‘Is he better than Mustafi?’
Arsenal dropped the second part of the double CEO Interview and THANK the bloody LORD Dennis Bergkamp, it was FAR more interesting.
The baton was passed over to Raul and the Spaniard started to talk about some of the details we’ve been lacking as fans. It was probably the most interesting interview I’ve ever seen come from Arsenal.com.
The new structure sits on an axis that Raul describes as the skeleton.
At the top, sits the first team coach… emphasis on the word ‘coach.’
At the bottom, sits the Academy Head, which is Per Mertesacker. This part of the business is important for obvious reasons, but I still liked hearing Raul talk about its role… namely, it creates an identity within the club, and also reduces the cost of transfers. He noted that Ajax, Bayern and Barca have all had legendary youth ranks.
Then he talked about the technical director role and if you’ve been following Le Grove for any length of time, I think you’ll be pleased we were in the right ballpark. They’ll be setting the tone and vision for the club. If you work in or around advertising, it’s basically a brand manager. A person that’s in charge of ensuring we do things the Arsenal way on the pitch from a technical perspective.
Then to the left, you have the Head of Football Operations. The person who is in charge of making sure every detail works from a budget perspective. They work on the player deals, they ensure contracts are buttoned up, they make sure the guy booking bus tickets isn’t holding the team haka.
The meat around the skeleton is the important thing that we’ve again been talking about at length. Burgess and Shad are growing in importance as we push hard to build out our High-Performance engine. Making sure players are fit, on the right programmes and that our injuries are low. We have a growing Data and Analytics team. That’s working out how we measure players, how we analyse a multitude of data points and how we find people that can extract meaningful insights out the back end. Remember, tools show you the data, elite humans make sense of it. They also had the ladies team in there, which seems to be a core growth point for the Arsenal as we’re so damn successful there (GO LADIES GO!).
They also spoke about player identification as an iterative process, which is great to hear. We’ve chatted about how big clubs build a profile of what they need over the course of a season so they’re not caught in a window shopping frenzy like Wenger used to be. Vinai pointed out they were talking about summer deals in October, which is assuring to hear.
It’s also clear that Emery and Raul are in the driving seat this summer. So we’ll have to see how that plays out. Regardless of how good that plan is, he was adamant there was a plan.
Another thing I really, really loved… Raul and Vinai doubled down on Arsenal being a great place to be for players (and managers by proxy). He’s absolutely correct. All the misery guts that make out we’re some sort of pariah club have always been wrong, but it was good to hear it from the top. History, facilities, fanbase, exposure, stadium… as Raul said, we have a lot of ammunition.
The Aaron Ramsey chat was a bit of a pigs ear. They spoke about wage rationalisation as the leading reason. You can buy into that as ‘we couldn’t afford him’, or you can look at how it went down which is, ‘we decided he wasn’t worth it.’
We didn’t think he was worth it. We offered him a big deal, which from what I heard was lower than what he eventually took at Juve (I also heard the Juve money being bandied around is not a clear cut as it seems), but it was big, then the manager and Raul decided to yank the deal in late September, likely because he wasn’t living up to the PowerPoint hype Emery had envisaged.
You know this is the deal because we took the worst of all PR routes.
Firstly, if we’d wanted to keep Aaron, we’d not have dropped him in September when we pulled the deal. There’s literally no reason to bench a play in September if they’re good. Players need to play, they want to play, and it is extremely rare to make a statement out of a person that early in a season. Also, we didn’t do it with Ozil or Sanchez.
Secondly, if the problem is greed, that’s a PR nugget to run with. You leave it to the player to reject a huge deal and send Aaron to Italy looking like a mercenary. If the problem is the player waiting out their deal, you leave the contract with them and let the player infuriate the fans.
We did neither, we yanked the deal and made a big fuss of it being our decision. Which would have been fine had we not needed to go crawling back in January. The club underestimated how good he was, I think it’s that simple. Wenger did the same with BIG John Hartson, gone too soon man, gone too soon.
