Arteta spoke to the press today and as usual gave the most anodyne answers possible.
When asked what needs to change to improve he answered “certain things”.
When asked what the next step is he said “take things so that when they are a little more settled and established, take them to the next level.”
Asked if they have progressed this season, he claimed that they have and that “many factors” support the notion that they have improved in the performances.
Asked again what he wants to evolve, he responded “certain things that have to improve.” And pressed as to what would be top of the list, he said “we will see what happens in the summer.”
He did give a hint that the plan is basically to sell a number of players in the summer and try to get in some new guys: “There are so many things to do because we already have a lot of players on loan and a lot of players with contracts still that we need to sort. It will depend what happens with a lot of those players and what we are able to recruit to improve the team, that is going to determine where we are.”
I don’t expect him to come out and say “we are going to sell 8 players this summer and they are ________. After that we are going to buy ____ and _____ so that our squad can be complete.” But at the same time, his answers take analgesic responses to good questions to a whole new level. To the point where it almost feels like the press conferences are useless.
However, he did sort of let the cat out the bag by suggesting that this summer is going to be pretty important for evolving the team. Which isn’t a surprise answer. We all know that this squad has holes and we need to buy some players. Left back, center mid, and attacking mid for example.
Here are some facts:
Arsenal have 8 players on loan out and three players on loan in which play a pivotal role in the club (keeper, center mid and attacking mid). Ideally, you’d want to have two players in each position or at least enough cover for most positions.
Keeper is a bit of problem: Leno, Runnarson, and Ryan could use an upgrade. Adding a homegrown player here would allow Arsenal to have more non-hg in the outfield positions. Runnarson in particular needs to be shifted because he is taking up a non-hg squad position. Ryan would be an able backup, I suppose. He’s a real Gooner so he’s got that going for him.
At right back, we have two – Bellerin (hg) and Soares. You may not think they are good enough which is, like, your opinion, man but I can’t see the team spending a lot of energy on improving that position.
We have a crisis at left back: Tierney can’t seem to play more than 2,000 minutes a season and there is literally no one to cover for him. Saka can be used in emergencies but he’s been getting too much playing time this season and I think he should be limited to just forward play from here on out. Buying a left back has to be Arsenal’s top priority. Ryan Bertrand (31, hg) is being strongly linked with the club and does seem to fit Arteta’s preference for one younger, one older player.
Center back is well stocked. Holding and Chambers can play RCB and Gabriel and Mari can play LCB. We also have Saliba and Mavropanos coming back in from loan but I have an odd feeling that we are going to sell/loan them both again next year. But the good news is that Arteta can evaluate them both during pre-season.
Center mid is another crisis area. Thomas Partey is another player who can’t seem to play more than 2,000 minutes a season while Granit Xhaka is a player who can’t seem to play less than 5,000 minutes a season (hyperbole, but he is basically an iron man for Arsenal). Elneny is beloved by the other players and does seem like a safe pair of legs so I’d be surprised if he leaves. Ideally we’d get in a Ceballos replacement. We just can’t operate without a real CM next season.
Attacking mid also needs backup. Smith Rowe will probably be a starter there next season but it’s crucial that we get in another AM.
Up top a lot of Arsenal fans want to sell either Lacazette or Auba. However, I’m here to tell you that unless we buy off contracts they are basically NFTs because of their salary. Auba’s on 13m a year (so is Partey, so you can flush any dreams of selling him down the terlet) and Lacazette is on 10m. Willian is also on 10m. Arteta was actually asked if Arsenal were planning on doing this exact thing (buying out some contracts) and he said no. In the post-covid summer market I can’t see many teams able to cover those exorbitant wages so I don’t expect any movement there. I do wonder if we will sell Nelson and Nketiah. And if so, how we will replace them? Purchases? Give playing time to Balogun?
If we do that, along with selling Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock (which seems likely) we will have a slight problem with the homegrown rule. Squads are limited to 25 players over 21 (plus an unlimited number of U21s) and limited further to 17 non-homegrown players. We currently have:
- Leno
- Runnarson*
- Ryan*
- Tierney
- Gabriel
- Cedric
- Mari
- David Luiz*
- Ceballos*
- Odegaard*
- Partey
- Elneny
- Xhaka
- Laca
- Willian
- Auba
- Pepe
And homegrown players are:
- Bellerin
- Holding
- Chambers
- Nelson*
- Willock*
- Nketiah*
- Maitland-Niles*
So.. If we sell off all the non-hgs with a * above (Runnarson, Ryan, David Luiz, Ceballos, and Odegaard) we could bring in 5 non-hg players. But all signs point to giving David Luiz another year and Runnarson seems unlikely to go anywhere because he’s on 40k a week and ain’t nobody paying him that (well, except us). So, Arsenal may only have 3 non-hg slots available next year. And with Arsenal needing at least 5 players this summer (keeper, left back, center mid, attacking mid, and at least one forward) we will either have to purchase homegrowns (at a premium), appoint players from the academy, or limit the squad size.
