I’ve just finished the final run of guests, a run that lasted 11 days straight, I’m more relieved than David Beckham after picking up his daughter’s pencil case.
The above comment was all for the joke kids, all for the joke. Or quip. Whatever.
News continued to gather pace that Arsenal are going to make Torriera our first exciting signing of the summer. There’s talk that Napoli are going to enter the race, with Carlo seeing the Uragyaun as an exciting option. Now, I don’t mean to be mean about Napoli, but a few things here.
⚽ Carlo is walking into the same trap he did at Bayern, but with a less dominant team. I struggle to see how the Napoli players are going to adapt to his more relaxed approach to football after an intense few years under Sarri. The same issue happened at Bayern.
⚽ Napoli aren’t on the same level as Arsenal when it comes to player appeal. Sure, the area ‘might’ beat out London. The food is great. There’s a lot of sunshine. But club wise, there’s no challenge. Arsenal fill their stadium, the Premier League is better, the money will be elite, our city is elite and our training facilities are incredible.
It sounds like the deal is moving in the right direction. The player looks very exciting. I like that he looks a leader. That injection of South American passion sitting at the base of our midfield would be a sight to behold. I feel like the club has grossly neglected defensive midfield for years.
Emery made some interesting points in his GFFN article when it came to the position. He was saying that you lose something when you bring in a destroyer, which is why he liked to play Rabiot there when he was at PSG. He mentioned that Bayern/Madrid struggled defensively with Alonso, but they more than made up for his weakness in defensive transition with attacking prowess.
I remember when I would analyse Real Madrid, I thought that Xabi Alonso suffered from not having to run track back and that he was the weak link. When I would analysed Barcelona and saw Busquets, I thought that Sergio suffered from the space left behind him. I thought the same with Thiago Motta. All the great defensive midfielders suffer from a lack of space behind them, and when they are required to track back. But when a team has the ball 70% of the time, that is more important than knowing if you’ll struggle when tracking back. You are the one dominating the matches. That’s why your defensive midfielder’s output during moments where you don’t have the ball is less important.
Because those periods don’t last as long. If I were to put a destroyer at defensive midfielder, there’s a significant trade off between what I can do during build-up play, rather than what I can do in defensive situations. Of course, Thiago Motta needs to better without the ball. But if you analyse Xabi Alonso or Sergio Busquets, the same could be said for them. They struggle during those periods, but they contribute so much more while on the ball. I don’t think this position was a weakness for PSG.
Motta is an incredible defensive midfielder. His injuries were the problem this year. Motta brought a lot to the team and his contribution on the ball was significant. He had difficult tracking back? Fine, but so do two other European champions Xabi and Busquets, who possess the same characteristics as Thiago. I don’t think PSG’s problem was the defensive midfielder.
Let’s talk about Rabiot. He’s a central midfielder, who is more comfortable playing as a defensive midfielder rather than a creative one. Even if he remains more of box-to-box, rather than a defensive midfielder. When you want to play with a defensive, creative and box-to-box-midfielders in fixed positions, Rabiot finds himself confronted to a problem. He has to run, run, run and not play in a fixed position statically. And even less so with his back turned on the action.
Rabiot doesn’t really like playing as a defensive midfielder, he likes playing as a box-to-box, but I prefer him as a defensive midfielder. That’s why after the elimination against Real Madrid, I told him he would play as a defensive midfielder.
In that position, he can be faced with play and switch around with Verratti. He is more competitive in these conditions. With certain players, you can’t impose a strict idea. You have to adapt yourself to their characteristics in order to win in individual and collective competitiveness. Lassana Diarra? He arrived in early January, after having played for six months in a low level league, and he needed time to accustom himself to the high level.
I think clubs are trying to find players that can offer a bit more in both areas these days. When you read up about Torreira he seems to have a bit of Jack, with his ability to break the lines with cute play and pace, he has the long range of passing that Xhaka is known for, and he’s high energy like Ramsey. I found this great write up on him.
Sampdoria primarily work with a diamond formation in which Torreira acts as the base of the three man midfield. When you watch them play, you can see how much compactness is stressed with the high volume of short passing in their build up play, creating shapes within the pitch for passing outlets as they progress the ball in such a methodical manner that will eventually lead to shooting opportunities. It allows Sampdoria to create situations where the opposition are attracted so much by the passer and the player receiving the ball, that connections are formed on the pitch and a third teammate can be reached by a pass, referred as “the third man”.
