If we go by the rules, a Premier League side can register 25 players along with any number of U21 players. 8 out of these 25 players must be home-grown i.e. should have been registered at least for 3 years before turning 21. I am just leaving out these complexities for now to keep things simple. This was our last season’s team that played in Premier League.
GK – Ramsdale, Turner, Karl Hein
RB – Ben White, Tomiyasu
CB – Gabriel, Saliba, Kiwior, Holding
LB – Kieran Tierney, Zinchenko
DM – Partey, Elneny, Jorginho
AM – Vieira, Xhaka
CM – Odegaard, ESR
RW – Bukayo Saka, Nelson
LW – Martinelli, Trossard
CF – Jesus, Nketiah
There is no chance of any changes to our GK position. Ramsdale will be our #1 and Turner will be given game time against weaker opponents and when Ramsdale needs a rest.
For RB, we struggled last season due to Tomiyasu’s injury. We could have been in a much worse condition if we had to play 2 games a week, White did well but any injuries to either one of them can jeopardize our upcoming season. Hence, we are pursuing Jurrien Timber from Ajax. He is a CB, who can play equally well at RB and is probably going to play the inverted right back, similar to what Zinchenko does at the left side.
RB – Ben White, Tomiyasu, Jurrien Timber
Our Centre Back position is going to remain same. Holding signed a contract extension with the club till 2027, so he is not leaving. We are not going to sell anyone else.
LB – Zinchenko is going to be the starter, Tierney will deputize.
DM – talk of the town. We have, an injury prone but magnificent when in form, Thomas Partey, Jorginho and Elneny. We are going to submit the second bid for Declan Rice, and are also interested in 19-year old Roméo Lavia from Southampton. We are serious for both of them, and if they arrive, I could imagine some shifting. Rumours says we are fine to let go of Partey if a substantial bid come. Personally, I feel we shouldn’t and task him to mentor Rice and a young Lavia. Partey is immense, he was probably the best midfielder in Premier League last season and still have 2 years left on his contract. We can utilize one of these years for a transitioning.
My expectation – Partey, Rice, Lavia
Most likely – Rice, Jorginho, Lavia
Xhaka had a great season, his best with us since he joined. He is now off to Leverkusen and we will most likely get Kai Havertz from Chelsea in his place. I have given up on Vieira but not Mikel.
AM – Havertz, Vieira
There is going to be no changes at the top. We have the LW, RW, CF and CM position sorted for some time. Though I would like to see Balogun included in the list.
Here’s the thing. We have two important cups to play for – Premier League and Champions League. Positions like GK and CB can play twice a week if the need be, but other positions will require rotation. We also have to factor in any injuries. If we go into the season with Jesus and Nketiah as our only option at CF, and one of them is out injured, do you expect the other to cover 2 games a week without any drop in performance? I don’t. I know we can play Trossard and Martinelli at CF but you get the gist of it.
With the expected addition of Rice, Lavia and Havertz in midfield and Xhaka leaving, we would have to get rid of 2, Elneny and Jorginho are my choices. We will see though as Partey rumours are pretty strong.
A good thing about Arteta is, that he don’t get versatile player just for the namesake. Ben White has adapted really well at RB, Trossard has played at both LW and as a CF, and there wasn’t any drop in quality. Tomiyasu can play on either side and at CB. Timber will be added to this list. Our defence gets sorted, our wingers are set and fixing midfield is in progress.
Here’s my predication with some caveat –
Caveat being, Partey! We might end up with a midfield of Rice + Jorginho + Lavia/Elneny. We might also see Balogun replacing Eddie at CF.
There could be some more changes in the starting positions. Nelson plays well at LW too, Martinelli is equally good at RW and Jesus can cover too. Personally, this is what I am expecting at the end of this transfer window, without going into the details of whether Havertz is a good signing for us or now. If Mikel wants him, he can get him – I will look forward to the results.
–
Right, that’s all for today. What changes do you see (or expect) from the above line up?
I think you’ve pretty much nailed it Ambarish.
Couple of small changes, move Kiwior to Holding’s spot( surely to be sold), Timber to RCB and ESR arguably to the left rather than right(pedantic, apologies). Also Juninho more likely than Partey.
Tierney will be sold – I can’t see him be happy with another season as backup. I also don’t think for one second White being able to play at RB was a consideration in buying him. He was bought to be first choice CB (his early matches at RB weren’t anything to get excited about) only for Arteta to realise what everyone else knew – Saliba is top top quality. Arteta was therefore faced with a problem of having spent £50 million on a player who was going to be back up or stick the better player on the bench.
