ARSENAL INVESTING IN EXPLOSIVE FOOTBALL

by .

The plan for Arsenal next season seems to be shaping up and I think we’re going to see some forceful shifts in how we play.

Two things stand out from some of our style last season:

  1. We’re very buttoned-up structurally, everything was very orderly, everyone knew where to be, there weren’t gaping holes in our setup that were easily brutalized like they were under Unai Emery.
  2. Sometimes that structure can make us a little robotic and overstructured
  3. We came back from going behind in 1 game last season, part of that will be experience, part of that will be down to having no striker, part of that will be that we didn’t have enough flair or BANG BANG in the squad

Mikel Arteta seems to be shifting the side towards a single pivot midfielder. At the moment, that looks like we’re be rolling with Big Mo, Sambi Lokonga, and Thomas Partey there. We’re going full on City here.

It looks like he’s going to counter some of the concerns about exposing our defence by creating one of the most youthful and brutal attacking forces in the Premier League.

We’ve leaned heavy into seek-and-destroy players.

Gabriel Jesus has 76 goal contributions from 99 games, he’s explosive in attack, he can make something from nothing, and he’s a league-winning difference-maker. He’s signing his deal today and having his pictures taken. He’s in, this is huge, 6 other clubs compete for his signature. Do you think we’d be signing him if Arteta didn’t spend time with him for 3 years at City? No chance. He’s coming to Arsenal because he likes the coaching and he knows he’ll fit the vision.

Fabio Vieira gives you total control of the ball, his footballing intelligence is off the scale, and he can pick a lock with something ridiculous in the same way Mesut Ozil could. Again, one of the best producers of end-product last season, with the least minutes.

All the reports seem to be indicating that Raphinha is close to Arsenal because we’re basically the only option left with Barca having no money and Spurs being the least attractive club in the world. This is a player that is direct, incredibly aggressive, as well as being loaded with flair for a final ball, PLUS, he has the guts to score goals.

We tied Eddie down to a long-term deal, he’s explosive, he’s added Lacazette connective play to his game, his movement is sharp, and he is all about end product. Eddie will always, always finish.

Then look at our defence. We’re moving hard on Lisandro Martinez. This is a lock-picker from deep, this is someone that can connect attack and defence like a regista, he will form part of our build-up play and offer us variety from deep.

You put a Tielemans into the mixer and you have our version of Thiago. Elite setpieces, accurate diagonal balls, and a better final pass than Granit Xhaka can offer. He also scores goals.

This new Arsenal team is NOT about power, it’s about control, delivery, and goals. All the players are going to be hard pressing, all are going to be comfortable moving the ball around, every single player has extreme levels of football IQ, and now we’re going to add some locomotion to the goal count.

Arteta isn’t relying on individuals like Spurs will have to. He’s building a machine in which every component piece is finely tuned to the system. You won’t be able to man-mark Arsenal out of game next season because everyone is a threat. You won’t be able to press us out of a 90 like Newcastle did because we have press-resistant players that can find agents of punishment in the forward line.

Arsenal will have a deep squad of players that have swiss army knife elements to their game. There’s balance, but also a huge variety of tactical options available for any situation.

Deepblock? We have pickpockets.

High press? We’ll destroy your players with our fast frontline players.

Thug battles? We have big characters that can ride that bullshit.

This could be a team that runs teams so hard and punishes so quickly… teams are beaten before kickoff.

If this Arsenal side delivers a good August, who knows what we can do this season, but we should be looking at dethroning Chelsea in 3rd place.

We need to use this season as a platform to make a charge at the top 2 next season.

The Europa League campaign needs to be seen as an opportunity for the fringe players to ask questions of the first team. I want to see Charlie Patino, all ripped and fit, dominating that competition. I want to see Big Mo, Omari Hutchinson, Flores, Matt Turner, and William Saliba absolutely dominating proceedings.

Next season can’t be about 14 players, it needs to be about 20 players all giving it their best and stepping up when called upon.

