I echo putting out the welcoming mat for Kai and Declan and even more so that Mikel has got his men where any excuses for next season issues won’t be accepted in this quarter.
I agree Timber shores up our RB/RCB with White nicely. White tends to run out of gas after 60 minutes at RB, so I can see some rotation for RB but only when Saliba needs a rest to play CB.
It’s not the numbers so much but the lack of negotiating nous that played into Sullivan and Brady’s hands as the controlled the leverage and we have Declan to blame for that. He could have stepped in earlier to seal the deal, but his loyalty was to West Ham: I hope the lad shows us the same courtesy when and if he moves on. I believe he will.
Can Declan become Mr. Arsenal? If the price is anything to go by, then yes he will, as our most expensive player. I also don’t think the pressure of his price will bother him; how Arteta tries to use him might, though. Junior and I watched him quite a bit last season and he can pivot into 8/10 when he makes his runs from our half, but he’s ungainly in his stride and not fleet of foot, as one needs to be in that position – more Xhaka like than say ESR or Trossard who both defend well when needed.
We no longer need Holding with Rice also being a CB. It’s easier to see how Rice is going to be employed at 6 but how does Kai fit into Mikel’s intricate jigsaw puzzle of plays?
I don’t see KH as an 8, but a 10 back up, yes. False 9 and 9 yes he can play, and he has enough pace to go wide left when interchanging with our attack. Kai has the requisite technical skills to be successful in the opposition’s final third, but expect Pepe’s levels of defending, as Kai doesn’t like the physicality of defending and another Ozil like cupcake.
Mikel said he has five roles for Kai, so he’s going to be busy and probably confused. Kai also needs to toughen up and add a bit of bulk to his overall muscular frame although he looks like an ectomorph to me, so very difficult for him to add muscle. Mikel loves to play his shiny new toys, so I would hate Kai to be in front of ESR, and I hope Emile has a great pre-season. ESR is better than Havertz just younger and needs regular minutes to shine.
If we get Timber then we need to address the LB cover for KT and buy Lavia as MF back up or buy similar. Vieira needs to go out on a PL/Championship loan and be judged on that next summer. All in all the window is being kind to us and CL football is a magnet to quality footballers. Will we be stronger at the end of the window? That depends on the outgoings and who else after Timber A&E bring in.
I hope lessons were learnt by Mr. Lewis/Edu and Mr. Garlick. Never negotiate without leverage and a sound strategy, and next season is already looking like it’s shaping up for Mikel & Edu.
I’d say this coming season is all or nothing for Edu & Mikel – sink or swim?
Nice piece Tony.
“Mikel said he has five roles for Kai”
This worries me, if most managers said that you’d ignore it as a bit of fluff for the media but in Arteta’s case you begin to worry – GK, CB, DM, RW and Striker?
Arteta’s propensity to not only overthink things but to think he’s far smarter than he actually is a major flaw. It not only makes it harder to the player to be effective but unbalances the team as a whole.
I think most observers believe Havertz will take Xhaka’s role. He could obviously fill in elsewhere if needed but don’t make an assumption that he’ll get messed around by Arteta.
He’s a serious upgrade!
Bob
For £65 million I should hope so!
Would have also preferred Mount for £5m less, but he preferred Ten Hag, can’t blame him really although CL and finishing 2nd I thought might have tempted him. English as well and best mate of Rice.
TRVL
Shame Zaha wasn’t out of contact last summer.
I think I called it yesterday saying this is really a sink or swim window, and as much as I don’t like Arteta the man, I have to say he’s not shy in coming forward and holds firm on his beliefs, which is highly commendable until it goes tits up like the last 2 seasons.
.
Blind enthusiasm is one thing, but risk assessment should quickly follow to bring in a more measured approach. One can’t argue that ‘Winners’ are always making fine adjustments to a carefully thought out meticulous planning.
.
Of course I’m talking about elite and generational managers, such as Pep & Klopp et al.
.
There always seems to be something left untended to with A&E; our midfield notwithstanding, there is always a glaring hole in which we are our own undoing. Either the defense is not shored up with adequate cover or our midfield is like Swiss cheese at the best of times and this almost 4 years into our aspiring generational one’s tenure with us.
.
