Here is a summary of, and my thoughts on, Arsenal’s transfer business this January.
Maitland-Niles – West Brom
Ainsley has been dropped from the Arsenal team after a string of mediocre performances and instead Arteta is relying on 29 year old Cedric as backup fullback to both starters Bellerin and Tierney. Maitland-Niles now goes off to West Brom in search of playing time.
Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t get many games. West Brom’s right side is well established with Pereira up top, Conor in midfield, and Darnell Furlong in defense. I’d also be surprised if Sam Allardyce plays him in DM over the very experienced Jake Livermore. And at left back, WBA deploy former Gooner, Kieran Gibbs.
He could get some of Furlong’s minutes, I guess? Though Furlong has started 18/20 matches and has a goal and two assists. It will be difficult for AMN to get minutes in this team.
Joe Willock – Newcastle
Another Arsenal academy player off in search of playing time but might find the going rough. Newcastle just brought in a new assistant coach to help with Steve the Bruce’s duties and the first thing that he did was switch to a diamond midfield with two up top.
Almiron played in the point of the diamond which is where I expect Joe to play. That’s his main competition and I think he does have a chance there. Almiron has never really kicked on after his breakout seasons in MLS.
Mesut Ozil – bought out of his contract
We should have done this 6 months ago. Best of luck to him in Turkey. I’ll never forget his assist at the end of the 2014 FA Cup semi-final win over Everton.
If he could take his ardent supporters with him, that would be ace.
Martin Odegaard – loan in
Prodigious talent who will get playing time at Arsenal. The only question is whether that will be on the right side where Willian and Pepe have been world class amazing great spectacular the last two games or in the middle and take time away from the burgeoning Smith (no hyphen) Rowe. I hope the former but apparently Willian and Pepe have been so amazing that they are basically undroppable now. Really, we should sign Willian and Pepe to 10 year deals. They both deserve it.
Sead and Shkodran – Schalke 04
Arsenal have somehow convinced Schalke 04 to take both Sad Kolasinac and Mustafi the Dancing Bear.
Ryan – loan in
Arsenal have admitted that they made a mistake buying Run Ronnie Run and brought in an experienced keeper to spot Leno. I could have told you Runnar couldn’t cut the mustard when I saw that he’d been dropped by Dijon.
The only problem I have with Ryan is that he spells his first name with one t: Mathew.
Macey – Hibs
Hope he does well!
Big Papa – Canceled his contract
Hope he does well!
Some academy guys
Hope he does well!
Saliba – Nice
Went to Nice on loan at the start of the loan window. Already played 5 matches for them, full 90 in each match. He spoke to the press briefly yesterday about his time at Arsenal and how hurt he was that he didn’t get any playing time. It’s a real shame what’s happened with this young man. I hope he does well and comes back and we are ready to play him.
Conclusion
What an incredible amount of business that Arsenal have done in January. Clearing out the deadwood (Ozil, Macey, Papa, and Mustafi) alone seemed an impossible task just 6 months ago. I know we had to pay to clear these guys out (at least with Papa and Ozil) but we were going to pay them anyway so if we saved even a single dollar it’s a bonus.
For the young guys out on loan in most cases (excepting Saliba) I feel like these are “pre-exit” moves. In other words the club is shopping them for this summer. If you’re still hopeful of these players returning to Arsenal you might wonder what they will gain from playing at West Brom, Newcastle, and Nice. It’s a good question because with the exception of Saliba I don’t see them getting as much time as we would like.
I certainly don’t see Maitland-Niles playing in a more advanced role very often. It could happen, heck he could come straight in and displace their starting RWB, and play all of their remaining matches there. He is an England International after all and Furlong is not.
One thing I know for a fact about Maitland-Niles is that he says his perfect pizza is “Barbecue sauce base, beef, jalapenos, sweet corn, and extra cheese”. I know that I made myself out to be a “topping egalitarian” and that I have in the past chastised people for criticizing other people’s toppings but barbecue sauce and corn do not belong on a pizza. I don’t even know what that is. It’s not pizza. Apparently barbeque sauce on pizza is a big deal in England and yet another example of why the Brits were kicked out of Europe.
