Ornstein dropped a tweet a week back, confirming Nelson wants to assess his options this summer. We have had approaches for him in January but the club rejected them. If a player wants to move, you let them go, only condition being you are paid well enough for it. Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and West Ham are among the clubs interested in him and we would probably be asking about 20m GBP for him.
I think it’s a win-win for the club and player. Here’s why…
In one of the game I watched at Emirates, which was a team filled with young 19-20 year olds (Saka, Nelson, Martinelli, Tierney, ESR) and Ozil, Nelson was too good for a 20 year old. I remember Tierney taking a throw in, Nelson commanding that midfield and I was mesmerized with his pace. Frankly, when Saka was being played at LB – a non glamourous position while Martinelli and Nelson was in the other half of the field, everyone was more excited about him that our star boy.
Things didn’t turn out great since then. In 2019-20 season, he played 17 games, starting 7 of them. Next two season were just about injuries and and a loan to Feyenoord. Nothing much to talk about it.
Under Mikel, In 2022-23 season, Nelson had 11 sub appearances for the club, scored 3 goals and assisted 2. Last season was worse, having played 15 games with no goals to his name.
Mikel has a system where the goals are distributed among the 5 players playing at the top. It’s usually Martinelli/Trossard, Jesus/Havertz, Saka, Odegaard, and the LCM. Playing Nelson fucks up this concept. When you don’t have a CF to contribute that 25 goals a season, you can’t afford to not get an output from one of your wingers. Martinelli is a much better contributor than Nelson but we have seen what happens when you don’t deliver (he is losing out his place to a 30-year old Trossard).
So, if we get 20 odd millions for him, there is no shame in accepting that money and move on. We can utilize that to strengthen other area of the pitch, preferably a CF if you ask me. We know by now, Jesus is a winger, Trossard as well. If we consider Martinelli and Saka on either side as a starter, we have 2 very good back ups to them. We also had bought Marquinhos a season back, and we have been pushing Ethan Nwaneri who played some odd minutes against our 6-0 win to West Ham and has renewed his contract with us. So, couple of players who can step up if the need be. Couple of very good back ups, who can play better than the starting ones. There’s no need of Nelson.
What it means for Nelson?
He would be sad for not making it at his boyhood club. Fans will be sad to see one of our own go. But that’s football. If he goes to West Ham, he can get 20-25 starts a season. He can get the game time he wants and at his age, it should be all about playing most minutes.
He gets what he wants – game time. We get 20 odd million to fund other areas. There’s not loss to the club and his departure is not going to affect Mikel’s set up.
Ambarish
The fly in the ointment is his wage. £100K is eye watering for a bit part player. He will have top accept a lower pay deal if he wants to play or he could buy a pair of reinforced underpants (splinter proof) and sit on the subs bench until his contract expires. Of course AFC could terminate his contract whichever way it goes I do not see much in the way of financial gain for AFC. The question must be asked what dickhead accepted giving him £100K per week – the same one that gave Havertz £370K per week?
Norg
Wasn’t his contract running out before? Then he scored a single goal and magically got the new £100k a week contract.
Arteta really is the fat kid in the sweet shop with an attention span of about 3 seconds.
Portugal won 3-0 against a battling Turkey playing to prove a point. The second goal was a back pass into the goal. Ronaldo played the full match , but seems to have lost his killer instinct. Now assists even on a good position. But seems to have a lot of respect from his team mates.
Herois do mar nobre povo
Nação valente
With a anthem like that the Portuguese are warriors on the field . But do not seem to have played much together since lots of gimmicky stunts the ball landed with the Turks instead of with a Portuguese player.
Marc-it’s pretty clear what happened last offseason, MA clearly felt he needed to overhaul the midfield by replacing both the oft-injured Partey and the departing Xhaka…now he could have gone in a multitude of directions, but the one he specifically chose left us with a 100 million dollar DM who wants desperately to be an AM and an overrated, vasty overpaid tweener, who was never going to be an 8-hole upgrade…in order to achieve this bewildering ends, we likewise overpaid two out of contract players, who should have either been re-upped the year prior, for considerably less, or sold in an earlier window…since we had nothing left in the budget to properly address our shortcomings up top, we provided them with all the leverage they would need to secure their unjustified wages…after all there’s no way any other side would have offered either Eddie or Nelson the kind of wages MA did
if we can somehow manage to get a reasonable fee for either of these mismanaged and largely ghosted players, MA should thank his lucky fucking stars, as it certainly won’t have been deserved…sadly, a year later we still have a 100M DM who would rather be a 40M AM, a tweener without goals in his boots leading the line, a lack of proper depth up top and a handful of tricky deals to navigate with those typically more frugal clubs who might want our sloppy seconds
Just back from BKK and having a quick scan for anything that resembled good news for us and it appears we could be close for Gyokeres who hit very good numbers in a lesser league.