As usual Arteta tripped over a solution rather than managing anything clever.
Marc, one person’s flexible thinking is another’s happy accident. Wouldn’t expect you to be anything less than certain in your view.
Supposedly Tierney has been having talks about staying. – this could just be a ruse to extract more from a buyer.
Marc, have you not noticed that Arteta usually prefers a player who is capable of playing in more than one position. Do you not think that he was unaware that White had successfully played RB at Brighton? That’s quite an assumption if you do.
‘Do you think he was unaware….’
Ambarish
I don’t think you have any choice but to put Viera and Havertz for the #8 position. Personally, I don’t think either can play 8 for next season. The season after maybe and it’s a big maybe. I’d rather Smith Rowe stay at your preferred CM, as he used to have an almost telepathic link with Saka who he’s played with for so many years. Put Ode at 8 and Havertz at 9 to use his height where Havertz is likely to keep KT at the club for his crosses from the left and Havertz will, likely get 45 a game as Mikel loves his crosses.
Seriously for £60+m & £210k a week, I think there is far better out there than Havertz who wasn’t prolific at BL.
Not for me.
Marc,
We need 2 personnel at LB to manage our season. Tierney will get enough game time, Zinchenko is not a Ben White in fitness unfortunately.
Bob,
Oh yep, Kiwior for Holding; Timber is covering both RB and RCB.
I don’t see Arteta developing ESR as a no 8, I didn’t think of anything other than to put him as a Ode competition.
Tony,
Odegaard at #8 will not be any better than Havertz. We need imposing midfield, not light weights. Vieira is technical but lack that physicality and we have seen how it panned out.
A tough one that is, for Mikel and us.
Ambarish
I’m not saying I want Tierney to go I just think he will.
Bob
You think Arteta bought White with a long term view of playing him at RB?
Marc,
From the previous post, yes we lot can never be AFTV, because we do sensible arguments, ‘sensible’ being the key. I have a friend who did a college paper on how social media elevates the negativity and sexualism, and even if we complain about it, we are the only ones consuming it. All these fox news, and republic TVs are example. Every field has one.
May be I had put it wrongly, but fights might discourage new readers to join us. It’s alright if you two are okay with each other.
Marc, I have no idea whether he planned to play him at RB rather than RCB. The point is that Arteta has shown he likes versatility in a player so knowing White had capably RB at times in his career, he must have considered that he would be able to play him there if he needed to. He did. He’s played well there. When Saliba returned, he clearly realised he could get them both in the starting line up if he pushed White to RB.
Your suggestion that Arteta somehow accidentally lucked out does have a hint of agenda!
Did anyone read the ESR inteview recently where he said he likes to play ‘inside’ where Arteta has been encouraging him to improve his defensive contribution. Sounds like an 8 to me
Ambarish, I think you’ll find Havertz a lightweight, too, like Vieira – just a taller version. I think you’ll also find Kiwior is a lefty and bought as a back up for Gabs. Havertz complaints i’ve read is he’s lazy and doesn’t do defending – similar to Pepe.
Bob, I agree ESL has the right build for an 8, but to date his best output is on the right linking with Saka. We still need an 8 and I don’t feel Havertz or Rice naturally fit that position’s nuances. ESR always struggled on the left, but I will concede ESR has past Chios injury issues, not that I see as those issues would just impede playing left or right being a groin problem.
Mikel has a propensity to shoehorn players into positions, why can’t he just buy the players for their best positions. Multi-positional players tend to be a jack of all trades unless elite.
Ambarish, whether 7 (RCM) or 8 (LCM) Ode has always been a bit lightweight but he has a fierce attack to his game being the winner he will go on to be.
So, it makes no difference in a 3-man midfield if Ode plays 8 or 7 for his body musculature.
Tony, take your point, Jack of all trades, master of none’ but as you allude to, ‘unless elite’.
I’m no expert on Havertz but Arseblog was discussing him with Gunnerblog and the feeling from Chelsea supporters is that he could bang if he plays in his best position, AM – Chelsea misused him as a false 9.
Agree about ESR and Saka combining really well but I’d argue that those combinations happened wherever, sometimes Saka came over to the centre to combine with ESR who usually started on the left.
If Odegaard was unavailable, Havertz could obviously play there too.