If wage rationalisation were an issue, we’d not have Mikhi on £170k a week, we’d do something aggressive about Ozil, we’d not have Lacazette and Auba getting £250k a week (the number Ramsey was being pitched), and we’d not be doubling the money of Matteo.
So here would be my key takeaway. I fucking LOVE an operational lecture, I really do. It’s fascinating to hear how the club is organising bodies around a vision of the future. These sorts of things should always be iterative and they should always change… but organisational charts alone won’t move the club forward.
We need to have the very best talent in the system and we need to have someone leading in a very strong way to make sure it all ticks along properly. One bad apple can infect the rest of the business like a cancer. Who is there making sure there is no cancer in the system?
We have a sports psychologist in the mix that’s overseen epic tanks for years now, if you’re talking elite performance, how is that guy justifying his salary?
If you’re talking about performance over the course of a season, and you’re looking at data, what does success for the manager look like? Sarri put it perfectly when he said that Chelsea should sack him now if his season is dependent on one trophy. What are we judging Emery by? Just top level, if metrics get worse as a season goes on, and you invested in areas to make them better but didn’t manage it, how do you justify those things? It’s just a question, don’t burst a blood vessel answering.
I love Big Per Mertesacker and he talks incredibly well about the game, but growing talent across such a wide range of age groups is REALLY tough. If he gets it wrong, he could consign a generation of players to the bin. Was it sensible to give someone the keys to the academy like that? Time will tell, but it was a huge gamble to go that route for the lifeblood and identity of the club moving forward.
How did all of this process land us on the decision to sign Denis Suarez in January? It’s a serious question. Of all the problems our squad clearly had, how did months of talking about weaknesses in the squad land us on a player that lacked character, physicality and purpose for our setup?
Anyone can map problems out.
Anyone can build a paper organisation.
Anyone can design a model for the future.
The difficult part is driving through that change and holding people accountable for moving things forward. It’s uncomfortable, it’s hard and it takes a huge expenditure of energy.
Who has the energy to make it happen? What are Vinai and Raul accountable for? What is the timeframe for success?
Part one was such a letdown because we didn’t offer up clarity on the vision. If your vision is murky, the execution will be the same.
We have a lot of theory, but very little to judge it by. Making the fans proud is meek.
I also wanted to hear something a bit more detailed about the football.
That could be us waiting for a technical director, or that could be the self-preservation kicking in. If you’re not told to be ambitious, why would you put your neck on the line?
You wouldn’t. Textbook Ivan Gazidis. Talk around the notion of accountability, whinge on that it’s really hard to compete, and people will likely not notice. Remember all the morons that jumped on Arsene Wenger’s comments about buying loaves of bread? Dortmund have done a massive chunk of excellent transfer business and we’re not out of May. They have a clear vision and they execute against it like clockwork. I’m not sure what ours is after an hour-long interview with the top two guys.
Part 2 was very solid, but if I were being very critical, I’d say… What’s really new here? What are doing that no other club is doing? Does this not feel a little like table stakes? Are we celebrating moving forward, or are we still blasting party poppers about catching up on the basics?
Right, that was a good chat… well played Raul and Vinai, but still some way to go if we’re truly planning to make moves over the next 5 years.
See you in the comments!
Bankz is here for the Tr4phy again
2
1st
Tr4phy loading…………
Noooo
Doh
Sorry groovedaddy.
I didn’t beat DM to lose the spot to you.