An interesting wrinkle: Szczesny would count as homegrown and I would take him back if Juventus pay off part of his massive salary. Also Arsenal are looking at Ryan Bertrand for left back, which indicates to me that we are aware of the homegrown problem and looking for solutions. It’s also possible for Arteta to appoint Miguel Azeez or one of the other academy players who have done so well and been highly lauded this year. I would, in fact, prefer that option. And that would leave Arsenal looking to buy just one or two foreign players.
The club are also well aware that big-signings are the opiate of the masses. A big-name midfield signing (or two) along with loudly proclaiming to be promoting academy players would calm a lot of the protests. That would also seem to fit the plans laid out by Arteta in his press conference – which is modest improvement along with evolution. And given all the players we have out on loan and the number of players I suspect that we will sell, don’t be surprised if Arsenal make a profit on player sales this summer.
The club has also recently backtracked on firing the entire scouting department. The Guardian are reporting that Arsenal have hired headhunters to help them find new scouts for several key areas and that they will use this more traditional method along with data-driven recruitment via their in-house stats company, StatsDNA.
There will be a lot of stories flying around this summer and as usual I will try to only report on news when it is creditable from a credible source.
This might just be a culture-difference thing, but i have always wondered who the people who suddenly drop their view or opinion of where the club is and is heading, just because of a new signing. Especially at Arsenal.
I mean, outside the signing of Ozil, I don’t remember a signing that has distracted fans away from Arsenal’s problems. And that might have just been because he was the first big name to sign after years of losing players.
I think its cultural because where I am from and the surrounding countries, people just slowly back off of following the club as intensely and will come back when the club seems to show better direction. beyond just investing time into the team, it also comes with a financial and most importantly, and emotional investment. no returns? people check out.
Oh, and selling Maitland-Niles and Willock to then go and buy a fullback and central midfielder sounds kind of self destructive for a team in debt, that needs to rebuild. How do you rebuild your side with Luiz, Willian and Bertrand? Where is the benefit of buying out useful players, but keeping useless players on contract?
Appreciate the StatDNA mention. Seems a misunderstood facet of Arsenal’s ability to identify top tier player candidates. I’d followed (best I could) the evolution of the system since inception, then purchase (by AOH-USA LLC in 2012). Publicly available information on the system dried up after several articles were published in 2014-15.
Felt the system was expected (by fans) to be more than what was intended. Also felt Arsenal had a 2-3 year window of opportunity with a proprietary system to create an advantage in recruitment– but failed to make the most of it. Had hoped the appointment of Sven Mislintat might have been a catalyst in that respect. Raul Sanllehi flushed away those prospects.
What I do believe– is that the process of video-driven analytics and the level of scrutiny and scoring of game video might still give Arsenal an advantage in recruitment. By targeting professional prospects at an earlier age– than other systems currently in use. Taking account of the current trove of youth prospects and advancement of Youth Academy grads to the team, it seems the StatDNA model may have gotten it right in this one respect.
This piece by James McNicholas (then at Bleacher Report) in 2014 was, in that era, the best description I could find publicly, on the depth of StatDNA’s model:
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2269196-what-buying-statdna-means-for-arsenal-and-their-moneyball-approach-to-football
That results have had to be borne out over many years, dilutes the value of the system in the minds of fans. Who seem to only hear of StatDNA in soundbites. Or relative to player signings who didn’t measure up. The next few years should show whether the system has been as valuable to the club as intended. A constant pipeline of youth prospects-to-professional players in the Arsenal first team.
To me, thus far, positive results seem real.
the first time i can think of the stats dna being used with arsenal is when granit xhaka and shkodran mustafi were bought by arsenal. while it can be an excellent supplement to the recruiting process, it can’t replace experienced scouts. neither of those players were worth £35 million pounds but that’s what arsenal paid for each of them based on the intel given to the club by stats dna.
the idea behind this source is to confirm what scouts see as well as have greater access to players without having to put “boots on the ground”, so to speak. while cyber intelligence is good, human intelligence is far more reliable. last year, arsenal fired all of their scouts, i’m sure because some suit decided this software was a more capable and less expensive upgrade. it’s not going to work. i don’t think arsenal can afford to keep making purchases like mustafi and xhaka. time will tell.
Agree with you on a lot of this. RB seems low priority, with at least 3 decent options.