9 CF or 10 AM I would have said fitted Havertz skills set best, just not convinced he’s the player of the caliber you’re hoping for that can elevate us to really challenging Pep and Klopp next season.
Always happy to be wrong with my football critiques.
Bob, what’re your thoughts on Bolagun? I’d prefer him to Eddie if I’m honest.
I honestly don’t know!
Agree Tony, Balogun has more of an upside. It’ll come down to whether if there any offers for Eddie I guess. Balogun seems ambitious and it’s likely they’ll be more interest in him. We certainly won’t keep both – same agent of course!
Ambarish-you tend to confuse me with others, much like your above post regarding AFTV, as I think you were trying to respond to me…Cheers
a couple or 4 points
(1) there’s no way that both Rice and Lavia are coming in without Partey being offloaded
(2) as I suggested a day or so ago, it does appear that Tierney might be staying, which is likely a consequence of MA’s other rather costly pursuits…I’m certainly not opposed, so long as Tierney is fully on board. as Zinchenko needs some serious load management
(3) there’s no way MA bought White for 50+M to play at RB, but he might have envisioned the rare occasion when he could be deployed as a RCB in a back 3…MA shit the bed with Saliba and White, but thankfully the latter has performed admirably once he was called upon to play out wide…btw no one in their right mind would pay that figure for an unpolished player to play them out of position…another cake and eat it too moment for the slurpers
(4) as I’ve discussed in recent days, all this talk about Havertz having positional flexibility is simply wishful thinking, as the stats would strongly suggest that he has one position of any prominence, in the 8 hole…of course, if there were injury concerns he certainly could be deployed elsewhere, but not for any length of time if we wanted to be successful
furthermore for all the chatter surrounding MA’s desire to acquire players with positional flexibility, just think for a second when that’s really come into play…KIwor, Chambers, AMN, Jesus, ESR, Eddie, Balo, Tross, Vieira, Saka, Marts, Xhaka, White, Pepe, Luiz, Nelson, Willian and Zinchenko, all were either purchased with the understanding that they had played multiple positions and/or they actually were deployed in more than one position by MA…except for White, all the others either weren’t given a proper opportunity, even when we had a need for alternative options, or their performance wasn’t up to the level required…of course there’s been a few one-offs, like when Nelson played on the left and scored or when Tross had a decent showing in the false 9, but in the main, only Saka and White actual excelled out of their respective “preferred” position…that said, I don’t consider it to be a real positive benefit of any transfer unless the player in question has proven his worth ay more than one position over a reasonable period of time(like Simons)
sorry, I meant Caicedo not Simons, as the former has proven it in the PL
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12906148/kai-havertz-to-arsenal-why-chelsea-are-willing-to-let-him-go-and-why-he-is-attractive-to-the-gunners
Interesting.
it would be a tough pill to swallow if we pay more for Havertz than Chelsea paid for Nkunku, as the latter has actually proven himself to be positionally versatile, plus he’s a world class set piece option…now if you’re asking me if Havertz should be a better option than Xhaka, it’s a resounding yes, but that’s setting the bar pretty low…so if our primary goal of this acquisition is to have him deployed in the 8 hole, I’m not upset by that notion, but based on his PL numbers, paying anything over 40 to 45, considering his substantial wages, is a bit disconcerting…that said, sometimes a change of environment can reinvigorate a player, especially one with his particular age profile, but I’m just not sure he wants to put in the kind of work that’s required
boy we’re a joke show when it comes to haggling…the very fact that our second bid had a lower guaranteed dollar figure than our first, even though with add-ons it’s 10M more, speaks volumes about our amateur hour transfer tactics…if we keep this up we could encourage another suitor, like maybe City, to come in, which would cost us considerably more…I still wouldn’t be surprised if the 3rd bid sneakily included a player swap…here’s hoping it’s Eddie and not ESR
I have to say it does makes me wonder what our real gameplan is considering how many transfer irons we supposedly have in the fire…now if we succeed in getting the vast majority of our rumoured targets it would seem to suggest that we’re in it to win it, but if this is just an elaborate smokescreen which leads to only one signing of any significance and a couple Vieira-types on the side, things could get rather messy here
I read an article earlier this evening that left me with some mixed feelings…on the one hand, it verified some of my concerns about Rice, while on the other hand it brought a bit more clarity to our pursuit of Havertz…I’ve never felt that Rice was a world class two-way player, as I think he has the positioning nous, prowess and stride length to become one of the best DMs in world football, but he doesn’t appear to have the passing or finishing capabilities required…this certainly doesn’t mean we should say fuck it and look elsewhere, as we’ve been clamoring for a bona fide DM for ages…this just means we have to stack the deck up top and do things a little differently…this is likely where Havertz comes into play…with Jesus’s back to goal link-up play abilities and Saka and Marts causing havoc outside, I would suspect that Havertz is going to see plenty of 1 v. 1 opportunties, if he and Ode can build the requisite chemistry…if opposing team attempt to adjust, it will likely leave our wide-side players with a similar luxury…nothing is a given, but I can visualize the potential benefits of having a true DM sitting in the middle of the park…of course, the other added bonus is that we should be substantially better when it comes to set pieces, on both ends of the pitch, as they will instantly become two of our tallest players
Bob
My gripe with A&E or one of them is their underwhelming use of Hale Enders.