Now on our umpteenth final rebuild like a The Eagles farewell tour 6.0, Mikel is bringing in the heavy artillery with Rice, Ode and Havertz midfield with ESR, Trossard and featherweight Vieira who sadly can’t be played on very windy days, as left mid back ups for rotation, but in reality will rarely start if ever, especially if Havertz hits the ground running.
.
Clever ruse by Mikel having 4 players for LCM because the gamble on Havertz is easily remedied, so when ESR is once again was the missing Calvary, hiding in plain sight balancing our left and interchanging with Ode confusing the fcuk out of Arteta who is claiming it’s his process.
.
I seriously don’t care whose process it is because we know Wenger is the catalyst for it from secret phone calls with A&E: cue the holidaying Almunia because we don’t believe you’re up to your ears in marking papers: Guinness? yes! That is easy believable. 🙂
.
For the first time I think since we had David Dein as out transfer gate keeper – may he rest in peace because he aint doing a lot of us lately. To be honest I would have rathered David D had had the furtive calls with A&E instead of Wenger because we’ll likely sell Partey and keep the one and only Xhaka re-upping him for another 5 years and Mikel claiming it a masterstroke with Wenger marveling in his commanding presence even over a mobile phone and master of the pregnant pauses.
.
So, after Tiiiimberrrrr ahhh has landed where is our little magical mystery transfer bus going to stop next? Don’t leave me here hanging brother gooners someone has to know!
.
Anyone?
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8WMGBuNaus
Marc
Thanks I’m actually finding this TW fun.
‘Mason preferred Ten Hag’. Not so certain that it wasn’t more about Arteta preferring Havertz. Mount would have jumped at the chance of joining up with his best mate.
BOB
Bless Arteta
You disagree with my reasoning, Tony?
sometimes your previous windows have a way of affecting future ones…case in point, the purchasing of Havertz…with Jesus up top it did make more sense to get Havertz over Mount, even though I’m still pissed that we paid more than United…now Mount makes more sense from a passing perspective, considering that Rice isn’t nearly the pivot player that Partey is, but with Jesus coming deeper I would imagine that MA wanted someone playing along side him who could get in behind defenders, unlike the sloth-like Xhaka
the problem with Havertz is that he hasn’t proven that he can be more of a box-to-box option, whereas Mount has, so it will be interesting to see how that impacts our wide-side backers…last season Zinchenko was tucked more inside and White was allowed to push up the field more, to assist Saka, which put a lot of pressure on our CBs and Partey…I would imagine that if they want Rice to play in more advanced positions, at least when we’re pressing, our backers might need to be a little more conservative in their approach
furthermore, with Havertz and Jesus in more of a tandem up top, MA is hoping that this will force teams to think twice before double-teaming the shit out of Saka and Marts on the regular…not sure if this plan will work, but there’s no doubt we lacked the requisite amount of directness in our attack, so hopefully this will significantly help in that department..not to mention, ESR would become a natural replacement for Havertz in the 8 hole with this sort of tactical plan
much in the same “previous window” theme, if we hadn’t signed Tross, who isn’t a like-for-like Marts cover piece, and Jorginho, who’s age, size and lack of pace are a bit disconcerting, we could have likewise used this window to get a player like SImons, who can play inside and out, and another top-class DM with the proper age profile…furthermore, our knee-jerk re-upping of Eddie, on a ridiculous wage I might add, will probably cost us plenty moving forward, as we will likely sell Balo, who provides something we’re currently missing, and likewise require us to spend heavily this time next year to get another viable Striker option…this speaks to one of my chief concerns about MA, his short-sightedness
Here’s the shocker from Fabrizio
Official, confirmed. Pablo Marí leaves Arsenal to join Monza on permanent deal. 🔴⚪️ #AFC
Understand fee for Arsenal is gonna be around £6m.
—
6m for Mari? Should we build a statue for Edu outside Emirates?
That was the amount agreed with Monza if they avoided relegation when they took him on loan.
the most surprsing aspect of the whole Mari gig was that he actually met the appearance target component of the obligation to buy clause after getting stabbed…overall, I’m happy for him, but he did cost us a good chunk of change for doing relatively nothing here
Mari transfer cost us almost nothing.
let’s put it this way, with his 6.8M transfer fee and 4.42M annual salary, he cost us a fuck of a lot more than we made from selling him to Monza
Pennies you miserable so and so!
