The 3 at the back thing has apparently been played at least once by 17 of the 20 premiership teams.

I'm still to be convinced by it for Arsenal or generally, the reason being is that I think the 3 at the back with wing backs is used to cover up the weaknesses of those 5 defensive players - who should be able to play in a back 4. I use a similar principle with the 3 central mids (often a holding, box to box and attacking). Years ago you played 2 CM and they had to do the lot, with 3 central mids you get ready made excuses for attacking players not defending or tracking, similarly for holding players offering nothing but a shield - think back to when Vieira and Petit did it all.

Anyway back to the 3 at the back. CBs who struggle in a 2 get the assurance of another CB in there to help them, and full backs turn in to wing backs to exploit the modern tendency for full backs to be far better going forward than they are at basic defending.

Maybe I'm old fashioned but I like my full-backs to be able to defend 1 v 1 and get up and down the line all day long. Think back to Ashley Cole, wingers in his pocket and flying on the overlap for Henry and Pires - all in a back 4.

For me the best CB's in prem history won't be CB who perform well in a back 3.

(I realise many brilliant italian defenders play in a 3)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2byZj3oz3U

If that one doesn't work for any reason there are a few other versions on youtube.

Thanks Exiled.... Very well put together documentary.

Take your second paragraph mentioning Vieira and Petit. Hopefully calling it extremely early but I wouldn't be surprised if they turned out to be the best midfield pairing of my lifetime. But in your description of the midfield three being holding/box to box/attacking they only cover 2 of the 3 - you need a Bergkamp to fill the other spot. Although back then it was called 4-4-2 I really don't see the difference between Özil's role now in the 4-3-3 and Bergkamp's in the 4-4-2.

I'd agree with what you say about Vieira and Petit Exiled, but I think Bergkamp consistently used to play in a more advanced position than Özil. That's not to say we never saw Bergkamp towards the back or Özil up front. We did and do. But for the majority of their time on the pitch, I feel Bergkamp was more advanced than Özil, meaning Özil was deeper than Bergkamp. Those heat maps that they used to have on MOTD, which gladly they've now stopped. But if they had them for both players, I'd be astonished if they didn't show what I just suggested.

I see a story online about tax frauds and raids at Newcastle and maybe Westham. If this is true there could be dramatic action that follows.

If I was Huddersfield supporter I would be hoping there was a lot of truth to this and would want to finish 3rd. Also Swansea or whoever finishes 3rd bottom may not be gone.

The punishment given to Rangers is well known and I would see no reason why both teams should not be taken back to conference league or at least the 3rd division if the same applies to these clubs.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor ... s-12945468

Not sure the Rangers analogy applies here as they went out of business and a completely new club was formed but agree with your general point about possible relegation.

I will watch with interest. You may recall the Westham issue years ago with Aguero(I think) and they were lucky to avoid relegation. Maybe payback time.

I'm talking about the Bergkamp in the line up mentioned not the first Wenger team. He played extremely deep compared to where a classic #10 would be expected to be and I can't see how describing him in his later years as an attacking midfielder doesn't describe his role better than striker.

Not for me. Bergkamp was always a more classic number 10 forward than an attacking midfielder, even in his later years. Özil is a creative midfielder.

If that were true then he can't have been very good at it for the last 5/6 years he was at Arsenal. I think we can probably agree that if the formation is set up with a classic #10 rather than an attacking midfielder you'd expect more goals from the former than later. In Bergkamp's first four seasons his League goals (from wiki...) were 11/12/16/12 but after that it was 6/3/9/4/4/8 (I'm ignoring his last season for various reasons). Now I realise other factors come into it but surely those bald figures would at the very least suggest that he was playing a deeper role, that of a creative midfielder. Either that or his shooting got a bit sh*t which I don't buy.

How to ruin a game of football - have Tony Gale on commentary. The guy is so negative about every aspect of Arsenal

So much possession but so little end product. Leicester are the masters at sitting deep and soaking up pressure.

We need a couple of players who are able to dribble past an opponent and open things up a bit.

So much possession but so little end product. Leicester are the masters at sitting deep and soaking up pressure.

We need a couple of players who are able to dribble past an opponent and open things up a bit.

He trouble with bellerin and Monreal as wing backs is as much as they are ok going forward they aren't a patch on a top level winger which I'm afraid your wing back needs to be. Add in coquelin and you have 6 players with very little in the way of genuine creativity in the side