2018 18:26:17
In the imm diate future, Kante will definitely help in this regard, just as Allan did for Napoli last year.

As the team get used to this playing style of aggressive pressing, the defence will be closer to the midfield which should mean less of a gap between our midfield and defence.

The thing I noticed last night was the use of the midfielders to press the opposition defence, with the wide forward dropping deeper and our full-backs pushing up to cut off passing channels. Fabregas and Barkley did this well however Drinkwater didn’t press at all which gave Arsenal an easy route out. I’m looking forward to Kante playing in one of those roles as his pressing, speed and stamina are fantastic.


4.) 02 Aug 2018
02 Aug 2018 19:32:49
I agree with Saim, I think Sarri loves Luiz as a center half. Frankly, I do too in this system. He’s always looking to play short passes, and with Jorginho sitting in front of him I think he’ll have a lot of success. I do think Barkley will come good, but I would like to see he and RLC fight for that attacking midfield spot. Not sure if the Ramsey rumors are true but I’m not sure there is room for him, but I’d prefer him to Vecino.


5.) 02 Aug 2018
02 Aug 2018 21:56:29
We looked ok with Cesc and Jorginho. and Barklay is looking very good. All went wrong when Drinkwater came on but the club realise it made a huge mistake with him and he will be gone soon. Luiz at centre half is just what we need and Sarri will love him. We so missed him last Season. The only problem at the moment is a striker and maybe a left back. Keeper of course needs sorting. Batsy would of got us top 3 last season let alone top 4, a goalscorer, and they are hard to find. I think we will see him chip in 20 plus next Season. Don't actually need much as this squad is very very good if they all stay.


6.) 02 Aug 2018
02 Aug 2018 22:28:34
Probably need a striker with the best bits of morata and batsy. Morata is intelligent and makes the runs and is good in the air, batsy is probably a better finisher (at the moment ) . Batsy is improving all the time .