Good one or nice try?
Says a great deal about how low the bar is for A&E that a transfer out is being celebrated as “he didn’t cost us that much” – anyone ever heard of turning a profit?
Mari was on Man City’s books so Arteta should have had the low down on him and he was playing in Brazil so Edu should have had some idea about him.
Between them a basic fucking clue is not asking too much.
Bob
“Pennies you miserable so and so!”
Doesn’t negate the fact as shown in Pablo Mari’s case that we are either terrible at selling players or are terrible at spotting talent in the first place.
Ambarish-just to follow-up our previous conversations about the Saudi League, one thing that could be a real game-changer is if they’re able to recruit several coaches/managers of some import…when I saw that Nuno and possibly Gerrard were going to be plying their trades in SA at first I was taken aback, but then I came to view this as a rather savvy move on the part of a League looking to legitimize itself…now these two might not be on everyone’s managerial wishlist, but they both have multiple top division appointments on their respective CV’s…this should help to alleviate any potential stigma, thereby opening the door to similar hiring practices in the coming years…from a fan perspective the players involved will always be the preeminent needle mover, but getting some recognizable names patrolling the sidelines could play a rather significant role in reshaping the present narrative
Looking at our squad and taking for granted that our best attacking lineup would be Martinelli, Jesu, Saka and Ode. In the back four we will have Zinchenko, Gabriele, Saliba and Benny Blanko. That leaves 2 players to chuck into the middle.
.
Let’s use Havertz and Rice. Knowing that Zinchenko has his flaws in defending and Havertz is not known for his defensive skills will that mean that Rice will now be over worked in keeping attacks from reaching the back 4? Certainly for me that would be the case for City, Liverpool and perhaps some other teams known for an attacking game when playing at home.
.
Does that mean Havertz will not be in the starting lineup when we play elite teams with attacking prowess and put a more defensive minded player into the starting line up? That would mean having paid £65 for a player that will be benched at times or Arteta will have to develop a new skill set in Havertz.
.
For the life of me I can’t see Havertz in midfield unless we play teams that we are expecting to beat and at the same time hoping that Ramsdale will not do a Southampton fuck up. In any occasion this next season will tell us if Arteta is a failed experiment or the generational manager the fanboys make him out to be. No prices for guessing which side I am leaning towards.
Bob
“Mount would have jumped at the chance of joining up with his best mate”
Sorry, Bob, was engrossed in football talk with junior while readying for bed, as junior has extra classes all weekend, at his insistence. His uni run high school is very tough where anyone with less than a 3.0 for year 3 is kicked out, as not being good enough and have to find other schools. Our daughter scraped through year 3 but graduated with a 3.78 GPA and had her pick of the global unis and chose RMIT Melbourne for her Aerospace Engineering degree who then was offered her a full scholarship to do her masters.
.
Junior is walking in his sisters shoes and holding his own, but like ALL students at that school, he needs extra classes to make sure he gets his grades.
.
Back to your above statement do you have proof of that statement? Because it sounds like wishful thinking, which I don’t blame you; Mount would be the perfect #8.
.
Bar my Zaha thinking I try to post about tangibles that could work or not necessarily would work, but I try to keep close to reality unless trying to inject some humour into the proceedings.
.
I’ve done my deep dive on Havertz and I disagree with you that #8 was always his best position. #9 and backup #10 are in my view. We have enough #8s as previously mentioned, but we have a midget as CF who spends more time horizontally than vertical with the ball or challenging for it. He’s not a title winning CF!
.
I’ve said I’ll give Havertz and Arteta 12 games that would celebrate Mikel’s 4 years with us, and where we should be challenging for the title strongly. You know my views on Mikel; I’ll not be swayed at all until I see him win either the PL or CL trophies.
.
I see we’re considering Mbappe, so it must be ST renewal time, as I can’t see how Mikel could handle Mbappe’s personality or lack of it. At least it wasn’t Neymar.
.
Actions for me speak louder than words and has always been my mantra, but I also recognise the need for words at critical times.
.
I saw France exploding under the supreme narcissist; Macron, a long time ago, which is why I said it’ll be a few years before we make our decision on France or Europe for that matter. It seems like a tinderbox to me where we’re safer in S E Asia for a quality of life.