A backup at LB is high, another solid keeper on permanent, a CDM, and an AM. I’d be surprised if they let Willock go. He qualifies as homegrown, and did well at Newcastle. Unless he and Arteta have a problem, it would seem like a no-brainer to keep him.
On the attacking front, we desperately need more goals. The big question is can the existing squad and manager provide them? I’m not convinced of Arteta on this front, so even if we were able to unload one of Auba or Laca, I’m not sure that solves the problem.
And Willian certainly needs to go, but where? We’ll likely have to spend even more money to move him.
I always look forward to reading your articles and generally agree with most of what you write. However, I feel that the changes this summer will be bigger than what you have anticipated. At the very least, there are three areas you have captured that I anticipate radically different outcomes.
First, in goal, you seem to insinuate that nothing much beyond an alternate for third choice will take place. What happens to the strong rumors on Leno’s exit? I suspect a replacement for Leno and a new third choice promoted in place of Runnerson from the academy. At the very least, Leno will need replacing.
Second is the right back situation. Clearly, Bellerin is no longer in favour and angling for an amicable parting of ways. Cedric is soo out of favour to be counted on as first choice. Chambers is an alternate imposed by circumstances, he is an alternate not first choice. Also, he is on his final year. Unlike the left back where a backup is what we need, in right back we are looking for a first choice, not a backup. All the rumors show this as a clear position being targeted.
The RCB is a puzzle. Arteta clearly wants a new experienced CB according to the briefings. He may have to settle for Luiz for one more season but if Saliba is let go, then there may be a new RCB coming in. Chambers has one year to go so a decision has to be made. A replacement for Ceballos in DM and a CAM to replace Odegaard and assist ESR is needed. An attacker will only come in is Laca exits.
Your article describes what would be a normal window. I think the mood and rumors hint at some serious squad overhaul. A Normal squad evolution simply wont do and would result in the entrenching of Arsenal in mediocrity. If a push for the top 6 is a target, the first 11 must get at least 4 new players with a replacement for Leno if he moved. A RB, a RCB, a DM and an CAM.
“First, in goal, you seem to insinuate that nothing much beyond an alternate for third choice will take place. What happens to the strong rumors on Leno’s exit? I suspect a replacement for Leno and a new third choice promoted in place of Runnerson from the academy. At the very least, Leno will need replacing.”
-Generally I don’t listen to rumors but now Amy Lawrence is saying Leno wants out so I think there is something there. In which case I agree that we will need a starting keeper. As for promotion: there is a young keeper who has already played once for us, Arthur Okonkwo.
“Second is the right back situation.”
Again, I tend to shy away from rumors but also again I have had my mind changed by published reports today.
“He may have to settle for Luiz for one more season”
David Luiz also wants to leave.
“at least 4 new players with a replacement for Leno if he moved. A RB, a RCB, a DM and an CAM.”
I think you forgot about LB which is a crisis.
Tim. Another superb post. Obviously it seems like the club and Arteta are planning on him being the manager next season. I agree that we need another LB and CM and an attacking mid to back up. However, I think all of us agree the biggest need is to find more goals and LB CM and back up attacking mid are not going to make us significantly better at scoring goals. Its hard for me to understand how we can make a list of needed players and not include a couple forwards except as an afterthought. I know that no one likes to see actual numbers but the 7 players who we have used forwards this season have scored 37 total goals. The idea that players like Saka, Nketiah, Bologun, Nketiah, Nelson, Pepe, Smith Rowe are going suddenly start to score a lot more is completely unsupported by any evidence we have seen from Arsenal players the last 15 years. We have been waiting for one of our academy or youth players to break out for at least 15 years and outside one incredible year from Aaron Ramsey (that was never replicated) no one has broken out and started scoring regularly yet so the evidence would suggest that its unlikely to happen next season. Unless we score more often we are going to struggle again next season and I just don’t see how we can score a lot more without a significant upgrade in talent upfront.
Bill, assuming you’re talking just about the premier league:
Lacazette – 126 appearances, 50 goals, 18 assists
Aubameyang – 111 appearances, 64 goals, 14 assists
One of them has been in the running for golden boot in 2/3 seasons. The other has at least 15 goal actions for 4 consecutive seasons (only 4 players in the entire PL have the same in that period).
As for Balogun, Nketiah, Nelson (and I’ll add Martinelli as well) do you think they’ve had enough minutes this season to make a difference?
As for Saka, 56 PL appearances, 6 goals and 8 assists. They’re better numbers than just about every twenty year old MF in the PL and compare favourably with twenty year old KDB, Grealish and others.
So when you say ‘significant talent upgrade upfront’ who do you have in mind that the club should buy?
I think the idea that you share is that major squad surgery is coming. General anesthesia, mechanical ventilation, the whole bit. And if that’s the case, then is it really the manager who is lacking in some way?