First link is a really unnatural blog from a guy who needs to chill a bit somehow. lol. Made me smile and it’s a TW update so I added it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4RAX9kRnHs
Below Gyokeres show reel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfdEkQ246ME
Hope you’re all well and enjoying your summers.
I have no real interest in the Euros yet; maybe the semis………
TRVL
Have you mentioned this guy before? Rough diamond?
NORG
Nelson is still a decent player and not a wash out. He has his prime years ahead of him and he hasn’t lost his appetite yet. 100k / week wages is on the higher side, but that’s something to worry for him and the club who is going to buy him.
It’s the player making the move. We have a simple condition, about 20m in transfer fees and we are good. Else, you stay and we keep paying the 100k for a decent back up.
We have the upper hand in Nelson’s case.
Hoopah,
I think Ronaldo should have stayed in Europe.
Guys,
Without thinking about money, what do you think should be our transfer-in and transfer-out?
For the rules are that we can have 25 players registered with Premier League, out of which a minimum 8 players must be home grown (3 seasons with English teams before they turn 21). Any no. of under 21 players are eligible outside this rule but lets forget about it for now.
The 25 players registered last season were
GK (3): Aaron Ramsdale, David Raya, Karl Hein
Defender (8): William Saliba, Ben White, Gabriel M, Jurrien Timber, Jakub Kiwior, Cedric, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Zinchenko
Midfielders (8): Thomas Partey, Odegaard, ESR, Jorginho, Fabio Vieira, Elneny, Kai Havertz, Declan Rice
Forwards (6): Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Trossard, Nelson
On loan : Okonkwo, Tierney, Tavares, Lokonga, Marquinhos
Cedric, Elneny have said good-byes already. So, that’s two players incoming for sure. Nelson will probably leave as well. No on-loan players can get in playing XI, so we have to buy like for like for the two that left, and the players whom are going to sell.
Ambarish
That’s an interesting one because at face value its obvious – a proper striker and a CM assuming Partey’s leaving, also assuming Timber will be playing at LB.
The difficult moves (both ways and I’m not including players already out on loan etc) will be squad members who are in / around the first team who are likely to be looking to move. Off the top of my head we’ve got ESR, Vieira, Nketiah and Ramsdale – now I know you said not to involve money but those 4 players at another club would raise around £150 million which can be used to strengthen other areas.
I can’t see dumb and dumber getting near £150 million although they’ll try to so do we end up forcing players to stay who want to leave or do we take a hit?
If they do go we’ve got to bring in a backup keeper and some bodies for midfield. Arteta’s record on rotating and bring in / through squad players is piss poor so would you want to sign for him unless you’re an older player looking to top up their pension?
I forgot Zinchenko although he’s bordering on surplus to requirements already and if Bayern want him its a win win for both us and the player.
Marc
With Elneny and Cedric leaving, we are going to get 2 squad players for sure. Whom do you think will make way for CF? Nelson for me.
Rightly so, Vieira, Partey, ESR, Ramsdale, Nketiah are all candidates for a sell out, however, this will create a problem for us – too many new faces to integrate into first team when we are going again to challenge for the title.
And it would be like replacing squad players with squad players. I think we are only going to let go those who asks for it e.g. Nelson. And probably Thomas to make way for a CM.
I would also prefer to sell Zinchenko and Nketiah, but again it will too much shuffle and I don’t see Mikel liking that. He is a Zinni fan and Mikel is not interested in a CF, so he doesn’t really care if it’s Nketiah or anyone else filling the spot for namesake.
