Fresh Football Fresh quotes, opinion and reaction to the beautiful game.
Arsenal needed to win when they hosted Hull City on Saturday evening, and they did just that.
The goals came via a handball and a penalty, but the Gunners were in control of the game most of the time, although some late pressure from Hull did cause some nerves inside the stadium.
For the most part, the Gunners played well. One player who really impressed though was Oxlade-Chamberlain. He has been (forcefully) moved into a central midfield position, but he has played better than we’ve seen him play all season.
The Ox and Coquelin are not players that help the team dominate possession and that was reflected in the match statistics. Hull had more possession than the home side, which is a rare sight, especially for a team so close to the bottom of the league. However the Ox was efficient in possession and that’s the most important thing.
One of his best attributes is his running between midfield and attack, he completed 5 dribbles against Hull. The Ox completed 86% of his passes, including 4 accurate long balls. Defensively he made 2 tackles and 1 interception, he also used his energy to get back and help the team defend on several occasions.
Here are some of the best tweets about Oxlade-Chamberlain’s performance. The performance was so good the fans are keen to see him play in Munich.
Wonder if we'll go for a Ox Xhaka CM partnership against Bayern. Its risky for such a big game but Ox is playing so well in the middle
— Karan Mundul (@_Chinaman_) February 11, 2017
If Ox doesn't start against Bayern pic.twitter.com/m9q7d9PNBU
— SA (@rackedupshawwty) February 11, 2017
Ox fantastic again today - he's revelling in central areas. He must start in Munich. #afc https://t.co/3BY67ZZRgg
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) February 11, 2017
Ox MUST start CM on Wednesday !
— EireArsenal (@deedeegooner) February 11, 2017
Ox must start against Bayern. He gives class performances from cm
— Arda MagnificenTuran (@FlowLikeXavi) February 11, 2017
In my opinion it is great to see The Ox developing in central midfield. He was showing little to no progression on the wing and it is now great to see him settling and improving in a position. Now, Wenger needs to give him the game time to continue that development and realise his colossal potential.
On the face of it, you wouldn’t expect him to be a central midfielder at all. But since moving to that position he has impressed with his passing range and immense amount of energy. He’s taken over Aaron Ramsey’s position and despite a lack of experience there, he has arguably outperformed the Welshman by far.