Willock is in a similar situation to Ainsley (footballistically, I hope he doesn’t like barbeque sauce on his pizza). I always wanted Willock to play deeper in midfield than he has during his time at the Arsenal which would have required him to pick up some more defensive skills. But it’s never materialized and instead he remains a more ephemeral midfielder. Under Steve the Bruce he will learn to play quick transition football and probably pick up some defensive principles but ultimately I think he’s being sold this summer.
The entire Saliba situation is a mess. I know my French readers adore him and tend to take his side in this deal and with good reason: we did pay £30m for him, his playing partner from St.E. (Fofana) is a starter at Leicester, and he’s not been given a chance at Arsenal. But when I see him play (which is pretty rarely, I’ll admit) he looks a bit of a mess. I know that he has suffered immeasurable personal trauma this year (losing both parents) and so I’m not saying he’s a bad player but there is something just not right there. This feels like a real catch-22 situation: if he’s good at Nice, he might not want to come back to Arsenal (he hasn’t said it directly but that’s the subtext), and then we lose out on what could be a top quality center back; if he’s not good at Nice, then we lose out on all that money and time. Maybe we just all hope he’s good at Nice, that Arteta convinces him to come back to Arsenal, and that he’s great for us for the rest of his career.
As for squad composition, we head into the 2nd half of the season with just three fullbacks. I know that in a pinch, Saka can play there. I know Chambo has done before (it wasn’t good, folks). And I know that the club have called up an academy player to train with the first team. But it feels a bit scary, honestly. Tierney seems to be chronically injured, Bellerin has had his own problems in the past, and Cedric can hardly be two guys at once.
In midfield, I’d love to see Saka – Emile – Martin with Ceballos and Thomas in the double-pivot. But I’d be willing to bet you that won’t happen even once! My big worry is that Martin takes time from Emile and pushes him down the pecking order. That would be a big loss in my mind. Ermahgerd is left footed but likes to operate on the right. If that’s where he plays, I can calm down because that just means taking time away from Pepe/Willian. I guess we will find out. We (Arsenal) have at least 20 more matches to play this season so he’s got to get a few looks in sooner or later.
Let me address first the elephant in the room: is the wrap, and particularly the Transfer Deadline Wrap, a sandwich?
Your question answers the question: is a wrap a sandwich? Is a fish a newspaper?
Rousing bit of writing, thanks.
AMN and Joe– if they see the game from outside the AFC bubble? They could grow. Get a bit meaner so to speak. Play the game with a bit more edge– like their futures are riding on it. Or they become Iwobis. If we can get a fistful of pounds for ’em? Then that’s progress. What the current Academy is expected to supply– value– if they don’t turn out as Sakas or ESRs.
As for Saliba? Was very disappointed in some of the commenters here a couple months back– on how he should plow right on through. Lost my mom when I was eighteen– and I wasn’t even yet a fully formed mess before it happened. Could barely make it to classes. Much less perform in a role where just short of near-perfection was required. I’ll give the young man props for keeping things moving forward. We’ll see his mettle I’ll wager.
The Curse of Mustafi lifted. The single worst thing stuck to the bottom of the club’s shoe since I’ve been a fan. Personally gifted the points costing Arsenal CL berths in 2017 and 2019. Believe his presence has been the indirect cause of every injury that has pulled him from the brink obscurity (no evidence, but will go with my gut). WhoScored once rated Mustafi in its Team of the Season. Had they added: ‘From the Neck Down’ they would still have my respect.
This Summer will be the first one where we may see Arteta’s real influence in building a team in his image. Props to Edu for finally, finally prepping for change by clearing the decks.
Yes they’ve done well to get rid of the “problem players” I wouldn’t mind betting that a week into the job, he pretty much knew that Kola, Musti and Ozil had to go, if he had any chance to build a team in his own image. It really was a question of when and how. “Attitude” is almost everything and theirs was never right.
As I’m discovering, watching the games on TV doesn’t give you any real idea of that, as the camera inevitably just follows the ball around. If you stood outside the ground on any given matchday, then the fans would unanimously tell you who was trying and who wasn’t, in no uncertain terms.