This transfer window is fucking wild.

It’s the one we thought Newcastle in their green and white shirts were going to have.

This is how big clubs operate when they know who they are, what the vision is, who is accountable for executing it.

… and just think, this time last year, we were debating if Aston Villa were a better prospect for Emi Buendia than Arsenal?

Emi Martinez my man, what did you do to your friend?

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TallestTiz

1st

GoonerInNY

Good afternoon.

TallestTiz

It’s

TallestTiz

My time

GoonerInNY

4th?

GoonerInNY

Wow. Same time stamp!

Jonnygunner

Boom?

TallestTiz

GoonerinNY

That must be the closest competition

Jonnygunner

Bugger….I just read the damned post first….

Higz

Apparently Chelsea confident on nabbing raphinha. That would be pretty annoying

G

Would b annoying but thought they were going for Sterling

englandsbest

A lean mean evergreen machine

WengerEagle

Habesha

If you are shelling £65m out for a wideman then first and foremost you are looking at his attacking production. And Raphinha’s this season was fairly ordinary if we are honest.

Excluding pens he scored 7 and assisted 3 in 35 PL apps. Those are not £65m numbers I don’t care how many sprints he does or tackles he makes.

He was quite a bit better in his first season but even then he scored 6 and assisted 9. Those are anything but mind-blowing numbers. Saka at age 20 is already considerably more productive.

Adams

Arsenal are giving us hope and something to believe in. Really excited for the new season.

WengerEagle

Sterling doesn’t give you the defensive application of Raphinha sure but his G/A production is more than double and he has sustained that level for 4-5 years.

Jaffa

Jesus is coming,

Un

This new Arsenal team is NOT about power, it’s about control, delivery, and goals. All the players are going to be hard pressing, all are going to be comfortable moving the ball around, every single player has extreme levels of football IQ, and now we’re going to add some locomotion to the goal count.

And it’s beautiful.
Exactly where I’ve been calling for this team to go. Out with the brain dead athletes (bellerin Gabriel, auba) and in with the actual footballers great to see arsenal becoming arsenal again

Adams

I love raphina but he is too expensive for 65 million considering what liverpool paid for diaz. Both players don’t have much difference in their style of play why don’t we get harvey barnes from leciester for that role he will cost us less.

James

Agree with you WengerEagle but he played for a pretty ordinary Leeds side. Its the other percentages were probably looking at. How many chances did he create, how many times did he get a successful take on, his pace, his work rate, his passing accuracy and so on. I think he’ll do alot better at a top club in terms of end product of goals and assists

Karsa

Raphinha did pretty well considering he was playing for a very poor Leeds side.

Un

and just think, this time last year, we were debating if Aston Villa were a better prospect for Emi Buendia than Arsenal?

Only raptora Freddie and Marko, who lets be fair, would probably enjoy seeing villa overtake us while Arteta is in charge

nwm

If Arsenal do end up signing Raphinha, I don’t think it happens until the end of the Window. He wants Barcelona and he probably waits until the last week to see if Barcelona have generated enough transfer fees and offloaded enough Salary to sign him. De Jong’s rumored transfer to United would be a start in creating the room to sign him.

G

Apparently Chelsea want Sterling and raphinia.. if true we’ve got no chance

Adams

Barca priority is lewandoski not raphina.

Guns of Hackney

Not that I want to rain on anyones parade but…The Man City guy played with Man City players. Now he’ll play with our junk.

But hey.

raptora

WE, It’s more about if we are buying a winger is there a better winger to buy for £55-65m. I don’t agree with buying Raphinha if that means no cover in CM. But if we also do that deal and we still want a winger, how much better can we do than Raphinha? I don’t think we can realistically do much better with Sterling going to Chavs. I’d love me some Leao or Gnabry or Nkunku but good luck buying any of those. Raphinha is next to the likes of £70m Antony, Danjuma, Moussa Diaby who would only move to… Read more »

Jonnygunner

Guns

Not that I want to rain on anyones parade but…The Man City guy played with Man City players. Now he’ll play with our junk. But hey.