.
Obviously, our PR is getting positive press for Havertz and telling stories all Gooners want to hear. This Gooner reserves the right to assess Havertz, as I would Mount and will Rice in our colours.
.
You know me, Bob, I’m not slow in coming forward and admitting mistakes, and I will always learn from them, remembering them at my age is another matter. I honestly don’t know about Havertz; it could go both ways because he’s a lightweight, but he could be a new Smudger if coached right and with the right mentality.
.
However, I believe had we bought Mount, he would have kicked on from the first whistle at the Emirates.
.
Big week for us with Mrs T in Europe now and our daughter is bringing Pumpkin for a visit, Monday.
.
Have to say junior fell about laughing at AFC Forever admitting he doesn’t need the side-of -the-bed bottle of viagra when he thinks of Rice. I mean that’s taking Pierre to new levels. Should we send Pedro Rice socks to send on? I’m starting a be kind to misunderstood Gooners weekend and AFC Forever is the new poster boy holding a Rice poster and looking all wistful. Just wondering if AFC Forever would appreciate a Rice Onesie?
.
Who’d a thought that the gnarly decider of who a real gooner is would have such fetishes?
.
Got me wondering about Emiratesstroller now. Infantilism? He acts like a big kid in the year below playground. How I miss sparring with him. 🙂
.
Sorry, Bob, I digressed. I am enjoying this window and even more so looking forward to this coming season, as the top 6/8 reinvent themselves including us.
.
Have a good weekend 🙂
Kilroy Havertz does have red flags 🚩 that are concerning but it’s down to Mikel to make it work.
Cheers Marc & Killroy-I’m assuming Bob was just kidding, as even with his slightly rose-tinged perspective he simply must realize that my larger point, about MA’s shortsightedness, has considerable merit…regardless, I’m in a far more positive headspace regarding our potential prospects, especially if we can get these pending transfers over the line…even so, there’s nothing wrong with critiquing any moves we make regardless if your opinion runs counter to the prevailing sentiments
TRVL
More positive than negative for us this window. Be interesting to see what kind of tune he gets out of the revamped first 11 and can he finally rotate successfully, and be a game changer with his in-game management?
In other words has he learnt from his last 2 badly ending seasons?
We will see Tony!
There seems a lot of analysis to suggest that Havertz will be used as an attacking midfielder not a forward, the other side to Odegaard. I have read many Chelsea fans commenting that he was misused as a 9, and a 10 doesn’t really exist any more unless you’re pressing very hard at the end of games.
I think our system will be fluid, depending on whether we are in possession or not. We will have five CBs with pace which will allow a high line and FBs that can push into midfield in possession, either side of Rice.
This why buying Rice was so important an athletic, intelligent No 6 who can read the game. If Partey does go, and I see the argument both ways, he will have to be replaced.
Whether you are a fan of Arteta or not, every Arsenal fan must be enjoying the ambition we are showing in this window, as well as the timing of the key, new arrivals ready for pre season.
Timber looks just the job too!
TRVL
Have you been watching the Ultimate fighter this season? Conner M comes across as a real thick moaner where his team has lost their first 5 bouts. Never liked the man but appreciate his MMA abilities into obscene wealth. Time for him to go soon.
.
Conversely, I’ve been a keen American Ninja Warrior from when it first started in the desert and we were starved of things to watch in those days. It’s interesting to see how the dominating sports led the winners; first it was free-running and then climbing ruled the roost. Fast forward to today and 15 year old kids who have grown up on the sport are kicking arse.
.
Junior and I watch it religiously for the inspirational people who beat the odds just to compete. It’s an excellent family show for all ages.
.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587934/
.
Other countries are pale in comparison to America and Japan where it first started.
Don’t disagree, Bob, and I hope he’s the real deal at 8. The signs are positive from what we can read, but I’m concerned more about his mental fortitude and lightweight frame than his footballing abilities.
As you rightly say, we will see and let’s hope he’s what we’ve missed since Paddy, in the attacking sense not the defending.
One would hope that he’ll be seriously motivated to prove that his recent time at Chelsea was a blip. He’s technically brilliant and very hard working in his running. I must admit that I’ve never considered him being lightweight, mentally or physically.