When George Graham came to the club in the 1980s, there were quite a few “Champagne Charlies” at Arsenal. International players who had big reputations and even bigger wages, who loved the London lifestyle. They were never going to go for the disciplined style he wanted, so bit by bit he hosed them out and replaced them with kids from the youth team and players from the lower divisions who had ambition. The key things he looked for in his players were “hunger” and “desire”. It was the making of the club at that particular time.
Even Arsene Wenger did more or less the same thing when he arrived. Brought in players with something about them and something to prove. Absolutely crucial.
Letting executives and agents dictate transfer decisions demonstrably doesn’t work, so good on Mikel! Keep it going and we might be getting somewhere.
Superb analysis.
This is my favourite line 🙂
Apparently barbeque sauce on pizza is a big deal in England and yet another example of why the Brits were kicked out of Europe.
That was a heck of a lot to do, so well done Mikel, Edu and team.
Agree… loans are soft exits, “pre-exits” as you say. Good, balanced take on Saliba, but the mood music is hard to miss. I’d be surprised to see him come back. Similarly Willock. AMN had a chance to go to Leicester, a better team with a better coach, playing better football…but seemed to want an assurance that he’d get games in midfield, and Big Sam, we can probably conclude, gave him that. He’s got an eye on the Euros, and I hope that he judged this move well. I like the player, but he has probably done a pre-exit.
Odegaard, from the video compilations, is as you say a left footer who mainly plays on the right, but he also seems to play a fair bit centrally, where he’s got good dribble, passing and trickery — drag-backs, step-overs and that kind of thing. I hope that when played WR he’s asked the use the full width of the pitch, because Hector likes to drift in, and that partnership is otherwise not going to work. Im intrigued about how he’ll rotate with Saka ESR, because he can play both their spots. Mikel also has the option of resting Laca some games, as Laca’s workload is insane, and working different forward combinations. Odegaard look slight… he can expect to get kicked a lot, particularly after nutmegging some 6 foot oaf. Taking nothing away from the lad who is very skilled, some team is going to do a Reyes on him.
We should never play Pepe WR again… he should backup Auba left; start some games when PEA needs a rest. He looks a better player WL. Willian? Weeeelllll….. his minutes will probably suffer the most. He should hope that we go deep into Europa.
There was some chatter about Nelson going to Spain or probably back to Germany, but nothing materialised. Overall, though, good and necessary amount of activity, even if we taking some Ls financially.
We got keeper cover, but good point about being light at full-back cover.
Can’t remember a busier January window.
Great review, tx!
My problem with Mat Ryan transfer is that he is not homegrown. Which raises the question why the Wenger-hater was left to take up a precious non-HG place? Couldn’t we move him somewhere on a permanent loan and rely on Arthur Okonkwo for the important position of third-choice keeper?
That whole deal for Run Ronnie Run (the Ronnie Dobbs Story) is incredible on so many levels. I tend to shy away from conspiracy theories but something stinks about this deal. Maybe we brought him in just so that we could drop Ozil?
Incidentally, Runarsson pulled off a couple of decent saves when he came on that kept the game alive. Can’t be easy for a young kid coming from nowhere and playing in goal in front of millions. He made a very high profile mistake. We might need to cut him some slack.
Not sure which high profile mistake you mean.
That One ‘t’ in Mathew thing is gonna be all i think about regardeless of his performances from now on. Its ridiculous
Quite right. What is it with parents giving their kids ridiculous names? Why give them a disadvantage for the rest of their lives? This fashion for deliberately misspelling first names should be enough to involve social services. Charlz? How many times in your lifetime do you have to give your name to someone. Thousands? Millions? Each and every time, that poor kid has got to explain how to spell it. Not just that, but every time he fills in a form or job application, people will assume he’s dyslexic. Madness.
“Life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue.” Johnny Cash
Ugh. Apparently, Wolves had a ‘clear the air’ meeting before this game, so they’ll no doubt be fired up, and we all know Arsenal love a good charity case when it comes to helping struggling teams. Hope I’m wrong / pessimistic, but I worry about this one. Let’s see!
well.. you were right to worry but for the wrong reasons!
