Preseason moved into game two yesterday against Rangers. Mikel Arteta went back to the club that gave him his first British experience, even though it was against the backdrop of the smallest crowd he’s probably ever played there.
The game was so, so.
The players looked fitter and sharper. We controlled the 90 much better. We also created a lot of chances. 19 attempts with 9 shots on target is far closer to what most of us were hoping for against teams in a weaker league.
The highlight was seeing Tavares score a great goal with his weaker foot. He has power, he moves at speed, and he clearly has all the raw ingredients to be a good player… he’s certainly plenty raw though.
The two areas for big improvement.
Obviously, we can’t keep conceding goals from set plays. We did a pretty decent job last season rectifying the issues of the season prior… we cannot slip back to corners feeling like penalties. Good job we have pinched the coach from City to help out.
The other area is in the final third. Auba missed some really easy chances, as did the rest of the team. Arteta had this to say.
‘Overall I’m really pleased with the performance. I think we dominated the game, we created so many chances – I counted about eight or 10 clear chances to score – but this game is decided in both boxes. We weren’t clinical in the opponent’s box’
Goals will come, I’ve no doubt. The key point I’m excited about is that we’re finding ways to move the ball into the final third. Last season, we could barely create.
We still have plenty of good players coming back, transfers will kick up a gear over the next two weeks, and we’ll start to see more sharpness with the play.
Arteta trains a cognitive style of football. He teaches patterns of play that take time to bed into players. He picked Arsenal up from a very low point, his ideas will hopefully start to impact the style of football this season and we’ll not only see a lift in quality, we’ll see a lift in how exciting the football is.
Ben White joining Arsenal is one part of solving the lack of speed we moved the ball through the lines. If you complained about our football being slow last season and can’t see how a ball-playing centre back helps move us on in that department, I can’t help you.
We really need to address the partner for Thomas Partey in the midfield. That will again help speed up the football and make us more unpredictable and give us more options.
The key move we’re all waiting for is who the attacking midfielder is because without that, we’re going to have another frustrating year. I don’t care if it’s Maddison or Aouar, we need someone to help us bind it all together. Resting a season on the shoulders of ESR and Saka is not the path to top 4.
Also worth noting that we haven’t had a viable right back for 2 seasons. Even yesterday, it was absolutely clear that there needs to be a big upgrade on Bellerin and Soares. We’ve spent the last 18 months building from the left. Imagine Pepe having a right-back that could offer him Tierney levels of service? Would be incredible.
There’s not a lot bubbling in the ether today… but Arteta said he was looking forward to some new players joining the party next week.
‘We’re going to have some new faces arriving probably, so very positive.’
Let’s see how we’re looking this time next Sunday.
See you in the comments.
Interesting XI TR7.
I’m with China though, not a fan of 3 at the back with wing backs.
Think that Saka would be inhibited in that formation too and it would clip his wings a bit going forward if he has to track back to cover White on the outside.
Also a massive difference between a LB and a LWB, Tierney has a brilliant delivery on him but his all-round game is very much tailored towards being equally defensive and offensive rather than the latter like a Marcelo or a Hakimi.
ES, we’ve been over this so many times. 1. Arsenal ARE a cheque book club. We are not developing our existing players as we did under Wenger or finding the cheap rough diamonds that we did under both AW and GG. We are trying to improve our lot by buying expensive players. If Chelsea are a cheque book club then so are Arsenal who have a higher net spend over the last five years (what they did ten or fifteen years back is as irrelevant to now as what Arsenal did in the 30’s is). 2. Of course it matters… Read more »
WEagle, my first thought too, I wouldn’t want to see Saka as a RWB.
Andy
You got there before I had a chance to reply.
ES has lost perspective and some of his comments for me are becoming naive.
Didn’t you find it odd when he was inferring that Maguuire and Sancho were a waste of money didn’t even mention Pepe?
But the biggest thing for me is the suggestion that KSE are investing because from everything I read it’s almost certain that it’s Arsenal FC that are borrowing the money as opposed to KSE putting their hands in their pockets
Leeds have impeccable taste, they wanted Rodrigo de Paul last summer and ended up going with the also brilliant Raphina as a back up option.