Tony-I spoke about Gyokeres earlier in the spring when it appeared as if he might be at the top of our summertime Striker wishlist…that notion seemed to wane, for whatever reason, by season’s end, so I sort of steered clear…this 6’2 Swedish Striker has lit it up at Sporting this season, as he amassed 43 goals and 15 assists in 50 total matches…so here’s the pros and cons:
Pros:
—he’s a Tony Bloom find and we all know what that can mean
—positionally versatile…although he’s been primarily deployed as a target man, he has made 50+ appearances as a wide side attacker, 36 on the left and 19 on the right side
—he can impose himself physically on defenders, so he’s no lightweight when it comes to playing with his back to goal or getting his head on the end of crosses, even within an already packed box
—he’s been clinical in front of goal for the past 3 seasons, 2 of which were in the Championship, for Coventry City, where he earned cult-like status in a relatively short period…so depending on how one might judge second tier stats, he may or may not be described as a one year wonder…this is an important distinction, as a 26 year old one year wonder could turnoff some, and logically so, especially depending on the initial investment
“A clinical finisher with great movement, link-up play and physicality, he has been a revelation in Sporting’s attack, scoring in each of his last three matches and taking his tally to 18 goals and 8 assists in 21 appearances. Gyökeres’ ball-striking is top-quality, able to unleash shots with real venom at even the slightest opening on goal with either his left or right foot…The type of self-sufficient striker who’s capable of creating a shooting opportunity for himself by taking on his man or using a sharp turn or flick to create separation, Gyökeres’ finishing ability is so effective that he can surprise the goalkeeper by taking shots early and time his efforts to perfection, as seen in their recent match against Benfica” (a typical quote by those who now seem to dominant the online scouting scene, which btw are generally being paid for by agents or PR firms, so a generously-sized grain of salt is oftentimes required)
Cons:
—Bloom gave up on him rather quickly, sending him on loans to a couple no man’s land destinations, then sold him to Coventry for a rather paltry 1.2M
—will he be the kind of signing who could see Havertz lose his first team status up top…not sure that he has the requisite CV to disuade MA from continuing to deploy his bestie as in the 9-hole, which would make me question the 80+M investment
—some say he doesn’t have the required pace, whereas others will compare him to the likes of Haaland, which suggests that he’s deceptively fast and can get beyond defenders
—tactical concerns…during his time at either Coventry, where he played along side our own Norton-Cuffy, or at Sporting, the tactics being deployed provide little insight into how he would fit into MA’s preferred script…both of their respective schemes, which relied quite heavily on pacey wingbacks and him being isloated up top, don’t really apply here with MA in charge, but his ability to both create and finish his own chances should translate regardless of the tactics…I do fear that he could be Auba 2.0 if MA doesn’t deviate from his past practices, when he didn’t properly incorporate the skillsets of our previous Strikers(yet somehow he had no problem changing things up when our gangly tweener was given a shot to lead the line, which is so baffling)
— it might seem like a small concern, but when I’ve personally watched this player I haven’t always been wowed…now that could just be luck of the draw, as I’ve seen performances where even the likes of Haaland appear quite pedestrian, but it’s certainly noteworthy…I must say though, he did score in almost every match I happened to be viewing…to be fair, watching Victor at Sporting isn’t quite as exciting as watching Sesko, who rose to some prominence in a much more offensively-minded Red Bull Salzburg/Leipzig tactical scheme, but that doesn’t mean he can’t become a top flight producer in the PL
—“One area for development is his weak-foot usage. Whilst he is skilled at finishing with power and accuracy on his left, he doesn’t drive down the left flank with the same conviction and frequency as he does when he’s on his right” now we’re already overly dependent on our right side, from an attacking perspective, so this could be a cause for concern…that said, if he can find a way to create some real chemistry with both Ode and Saka, we could dominate teams even if they slanted their coverage to that side of the pitch
(btw the analytics pertaining to the above concern did show some notable improvements over the two+ months following this critique)
in the end, I have mixed feelings about this purchase…on one hand, if we can secure his services without breaking the bank, actually deploy him instead of Havertz up top and have MA properly incorporate him into his plans, he could prove to be the kind of x-factor we undoubtedly require…on the other hand, if MA tries to shoehorn him elsewhere, so as to keep Kai up top, then leans even further into the same one trick possession-based tactical pony he’s been overly relying upon, this could be another wasted opportunity that leaves us no further ahead…Cheers
Ambarish
Elneny and Cedric didn’t kick a ball for us last season so they’re just bodies off the wage bill. Zinchenko’s currently somewhere between 2nd and 4th choice at LB – if Bayern are interested he’ll be happy to go.
If we buy a striker then Nketiah is massively surplus to requirements with new guy and Havertz fighting for the spot – where that leaves Jesus is another interesting question he’s on big money so who’s going to pay a fee unless he’s willing to go to Saudi.