He’s joining a pretty tight group so hopefully he’ll feel he belongs and flourishes!
Reading up on Havertz and the general feeling is he starts well enough but loses heart too easily when things aren’t going his way, and at Chelsea I don’t think he gelled with so many legends in their own minds playing with him.
ESR, I hope isn’t going to take Havertz lightly and really pushes to start. For me, he’s the likely heir to #8 and can play 7 & 10. He’s done his time and worked to be at the club for how many years? I don’t trust Arteta with his previous in mind, so I see Havertz as an expensive gamble we didn’t need to make when shooting for the title, but neither is keeping Jesus at #9. So there’s aways a hole for Arteta to fill next TW.
Honestly, Bob, do you see Jesus getting 25+ goals and 10 assists this season as CF (9)?
As you know I’m a people person, and I support those who work hard and earn their stripes, but saving Mikel wasn’t enough to gain those stripes even playing with an injury. He got the Pepe treatment benched even when scoring and being played out wide his unnatural position where his goals came from cutting in, as Saka does very time.
As long as Mikel acts the way he does, then I can’t stand the man, but I love my team and club, so I wait and try to be impartial as much as I can. Mikel is someone who flatters to deceive for his own gain. I find that despicable and untrustworthy, so as I said, Arteta will have to win the title or CL trophy to be respected by me for his football, as a man he’ll never have my respect. 2nd is losing in my book always has been. I never kept a runner’s up medal. Did you?
You do have an amazing way of glossing over Arteta’s ugly negatives and bathing in his few positives. I understand why you do it, but it never ceases to make me smile incredulously.
In sum with Havertz, I see him getting the new player bounce but when the off games start, but will he be his usual self and be anonymous in games, as Ozil did?
That’s when we’ll see if Havertz is the real PL winning deal.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s £60million release clause paid by Pool as they gain free access to one of the potentially elite ballers. Similar style to Mount so not for Arteta then.
Tell you what, Bob, Dominik S would have jumped at the chance to play for us, so Doris, the tea lady, is telling everyone. Have you not tuned into Doris’s podcast them Bob. Truly revealing stuff her tea leaf reading. 🙂
Tony, we got 88 PL goals last year, a healthy total even if our CF was far from prolific. I think it’s quite possible that this time next year our transfer focus will be a Jesus upgrade.
I can more easily argue that you gloss over Arteta’s positives and focus on his negatives. Do you not think that it’s revealing that it’s title winners or failure now? How recently were we just hoping for CL. Great how standards have risen. Not sure if your marginalising of Arteta’s impact on this raising of expectations is universally agreed with. But maybe we’re all suckers and you see things more clearly…I think your position deserves more incredulity though!
Flippancy aside, Bob, my point is there were better and younger prospects than Havertz with great stats.
Bob,
“I can more easily argue that you gloss over Arteta’s positives and focus on his negatives.”
I left myself open for that one mon amis, as my counter is what are Arteta’s positives. So few too mention: FA cup during covid then a terrible record in the cups.
Who has he improved financially he bought? Benny Blanco is the only success he can point to for nearly 4 years in the TWs and he was over priced and only worth what we paid for him currently after 2 seasons.
So, you’ll understand my reticence with A&E fr this window. Timber is the only player I wanted that Arteta has sourced. You know my preferences for incoming so no point going over that.
Let’s see this season and we’ll see where the chips fall.
Anything less than a top 3 with cigarette paper’s width between the points will not be acceptable after 4 and a half years of nothing and run in failures. Last 8 in the CL and a domestic cup not including the charity shield. The CL is only bragging rights.
When all the top 6 are at the races with their shiny new toys I think Arteta is going to be lucky to make 4th that’s how I judge his ability.
Happy to be proven wrong.
I’ve just cued up some great live concerts to enjoy with junior at extra classes, in my room.
Later, Bob. Have a good one with the cricket and family.
Cheers Tony!
“So few too mention: FA cup during covid then a terrible record in the cups.”
He beat Fat Frank!
Arteta with the rumoured incoming signings will have spent £600 odd million – there are no excuses failure to win the PL should result in the sack or hanging.
‘the sack or hanging’ I think you’d be letting off Arteta too lightly there!
‘He beat Fat Frank!’ and Guardiola!