Now they are after Mattheus Cunha according to Romano. A player that I had hoped we would be in for.
Andy
Yeah wouldn’t be a fan of it just like I don’t want to see Tierney wasted as a LCB in a back 3 even though he is well capable of playing there.
Terraloon
“Luiz was , love him or hate him, a leader and his influence both on the pitch and off it shouldn’t be underestimated.”
He led us to a couple of 8th place finishes….maybe his leadership qualities are over estimated..
I always believe that a leader leads by example, I’m not sure that is the case with Luiz..
T’loon, absolutely, the idea that KSE are acting as some kind of benevolent benefactor is ridiculous. They are loading the club with debt. No doubt ES would say “so what, it’s their club and their asset” but the point is that a club loaded with debt will be handicapped in future investments by debt repayments and staged payments on players bought previously. I’d add that giving large sums to inexperienced management is also a recipie for disaster and if they get it wrong (what are the odds?) then we’ll be screwed as will the next manager whoever that may be.… Read more »
Andy 1886 Rubbish Arsenal are not a cheque book club. I suggest that you compare our expenditure with Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea. We have an annual sponsorship from Adidas, Emirates and Rwanda Tourism which should easily cover a large percentage of our transfer budget. It should not be used to cover current account expenditure. The real problem is that the club has not used the money well and our historic transfer dealing is piss poor. In last three years we have spent over £100 million on centre backs. Personally I have no problem with Gabriel, because I think… Read more »
“Now they are after Mattheus Cunha according to Romano. A player that I had hoped we would be in for.”
Very good young player. Leeds do seem to have a bright eye for talent. The first i heard of Ben White was when Leeds had a £30m bid rejected for him last summer. I was also shocked at the audacity of them trying to snap up RDP last summer also. Fair play to them.
Pierre, funny how our two so-called ‘leaders’ were also the ‘cock-up twins’ (Xhaka & Luiz). Maybe eighth shouldn’t be surprising and perhaps we should ask why MA tried so hard to convince both to stay.
Maybe Arsenal should employ Weagle to help with player recruitment from across Europe, as his knowledge of up and coming players is 2nd to none.
He’s certainly more knowledgeable than Edu that’s for sure.
Not saying Weagle always gets it right but he must watch a lot of football across Europe to come up with the names he does.
That, or he googles his info. Which I suppose is a possibility….
ES: “Rubbish Arsenal are not a cheque book club.I suggest that you compare our expenditure with Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea.”
Do you actually read what I said???
As I pointed out, Arsenal have a HIGHER net spend than Chelsea over the last five years!!!
Yet they are a cheque book club and we are not???
Nice logic.
Terraloon
Pepe was not recruited by Edu and Arteta.
The real issue is not how much Arsenal spends but the quality of recruitment.
In most seasons our expenditure is far below the three clubs I list and we have often ranked
in the annual listing of EPL transfer spend 5th to 8th, which is more or less where it should
be considering our current performance level.
You persist in presenting facts which are simply not correct.
Also ES we made a significant loss last year regardless of our sponsorship deals as you well know. When you make a loss any expenditure has to be financed by debt. Those deals are 100% NOT paying for this summer’s signings.
“You persist in presenting facts which are simply not correct.”
Like saying Chelsea have spent more than us over the last five seasons you mean?
Andy Pedro does the same thing with Xhaka
He bagged on him for years. Then arteta came and he’s actually a very decent player. Then when it became clear xhaka is leaving he’s not that good after all. If arteta convinced granit to stay and gives him the captains armband what odds on Pedro telling us it’s actually well deserved because abc…..?
Lol
China, Pedro is wasted in marketing, he should go into politics. His ability to twist what he previously said and claim he actually meant the complete opposite is unparalleled.
Just for ES, last five years net spend Arsenal (not cheque book spenders) & Chelsea (evil cheque book club):
AFC: £308.15M
CFC: £262.33M
From Transfermarkt.
