Arsenal’s good result away to PSG in midweek somewhat masks the fact that they were battered for the first half of the game and should never have been able to nick a point in the first place.
What’s worrying for Arsene Wenger is presumably the fact that his best performer on the night was probably David Ospina, his goalkeeper.
That’s not so much worrying in the traditional way that hailing your keeper as the best player is worrying. It’s not worrying because they had to rely on him so much, but it’s worrying because their best player is probably not going to be the one who starts most matches.
It might just be that Ospina is Arsenal’s Champions League goalkeeper, but surely Petr Cech will come back into goal against Hull City. And if he does, will that mean that Arsenal’s team will be bereft of form players?
Will Olivier Giroud start up front, or will it be Alexis Sanchez, will Granit Xhaka be used from the start of an Arsenal match? He was given the full 90 against Watford, but then not played against PSG.
Here is an XI Arsenal need to use to beat high-flying Hull City…
Petr Cech
Petr Cech will surely come back into goal for Arsenal’s game away to Hull City.
No one has won the Premier League’s golden glove award more times than Cech, and his presence behind the back four makes everyone feel just that little bit better.
It’s all about confidence as a defender, and if you’re confident in the man behind you, it’s easier to stay in position and make sure you don’t make a mistake.
Hector Bellerin
Arsenal’s young right back is starting to look like one of the most promising players in world football.
Frighteningly quick and real handful going forward, Bellerin is a modern full back par excellence. It might even be that Bellerin suits a slightly more advanced role at some point in the future, though he’s not bad in defence either.
Against Hull, it will be Bellerin’s help going forward that might allow Arsenal to find space behind the full back and between the centre back and the full back. His pace is always an asset, but his ability to become an extra option in attack could be the key to Arsenal breaking down what has become quite a solid defence at the KCOM stadium.
Shkodran Mustafi
A lot of money was spent on Shkodran Mustafi, and it’ll take time for the German defender to really show that it was worth it. So far, though, he does look like the solid presence alongside Laurent Koscielny that Arsenal have been crying out for for so long.
Mustafi is also fantastic in the air, and from set pieces he may also find himself rising above everyone else. In games where you know the opposition are going to defend for their lives, it might be a leap from Mustafi that makes the difference.
Laurent Koscielny
Arsenal’s best defender is surely now to be considered one of the best in the league. And maybe this season, with some protection in front of him in the defensive midfield position, alongside him in Mustafi and behind in in Petr Cech, Koscielny can show just how good he is. As good as he is, defending is all about the team as a unit, in the end.
Nacho Monreal
Nacho Monreal is Arsenal’s undisputed left back these days. In a similar vein to Hector Bellerin, Monreal is good going forward and reliable defensively, but he’s also burst onto the scene and done enough to keep his place.
Another player who can give Arsenal an out ball in attacking positions, the full backs may be very important against Hull City, who – as we saw earlier this season against Manchester United – will defend for their lives all game. Width and extra attacking options will be vital.
Granit Xhaka
Although Arsene Wenger appears not to have been totally convinced by the Swiss international so far, Xhaka is clearly the steel in Arsenal’s midfield that they’ve been crying out for since Patrick Vieira left the club.
Xhaka is not just a defensive midfielder, though. He’s the man who brings the ball out of the defence and starts the team’s attacks. Something that could be vitally important to Arsenal’s recycling of play against Hull.
Santi Cazorla
If the game against PSG was too fractured, too intense and too much for Santi Cazorla at times, the sort of game where he really comes to the fore is the likes of Hull City away.
That sounds a little mean on the Spaniard, but it’s not supposed to be. Cazorla is a wonderfully creative midfielder, especially when used deep as he has been under Arsene Wenger recently.
Hull is a tough fixture precisely because they will be a side that is well-drilled and hard to break down. For the big teams, it’s a potential banana skin, but when you have a creator like Cazorla in the team, it does get a bit easier.
Theo Walcott
Theo Walcott didn’t travel to France to play against PSG, but Arsene Wenger has said that his spell on the sidelines is likely to be a short one. It’s entirely possible he plays against Hull City, then
That could be a good thing, too, as Walcott’s pace and good form could be the difference between breaking down a stubborn defence and being left ruing a missed chance, as has happened to Arsenal so often in the past when they’ve failed to break teams down.
Mesut Ozil
Mesut Ozil didn’t really do much against PSG in midweek, but the one time he was asked to pick out a good pass, it led to a goal.
Playing some nice football down the left, Ozil’s cut-back for Alex Iwobi was the key to breaking down PSG’s defence, after the Nigerian’s blocked shot came back to Alexis Sanchez who smashed it home.
It’s that sort of ability to come alive all of a sudden and change a game that Arsenal may need this weekend.
Alexis Sanchez
Played up front on his own against PSG, you could see that Alexis Sanchez wasn’t at his best playing that role. He looked isolated and couldn’t really get himself involved in the game – on top of that, he often dropped deep, leaving the PSG defenders with nothing to mark. A sin for a striker.
When Olivier Giroud came onto the pitch, however, Sanchez was given the opportunity to roam behind the striker, a position where he clearly felt more comfortable, and it was his late run into the box that got him a goal.
Olivier Giroud
When you have all the money in the world, perhaps your starting striker shouldn’t be Olivier Giroud.
You do get the feeling, though, that the big Frenchman is more important to this Arsenal team than people seem to think.
It’s not that he scores heaps of goals – and that, of course, is a problem for a striker – but it’s more the link up play he facilitates. During the PSG game, with Sanchez dropping too deep to allow Arsenal to have any sort of presence in the middle, Arsenal’s attacks often came to nothing.
Giroud came on and suddenly Marquinhos and Thaigo Silva needed to make tackles and mark a man. It’s that sort of presence that should be visible from the start against Hull. If it’s not working, plan B should be Sanchez or Lucas Perez up front. But start with Giroud and see if he can work the Hull defenders first.