Well done Bankz
Thanks groovey
Apparently Emery sends out instructions for the type of players he wants as he’s not allowed to make those decisions off his own back . I would imagine the instructions are along these lines in level of importance. 1) must track back 2)must run, run and run a bit more . 3) not show displeasure when substituted.( If not marginalized) 4) must smile and wave to the crowd when substituted , giving a high 5 to the manager on exiting the pitch.(if not marginalized) 6) must not look confused by the manager’s continual arm waving and gesturing on the touch… Read more »
Only part I disagree with is the part about Raul and Emery running our summer business. A new TD already potentially on board and a new head of recruitment too not to mention Gabriel Martinelli and links to Kannemann and Palacios that suggests that either the Brazilian born Edu is already influencing our transfer business for the summer or our former international scout now head of recruitment is. Also the cancer is to be expected honestly
Pierre – tl;dr I don’t like Emery and I miss Wenger
These type of interviews are more than we ever got before but actions speak louder than words. Let’s see how the summer goes.
Hmmm
hence iwobi will never be marginalised as he has the perfect profile for an Emery type player.
Iwobi this season 2,800 minutes total 1,900 in the premier league the previous season under Arsene Wenger 2,600 total with 1,800 in the premier league. Season before that 2,300 with 1,400 minutes in the premier league. Seems like he had the perfect Wenger profile too
Agree Chris who cares about these types of interviews what’s important is actions
Tis the season to sell season tickets, I can’t take anything these people say at face value. Judge them after transfer deadline day.
Hopefully the well detailed plan will be well executed by Vinai &Co.
Interesting to think we probably already have deals arranged.
Clearly we won’t announce until after the EL final for obvious reasons.
I think the success of the transfer window should be judged just as much by who and how many go out as much as by who comes in.
If it’s just, say, El Neney, Jenko and Chambers who go, then it’s a failure.
But if Mustafi, Ozil, Mikki, and Xhaka were also to leave then we can see that Raul/Emery are serious about a fundamental squad restructuring
Marko- you have been repeating incessantly that UE has no role to play in the buying of players except recommending the positions he wants . No club runs on this way. You think that the club will impose players on him he does not need. What the new system does is that he asks for players and then the others get into the job of trying to get them , negotiating price, wages length of contract etc which was being by one man before
Hiring per a risk as he could consign a whole generation to the dustbin…
I wonder if we could say the same for Pep’s cone boy
Given the £40m cap (say £70m if we qualify for ECL), it will be player departures, and how much we can obtain for players transferred out, that will largely dictate how fundamentally transformative the squad restructure is.
Oh, and all the talk about data and analytics, and the collegiate nature of the decision-making on transfers, should presumably preclude the arrival of Banega and N’Zonzi
I think it will be more like £70m with no CL, £100m with CL
Selling players it vital, not so much to raise money, but because our squad is easily big enough
Every purchase should be met with at least one sale, if not 2.
“If in any doubt ask Iwobi as he has mastered all of these,”
That’s why he’s creating more chances than Ozil.
WOAB we were never going to sign Banega and Nzonzi this window
That was never on the cards…just something people say,like Wenger and Salomon Kalou
Interesting that most of us wanted Monchi though, same Monchi that signed Nzonzi for 24m pounds
“Hiring per a risk as he could consign a whole generation to the dustbin…
I wonder if we could say the same for Pep’s cone boy”
Fire
You are on fire..
Pedro
Please explain to us how you think its ok for Arteta to be in charge of the senior team but Metersacker in charge of the academy is risky.
And don’t say “sauce” because you said Raul and Vinai should have talked about measurable things and “sauce” isn’t measurable.
Nw9 I said he’s not responsible there’s a difference. He can have input it’s to be expected but just as easily as last summer with Sven going out and shopping at his old club just as easily this summer Edu and Cagigao could have their own targets in mind
I could actually see us signing Banega. He has 1 year left, would Sevilla be open to a £15m deal? Emery knows him inside out, he knows how to play in Emerys system, he is a CM that scores and assists, similar to Cazorla in style. He will be 31 at the end of the season, and we do have a young midfield, that will get even younger if we were to replace Elneny with someone like Palacios. If we gave him a 3 year deal, he would be 33 when he left, and if we got him for a… Read more »
Gambon
“Every purchase should be met with at least one sale, if not 2.”
