Ex-Arsenal Midfielder Names His Preferred Gunners XI

By The Editor
on 22nd September 2017

Paul Mariner wants a change of system…

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Mariner named his preferred XI going forward and the ESPN pundit wants Arsene Wenger to revert to a system with a back four.

Ahead of the visit of West Bromwich Albion on Monday, Mariner is hoping for a reshuffle that would see Sead Kolasinac move into a central midfield role.

Kolasinac has featured in that position for Schalke in the past, though it would be a surprise to see him feature there for us in the near future.

Mariner feels we’re in need of power in midfield and creativity up front, and is intent on seeing Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette unleashed as a trio.

“When I saw the likes of Ozil, Lacazette and Sanchez as a possible front three, I was licking my lips,” Mariner said on ESPN FC.

“Lacazette is a finisher, when he gets in the box, he’ll finish. And who are great suppliers? These two (Ozil & Alexis).

“I want to find a place for Kolasinac because I think he imposes his physicality on teams.”

Mariner, in the end, went for a 4-3-3 system with Kolasinac partnering Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka in midfield, while he reverted to our old centre-back pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker.

Check out his team below, and watch the reasons he gave for picking such an XI in the video above.