Take it you’re not happy about the signing then?

Mozi

Tell you something if you thought the vibes at the grove were good last season imagine how pumping its going to be there this season with all the moves we are making! Honestly this is the most excited I’ve been for so long! Every fucking year I’d watched as we left our business late and never really understood what were trying to do. This time it looks like we’ve got our act together and it’s actually making sense. This transfer window combined with last summer is really starting to add up for me.

Un

Raptora
Bowen is better

Guns of Hackney

Jonny

He’s a name but if city are letting him go, ask yourself why? 25 years old and leaving the best team in the country.

Alarm bells.

Leftside

These journos generally seem like they throw shit at a wall hoping something sticks. Theres only a select few worth paying attention to.

That said, if we are in for players we need to secure deals as soon as we can to avoid this sort of discourse. Luckily, it seems like we’re doing just that this summer.

Thierry Martinelli

Emi Martinez my man, what did you do to your friend?

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Funniest shit I’ve read in a long while

Leftside

Pep is documented saying that he rates his current crop highly but if anybody doesn’t want to be at that club, he won’t stand in their way as it’s counterproductive to keep players seeking pasture new.

Guns of Hackney

Left side

Bollocks.

Leftside

Guns your usual bullshit is bollocks you twat

Spanishdave

Eddy is explosive and always finishes…….?
Unreal.

Guns of Hackney

Left side

Are you saying that if any player at city came to pep and said “I want out” he would agree to that? Regardless of value and length of contract?

Come on mate, that’s the kind of spin that would make Boris Johnson embarrassed.

Leftside

Considering he said it when initially quizzed about B Silva who is a fantastic player and then added if any of his players wanted out he wouldn’t stop them, perhaps.

Thierry Martinelli

GH
So what if City let him go. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t delivering goods. His numbers are good and he passes the eye test too.
Quick question, if Man U came off ESR, would people say he wasn’t delivering for us and ended up being sold? Sancho was barely used last season – would you say he’s crap if Man U let him go?

Thierry Martinelli

Came for*

Bob N16

Guns, keep up Haaland and Alvarez have been signed by City. Jesus has one year left, they respect him enough to let him choose where he’d like to go! Win, win.

WengerEagle

Rap ”Raphinha is next to the likes of £70m Antony, Danjuma, Moussa Diaby who would only move to another UCL team, Gakpo on the back of my head. ” Come on mate, put the pipe down if you are serious about Ajax not entertaining anything below £70m for Antony. They sold De Jong and De Ligt for that kind of money and they were the golden Dutch boys of the club not to mention were coming off that insane CL SF season. £45m would be enough to twist their arm on Antony, £50m absolute tops. They’re not stupid and they… Read more »

Guns of Hackney

TM

Absolutely. Jesus is 25, not 30. If city are letting him go, there’s a reason and it ain’t money. Also, why strengthen another prem team and not sell abroad? We’re not exactly rivals to city but still, you don’t sell to a competitor.

Thierry Martinelli

Pep strikes me as a straight up dude. He probably told Jesus, he doesn’t fit in his system or maybe Jesus asked for a role he couldn’t be given.
People flop or fly when they change clubs. The flops outnumber the flyers. All you need to do is get a player who’s chances of flying are not just high but crazy high. Jesus ticks most of the boxes in the system we want to use

WengerEagle

It’s a fair counter-argument James and Karsa re Raphinha playing for a poor Leeds side.

It’s still a gamble to take on a guy that is 25 and not 21/22 that he will explode for a bigger side imo. He may not and we cannot afford to pay such massive money for a wideman with ordinary attacking production.

Adams

I don’t think the raphina deal is happening, jesus can also play on the right wing.

Thierry Martinelli

Can Rise Nelson do a Gnabry is this Raphinha deal fails?