Torreira is important in the build-up phases for Sampdoria. He’s the one that operates as the base, positioning himself in close proximity with the centerbacks. Because of his ability to be cool under pressure, he can either pass it off to a teammate nearby or play a long pass up to the likes of Fabio Quagliarella and Duván Zapata so they can hold up play and play short passes/layoffs for other teammates in higher positions.
One of the things that I found most impressive with Lucas Torreira when looking at the video is the ease in which he hits long passes, and the variety to which he can hit it. This is born out in the data itself with Played Off The Park’s brilliant piece which tried to use statistical data and the use of z-score application in finding which players fit which archetype of midfielders. Torreira came out fairly well in relation to other players of his age group when it came to deeper midfielders, taking volume into account. Torreira is capable of attempting different kinds of long passes, whether it be while he’s got acres of space to settle down and pick out his target or being hurried by an opposition marker. It’s this kind of versatility that makes him an intriguing player.
Next season, give me someone who can defend, pass well, play in a system and offer us up the kind of mobility that might challenge your grandma in a race. Remember the Alex Song days? What a horror show that was…
We’re baking balance into our squad. An added bonus if we sign him is AMN has someone to learn off, as I see his future sitting at the base of midfield. It’ll also spare us from having to watch Xhaka plug away in a position he’s not built for. Win, win.
It’s also promising the money Sampdoria are looking at is around £20-25m mark. I’m amazed there’s less raiding of Serie A considering the talent they have on offer. Having a proper Head of Recruitment in place is finally seeing us raid countries outside Germany, France and Spain.
Finally, we’ve hired in a Director of Football Development to look after the coaches in the U9-U23s.
Marcel Lucassen (55) goes to work at Arsenal. De Venlonaar has signed a three-year contract with the top club in London and will work as Director of Football Development on 1 August.Lucassen thus becomes responsible for the development of both the coaches and the players of the teams Under 9 to Under 23.Lucassen worked for the past three years as Head of Al Nasr Education from Dubai. Before that he worked for the German Football Association for seven years and in 2011 he was assistant coach of TSG Hoffenheim. “What I’m going to do at Arsenal is to further develop the football philosophy, as I did earlier with Al Nasr and the German Football Association, and it was time to start working closer to home so that I could have my family in Blitterswijck. living, can see more often.
RIGHT, listen to our timeless podcast because it’s so damn good you’d eat it if sound were edible.
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CC I hope you’re right. Xkaka looks like he could be a player but perhaps he just has lapses of concentration…every 20 seconds. I hope the new manager gives him a bit of a boost and we can see the player I think he could be. RSPCA I live in a small town in middle England. The doctors are a meeting place for the doddering old has beens that populate that town. Average age: 78. You should see them drive! However, it does make me a bit of a stud…in middle age…up here…against the old death buzzards. It’s a win… Read more »
The idiot that started with wishing all a “happy Sunday” quickly went gutter-style to start spewing personal insults.
For a player we’re targeting with a release clause, is it more wise to wait until after Uruguay is eliminated from the WC? What if he does his ACL…
https://readarsenal.com/2018/06/10/arsenal-complete-move-for-barcelona-defender/
Just like the old days
Signing kids who will never see the light again….
Donyel malen
Dissenter
Don’t take Sunday in vain! I’m not. Bottle of Rose in…sunburn on the way and bullshitting on this blog.
“Jesus saves and gravity graves”
Anyone gets that reference or knows who that’s by, gets respect and a beer! No Googling.
I’m not in the camp that hypes up all of Xhaka’s weakness and dumps most of our defensive failings on him.
We need to surround him with players that complement him, not a central midfielder who thinks he’s a central striker and an attacking midfielder who want’s to play as a winger.
I find myself agreeing with CC, receding and Aubergine.
Xhaka can play a role as well as anyone else.
I’m glad Cesc Appeal sees some possibility in this as well.
Qna The club is under a new operational model, and that includes recruitment. I have an idea of what we should be doing and for me our approach is smart at present. Vindication can obviously only be attained at the end of the season, but there’s no strategy you can come up with that gurantees success for us so only thing that’s rich is downplaying the current one as if there’s a blindingly obvious strategy for success we’re ignoring. You might think there is, but is speculative. Arsenal are addressing squad concerns that will have a substantial impact on the… Read more »
Guns
Mid England lothario .