Andy
I’d much preferred “the cocteau twins” and their “pearly dewdrop drops” …………to the “cock-up twins” and their “clanger drops”.
andy 1886 Do you actually read what I posted. I did not discuss net spend and agreed that Arsenal transfer policy was piss poor. However, when you factor in revenues over last 5 years there are other clubs who have spent more than us. Liverpool spent in 17/18 £156.49m and 18/19 £163.98. Everton spent £182.88 in 17/18 and £108.90 in 19/20. Chelsea have spent over £200 million in three of the last 4 years. The one year that they did not spend that sort of money was the year that they were subject to transfer ban. Man City also spend… Read more »
Chelsea is also much quicker at acknowledging when they have made a mistake in the transfer market and be ready to correct it.
Newspapers are reporting that Chelsea are trying to sell Timo Werner back to German clubs, just one year after purchasing him.
Andy 1886
I suggest that you take a look at Chelsea balance sheets since Abramovich bought the club.
It is a rare occurrence that the club made a profit and you need to look also at the money
which he has loaned or invested in the club so that they can buy players.
Arsenal by contrast was profitable in most years until Covid. The main complaint by supporters was that the bank balance grew and the Kroenke family did not invest. That was
incidentally the opinion of Swiss Ramble in many of his reports.
Pierre
I don’t watch nearly as much Premier League football as others on here, honestly only watch every Arsenal game along with the bigger clashes.
So I have a more limited knowledge of PL players which is why I tend to come up with suggestions on the continent as alternatives. The PL is covered very well by others on the blog I find.
I do watch a lot of Euro football but some of it is just keeping up with what is going on too, includes highlights, paying attention to Whoscored/OptaJoe? etc.
“Pedro is wasted in marketing, he should go into politics. His ability to twist what he previously said and claim he actually meant the complete opposite is unparalleled”
Pedro would absolute kill as Trump’s next press secretary, the position which will require filling in about three years time as he’s getting ready to take over from Biden.
So it looks like Inter are only interested in Bellerin as a loan deal. How many of the deadwood do we actually think we are going to manage to loan out, let alone sell.
Stroller, we’re talking NET spend. What you are doing is de-linking income and expenditure which is a nonsense because one directly impacts the other – if you make money (from selling) you can re-invest it. If you don’t that money has to come from somewhere else. And when you have to cherry pick certain years for certain clubs (Everton in your example) then you really are getting desperate. Funny thing is you say take income into account and then completely avoid the fact that our income is less than Chelsea’s yet we have a higher net spend which makes our… Read more »
I don’t agree with the Be Careful What You Wish For / “just look what happened to Spurs when they sacked Mourinho” warnings. Managers turned Spuds down because there was no money to spend, little control, and they might or might not have inferred that Kane would be sold. At Arsenal, we are told there is a vast pot of money to spend (we’ve already spent 75m, and we’re expected to do a lot more business), and we know that the manager is allowed to be the dominant character at the club, above the technical director and CEO, while knowing… Read more »
Andy
Tends to be how Italian clubs roll, loan to buy deals.
Expect the same for Lucas Toreirra. Surprised that Roma seem to be fishing out all of the coins from the couch cushions to stump up the Xhaka fee even.
Sorry that was meant for Matt.
ES,
You do understand that the quality of the recruitment is irrelevant of the chequebook club principle.
A club can have a smart chequebook recruitment and another a crappy cheap recruitment.
What Andy is showing that Arsenal has been trying to buy its way back to the ECL. The fact that it did not work is due to poor recruitment and poor managers. Spending was not the limiting factor.
A back 3 allows us to do away with left wing position wherein we have Pepe, Willian and Auba as options. That’s why it makes sense to go for a back 3. Physically less taxing on Tierrney too and allows us to play more midfielders.
With all due respect ES talks so much shit that I don’t bother conversing with him. I don’t even read his verbose posts. No offense intended though.
Stroller, no disagreement that Abramovich initially invested huge sums to enable them to reach the top table but in recent times they have reigned in their spending and were compliant with FFP for probably the last seven or eight years. What they did ten years ago isn’t relevent. We’ve matched or exceeded their net spend so certainly should be at least competing with them for a top four spot.
WE
I know, it’s just frustrating that we will be forced into accepting more loan deals due to a lack of other interested parties. Still cant believe we didn’t sell when PSG came knocking.
TR7, maybe I should take aleaf out of your book on that one!