Adams

Not forgeting marquinos the brazilian lad.

Thierry Martinelli

Reiss…..damn you autocorrect

Bob N16

Guns, no money on continent!

Karsa

Only Premiership teams can afford Premiership wages.

Bill

Emi Martinez, what did you do turning your back on our club?

raptora

WE,
I’m reading 50m + addons would get the deal done after our first offer was 35-40m.

Since the start of the 2020/21 season, only two players have attempted 100+ shots, created 100+ chances and completed 100+ take-ons in the Premier League:

◉ Sadio Mané
◉ Raphinha

Take ons completed: Mane 129 Raphinha 118
Chances created: Mane 102 Raphinha 129

Dissenter

I sincerely hope the Raphinha deal; collapses over a 1k difference in valuation
There’s nothing special besides his nationality, which is appealing to Edu

raptora

I’m reading on twitter all the chav fans excited af about the prospect of changing Ziyech + Werner to Sterling + Raphinha, and a lot of spuds trashing their club for going for Richarlison instead of Raphinha, yet our boys here think we can do much better than Raphinha. I don’t think we can. Fantastic player. If us buying him doesn’t stop us from getting our other targets that is.

Jonko

Raphinha is exactly the type of fiesty player we need..and that’s exactly why we will fail to get him lol

Jonko

*feisty

Dissenter

How special can Raphina be when Xhaka, who’s 4 years younger is already inarguably better
Hos special can Raphina be when Martinelli, even in a bumbling season, wasn’t that far behind him
Martinelli improves h8is finishing by 25% and he’s already better

Let the bidding wars begin with Raphina and lets quietly move on to somewhere else

The player isn’t even keen on Arsenal like Fabio Viera and Jesus were

Wicked Willy

Interesting stats Raptora. Makes me excited about the prospect, altho could do with the Chavs getting out of the way. if Roman was still there, fair play to him if he chose them. I think he would be mad to join such a turbulent ship myself, but lets see what he does

raptora

Raphinha can shoot, pass, cross, press, defend, he’s fast, great dribbler, tough player with relentless desire. Kind of a jack of all trades but actually very good in everything. He’s not elite but Tuchel and Xavi want him. They probably share my opinion on the Brazilian.

Thierry Martinelli

Diss,
Do you feel we need to add another attacker? If yes, then who’d you fancy for a reasonable price? Say 40m – 50m and why?

Dissenter

The numbers for Raphina at Leeds have to be taken with a pinch of salt because most of that output was under a gung-ho attacking Bielsa philosophy
Raphina was given a free role under Bielsa that didn’t require as much defending that Saka or Martinelli typically do. .

Adams

How about moving for dembele?. The guy is a baller and he is also a free agent

Thierry Martinelli

Diss
Who’s out there with better numbers than Raphinha and the 2 players you mentioned ie Saka and Martinelli, at a reasonable price?

raptora

Dissenter:
https://twitter.com/TikiTakaConnor/status/1540994832671309824

“I also watched Arsenal at the time [Thierry] Henry was flying there so that’s when I started following the Premier League.”

Not much but it’s something.

Thierry Martinelli

Did he dip after Bielsa left? Did Brazil leave him out of their squad? Come clean and say you don’t like the signing and name the player you’d have fancied – that’s if you ever wanted one to begin with

Dissenter

Thierry Martinelli “Do you feel we need to add another attacker? If yes, then who’d you fancy for a reasonable price? Say 40m – 50m and why?” Personally, I’ll give Martinelli breathing space to make that next step up and use Reiss Nelson to keep him honest. Martinelli isn’t that far from the player we are desperate to spend 60 million on;. The player isn’t even keen on Arsenal. I wouldn’t sign another striker this summer. I’ll observe for the first half season and make the adjustments in the January window. This winter transfer window will be unusual because it… Read more »

Dissenter

Thierry “Did he dip after Bielsa left? Did Brazil leave him out of their squad? Come clean and say you don’t like the signing and name the player you’d have fancied – that’s if you ever wanted one to begin with” You know who else stayed around the Brazilian squad? Our Martinelli… the one Klopp stated “He’s 18 years old, right? So our scouting department is all over the world and stuff like this, but I think Edu gets all the credit for that signing – he came from… wherever. He’s really unbelievable. So young, looks so mature already, is… Read more »

Thierry Martinelli

So Reiss Nelson is your preference coz we can’t just stride to a possible 60+ game season with a Martinelli/Saka on the wings.