Eddie I’m still not convinced about, but he’s too expensive to be a bench warmer particularly with our record in cups domestic or otherwise. Bolagun, however, has shown the same promise as Saliba did in France. As an owner of successful companies I would see Bolagun as having earned his stripes to feature next season in an open fight for the CF spot.
I’d tell Bolagun, Havertz, if we are silly enough to gamble on him, and Jesus to make the #9 shirt their own, giving them equal chances with Bolagun up first. Obviously, re-up his contract to Eddie’s level. By Arteta’s terms Eddie hasn’t made the starting 11 grade, as was proven last season. Pets ‘R’ Arteta got the nod and dropped off terribly. Eddie wasn’t fancied. Same with ESR.
I have an even bigger dislike for KSE in the way the do business. Some KPIs we should follow:
Don’t pay over the odds – Does Tony Bloom?
Don’t gamble on £60m+ players with poor stats – does Tony Bloom?
Don’t quibble over £10m when your net worth is around $13Billion and the player moves the needle
All management should have quarterly reviews and be solely accountable for their set targets
Make profit on outgoing players – doesn’t Tony Bloom always?
Hire a no nonsense negotiator who has a track record of successful sports deals – Unfortunately, Tony Bloom is a club owner.
This would be a good start.
Bob, think of what Mikel said before the window opened, “We have to get this window right!”
To me gambling on Havertz for £60+M is a complete curve ball to what we really need; 5 roles or not. He may or may not work. He wasn’t that good at BL does not constitute getting a window emphatically right. For all we know, Havertz isn’t right for the PL and he’s had 3 seasons and 3 managers to make it work.
The Rice and Caicedo fiasco.
Caicedo is the better versatile player. Rice is unknown at 8, but will be decent at CB back up or 6. Caicedo is the truest definition of a Swiss Army knife and equally as good in all positions as in elite player in the making.
Both will cost the same, but we are helping the Chavs buy Caicedo, because we could waltz right in now and but Caicedo, but we won’t because of who? KSE or Mikel or both?
The Ajax RB? Same again. Wash, rinse and repeat is our TW mantra and KSE & A&E are not disappointing once again.
I know we are solely reliant on the press and their story telling, it’s how they make their money. However, no smoke without fire and our 2 rookies are at it again – being rookies and taken for rides as we aways are.
You know, Bob, I wish, and I mean really wish I could wake up tomorrow and find we’ve bought, Rice, Caicedo, and taken a punt on Lavia and with Timber waiting for a medical and re-upped Bolagun.
That to me would be getting the TW right. Then start selling and looking for the right CF.
People are missing that Trossard can play pivot on 8/10 and he doesn’t desert his defensive duties. We don’t need Havertz at 8. Zinchenko is better at 8 than LB, but he’s served his purpose and should be sold, ditto Jesus. For his size Trossard is no lightweight either.
All of a sudden LG are marveling at playing a back 3 where we here were saying it pre Xmas last year.
Like every Gooner I desperately want this TW to be far better than A&E’s TW’s to date; however, the optics thus far are pointing to another meh TW where our buys barring maybe Rice don’t move our needle to be competing toe to toe with City & Pool.
It’s not personal against A & E, it’s personal about the suits lacking accountability when they’re needed most and having puppet CEO.
A&E are lucky that the people above them are on the same level and happy with excuses for then last 4 years. Before you say it, Bob. 2nd last season was a Leicester season which we couldn’t manage to take advantage of.
We’ve blown the last 2 seasons and with the way we are reacting to the current TW and not being proactive this coming season, we will not be challenging for top spot.
That will be unacceptable for me.