“Be careful what you wish for “ might’ve made sense with Wenger’s position in question.
Arteta’s? Please.
The old lady is taking their sweet f in time coming up with a suitable offer for Manuel. Thought they wanted him? Any chance their dithering/stalling makes him feel less important to them?
This CM saga needs to hurry up who ever it may be, Koops looks alright tbf, powerful, think I might prefer him to Ruben. it’s only the prem experience that muddles things.
andy 1886 Football is not like any other business. Arsenal bucked the trend of most clubs in EPL and around Europe, because it made profits. The so-called net spend on transfers is only part of the equation. You need to look at the bottom line of the accounts. Until recent times Arsenal never made a loss. In contrast Chelsea were consistent loss makers. Arsenal’s transfers relative to their revenues is modest when compared with most big spenders. What has been poor is our recruitment, the wage structure and the club’s poor handling of negotiations in transfer market. Arsenal is now… Read more »
Than again I can’t resist pointing out that poor underfunded Arsenal are according to ES going to spend £150m this summer despite posting a huge Covid related loss…
Matt
Yeah, stupid wages for average talent will see to that. Kolasinac still has a year on his deal ffs.
Unbelievable how hard it has been to shift all of the dross over the past year. Literally set us back years.
ES,
Arsenal was not profitable before COVID.
That was not the opinion of Swiss Ramble at all.
Official numbers showed that Arsenal made an operational loss for a few years now. The difference is that for the last 4 years the operational loss could not be covered by properties sale, exceptional players sale and accounting wizardry.
I applaud your dedication to live in that rose tinted glass Arsenal world, but for the rest of is leaving in the harsh real world, Arsenal is in a poor state. Some will even in crisis.
ES, actually I do care if KSE spend a billion and lose money because it isn’t KSE spending it, it’s AFC and doing so will directly impact our ability to properly fund the club in the future. I also have little faith that it will be spent well (the past being the best predictor of the future and all that).
TR7 “A back 3 allows us to do away with left wing position wherein we have Pepe, Willian and Auba as options.” Not really , as Arteta still likes to play with 2 wide players as well as the wing backs as he likes the overload in that area. Personally I prefer to play wing backs with 3 central midfielders and 2 strikers and let the wing backs patrol the touch line. Having 3 central midfielders allows one of them(willock)to attack the box in the knowledge that there is cover behind. It can either be 2 out and out strikers… Read more »
been seeing more noise around Madders, read a foxes blog and they seem to be peddling the ‘we don’t really need him’, ‘we’ve got daka and we’ll get Philipe’.
so I Grammed him and it was pretty interesting. Not affiliated with any team it seems, just an athlete. Loves number 10 so it’ll be interesting to see if the Smith gets it. And he looks like he’s gagging to live in London wit the man dem. lol
Absolutely hilarious that we overpaid about £50m for Pepe and and we are about to spend that again for Ben White and some people are determined to say we are not not a chequebook club.
We are, but we do it very badly.
If it was up to me I would spend that £50m we’re splashing out on White on Yves Bissouma and Aouar but fair dues to the club — they are supporting Areteta with funds.
Let’s hope our rookie manager doesn’t waste it satisfying his ego and trying to prove how clever he is.
WEagle
Roma are probably sneaking coins from the Trevi Fountain at night when no one’s looking to pay for Xhaka.
Curse
I get the feeling that the Leicester fans genuinely wouldn’t be that worried to see Maddison go, which does worry me. I do like him as a player, but I’m not sure he’s the absolute professional that he should be and I can see his career taking a bit of a slide.
No one gets his point across as succintly and as concisely as TR7.
a unique talent.
Always hitting bullseyes.
I get the vibe from Leicester fans that ew feel about Bellerin…. good servant for the club but it’s time doe us to say goodbye… and get some money from it to move the club forward. Although, considering they are not desperate to keep him £60m+ seems stupid money for Maddison. For that same amount of money (with change left over) you could buy Aouar and Adil Yacine and provide depth and creativity to the team. Maddison, although EPL proven is overpriced in my book. Shame we didn’t swoop in and grab Jack Grealish for £25m when Aston Villa was… Read more »
Maddison does come across as a real Jack the lad type but I like how he handles himself in interviews, think he is intelligent and self-aware unlike others of that ilk in times past.
