MATCH DAY BLOG: ARSENAL VS PSV

LOW JEOPARDY GAME - ALL EYES ON MADRID

Without a doubt, this is the least consequential Champions League game at this stage of the tournament that I can ever remember. Our disgustingly good performance in front of goal has put Arteta in a position where he can heavily rotate ahead of the monster game at the weekend against Chelsea.

Will he do that? I have my doubts. The man is a lunatic.

The luxury of being through comes with the bonus of being able to watch the Madrid vs. Madrid game on a split-screen kind of day. The exciting thing in that game is that Real, the favorites, have Antonio Rüdiger, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modrić, Endrick, and Aurélien Tchouaméni all on two yellow cards. The risk of suspension for the next leg, which is at The Emirates, appears quite high… because those cards will be on the mind of dark arts master Diego Simeone.

We have absolutely no chance in the next round—it’s a total write-off for me—so even if it’s just a decent spectacle, I’ll be pleased.

What do we want for this evening? It’d be nice to see one of the academy kids get some minutes. This is a good chance to possibly try something absolutely crazy, like Calafiori as a center-back. I want to see Ben White on that pitch so we can rest the weary bones of Jurrien Timber (worth noting Timber is a suspension risk, also on two yellows). I’m also not sure I want to see our normal midfield… though power and pace gave us such an advantage in the last game, so I suspect we’ll see a familiar setup.

What don’t we need? Needless sendings-off. Injuries. Drama. This really is a game I’d love to be a perfectly boring outing that gives us a good boost heading into the league game at the weekend.

That said, I’d also like to think there could be some sort of reaction to the garbage outing we experienced over the weekend. That sort of flat, comfortable run-out isn’t something we’re used to under Arteta. My hope is that Martinelli can get a full 90 under his belt and find some positivity in his game. I’d also like to see Zinchenko given some meaningful minutes in midfield to see if he can act as some sort of competition to a Martin Ødegaard who looks thoroughly over this season.

Final piece—I’ve seen a lot of people starting to wake up to the monster that is Šeško.

He has already hit 100 career goals. He has 17 goals and 5 assists so far this season. The man has everything we’ve been looking for in a striker: power, pace, height, a tremendous leap… and that bang-bang. There is no doubt in my mind that this man has all the ingredients needed to become a Haaland-like figure at Arsenal. The club loves him; this is who they wanted. The question is whether Andrea Berta has other ideas. But really, who else in Europe can offer what he does at the age of 21?

This summer is going to be something of a reboot—but not in a regressive way. Our core players can beat anyone, even with obvious weaknesses. Arsenal just need to upgrade aging players who are leaving, add something monstrous to the forward and wide positions, bring in a backup keeper, and likely find a creative player who can offer some version of what Ødegaard does.

The biggest positive about signing Andrea Berta—outside of what he brings to the sporting department—is what it tells the fans implicitly: There’s money available, and that number was attractive enough to lure a big name to take on the summer and move Arsenal to the promised land.

Zubimendi, Šeško, Williams, Cunha, and Semenyo would be the sort of summer that would instantly transform Arsenal from bridesmaid to bride. I don’t know which of those players will land, but I do know those are the sorts of upgrades the club is looking to make.

I think we could easily drop £200m this summer. But I also think we could bring in a fair chunk of money. Martinelli £60m, Trossard £35m, Zinchenko £30m, Kiwior £20m, Nuno £7m, Fabio £20m, Sambi £15m, Reiss £20m, Marquinhos 50 pence… there’s plenty of fat in the system that has a chance of being flogged.

Anyway, we can do a deeper dive on that another day.

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