Ramsdale replacement is a backup keeper so easy to buy, ESR and Vieira are more difficult we’ll need players who can come in and do a job but as I said Arteta’s not exactly great at rotating so unless there’s big wages why would you want to stagnate?
“Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta could risk upsetting the senior players in his dressing room with a move for one Euro 2024 star…Williams’ wage demands would see him rank as the second-highest earner at the club, a move that could potentially cause unrest behind the scenes”
can’t imagine how anyone could complain considering that Havertz and Jesus presently sit 1st and 3rd respectively on that list…if you can’t get upset over that fucking notion, you have no right whatsoever to be worried about Nico’s potential wages…bigger problem is, what the fuck do we do with Marts if he’s brought in on massive wages, as he won’t be sitting on the bench
on a side note, a new name has entered the equation in the midfield, Mikel Merino, who’s presently employed at Sociedad…supposedly he’s been pegged as the next Busquets by some within Barca and he’s likewise on Athletico Madrid’s radar…must admit I was surprised to see his name enter the fray, not because I’m totally unfamiliar with the player, but his rise has been quite a slow burn, as I’ve never thought of him whatsoever since he had a cup of coffee stint with Newcastle back in 2017-18…by the sounds of things he’s a highly regarded pivot who has the ability to cover a lot of ground…personally I can’t help but think that his relatively lower price tag has those with more frugal pursuits in mind drooling at the possibilities…from what I’ve seen, I would be inclined to suggest that he’s more of a coin toss proposition than a plug-and-play bona fide starting option
TRVL
The problem with new players coming in on the same sort of money as Havertz or Jesus who let’s face it haven’t set the world alight is it pisses off other players who do perform.
Put their money up and it starts a chain reaction.
Marc—agreed, but it’s a little late to have that play a decisive role in our pursuit of anyone who could potentially enable us to achieve greatness in spite of our manager…both Ode’s and Saka’s new wage deals kick in this year, so the only other player with a justifiable case might be Saliba…the chain reaction you speak of has already been set in motion, largely on the backs of those who didn’t deserve their respective wages
TRVL
According to most of the websites Gabriel’s on circa £100k per week – we’ve got some really fucked up wage structure!
The Swiss are really given the German’s a game at the moment – super Xhaka I’ve been extolling his talent for years.
looks like a number 9, finishes like a number 9 = Niclas Fullkrug
that’s right, Fullkrug, not the waste of space wandering about Havertz, who once again squandered every chance and offered nothing of real consequence…if Nagelsmann doesn’t make the switch you know he’s either drinking the same tainted Kool-Aid as our little manager or, much like at Bayern, there’s others up top pulling the strings
Marc–I didn’t mention Gabs as I knew they were looking to re-up him this summer, so I’m sure he will receive a considerable raise…if he stays, that is
btw Xhaka had a chance to put that match to bed and although the curve was right, the pace wasn’t…it’s been quite some time since I’ve seen a screamer come off his boots…that said, he usually saves his heroics for international affairs, much to our chagrin, considering his rather lucklutre time here
Thanks TRVL I thought you’d spoken about the player before. I’m up to my eyes in meetings at the moment – just back from BKK where I finally treated myself to an Ozmazz Grand Frank Monte plush mattress. No more pressure points.
Off to Khal Khor and Petchaboon today to look at land for my next and final project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT30D1L66FU I’m looking at 2 national parks. The 2nd is Khao Yai.
Khao Yai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD_qOU5O8N0
I’m leaning towards Khao Yai for the recording studio complex as it’s where all the celebs live with it’s proximity to BKK. Early July i’ll spend a few days here meeting with land owners and govt officials for permits et al.
I saw a Eze headline we were interested in him a few days ago but nothing since.
From what little notice I’ve had time for football recently, we seem to be same shit different TW mode where I feel we won’t still buy a quality attacking 8. KH will continue to be the utility player he isn’t is my fear.
I hope I’m wrong because if El B thinks last season was his set up to win this season, he’s very mistaken: I see, Chavs, Spuds, Manure, Bin Dippers all overturning poor last seasons’ output and will be back to challenging again or at least taking points off each other.
It won’t be a 2-horse race this season in my humble opinion.
Let’s see, TRVL, who El B brings in, and then where he decides to play the newcomers.