Wilshere was a Jack the lad type too as was Wayne Rooney. The former’s career was shortned by injuries, mot by ill-discipline and Rooney was a burn-out case having been at the top for 15+ years.
Pierre, A lot people moved to 3-4-3, because it was successful in South American football. It allows to overload one side or the penalty box. Football in Europe is different and the 3-4-3 experiment was never a great success here. It requires 2 disciplined DM with great passing ability to work effectively. Most clubs don’t have two of such players. The other major drawback is that it is also a lot more physically demanding than other formations. So any dip in form often lead to defeats, and defeats mean loss of title challenge. That’s why no club has won the… Read more »
*that they feel about Maddison what we feel about Bellerin…
ES So as things stand RA took on a club that was broke and to date including the initial purchase price has invested through his holding company around £1.3 billion and now has an asset that Forbes value as being worth around £2 billion. They have won just about everything since he arrived including 2 CL. Their squad is according to transfer market worth £818 million. The same site value Arsenals at £461 million. In the last set of accounts Chelsea’s income if you exclude sales from players was £407 million Arsenals was £343 million. In 2011 Arsenal and Chelsea’s… Read more »
Not sure why people believe if we spend a lot this summer it will be Stan footing the bill and not the club
Free money is it? Good luck getting that out of Stan.
At best he loans us cash… loans that will have to be repaid…
Anyone who thinks we’re not just piling ourselves further into debt is living in a dream world. Ofc if we spend big but really smart and get back in the CL and win trophies it’s one thing. But if we don’t then we’ve just remortgaged the house for nothing
Weagle “Unbelievable how hard it has been to shift all of the dross over the past year. Literally set us back years.” My argument against that is the supposed “dross” won us trophies , kept us in Europe and never below 6th. When you talk about dross , I presume you mean Ozil,kolasinac, Mustafi , Guendouzi, Torreira, Sokratis , Bellerin, cedric ….possibly AMN, Willock and eddie The above “dross” were not culpable for our worst start in decades last season. If it had been handled better, we should have continued playing the above players and gradually one by one replaced… Read more »
Edu needs to get selling.
Chelsea have moved out Tomori for £25m + £5m add-ons, and Guehi for £20m including add-ons. That’s probably at least £40m + add-ons for two players more fringe than Willock or AMN for us.
We can’t keep everyone. A successful club is about making smart trade-offs for long-term benefit.
Every single report on our supposed spending this summer says Stan will let us spend money. Let us spend money and gift us free money are two entirely different things. The bank can let me spend money on my credit card but will they give me money for free?
…
Leeds
Imagine you were Leicester. In a world where Ben White is a 50m + add-ons player, Maddison should be 80m+, even if he’s not central to your plans. The very least I could imagine them selling for would be something like £72-75m, however ridiculous that might sound.
We have to realise that Leicester see us as a direct competitor.
Why would Leicester fans worry about losing Madison when they are more grounded in reality than most Arsenal fans ever could. I haven’t even herd a peep from the few Leicester fans I know about their top four failures over the last two seasons— a particularly hot topic amongst the Arsenal fans— which is kinda odd when your own club sits eight in the table. Sorry, meant to say third since Christmas. Leicester fans have full confidence in the club’s brass to put any money from Madison transfer to a great use as they have done in each case since… Read more »
China And that’s the point. Add in the £120million which will be an Arsenal debt and whatever nett spend this summer brings about and in a blink of an eye the likelihood is that another £200 million debt has been loaded on the club. But hey all’s rosy in the garden None of the supposed targets will be looked at by the likes of City and Chelsea even White who the jury really is out on isn’t a key target of the CL teams and to be honest if the were bidding for him I can’t but help feel he… Read more »
Andy 1886 Oh please….. Football is a rich man’s toy run by people with oversized egos and in many cases have accumulated their wealth dishonestly or through opportunism. Most of the large football clubs are middle of the road ftse 250 size businesses with annual turnover of around £250 to £400 million. Most of the money they generate comes from tv and sponsorship. All football clubs in EPL spent excessively in transfer market and on wages until Covid. The idea that a footballer is worth £50 million in transfer market or the wages we spent on Ozil is plum ridiculous.… Read more »
And Terraloon ( well said)
RA has made Chelsea Londons biggest club and under KSE we have plummeted and allowed West Ham, Spurs to finish above us.