Agree.
Mustafi and Chambers to fund a very good CB
Xhaka and Elneny to fund an athletic, pacy B2B midfielder.
Ozil– Sacrifice to the gods
“If wage rationalisation were an issue, we’d not have Mikhi on £170k a week, we’d do something aggressive about Ozil, we’d not have Lacazette and Auba getting £250k a week (the number Ramsey was being pitched), and we’d not be doubling the money of Matteo.“ Didn’t the Mkhitarian deal happen on Wenger/ Gazidis watch? Doing something aggressive about Ozil …. like, perhaps driving him to a desert after some Vinny Goombots had dug up a hole? Auba and Laca are probably the only two Arsenal players pulling their weight and without them we’d be a mid table team, literally. Whether… Read more »
Pierre
I think you’ll find Iwobi had all those traits prior to Emery’s arrival.
Gambon i don’t think that will be a good deal, Banega isn’t as good as he used to be, Emery mentioned the need for physicality, Banega’s idea of physicality is reckless tackling.
Banega would have been a good move 3 years ago, now it’s a move i cannot really get down with.
I agree with what youre saying Receding, but im looking at it from a realistic point of view. I dont think Emery wants a “number 10” He wants a CM that can do everything. Tackle, create, score, press. Someone like Ramsey but a bit better in Midfield cos Ramsey really is just a final third player. There arent many out there. Aouar, Barella, Maddison, Tielemans, Pjanic, Van De Beek will all cost a lot of money. Although his age isnt good, if you look at our midfield as a whole it is young. I guess the only issue is his… Read more »
Azed, Pretty simple answer to a question I knew you’d ask. A head coach is the focal point of the club, but not that important to overall infrastructure. The most they can do is a seasons worth of damage, and if it’s that bad, you course correct very early. If you hire in a poor Academy Lead, it’s by nature a longer-term role. You cannot judge the output for at least 5 years… by which time, you’re left with a duff generation of kids. Results take long, therefore it takes longer to work out if performance levels are up to… Read more »
If we get Banaga which I doubt, then we definitely need to get someone like Dacoure.
Gambon you are right, Emery doesn’t like/use 10’s he prefers two no 8’s and one no 6 in a 3 man midfield.
Why does Pierre persists with such drivel?
Why does everything have to soe Ozil-centric?
Why not just put Arsenal first? That’s what he always told us when Wenger was around.
I hope Pierre moves to Turkeywhen Ozil finally makes his dream move to Istanbul Basaksehir in 2021.
“Although his age isnt good, if you look at our midfield as a whole it is young.”
Yes very young
Which is why i think Matteo should replace Elneny and we get someone in to replace Matteo (i.e play the insane number of games he ended up playing) , preferably someone defensive.
Gambon
You a fan of Doucoure?
Pedro
The Academy head should be appointed by the same person who appointed the coach, the DOF.
I also respectfully disagree with the notion that it takes 5 years to see the impact of an Academy head.
There should be measurable yearly goals for Per.
CC
Yes. Think he would make a massive difference
As per Recedings thoughts, I would replace Elneny with Docoure, and shift Guendouzi down the pecking order.
Doucoure could play with any of our MFs, or in a 3 with any 2 of them.
I still think we need a more attacking CM though. Someone who gets into the final 3rd a bit more than our players.
Ive never liked Ramsey as much as a lot of people here, but his ability to make late runs into the box, and stretch defences on the counter, will be missed.
Gambon
What’s he going for?
“What’s he going for?”
Doucoure?
More than we will pay.
Like Zaha and Maguire, he will find it hard to move.
“I still think we need a more attacking CM though. Someone who gets into the final 3rd a bit more than our players.”
