striker

True, sorry.

Swansea looks terrible

Agreed

Since Austin and JRod scored last game, they will be the two on the bench. Can't have too much of that.

Yep, I like JRod. I wish the would move Redmond to midfield and rotate JRod, Austin, and Long at forward. I think this would be a more potent line up.

We yell for players who put the ball in the net, and then we get one and we're not happy. Finishing is a skill. I don't really care about the artistic value of the goal. After seeing Long and Redmond shoot, shoot, shoot, and miss, miss, miss continually, this is refreshing. A very direct player who puts the ball on net, which gives every shot a chance. There's a difference between a goal scorer striker and a wing player or midfielder. He is what we need, so when we are wasting time passing aroudn==nd the diamond someone can be ready for the occasional attack.

I have only one comment, play Austin. If it means tweaking the formation then do it.

Austin needs to play. The guy is a great goal scorer, who else on the team has scored 18 goals in a PL season? Puel's system devaluates strikers in place for midfielders. Austin is a traditional striker, in the mold of Pelle, Carroll, etc. He is what we need. Puel needs to adjust.

Not so sure Pelle would work in Puel's diamond system either. Pelle, like Austin, looses effectiveness the farther he gets from the goal.

Puel sure finds a lot of things interesting.

Puel seems to have a little mad scientist in him. He wants to find a new genius way to do it rather than put players where they naturally fit. Redmond should be in the midfield somewhere, and Austin should be out there because he's the only actual finisher we have. Rather than pushing him in and out, leave him there for a couple games. At least give him the same run as Redmond has had. Austin and Long upfront, JRod backing them up, Redmond and Tadic in the mids. He is making it harder than it needs to be.

I agree with this. If Puel is not going to change the system to accommodate what we have, then this makes sense. Austin can do well in certain systems, not this one. Frankly he should ask to go. JRod is now 2 years (or so) from playing well, so you can't consider him an option. Plus, as with Austin, I'm not sure he fits either. Long will be good in this system eventually. I still have issues with Redmond upfront though, he looks much better away from the goal to me. This Puel system really needs midfielders acting as forwards. No of course if we changed to a more traditional scheme then the players we have will look much better.

I stand by what I wrote. I am not talking about missing a specific shot someone would have made, I'm talking about the scheme and the crop of players we currently have. I believe managers should build a scheme to get the most out of the players we have, not play players out of position to support a scheme.

I rest the blame for the scoring situation on Puel. He doesn't value typical, Box-type strikers. So guys like Austin, JRod, possibly Long, and IMO even Pelle if he had stayed, are downplayed for guys like Redmond. I prefer finishers, the guys who are firing away and cause havoc in the air. Puel seems to want a team full of midfielders. I think if we rotate through Long, Austin, and JRod, giving them equal playing time, and move Redmond back to where he belongs in midfield, then we would score.

Boy Arsenal has had some great chances

Look at that, Long goes to middle striker and gets a shot off

Thats because we are playing them out of position.

So he is taking a mid and forcing him as a striker (Redmond) and a striker and making him play outside mid (Long)?

Halftime - do we have a shot on goal besides the direct kick? I honestly can't remember one. Two points for me so far. First our midfield is getting run over again. Second, Redmond is a nice player but I still don't think he's a forward. He just gets lost up there, he is much better with the ball farther from goal. I would move Redmond to midfield (hopefully that improves things there), and I would rotate equally Austin, Long, and JRod. I think all three are good strikers, not great, but good. This way they all get time and are fresh. So we get actual strikers playing up front, and put Redmond back where he should be IMO.

I'm doing the same thing. I am using one of the links above, the feed4u one.

I think this is because itss on NBCSN TV.

So sticking with Redmond as a striker, and Long and Austin on the bench.

As long as Arsenal don't mind us playing with 12 players, I like this.

I frankly wouldn't blame JRod, or Austin for that matter, to want a transfer. Puel's formation is not really suited to traditional striker types. Its more about attacking mids.