Everything KSE have touched with regards to AFC has been an utter disaster- so it will be no suprise this sudden urge to spend fortunes on ‘above average’ players like White, does not turn into a financial disaster too.
We will get too a stage, soon ,where KSE will want to sell the club, but the finances will be in such a state, no one will want to go near it.
I’ve been banging Matheus Cunha’s drum for a while same as WE.
Did I mentioned they area already building an understanding with Gabi Martinelli in Brazil’s Olympics team? Literally carried their game vs UAE the other day.
With 12 mins to go Gabi gets introduced at 1-2 for UAE, the game ended 5-2. Cunha scored 2, Gabi 1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dMxiC-LTyw
Martinelli’s alertness in the box is phenomenal. He is a predator and that’s a hugely important skill for a striker. Not to say he has so many other qualities in his game, like pace, dribbling, great technique on the shot, very good header of the ball. This is his season to make the improvement that Saka made in last season. If he is allowed to be the backup striker to Auba, he will not disappoint. This kid is the future same way Saka and ESR are. We need to speed their involvement in the team as they can reach a… Read more »
Elmo
I hear you, but then why are we so rubbish at selling our experienced English talent?
Liverpool and Chelsea seem to sell their academy products with easy for £20m plus but when it comes to us our English fringe players, there just seems to be no interest… even though they have much more top flight experience (by comparison).
I agree with you Leicester have one of the most effective transfer teams around. They buy and sell very very well.
*with ease
ES
“There will always be a sovereign fund, private equity firm or billionaire egotist who will want to buy London’s Premier Football Club”
A Private equity fund dear oh dear. maybe a billionaire, maybe a sovereign fund but are Arsenal still London’s Premier FC ? Should be but a country mile off being able to claim that honour at this point in time
Antony, a 20 yo Brazilian AM/Winger, is another one from that Brazil team that has a very high ceiling.
20/21 was his debut season in Europe for Ajax coming from Sao Paolo for £14m. He managed to score 9 and assist 8 in 1774 mins (roughly 20 games). 5 MotM awards too. Really impressive stuff.
Will undoubtedly prove a bargain deal for Ajax.
Lol peds you crack me up.
We can’t fire tets and get in someone competent because the spuds failed to do so.
Love it
Yeah if Leicester lose Maddison it will be for a very pretty penny and they will reinvest the money extremely well
I’m flabbergasted how Ajax can sell the excellent Ziyech and in such short time unveil another gem in Antony, similar to what Dortmund’s been doing and now without Sancho, 18 yo Gio Reyna will have the platform to become their next superstar.
Ajax won the league by 16 pts too. I must say Ten Haag is up there in my list behind Conte.
raptora
Yes Arsenal are London’s top club. If the club comes up for sale I don’t think that there will be
a shortage of buyers.
Tom Right, but if you’re giving a good player to your competition, you have to make sure you extract a disproportionate transfer fee to make sure you can both re-invest better, but also to financially hobble your competition (i.e. a commitment in a player they can’t afford to fail without it limiting their medium-term prospects). Leeds I think we have to make the right decision when offers come in. AMN should have been told to go with the £20m offer. I think Willock should go if there’s a £20m+ offer, assuming we’re bringing in more midfielders. The most important part… Read more »
As much as I totally admire and respect Ajax, they are the Juve/Bayern of their league so it’s 10x easier for them
Elite talent in Holland would be massively drawn to them and they usually have a huge strangle hold on their league. Much easier to dominate that than in a genuinely competitive league (although there are sometimes competitors in Holland)
ES
””””””””””’Yes Arsenal are London’s top club. If the club comes up for sale I don’t think that there will be a shortage of buyers.””””””’
they were until KSE arrived.
Not now.
It may not be popular, but its the truth, but Chelsea are Londons premier club.
(Arsenal just about keeping ahead of Spurs in that race.)