WengerEagle

”yet our boys here think we can do much better”

I never said that Rap. I said that there is better value on the market and there is. A couple of cherry-picked stats (and how is the 100+ shots flattering? He should have a hell of a lot more than 13 PL goals from open play so) isn’t going to deter my opinion on that.

Tom

“Chances created: Mane 102 Raphinha 129”

Hey, raptora, but are those good chances created ,or the Odegaard kind?

Dissenter

Thierry
“So Reiss Nelson is your preference coz we can’t just stride to a possible 60+ game season with a Martinelli/Saka on the wings.”
Did you read my reply to you? What are you talking about
I said Martinelli will get the space for the half season to see if he can make a step up
Martinelli needs the same games that Rahpiona needs to make the Brazil team for the WC so lets see if he can step up.
I said, Reiss would be kept to keep Martinelli honest.

Thierry Martinelli

Martinelli is gold, we all know that. But we need more coz this season is brutal. We dallied in Jan and know how that went. We have this window to get things right. If we want to emulate the City and LFC of this world then you have to match what they do or go above.
Our style of play is physically demanding and we saw what it did to key players despite playing fewer games than those around us.
We need quality reinforcement not just buffer guys like Reiss – all due respect to him

WengerEagle

Exactly Tom, this stat thing is going too far where anything remotely resembling a chance can go in now as a ‘chance created’.

WengerEagle

If it isn’t clear for you Raptora let me make it clear.

I rate Raphinha as a very good player. For me he is probably a 10-15 wideman in the PL and as you say he is industrious, well-rounded and has good physical attributes.

I just don’t see a £65m player when I watch him. If it was for £40-50m I would be down.

Moe

As much as I’d love to get the raphinha deal over the line, the guy still looks like he’s waiting on a Barca deal (don’t think happening this transfer window).

Failing that, he’s been flirting with the champions league clubs (Chelsea/Tottenham) though the spuds are more leaning towards richarlison. So that leaves Chelsea who thus far still haven’t put in a official bid but if they come in and price match us, I feel he will choose them (poor choice I think). Fingers crossed

Dissenter

Thierry
We need more…a senior central midfield, not a player with powdered stats, who was given the freedom of Leeds by Bielsa.

The position Raphinha occupies is not one of desperate priority, unless you think Martinelli isn’t good enough. You can’t call him “gold” and then be desperate to sign a 60 million transfer player who goes ahead of him.

WengerEagle

I keep hearing the word depth with respect to Raphinha’s signing too.

We currently have a CM with Partey who is unreliable and… Xhaka/Elneny? Jesus Christ. It’s clear where our priority signing(s) should be now with Vieira and Jesus wrapped up.

Tom

Weagle, why should we care about value when apparently Kroenke himself does very little?

I’m on record saying I want Arteta to complete all his deals so he can show everyone his coaching talents, but he should be held to the same standard every Arsenal manager had been for the last two decades.

Tielemans, Raphinia, Jesus……all PL proven , all ready made.
Let him sign them for whatever , it’s Kroenke’s money.

Jonko

Onrstein just confirmed Chelsea close to signing Raphinha for 60mn

DivineSherlock

Dissenter

Have you even watched Raphina at Leeds ? Man you got some really horrible takes.

WengerEagle

Tom

It’s not my money but I also don’t expect much more investment this summer if we drop £65m on Raphinha, do you?