Haha tickled me…
You wanna see the post office Tuesday morning … all queuing
RSPCA
16 year old dumpster baby. We don’t learn. Always chasing the next Messi.
This is why we’re being beaten. In this day and age, money talks. You got to have a £500m team before you start blooding 12 year olds.
Fact. Arsenal really do think it’s 1993.
RSPCA
yeah, bossing it. I should change the Hackney bit as I moved 4.5 years ago after 38 in the cesspool of Crackney. But that’s always home and I am so fucking protective of Hackney I actually have a tattoo saying as such.
Middle England shits me though. Garden, big house, freedom etc…living the dream.
OH Binford.
“I told you less is more”
Sokratis, then someone like Soyuncu, Pavard or Lenglet offset by the sales of Mustafi and Chambers.
Torreria brought into CDM, let Wilshere go and sell the last of rubbish at the club out on loan etc.
Would be nice then to make one massive winger buy.
Aubergine
Yep – my mistake about the release clause.
The point still stands, though. If he has a good WC, there are plenty of other teams who are more of a draw than us who would happily pay that release clause as its peanuts to them, then loan him out or keep him on the bench.
I know transfers aren’t always that straightforward, especially during a WC period, but I just see no benefit to waiting if we’re genuinely interested.
Torreira to Napoli looking to best bet, with Jorginho going to City
Amazingly some players are not attracted by Thursday night football and playing along side Welbeck and Xhaka
Still think we need a keeper. Not going to lose it though so far so good.
Brazil are the team in the best form leading up too the World Cup.
The World Cup is a neutral country i.e. the host country dissent have any chance and the home crowd wont be playing a partisan role.
My money is on Brazil but we all know the competition always throws up it’s own spanner in the works.
It will take a lot to beat this Brazilian team.
*doesn’t have a chance
Brazil have too many match winners,,,too many
Maybe a Spain or Germany can catch them on a good day with proper tactics and organization.
France.
Period.
The French aren’t that good. They will come unstuck if they play a good South American team like Peru.
An American team with an average cap of 6.5 proved that yesterday.
The French don’t need to be that good. They just need to be better than…
What is a 6.5 cap?
*six and half International caps [appearances]
It was a very inexperienced team that’s being built for the future with a caretaker manager.
I’ll always support the French because I am…historically connected to the frogs. Can’t stand En-ger-land and the Dutch aren’t there.
It’s the cowardly French for me. Four gears in their tanks…all reverse.
GUNS.
All my Peaky blinders caps are 6/3/8s.
Iniesta, Silva, Isco, Thiago, Costa, Ramos, De Gea, Alba, Pique,Busquests,Carvazal
Not quite like the Spain golden generation team of 2008-2012 but still a great team and of course one of the most cohesive teams. My pick to go all the way.
Nadal wins the French open foe the 11th time. Can’t they just rename the trophy after him?
Death, taxes and a fit Nadal winning the French Open…….
Really disappointed with next generation of Tennis players though, none any close to the level of Fed, Rafa and Djoker. Thiem and Zverev are not quite top class.
I am lord of the sabbath, says the lord.
Thought I would scroll through the comments of the last few days. “gambonJune 9, 2018 10:09:01 Wow….Pierre is a proper scum bag isn’t he.Fingering his own daughter then marrying her.” “Sancho MonzorlaJune 8, 2018 19:40:26 PierreYou never told us you married your daughter.” “TonyDJune 9, 2018 12:00:06 Sancho Monzorla June 8, 2018 19:40:26“PierreYou never told us you married your daughter.” No, not too much of a joke at all Sancho” And someone with an understanding of how vile the above remarks are. “VictoriousJune 8, 2018 20:16:09 “Not really sancho. Clearly just a joke”a joke? you imbecile.would like to know your… Read more »
Costa is a shit Brazilian reject.
I’m with TR7 the Spanish got the know how. Brazil will come unstuck not every team will allow Brazil to play there expansive attacking game. They are still suspect at the back too,regardless of how good their keepers are.
Dissenter
Yeah, Brazil look like the most talented team in the tournament, but I still think Germany will be the best organized and I’m hoping this carries the day. The first few matches will tell us a lot, but I must admit that Brazil have looked pretty damn good in their pre-tournament friendlies.