Another decade of KSE, A & E , Crystal Palace will be on our coattails.
“I’m flabbergasted how Ajax can sell the excellent Ziyech and in such short time unveil another gem in Antony, similar to what Dortmund’s been doing and now without Sancho, 18 yo Gio Reyna will have the platform to become their next superstar.”
It’s run by people that know what they are doing because they are supported by a board that loves and understands football. They have a clear vision and they work hard to stick to it.
What’s our vision? Anyone know?
Matt, regarding the foxes fans, I think a lot of fans go into that mode when one of their top players decides to leave despite the lofty perception. Justifiably so, but are they better placed than us going forwards? if they win the Europe perhaps but I can’t see it and I’ll be surprised if they make top 4. I do agree he has an asterix next to character but so did Auba, maybe that just comes with a certain level of player. he’s super savvy in interviews and appears quite driven and at 24 it would be amazing if… Read more »
plus it seems the price has gone from 70+ to 60 flat.
China,
It’s more about their scouting department that is excellent in a similar way to Dortmund’s. And the way they manage to develop the young players into stars like de Jong, de Ligt, van de Beek, Ziyech. Truth is, you might have a gem in your hands but it takes more than a great talent to become a top class football player.
Cc well said “In reality a lot of what Luiz brought was hurt some by Xhaka being the recipient in midfield. He never had the light footedness to receive on the half turn and continue the progressions that way.” I don’t quite agree on the next sentence you said about Luiz and xhaka being part of our best spells as ‘quartetbacks’. Yeah they did play that role, but in xhakas instance, leaving massive holes in midfield and in Luiz’s instance, it’s as you mentioned above. It’s like we want to be possession based but wanted to play long balls from… Read more »
Leedsgunner Arsenal’s problems with sales are twofold. First the wages we pay our players and second that we seem always to be a soft touch when it comes to negotiation. Inter Milan have just sold Hakimi for £54 million to PSG and now plead poverty and want to recruit Bellerin on loan with ‘option’ to buy! AS Roma are offering £13.5 million for Xhaka. No-one is going to suggest to me that Arsenal’s valuation of Euros 20 million is unrealistic. Despite all the negativity posted on Le Grove Xhaka played reasonably well last season and had a very good Euros.… Read more »
I think people are underestimating the quality of Arsenal academy players. Not everyone will make it, but what many lack is experience and a coach willing to give them a chance.
Willock is a Lampard type of player. With a proper club manager I can see him becoming a full England international in a few years. Somebody like Kalvin Phillips benefitted tremendously from Bielsa tutelage. Without him he would be nowhere near the international team.
RS Again you miss the point If wages are an issue how is it Chelsea who pay even more wages than Arsenal don’t seem to have a problem when it comes to selling players ? You seen to infer that Inter made £54 million from selling Hakimi. The reason they sold him was primarily to clear the debt they owed to RM( he had been at Inter for just one season. ) .Irrespective they are in a financial mess had they not been they wouldn’t have sold the player in the first place. As for Xhaka. Clearly Arsenal valuation unrealistic… Read more »
Elmo
I don’t think Rodgers or Leicester spend much time worrying about how to hobble Arsenal financially. Arteta has been doing fine in that department all by himself.
Luiz-£20m
Willian -£30m
That’s 50million spend right there without moving the needle one bit.
Both Partey and White cost Arsenal £100m while their combine Transfermarkt value is just about half of that, yet, some believe we are/have gotten value there.
Meanwhile Fofana ,who cost Leicester the CL cough, cough, has a higher valuation now then what Leicester paid for him.
I’m hopeful that we’ll sign a Partey partner and a AM to share the load with ESR. If that is the case it makes our position on Willock more difficult. I think he has a great chance to become a really valuable player but will he get enough game time with us and would he generally be only employed as a ‘ super sub’ in the last 20 mins of games? To help his development, would it not be best to extend his contract and give him another year on loan with Newcastle or any other PL team who are… Read more »
Tom,
I think you missed the bit where Luiz was so critical to our play that we need to spend £50m on a replacement. So I’m sure Pedro would claim that £20m for Luiz was a bargain!