I think Torriera can grow into that gambon
I saw enough in the first half of the season to convince me he is much more than a destroyer, his touch is good, his vision is good and he can become a better finisher ( certainly won’t scoff shots like Iwobi)
I think we should get a DM and let him operate more up the field
– Rumor is we’ll be bidding for Fraser of Bournemouth. Not impressed he’s our #1 target for a wide player
Is this Palacios kid a lesser profile version of Torreira? We need better passing and ball carrying in central midfield.
I dont think Torreira is ever going to do what Ramsey did, what Loftus-Cheek gives Chelsea.
Willock maybe, but it will be 3-4 years before he able to do it at the top level (if ever)
Rabiot is definitely off the cards. Talk of demanding 10 million after tax salary on top of a 15 million signing on fee and PSG being entitled to something for training him. Hardly seems worth the hassle
Raul pleased me too. But reading between the lines, what he said is not the same as what he meant. He told us that players wanted to come to Arsenal because it was a big club, with history, tradition, in London, and so on. What he meant was that he didn’t have the money to attract them with big transfer fees and high wages. The stuff about Club framework and modern training methods reads well, but is no more than spin for us, the customers. Pedro’s description of a Technical Director as a ‘Brand Manager’ is apt and appropriate. The… Read more »
Dont like Haggis Ribery at all.
Dont like wide players that dont regularly dribble past their full backs.
Hope these rumours arent true.
He doesnt shoot much, and his game just seems to consist of endless crosses into the box, something that will be a complete waste at Arsenal.
Dont like Haggis Ribery at all.
LOL Gambon in usual form
Who is your choice to replace Ramsey. besides Tielemans of course
Question for Marko and gambon
Right on Cue- as Always – author PedRo C.B.E. – posts another blockbuster of a post,not of his recent highest quality-(too much waffle in parts)- but a terrific read, all the same. And I , off course thank him for it. I acknowledge PedRo- is trying to put on a ‘postive’ spin on the Raul Interview Part 11- but like polishing a turd – its in reality an impossible task, The man who heads our footballing Department is being extremely parsimonious with the truth or an incompetent buffoon. ( what is particularly worrying – he is probably both!) He states:… Read more »
contract extensions ( signed off by raul)
Azed, you’re judged on taking kids from 8 through to 18.
You can set yearly targets, but they’d be pretty hard to measure.
Your role is basically getting kids to the first team across, what, 10 different age categories.
So not really sure how your yearly targets are working.
Receding my dream was Brandt or Aouar but it really depends on how they want to replace Ramsey. Are they replacing Ramsey the CM or Ramsey the attacker. If it’s the former I think it’s easier cause there’s plenty of competent midfielders out there. If it’s the attacker they might just decide to replace him with a winger. I don’t see it as being impossible to cover his loss. I would like to see more characters brought in to compensate his loss in that regard
Re Replacing Ramsey
It depends what the formation is going to be. I would like to see us go to 4-3-3, so maybe we wouldnt need too many MF goals.
But assuming Emery wants to play 4-2-3-1 with a CAM that is a cross between a 8 and a 10, I guess the options are:
Maddison
Havertz (too expensive after what hes done in the last few months)
Demirbay
Fornals
Sarabia
Aouar
Cyprien
My choice would be Aouar, think he has a huge ceiling, but he will cost a lot.
Very much behind the signing of Palacios. 20 and he’s already playing for Argentina. Looks like he’s going to explode onto the scene.
Get off this Ramsey wankfest. The dude is always injury prone. Does it make sense to pay him 250k a week and he misses key games due to injury?
Considering we already have Õzil, giving Ramsey what he wants harms the club’s ability to chart new courses.
Think FFP and STCC rules, then think about how much we would further become an orphanage for broken footballers, as if we weren’t so unlucky some years ago.
Demirbey has gone to Leverkusen already.