Charlie: The club is under a new operational model, and that includes recruitment. I have an idea of what we should be doing and for me our approach is smart at present.
I will judge them by their actions not the propaganda that they have been spurting for all these years. So far a 34 yo on a free and a 29 yo for a bargain basement price for a starting CB. Both are top 4 trophy signings at best. Nobody is signing these two with the honest intention of winning the league.
One person said finger your daughter sancho implied that you married your daugter which was a clear joke. Anyway tell us again about Ozil’s depression and how it’s been affecting his performances? Or you just want to gloss over that
England 1 day cricket team are on the ropes and could well lose to Scotland
How embarassing is that
Rugby Union team – crap
Cricket team – crap
Football team – soon to be revealed
Charlie: If it makes you sleep easier you’re free to think of Torreira as a 50 mil player we’re getting for peanuts because of a release clause? Not really sure what you’re expecting if the club currently. Torriera is the right age. I won’t complain. But as I have said before, I have only seen him on YouTube, so I can’t make much judgment. What I have seen doesn’t impress me. The fact that he is a £50m player on a cheaper release clause doesn’t give me any comfort at all. On the contrary it reads as more of the… Read more »
I haven’t seen Brazil play expansive attacking football for decades.
France are overrated
Spain play predictable tippy tappy football.
Argentina are burdened with Messi.
Germany too many foreigners in team.
Croatia are exciting but lack bottle
England are shit.
England 1 day cricket team are on the ropes and could well lose to Scotland
Scotland came out the blocks with nearly a record score no embarrassment in that.
Too many “foreigners” in the team? Dear God, Red. It’s 2018, mate, not 1938.
Can’t argue with Red when he say’s England are shit. Actually looking forward to them embarrassing themselves. Even better will be Harry “mong” Kane’s facial expression.
QNA
Right, but our first aim IS to finish top four, not to win the title. So signings aimed at making us more defensively solid, or aimed at improving the mentality or level of experience in the squad, make sense. Plus the window doesn’t close for another two months. We’re linked to Torreira, Leno, Klostermann, Martins, Draxler. Relax.
Bamford
You should not use the lords name in vain, your ignorance will not excuse from the day of judgment.
“So far a 34 yo on a free and a 29 yo for a bargain basement price for a starting CB. Both are top 4 trophy signings at best. Nobody is signing these two with the honest intention of winning the league.” First off, do you think finishing 6th and being nowhere near the top and challenging for the title is a one summer process? Because straight away your sphere of judgement is unrealistic imo. The title isn’t the remit for next season bar a spectacular coming together of some sort, or massive wave of momentum and circumstance. Secondly re:Sokratis,… Read more »
qna
Where you see “Signing for a bargain, rather than for a need” I see the club getting square pegs for square holes and filling areas that desperately need strengthening. We don’t have the money to buy an entire new squad in one summer. With what I see if Emery can add some coaching and discipline I reckon top 4’s on for next year.
What do you want and what do you expect?
Bamford
You should not use the lords name in vain, your ignorance will not excuse you from the day of judgment.
CC
I’ve just realised he doesn’t watch football matches on a pitch but compare’s spread sheets.
Federer chickened out of the French Open lo
Red
Yes, I have watched a few friendlies involving Brazil, I don’t think they are all that exciting. Agree with you on France too. A lot of talent on paper but little on field chemistry between players.
Anyone watching the Canadian F1? Predictions??
Mustafa Dogru (Caglar Söyüncü’s agent): “Sven Mislintat has been keen on Caglar since he was at Borussia Dortmund. He first scouted him back in Germany. There are concrete talks, all that remains is for a fee to be agreed. We will see what happens next.” [@Turkish_Futbol1] #afc
Samesong
I’ll be watching. Always difficult to call when the cars are mixed up but reliability of the upgraded Ferrari engine could come into it vs the Merc’s on a unit at the end of it’s service life.
I’d prefer Pavard but Caglar seems like an excellent prospect
Yes, what would a Sunday be without some religious person threatening others with eternal damnation? Thanks for that, Red.
All the same, whom do you favor in the World Cup? I mean, clearly you think the teams in previous World Cups were superior to these teams, but which team is the best of this bunch, IYO?
Qna
Would you be happy if we did a United and paid 70m for another 29 year old in Alderwereild?
Madness.