If Tielemans can really be got for £25-30m I would take him but I see Leicester trying to take the piss and bleed us of £40m+.

Dissenter

Jesus is a fantastic signing
We are signing him at the peak of his career and he has a point to prove
Habesha’s enthusiasm rubbed off me, that man wouldn’t stop waxing lyrical about Jesus

WengerEagle

LOL Jonko, watch the U-Turns now!

DivineSherlock

WengerEagle

I just don’t see a £65m player when I watch him. If it was for £40-50m I would be down

Maybe he is not a £65m player but for Leeds United he is because he is their best player .

WengerEagle

It’s all over Raphinha fanboys! 😀

raptora

Tom,
Hahaha the Odegaard stat! I knew it would bite me in the ass if I posted that. So many shots but not an abundance of goals is also not that good.

WE said himself, he is industrious alright and I say if the mentioned 50m + add-ons is on, then why the hell not?!

Obviously holes in the squad but maybe we gonna fill them and add Raphinha. I’d be up for that. It will show the ambition and dare that we’ve been waiting for 15 years.

WengerEagle

Divine

He is joining the Chavs so he is dead to us now.

Jonko

I’m going to keep off Twitter for a day or two..Chelsea fans are absolutely butchering the Arsenal fanbase

Dissenter

DivineSherlock
I saw him lots of times
He misses lots of chances here.
I don’t think he is inarguably better than what Martinelli represents. Martinelli is a crossroad, where he can fall into averageness or take that step up to consistent quality. I would give him this season with a chance to play with Jesus, rather that splurge 60 million on Raphinha
Nothing “horrible” about that take. People just love shiny new toys in the transfer window, it seems.

DivineSherlock

Damn as soon as I say it Chelsea hijack him . A good player lost to our rivals , happy benchwarming Raph.

Dissenter

If it’s true then I’m ecstatic that this deal fell apart.

Mr Serge

Raphina dream is dead sterling anyone ? Gnabry ?

raptora

@FabrizioRomano
Chelsea and Leeds have reached full agreement for Raphinha! Official bid accepted around £60/65m [add ons included]. Main part of amount to be paid immediately. It’s done between clubs. 🚨🔵 #CFC

Talks now ongoing on player side on personal terms and contract. Boehly, on it.

More on Raphinha. Arsenal had a meeting with Leeds and made a new verbal bid in the last hours, turned down by LUFC. Barcelona also called Leeds again but no chance to match Chelsea bid. 🚨🔵 #Raphinha
Chelsea are now working to get the agreement done also on personal terms.

Dissenter

Chelsea look lost tbh
The billionaire co-owner masquerading as DoF is desperate to impress
I suppose he signed Raphinha right after he met with Ronaldo’s agent.

WengerEagle

Seems that the club shared mine and others opinion on Raphinha’s valuation as Chavs are apparently closing the deal at around £55m and we were not willing to stump up that kind of cash.

It’s about our priorities and building as strong an XI as possible before you worry about the squad. Our CM options are dreadful and we have one injury-prone LB.

WengerEagle

Rap

I bet we offered £40-45m.

Dissenter

I see this Raphinha deal collapse as a marvelous fortunate stroke of serendipity
Dry your tears

DivineSherlock

Dissenter

Your take is very horrible , we need good quality players in the squad . Martinelli plays LW , Raphina plays RW . Tell me more how youve watched him a lot again please. You want Saka and Martinelli to run into ground playing every single match ? What happens when we lose one of them to injury , rely on Pepe ? Phil Foden got better because he had players the calibre of KdB Silva Mahrez and co. around him and now he is starting ahead of some of them .

Adams

We have quality depth in the flanks (saka, smith rowe, martinelli, Jesus, viera, pepe, marquinos) raphina is just a luxury signing in my opinion. why don’t we prioritise our pressing needs first (left back and central/defensive midfielder). Not forgeting we have good kids coming from the academy (patino, hutchison, flores, salah). But who am i to make decisions the coach knows what he wants.

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