Thanks for the excellent review where I completely concur with your thinking as per.
former Scottish International and current TSN football commentator in Canada, Steven Caldwell, said the following about Fullkrug:
“he’s got the mentality and he’s got a knack for goals, which means he offers them something different from Havertz”
speaks fucking volumes!!
Cheers Tony
TRVL/Marc
Will this be the 4th April capitulation next season?
Another 7 weeks and we should be getting our Arsenal fix again.
Our last 3 fixtures for the new season must have El B sweating:
April 1 Fulham
April 5 Everton away
April 12 Brentford
April 19 Ipswitch away
April 26 Palace
May 3 Bournemouth
May 10 Liverpool away
May 18 Newcastle
May 25 Southhampton away
TRVL
Caldwell was a decent player in his time and clearly speaks sense……
https://www.skysports.com/arsenal-fixtures
Besides all the nonsense regarding 180 page dossiers and carefully constructed long-term recruitment plans, it appears as if our preferred summertime transfer gig has been quickly scuppered by MA’s inablility to convince Sesko and Zubimendi to join our ranks…in fact, the latter has completely ignored our attempts to even discuss the possibility of a move to North London; “Arsenal have sent a contract offer to Real Sociedad No.4 Martin Zubimendi – although the Gunners are annoyed by the Spaniard ignoring them.” So it appears as if it’s back to the drawing board for MA et al, which certainly shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, considering his seemingly endless transfer window missteps
simply-put, MA has yet to convince any in-form top young talent to join his little multi-phased project, minus Rice, who wanted to stay in London and knew we were the only ones who would allow him to pursue his somewhat unrealistic attacking midfield dreams…now some might say Ode, but he was hardly an in-form player at the time, in fact, he was rather average for most of his loan spell here prior to signing…others might even point to White, but he was literally BHA’s 3rd or 4th best defender at the time and he knew full-well that this was his path of least resistance, as it was rather evident that MA didn’t rate Saliba whatsoever…not to mention, there were no other suitors of note for White’s services, which means we outbid ourselves on that little transfer venture
so it won’t surprise me in the least if the likes of Nico or Sesko never come, unless we vastly overpay them and provide almost unheard of assurances, as what’s going on here simply doesn’t resonate with the younger footballing folk…how ironic that this supposed world-class youth initiative has had such a difficult time keeping many of it’s best academy assets and attracting those who appear destined for greatness
with all this in mind, my two greatest concerns are as follows:
(1) the continued push to have Rice in the 8-hole, which has reached a whole new level of stupidity with pundits badgering Southgate to deploy him in more advanced spaces during the Euros…trust me the key to unlocking the English national side has very little to do with unleashing Rice in the final third…now of course it couldn’t hurt, as they definitely need to commit more in and around the box, but if you think that the best sides in Europe wouldn’t rather see Rice in their end than sitting in front of the backline, you haven’t a clue…instead, maybe they should first consider getting TAA out wide, providing high quality crosses and overlapping cover for Saka, then deploy a back 3, with Rice doing what he does best, providing world-class protection, but I digress
if we continue to persist with this DM’s half-assed wet dream, we will undoubtedly get another 6, which means we will have paid 100+M to shoehorn a DM in more advanced spaces, then spent another huge chunk of change on a lesser quality DM to replace him…who does that shit???
(2)( which btw is intimately connected to point 1) if Rice is our presumptive 8, then where the fuck will MA’s bestie play other than up top, which begs the question why would we shell out another 85+M on a real target man…surely we wouldn’t do so just for cover purposes, especially considering MA’s general disdain for rotating players…as for all the flowers being thrown in Havertz’s general direction, I’ll simply pose this question, who do you realistically think would be interested in Havertz, were he on the open market, and what would they be willing to pay??? I would be willing to bet every last fucking nickel that not a single team would offer anywhere near his current MV, even if he weren’t on the most inane wage package this club has ever gifted a player
Finally, I can only hope we’re not relying upon our ability to offload one of our Strikers before we properly redress that positional need, as it could be a cold day in hell before Eddie finds a new home, if reports about our valuation are to be believed:
“A player who I think Arsenal would be willing to sell if they bring in their own No.9,” he explained. But I’ve been told the price tag that Arsenal expect to recoup for Eddie Nketiah is £50m, so I wonder if that might put off some potential suitors. He’s also got a contract worth in excess of £100,000-a-week, I know Crystal Palace, historically have been keen on Nketiah.You’ve even got the likes of West Ham and Everton, Southampton all looking to bolster their striker ranks, but I just wonder if that £50m asking price might be a bit rich for some. But is he worth £50million? Pfft, you’ve got to be joking haven’t you?”