Almost forgot that Red isn’t only an absolute nutter, but an absolute bible thumping nutter. Smh
Samesong
I am hoping that Vettel wins it. Say what you want I always liked the driver since his Red Bull days. He’s got a little bit of that Schumacher aggressiveness in him. … Although I do not mind F1, I am a Big fan of WRC!!!
Who is watching Soccer Aid?
Eternal damnation? Sounds like being an Arsenal fan all over again
Not so sure about Soyuncu anymore, had some howlers in him in the latest friendlies and gifted Russia their goal.
He’s highly rated though, just don’t want another mistake machine after enduring Mustafi for too long.
Marko
Not quite but close – eternal damnation is being an Arsenal fan without any alcohol!
Seems like Soyuncu and Torreria are just needing a little more work to be done.
This is why I do not get the negativity, when have Arsenal ever acted like this before?
Lichtsteiner in, Sokratis, Soyuncu and Torreira in negotiations and it seems we’re looking at a winger as well and it is June.
We all know it would have been Sokratis in, Wilshere new contract, Cazorla new contract and then Lichtsteiner as a deadline day free transfer under Wenger.
There’s stupid…then there is Man United.
They will rue the day they hired Mourhino as their manager.
I’m sure Daniel Levi cant believe his luck; a 29 year old who barely paid is being considered for a mega transfer.
Redtruth
Federer didn’t “chicken out of the French”, he merely decided to protect his body and mind in preperation for the Grass court season.
37 years of age, 4 kids. What does he need to prove?
YouI first to add a 29 year old with a dodgy knee is being considered for a mega transfer.
Pavon is being looked at again, is he?
We could be really smart this window.
Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Sonyucu, Torreria and Pavon were not really being thought about, but that would be a pretty good window. Add a GK and it is a great window in my opinion.
Really do need a GK as well, plenty of options.
Cesc Appeal
Totally agree.
How can anyone be negative after suffering for a decade with WENGERITIS?
Aubergine
How can you be banned when I can see your lamentations?
Relax.
There’s a different explanation, maybe a pigeon got your posts.
G62
I agree.
All the noises coming out of the club are positive.
We finally got rid of the one thing holding us back for years.
We’re adding yet more infrastructure with another DoF appointment.
New manager who is bringing new coaches, we’re getting transfers sorted.
Everyone will be accountable.
How can anyone not be happy?
For the first time in years I feel great about Arsenal.
So England lost to the Scots in cricket. What a great weekend!
Never mind, things can only improve.
England to go all the way and win the WC.
A14
Not pathetic. One of your posts was blatantly racist.
Aubergine
I have no idea what you’re on about, but I’m not surprised you’re resorting to homophobic slurs. You’ve got a lot of class, mate.
Aubergine
Post whatever you want ton post.
I hate censorship. I don’t think it was Bamford though.
If you were banned, you wouldn’t be able to post under your moniker. It’s probably a glitch.
Aubergine
That’s not a thing mate, you’re not banned lol you’re literally still posting. Most likely your internet is having a mare, or previous posts have had a banned word within them. Trust me, there’s a good few bizarre inclusions in the banned word list and it’s quite easy to do.
Cesc
Still trying to work out why people are so impatient.
JHC, spent years putting up with Wenger and his delusional methods and yet some on here want immediate action.
Doesn’t make any sense.
A14
If you are binned, why act so surprised?
If you are not binned, just try and show a bit more respect and humility in the future.
G62 Still trying to work out why people are so impatient. I have been wondering the same. The season is far from having started and some are hoping we spend 200 mil to get the team right. I seriously wonder how much they know their club at some point. I fear that throughout this season some will show the same impatience. I said it before and I will say it again: it will take a full season for the players and the new system to gel. So all of you, just fucking relax and enjoy the new era, regardless of… Read more »
A14
It’s a liberty!
What, to be racist? Just fuck off Do.n.
A Gooner is in goal for the Soccer Aid match. None other that David Seaman!
Jorginho to MC so Torreira to Naples?
New post.
Aubergine
Never seen someone maintain the ability top post, and be banned mate. Counterintuitive stuff. I’m under the impression the moniker gets binned and that’s it.
You’re still posting, I don’t think Pedro can ban your router only..
Samesong
I’m off to the German GP at Hockenhiem next month
Really looking forward to it
Regarding Soccer aid
We should be in for Mark Wright – pretty good player
Flintoff looked better as a CB than Mustafi