Ha!
Typical Luiz blunder. Got the wrong side. Most defenders get smarter with age…
Poor concentration. Pure and simple. He know what to do, but had switched off. A bit Mustafi-like.
Matt, it was a terrible refereeing decision. You can say what you like about Luiz’s (and Holding’s positioning), the guy’s back leg struck Luiz. Hard to see the penalty there, let alone a card.
I thought they had changed the rules so that there wouldn’t be so many of these pen+red card situations. Seems particularly ridiculous in this case as there was zero intent from Luiz. Maybe give the pen and a yellow.
In any case, apparently Luiz is now keeping up the Mustafi end of things by himself?
Too bad, as we could easily have been up 3-0 before that happened.
The explanation from that retired ref on the telly was that
A) Luiz wasn’t in playable distance to the ball, and it’s an off the ball obstruction. So it’s a red not yellow.
B) Intent does not matter as the ref can’t judge intent, so the two guys running naturally argument doesn’t matter. The ref’s impression was that Luiz’s positioning directly behind the attacker impeded his forward momentum, and that’s all that matters.
C) Apparently Luiz has a reputation for positioning himself in such a way when running towards goal when he is caught out of position to cynically trip the attacker. The refs are probably aware of this.
sucks though.
Claude, he didn’t play the ball and they’re the rules. Haven’t heard any commentary on BBC or Sky saying the ref made a mistake.
OMG….from bad to worse.
Feel for Leno there. We were playing so deep and just inviting pressure. He mis-judged it
Yeah, $H!T happens, not as if Leno has been prone to this kind of thing. Still, two stupid reds in one game? The stat posted on Guardian is that we’ve had 9 reds since Arteta took over. Next highest team is 3. How many points has that cost us?
Agreed. The coach keeps picking Luiz and we have a massive discipline problem. Arteta needs a massive kick up the arse.
No way Luiz should be a red. VAR has to overturn that everyone on tv talking about he hasn’t tried to play the ball. The rules say accidental fouls. Playing the ball is just an example they use. Typical prem league refs making it up their own rules. And the fact they brought up Luiz history just proves they have a different set of rules for different players / teams
In theory if you interpret the rule strictly, he got the red because he didn’t attempt to play the ball on an obvious goal scoring opportunity.
The problem is that language was intended to address intentional trips and rugby tackles without any effort to play the ball. Not an incidental contact such as what happened today. As Rio F pointed out, a genuinely dangerous tackle from Luiz in the general direction of the ball would have meant it was only a yellow. Instead he got a red. Pretty sure that was not the intent of the law.
Gehlomar has summarised it perfectly higher in the thread. It’s a stupid rule. If he’d made a challenge he probably wouldn’t have been sent off.
He played very well in the previous game.
A: A buttload.
Personally, I find it a stretch that David Luiz was purposefully positioning his knees so the Wolves striker’s back leg lifts would hit it, and disrupt his balance.
When we watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, the rules of the game and the sanctions will be clear cut. Mind you, not every incident will be clear cut, but they’ll review it from every conceivable angle.
Soccer? Too much f****** personal interpretation of the ref, and not enough clear cut. The coming-together was at least worth a look on VAR. And if VAR isnt the tool for incidents like the Luiz one, it should be. If a ref doesn’t review that, what WILL he review?
John Terry says Luiz actually pulls out of the challenge:
“Never a red card! Double jeopardy… anyone who has ever played the game can see David never attempts to play the ball. He actually pulls out of the challenge. Which means penalty and no red card.”
I know they’re mates from Chelsea days, but that to me is a sound argument.
The problem with this game is that it can seem like we don’t know what we don’t know because the rule-makers have made changes they don’t hold the refs to. And refs support their own. They’re also contradictory. The whole thing on accidental or not accidental is muddled.
coming from greenbay fans, I felt the pass interference and holdingrules are quite similar to soccer rules. Some interpretation are required, and they cannot be reviewed.