For the love of God throw us a meaty fucking bone already!
OK who the fuck saw Austria topping that group in front of France and the Dutch?
Marc–that’s because they have the most innovative manager in the group…it’s weird how much of an impact that can have on a squad
TRVL
Don’t be daft – if you think good managers with good ideas are ever going to win things you’re watching the wrong sport mate.
Marc—good one
Southgate went full-Arteta today…he should have put TAA on the right, Walker on the left, Bellingham in the 8, Gordon out wide left and Foden in the 10 to start…furthermore he should have actually selected a healthy LB with some pace, instead of the oft-injured Shaw
Perhaps we could encourage England to get El B to takeover from Southgate.
Marc – take a trip to Bergamo. Their manager of several years and not a youngster has just one a European trophy – the only team to beat Leverkusan in the last season. They will now be in the CL. Atalanta play exciting football and he introduces new methods of play based on his three at the back. Come on Gaspo – leave behind the Lombardy cheese and crisp white wines and takeover from El B.
Nacho, captain of Real Madrid misses out on receiving his long duty gold watch as he leaves after spending 24years with the club.
Can’t figure out if I’m drinking too much or not enough – are Portugal really losing 2 nil to Georgia?
This has been a strange competition.
Not sure if Barca are feigning interest in Mikel Merino so they can pursue their real Sociedad midfield target, Zubimendi, undisturbed, but it certainly wouldn’t be the worst strategy considering how fake news regarding Real’s supposed interest led MA to pay well-above the number for Havertz…surely he couldn’t be duped two years running, as I find it very difficult to believe that Barca see this 28 year old player with a 77% passing accuracy last term as the next Busquets…regardless, the last thing we need is two underwhelming fucking Mikels
Marc-Georgia absorbed pressure exceptionally well, albeit against Portugal’s second stringers, then countered with pace…Kvaratskhelia, the Napoli forward who lit up Serie A during their title run in 2023, had a stellar performance, whereas Antonio Siva, the Benfica CB, had an absolute shocker…he setup the first tally with a brain fart giveaway, then conceded a penalty in the second half
as of right now, not a single Arsenal player has performed well in either the Euros or the Copa…Rice and Saka have been rather pedestrian, regardless of Southgate’s Arteta-like tactics, Trossard has been a complete non-factor, Havertz is Havertz, whereas his closest competition, Fullkrug, has been electric, and the rest have either been benched, like Zinchenko and Gabs, or only considered a depth piece, such as Marts…that said, Brazil might look to mix things up, after a poor first outing, so maybe Marts will get a chance to start their next match
the more I watch the Euros the more I realize that our recruitment should address three specific areas where we need to improve:
(1) team speed up top—which isn’t to suggest that we’re a slow team, but if we’re going to take things to the next level we need players who can attack more directly, especially against the likes of City and other top CL sides…we’re simply not clinical enough to slow play our way through organized sides sitting in a low block
(2) striking from distance–we desperately need a player or two who can threaten opposing teams from outside the box…ultimately this will help our less clinical players, as when the opposition adjusts to this new threat it will invariably open things up in behind the backline and in wider spaces
(3) unlocking defences–we need someone besides Ode who can unlock defences from our midfield…there’s no way we can rely upon the likes of Rice or Havertz, should he be deployed in the midfield again, to thread the proverbial needle against good sides…not to mention, Ode spends most of his time on the right, so we could really use some more balance in our attack
Cheers
TRVL
Against other top teams Odegaard often is anonymous. Another partner with similar abilities would provide a better outcome.
“German football fans have overwhelmingly called for Kai Havertz to be kicked out of the starting line-up. A poll of almost 140,000 supporters found that 90 per cent wanted the Arsenal star to be dropped for Borussia Dortmund battering ram Niclas Fullkrug. Havertz scored a penalty in Germany’s 5-1 demolition of Scotland but has since drawn two blanks. He only managed one effort on target during the 1-1 draw with Switzerland despite having six attempts in all, with newspaper BILD giving him a match score of five… with six being the worst-possible rating”
Enough said!!!
keeping in mind, it’s not like he has Klinsmann or Klose behind him, his positional competition is a late developer, who only made his international debut in November 2022, making him the oldest outfield player(31)to make his German debut in 20 years
TRVL
I’m of the opinion that Havertz flatters to deceive against poor opposition generally, as Ozil did with us.