Whoever’s signed this summer just as important or perhaps moreso is going to be the actual selling of certain players. It’s utterly pointless who comes in if Xhaka and Kolasinac and the likes are still playing and still making mistakes. I do not want to see Xhaka in that lush Adidas kit next season
“Did it not occur to him- to sign Ramsey on a contract- and maybe sell him in 18 months to these many suitors? So we get a fee? Are we a Charity” You mean kinda like we did with Ozil? So you give Ramsey his last huge deal, whatever that might be, and then shop him around to recoup the signing bonus, agent fees and such. Has it ever occurred to you that one of the reasons Ramsey had so many clubs after him was because he would come on a free and once that incentive had been removed we… Read more »
“If it’s the attacker they might just decide to replace him with a winger.”
Yes i would lean towards this method too
Let the midfielders concentrate on not losing the midfield like we always do away from home, get a winger to compensate for what we lose in attack
“Demirbey has gone to Leverkusen already.”
Fucking hell, Brandt and Demirbay gone and we’re still waiting for Mr Good Ebening to get going.
Chitom,thanks for explaining that to CG.
I think many have to make peace with the fact Xhaka will most likely be here for one extra season
Mustafi though has to go, and we need better options at fullback and a regular source of goals not named Aubameyang or lacazette
I think Xhaka only leaves it someone makes a move for him as opposed to being pushed to leave this window
Liverpool wanted Brandt, but he chose Dortmund.
I’m thinking he looked at them and he could not see himself tying down a regular spot on their 1st team, so he chose to go someplace where he could get regular games.
The questions that should be asked about the midfield is will the regista/deep lying play maker be scrapped for a more conventional midfield. Wenger was lying yet again when he stated what he thought Xhaka was. He knew perfectly well what type of player he was as he was also interested in buying Jorginho as well at the time but we got Xhaka because he was less expensive than Jorginho. Someone said on here that Xhaka is hard or difficult to replace. That is true to some extent but only if what is wanted is to continue with regista and… Read more »
Hoffenheim have lost their manager and two important players and its still May
Gambon Lyon will sell Ndombele this summer and hold on to Aouar for another year. Fornals likely off to Napoli. Not sure he is consistent enough as player. Reckon Maddison is available, but you’re looking at 40m I would say. Not sure you can play him in a three if you want solidity. But he has end product from open play. Havertz the most goal hungry of the players you listed. Aouar can play #6/#8/#10/#11. Top technique, end product with intensity. He is a sure thing. The guy you do a Keita type deal for 70m. Not happy with the… Read more »
‘Good ebening’ is worth another 2 years imo.
“I think Xhaka only leaves it someone makes a move for him as opposed to being pushed to leave this window“ That’s because, contrary to some of the emotive nonsense written on here, Xhaka is a considerable performer for us and his departure would need a proper replacement – one that would have to deliver here and now, and those guys are ‘hard’ purchases. Replacing Elneny with someone that demotes Guendouzi is a much keener use of funds. We gain an able performer instead of replacing the performances of a player. Makes more sense to me for us to replace… Read more »
I would like to remind all the posters on here( especially the ones – particularity wet behind the ears- and they are growing bunch****)- running a successful organisation or indeed football club is a straightforward task if you apply this one mantra….. ‘Always replace with better or don’t replace at all!’ the reason why Arsenal are on for a horrible mid term slump – in the next few seasons- is they continue to eschew this simple footballing mantra. you get rid of ramsey- find better you get rid of ozil- find better you get rid of Wenger- find better you… Read more »
You can improve the defence AND mitgate Xhakas mistakes by changing to a 4-3-3. But changing to a 4-3-3 will require 2 high quality wide players. It would also require 2 quality central MFs Not to mention good defenders. There are no easy answers. Just have to hope the club have a proper plan for what they want to do. We used to talk a good game for years, but in all honestly we knew Wenger had no clue what he was looking to do even as late as mid-August. We would just make random purchases based on who was… Read more »
***its great to see younger Arsenal fans engaging on this imperious forum.
Imperious forum??
I know English is my third language (behind igbo and Hausa) but are you quite sure you used that adjective right?