John Terry who racially abused Anton Ferdinand, shagged his team-mate’s girlfriend and thought he could use disabled parking bays with impunity. You really value his opinion?
What an odd question. He’s giving an opinion on football, not exemplary moral behaviour.
Great post Tim. Thanks. Hope to see progress from Maitland-Niles, Willock and Nelson but I really doubt that any of those players will ever be regular contributors for Arsenal. Similar to Ceballos, Odegaard has been touted as a potential can’t miss prospect for a long time and he has never really lived up to that potential or made a real breakthrough. We have seen this scenario many many times in the past. I hope he suddenly finds whatever it is he has been missing and really helps us but I am highly skeptical that he will be a difference maker for us this year especially when it often takes even the best players some time to adjust to the PL.
Really great to get move some of the players who are clearly not part of the short term or long term future such as Ozil, Mustafi and Papa. I have never seen Saliba play so I don’t have an opinion about him.
Unfortunate result today. Our hopes of climbing back into one of the Europa league spots took a real hit. I agree completely with Claude when he says the rules of football have far to much room for personnel interpretation. The idea that intent should ever be part of any ruling is ridiculous. How can we expect refs or fans or pundits to read a players mind and know exactly what his intent was? That idea is completely absurd. The Luiz play is clearly a penalty. IMO. When you trip someone in the penalty box who has the ball and potentially only the keeper to beat it has to be a penalty. However, the double whammy of a red card is clearly overkill in my opinion. The fact that we can have different commentators and former refs disagree on whether or not it should be a red card tells you that the way the rule is written or the way it is interpreted is far to nebulous.
Excuse me, but how did Luiz trip the attacker up, here?
I did not watch the game but have seen slow it slow motion. If there was any contact, and if there was it was minimal, but what it was was the attacker’s foot touching Luiz’s, not the other way around and then he went down as if shot.
It reminded me of the last-minute penalty in the Champions League game a few years ago against Liverpool, when a Liverpool player had the ball in our box and was running away from the goal, with Luzhny, I think, in hot pursuit, and then stopped. Luzhny bumped into him, and it was given as penalty which they scored and got the draw or away goal, which was what they needed.
There was no intention here and no deliberate contact. Any contact that there might have been would have been deliberate and instigated by the attacker, not Luiz.
It was another classic case of cheating, which they got away with.
intent has been removed from the law. It’s a pen according to the laws of the game. DL shouldn’t have been in that position.
Yes, but if it was not a foul at all, but the attacker hitting Luiz, then intent is also not an issue.
If every time an attacker touches a defender in the box, there is going to be a penalty, then there would be one every few minutes.
Look, I wouldn’t call that a foul but it is a form of obstruction and it is called (also not called) when refs feel like it.
ManU scored 9 today against Southampton. Makes our clean sheet last Saturday look even better.
On transfer window: I give it an A-
Should’ve gotten a backup LB is my only complaint. Maybe they tried.
On the game today: just saw 2 minute highlight. I’ll go back and watch our first half. It’s another crazy red card fueled loss. Luiz is unlucky with the decision but he’s also caught trailing the striker in a bad position far upfield.
I guess the silver lining is if we are gonna lose, I’d rather play well and lose and by all accounts we did that prior to 45’ + 3
A very Arsenaly defeat. Play better than the other side, lose comically due to brain fart error / bad refereeing decision / world-class goal combo. Can we patent it?
My stream froze at 46 minutes so I just quit it and came back for the second half. Took me a couple of minutes to realise we were somehow 1-1 and down to 10 men. I haven’t seen the penalty decision and I’m not sure I want to, there is enough egregious nonsense going on in the world today.
Runnarsson made a couple of good stops, then passed the ball straight out of play, and looked utterly lost and bewildered by trying to take on board whatever instructions Arteta was bellowing at him from the touchline. I hope the coaching staff set him up and prepare him properly for Villa, I hope Arteta makes him feel like a real Arsenal keeper not a disappointment, the kid needs to have the belief and support of those around him.
The problem now is that Leno out, if Ryan is still injured we are going to have to play a rookie! Hard to see that ending well