The only way we’re going to change not being screwed over in the transfer market is by hiring people that know what what they are doing… and not hiring the footballing equivalent of graduate trainees who are desperately trying to figure out the job as they go along.
Kudos where kudos is due.
Per Mertesacker has been excellent in heading up our academy… and he and the leadership deserves credit for convincing Balogun, Kido Taylor Hart and Arthur Okwonko to stay. Our future lies in our youth.
Goober I watched the official arsenal YouTube clip the other day of the team training and it was just clips and highlights obviously but it was striking how in training 90% of the games in their practice match were cut back crosses
Maybe they edited out everything else or maybe run down the line and throw in random crosses is really all we’re working on in training
90% of the goals*
I love that we are chasing Locatelli. The quality of player that comes at CM must be good. I am not that much excited we are waiting for him though. We need a good player at CM. It doesn’t have to cost much either. Anguissa, Koopmeiners and Aouar all could be had for 20 mil. And all of them would move the needle for us. I would love Maddison but I would rather bring in a very good CM before a premium CAM. For example it would be great if we went for Locatelli/Bissouma with fekir/Matheus Pereira. The combined cost… Read more »
Tom: “Meanwhile Fofana ,who cost Leicester the CL cough, cough, has a higher valuation now then what Leicester paid for him.” CC explained that with something along the lines “Perform well in a higher profile league and your values increases, I know it’s a lot for you to take on board.” right after he said that if Fofana wasn’t in top 5 of the CBs in the entire EPL, then he was a detriment to Leicester’s season. So basically he did well, but because he wasn’t a top class performer at 20 yo, in his first ever EPL season, he… Read more »
Habesha, agree with CM priorities! I think the AM is a tricky one because I believe Arsenal are still hoping that Odegaard becomes available. I’ m with you though, if Aouar is a cheaper possibility I would be frustrated if we miss out on him and Odegaard doesn’t’ sign up. Not sure how realistic Locatelli is but if we can get him, fine. If not Neves but I think I’d prefer Bissouma if possible. The order we get our targeted positions in, doesn’t bother me as I accept, like with Odegaard, the timing is beyond our control to an extent.… Read more »
Arsenal should stay away from giving contracts to 30+ year olds unless they are certain that the players are exemplary on and off the pitch. Reliable players like Monreal, Cazorla, you just know how professional they are. They look very humble people, one that can’t live without football. And still, offering crazy money to people who are already half pensioned needs to inlvolve way more thinking than we have seemingly given it. Ozil (renewal), Cech, Luiz, Sokratis, Mkhitaryan, Lichtsteiner – we’ve wasted hundreds of millions there for not much in return. We could have had young players fully developed in… Read more »
Jorge Sampaoli played a key role in bringing Saliba to Marseille and the defender explained how he was won over by his new manager’s vision. Saliba:”We spoke. He wanted me in his team. He explained to me that even though I am a good player now, I had a lot of things to improve. “With him, I will have ways of progressing… His playing philosophy speaks to me. I can play in a four, on the right or on the left. As long as the team is good, I can play everywhere.” Saliba is clearly happy to be valued by… Read more »
Aouar is supposedly available for only 17m
His attitude, stamina etc all in question but at that price really why not
Lokonga and Aouar for a combined 34m. That’s only just over half a Ben white…
If we paid just 17m for Aouar that allows us to focus more money on AM or RB etc. despite my reservations about Aouar, at that price I think he’s a no brainer
Get Aouar and a really high quality AM and even if we don’t get a RB or keeper you could fairly say the summer is a success
Tavares, Lokonga, Aouar, Quality AM plus as many dross wanker sales as possible and I’ll be happy enough. That would mean next summer RB, GK and CF would probably be the priorities
Forgot white from my list
Perry Groves on Odegaard: “When I watched him play I could tell he had a lot of talent but he reminded me of a younger version of Mesut Ozil because he didn’t get a grip of the game enough,” “Ozil had so much talent and when he fancied it, he was one of the best players in the Premier League. “He didn’t do it on a regular basis and didn’t dominate the way he should. “If you’re playing in the number ten role you’ve got to do better from Odegaard’s point of view than one goal and one assist. “You’ve… Read more »