Xhaka is a considerable performer for us and his departure would need a proper replacement – one that would have to deliver here and now, and those guys are ‘hard’ purchases.
None of this is remotely true. Not the considerable performer part nor his replacement being a hard purchase.
“Xhaka is a considerable performer for us and his departure would need a proper replacement – one that would have to deliver here and now, and those guys are ‘hard’ purchases.None of this is remotely true. Not the considerable performer part nor his replacement being a hard purchase.” Nah Marko, Xhaka is easily our fourth to fifth best player (which is a worry), his weaknesses bring us down as a team in the whole, but his strengths cannot be ignored. When Xhaka plays well, we play well as a team. He won’t be hard or expensive to replace though if… Read more »
Marko
Yea ok mate, everyone knows your hot take on transfers. Let’s see if we push Xhaka out the door, I doubt it. We have plenty on our plate as is and he’s only going if an Inter come knocking.
Also, he absolutely is a considerable performer for us. He plays more than any other midfielder and replacing that guy is replacing a considerable element of midfield. So just halt before you dive off into some petty bollocks about him not being good at X or Y. It’s tired.
His strengths? Which are? Genuinely curious to see what it is that people value so highly about Granit. So highly that they’re willing to overlook his many quite blatant flaws
Xhaka is undoubtedly important to our game. That is clear a day. Listen, I dont like him. I want us to replace him, but we’re not talking about an Elneny here. Theres only one MF in the premier league that passes the ball more than him. The problem is he makes mistakes, and he has physical limitations that he can never overcome. Top teams needs complete players, two-way players, and Arsenal have too many limited, one-way players. But if youre going to replace him, you need someone that can pass the ball 80 times per game, make 5 defensive actions… Read more »
Marko Xhaka, like Mikki, like Ozil, like Sead ( Ill except Mustafi has concentration issues- and is probably beyond salvation) are all very good footballers. With a Top Notch coach- we would not need to rush out and replace them. We could spend all our budget on Zaha, Zaha/PEA/Laca and a proper coach- gives us a 16-1 shot of the title next season. Just to remind you. Emery has not kept the same team in his last 2 clubs for 75 games. How can you get the best out of any athlete – with this much chop and change? He… Read more »
There it is, right on cue. Nobody cares about your breakdown of the player, he’s a considerable performer for us. End of story given the games he’s had. The club have: – Ozil on 350k offering diddly – Mkhi on 150k offering diddly – Ramsey to replace – Welbz to replace – Elneny offering nothing. – Chambers to replace – Licht to replace – Our defence to address But you’re that obtuse you can’t fathom how Xhaka is down the list as a CM playing 50 games a season on a meagre 90k a week. The club aren’t likely to… Read more »
How good has regista been for Arsenal these last three years for the team as a whole?
Really good? Good?
Jorginho has been a problem for Chelsea and fans scoff at him. Our regista Xhaka is better than your regista Jorginho.
All well and good but our regista is still a problem for the side nonetheless regardless of comparisons with Jorginho.
Charlie
Maybe Marko has Xhaka top of the list to get rid of because he plays in a key position the hub of the side and if there are worries and question marks against this player in such a position it can be seen as only natural that some would want a replacement along with the scrapping of regista.
If this “hub” of the side has weaknesses then it can affect the whole team in an adverse way.
Who is still big on regista?
Who thinks it’s essential for Arsenal to carry on with regista?
I’d say of course that regista is over-rated.
It makes Arsenal slow and predictable on offense.
Will this comment upset the total football aficionados?
And we all see it makes the team suspect defensively.
When theee Arsenal knocks on the door its eh deeefferent knock than other clubs.
Too fucking right Raul, lets go boozing amigo.
Thorgan Hazard, Brandt, Demirbay, Nico Schulz [really top LB], Pavard, Lucas Hernandez all already done transfer deals.
Ze Germans aren’t fucking around it would seem. Three signings for Dortmund and two for Bayern.