His average needing 3/4 chances to score is what he’s really about. He gets better service from our right dominated midfield than he did with the Chavs.
What is concerning me far more is that El B and Edu are not attracting the players we really need. No one of elite or near elite quality has said they want too play for El B.
Even rough diamonds are saying no thanks.
Why do you think that is TRVL?
Me? I think because El B is a bottler where he goes galaxy brain re their best positions and round pegs into square holes seem appropriate here.
I wouldn’t want to play for El B to be serial second best or worse.
Very worrying from my thinking and shows why El B & Edu don’t have real plans, as their targets are not interested in us.
Wonder what Josh & daddy think about this?
However, if Eze roles up by our season start, I’ll eat some humble pie here. I won’t get the recipe out just yet, though……
Hope you’re well and KP enjoying the cricket with junior?
Often think about you Almunia and hope all is well on The emerald isle.
I just booked a similar villa from next Friday for a week to chill. Less than you’d think at £180 a night and comes with a private chef as extra. You can get 3 and 4-bed luxury villas for similar prices in Samui. I mean £180 to £200 a night for a family of 6? In complete luxury? What’s not to like… The villa company is very good and multi lingual.
https://www.inspiringvillas.com/luxury-villas/the-wave-2-duplex-2-BR-&-kid-room/chaweng-noi-koh-samui-thailand.html
Some great deals to be had in Thailand.
Tony-hard to argue with that deal…last time I was in NY it cost me more than that for our room service breakfast, so you can just imagine the ridiculous nightly room fees
as to the relative disinterest shown by players to come here, the reasons are both plentiful and frustratingly predictable:
(1) lack of rotation
(2) the “besties” initiative
(3) problematic playing time assurances already given
(4) late season failures
(5) Arteta’s maltreatment/mismanagement of other prospects/players
(6) our inadequacies when it comes to the recruitment/negotiation process
(7) robotic tactics/lack of tactical nous
(8) egoistic managerial inklings
if you look at who has come here and why you will quickly discover 3 rather depressing narratives:
(1) historical connections during his previous employment, like with Jesus and Zinchenko, both of whom were periphery pieces without a future at their previous club…we still paid over the number, especially when you include their respective wages, yet they were clearly stop-gap pieces
(2) they had no other viable suitors, especially considering their expectant fees and/or desired wages, like with White, Vieira, Ramsdale and Havertz
(3) we were the only one’s willing to provide incoming players with significant playing time assurances, like with Raya, Havertz and Willian, seemingly without care or concern for positional competition(even when things went sideways or at least didn’t go according to planned)…not to mention, it’s quite fucking obvious that we gave Rice assurances about playing in more advanced spaces, even though no one would ever pay 100+M for Rice the CAM, as he’s never shown a propensity for finishing or unlocking defences in and around the box
of course I could go on and on when it comes to this particular subject matter, but that’s probably more than enough for one evening…Cheers
“No one of elite or near elite quality has said they want too play for El B.
Even rough diamonds are saying no thanks.
Why do you think that is TRVL?”
Why because what players think isn’t the same as the bullshit that gets pushed by the media. If you’re a young player (or their agent / parent etc) you look at Arsenal and say what young players has Arteta developed? None – Martinelli and Saka where already first team fixtures, Saliba was a Mislintat diamond who Arteta tried to force out only to be backed into a corner when he was forced with injury problems. Academy players don’t get a look in during League Cup fixtures – who’s on our radar to watch for next season? Who might be the next player to make it through? Chances are no one will because they’ll never get the chance under Arteta.
You then get into his general treatment of senior players – he has favourites who play no matter what and then you have the treatment of Ramsdale. This type of behaviour gets noticed and players talk to each other.
Finally his tactics are pound shop Pep – I’m guessing next season the inverted full back experiment (disaster) will be gone and he’ll look to copy the CB stepping into CM. Because that’s what Pep does.
I love Arsenal – outside of family members they are the longest relationship in my life but the truth is right now if one of my nephews was being looked at by a couple of PL clubs including Arsenal I’d advise them to not pick Arsenal.
Marc
If El B isn’t successful this coming season a few players will want away. They are likely to be the stars – as they approach their mid twenties they will be wanting to have winners medals in the frame on the wall next to a photo of them holding the trophy aloft.