We need to get cracking as soon as we’re finished next week.
The problem is Xhaka is essential to our build up. He basically is our build up, if you take him out, we are a team that really struggle to hold on to the ball, which puts pressure on our defence and impacts our ability to score. Look at all the top teams in the PL. Below is a list of players that pass the ball more than our main 2 CBs this season, Sokratis and Mustafi. Laporte Stones Walker Van Dijk Matip Robertson TAA Rudiger Luiz Azpilicueta Alonso Vertonghen Alderweireld Sanchez Trippier Whats the first thing you notice? Virtually every… Read more »
Emery deserves to get the boot next season if there are no real improvements seen in the side and one of his biggest crimes will be that he didn’t scrap regista.
Regista is Wenger all over.
Emery should be washing away Wenger traits in the side and the regista is one big Wenger trait in this current team.
But perhaps as regista is seen as “total football” Emery is reluctant to intervene to bring it to a close at Arsenal. Doesn’t want to touch Wenger’s footballing principles that are seen as noble.
Nobody cares about your breakdown of the player, he’s a considerable performer for us. End of story given the games he’s had. Why because you Receding and gambon have said so? Personally I don’t get how people can be so set on getting rid of the likes of Mustafi and Kolasinac for example and then leave out Xhaka who is just as costly as those players. You are right though he won’t be forced out of the club moreso because there’s probably quite a number of players in front of him that they’re looking at getting rid of. But make… Read more »
Moving on from Ramsey….Is Ryan Fraser a viable replacement??? Just asking for a friend
Gambon
You say Xhaka is essential to build-up do do you realise as well this makes the team slow and predictable on offense?
Xhaka isn’t a dynamic player. He plods. Arsenal in first phase offense plods as a result.
if you take him out, we are a team that really struggle to hold on to the ball
I’ve seen him play and we struggle to hold onto the ball. This idea of him being key to any facet of our game is a more of an indignation of us as a club. There are dozens of footballers out there who can do what he does and who won’t cost us in almost every single game.
Good write up, Pedro. Thanks for that. I can save myself the time to watch that video myself. While it’s probably all a bit “so what”, we have to bear in mind how much Wenger was dragging the club back in terms of modernising, sharing responsibilities and preventing us from bringing in specialism and innovation. The fact we have finally set up what looks more like a modern commercial organisation is to be celebrated. HOWEVER, the proof has to be in the pudding. If Mert is shitting his pants every time he has to coach the youngsters and fails to… Read more »
Ishola Let’s not pretend you’re batting for Marko’s right to a view, it’s your vicarious Xhaka complaint here so own that much at least. You don’t rate Xhaka, that’s great. But are you blissfully ignoring the needs of the team in a personal pursuit? I’d say so. – We’re losing Ramsey, Welbz, Cech, Licht end of season. – We need to move on Ospina, Jenks, Chambers, Elneny. – We have guys on gross wages giving nothing in Ozil and Mkhi Looking at selling Xhaka you need to be keenly aware of a few things: – we’re losing 2 current options… Read more »
I would love us to have the qualities again to be hard to score against and quick on the counter. That’s still how you win shit, unless you have the resources of Barca or Man City. Let’s not complicate it.
Ishola
I’ll just refer you back to what I said above.
We rely so heavily on Xhaka to move the ball around the pitch that we cant really afford to lose him as it stands.
Our defence isnt fit for purpose in terms of build up. Until it is, Xhaka is going nowhere.
All of this all goes back to dear old Arsene wanting a passing footballer to be sitting in front of the defence rather than a more all round player that contributes well off the ball and defensively as well.
Goes back years now and the signing of Xhaka was a continuation of it.
And people say why is Wenger still spoken about when he has left the club.
He’s still spoken about because this team still reeks of him with regista in the side being a prime example.
It’s funny they criticize the football and the vision and they say Xhaka is essential at the same time and it’s almost like they can’t quite put the two together. Anyway