I prefer to stratify the squad not so much by position but by tier. Not what their value is but what they are worth on the pitch right now.
Tier 1: Top drawer players any club would want
Aubameyang, Saka
That’s it. Two dudes, one a rookie, the other afflicted with malaria.
Tier 2: Not elite but you want them starting every game
Tierney, Leno, Partey, Smith Rowe
A pretty good cast here but injury prone too.
Tier 3: Does a job for the team, perhaps inconsistent or limited ceiling
Xhaka, Holding, Lacazette, Gabriel, Pepe, Martinelli, Luiz, Torreira
Comfortable calling on these guys but they have issues too.
Tier 4: Replacement level
Ryan, ElNeny, Mari, Soares, Nketiah, Nelson, Willock, Chambers, Mavropanos, Saliba, Maitland-Niles
You wouldn’t notice if they weren’t in the squad
Tier 5: Liability
Runarsson, Guendouzi, Kolasinac, Willian (based on body of work this season)
Better off without them, for different reasons
So those are my grades. 6 dudes you really want, a handful that you have to trust and a whole bunch of mediocrity or question marks. Some of these guys have potential but I’m only grading on what they did for Arsenal this season. Major gaps to be filled this summer.
Oh and Bellerin who is definitely leaving
Strange you include martinelli, Nelson,Mavropanos and even Saliba.for all the talk of overhaul,I ask for what system is it for.does arteta know what system he’s getting in new players for,
No he doesn’t
But it doesn’t matter, because he doesn’t have ALL the players yet. Once he has them, we can eventually work something out.
Props for being bold enough to tier the squad. Two immediate questions:
– Who has improved since Arteta arrived? Saka and ESR have shown their potential (difficult to assess if this is down to coaching) Anyone else come to mind? Weren’t we supposed to be getting a world class coach with Arteta?
– You’ve dropped quite a few of the youngsters in the move ‘em on buckets. Do you think they’ve had a fair chance to prove themselves? For example Willock, Guendouzi, Saliba have all done fairly well with their loan clubs.
it’s tough to concur with your list, doc. first, i think tierney is the best left back in the premier league. the liverpool guys get praise but it’s only their service that’s top notch. i’ve always rated the rest of their game as average. tierney is a more complete player doing more things consistently at a higher level. there’s no left back in the league i’d take ahead of tierney.
there’s no way i’d take saka as a striker ahead of salah, mane, son, mahrez, timo, sterling, jota, and maybe raphinha. this is critical but true: saka misses too many chances that those guys would bury. i get it that he’s young and exciting and the best is yet to come. in the meantime, there are too many players simply better.
everyone seems to endeavor to devalue lacazette…even his coaches. it’s the only reason his numbers aren’t better. arsenal would probably have another 18-20 goals this season if not for the poor management of arteta. so many games playing without a #10 and starting nketiah over laca is disgraceful. laca always shows up and puts in a shift, doing the dirty work that comes with leading the line and doesn’t complain. he never hides and always scores in big games, whether home or away. in fact, the only center forward in the league i’d say is clearly better is harry kane, who’s generational. lacazette has a savvy that you can’t coach. you placing him in your third tier is disrespectful.
Brother, you didn’t read my earlier comment. It’s very difficult to make a case that upgrade options for Laca and Auba realistically exist. In the PL Kane and Salah would be an upgrade but neither would join us so it’s academic.
So you’re either looking for a younger player on the upward (Edouard, Watkins) or you’re developing the current young talent at the club (Martinelli, Nketiah, Balogun). Neither option is going to deliver the goals and assists of Laca and Auba. Plus next season we’ve got far less games to develop the youngsters.
So when anyone says we need to significantly upgrade our forward line it’s not grounded in reality. What we MUST be doing is giving the young strikers playing time or sending them out on loan to get it.
I am not a religious person but every time I hear or read that Arteta needs to get his own players in there, for us to start judging him, I am reminded of a passage that has stuck with me since I was a boy.
“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,[a] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.”
You cant wait for the perfect squad to start judging Arteta because he may never get it. Truthfully speaking, there isn’t a single coach that has his perfect squad. if that is what it takes for judgement on Arteta, then he is the greatest coach that will never be and we would be foolish to not acquiesce to his every word.
I actually enjoyed taking a break from Arsenal while healing my Achilles. I just started my running program last week and I feel like I can put my focus on getting back to full physical activity. I wanna be playing football and hiking before the start of the new season, so I have plenty of distraction away from Arsenal. I hope most of you can find a different outlet, because its painful to watch (so called) smart people keep making such wrong on an entity that is so loved by many.
What’s a manger supposed to do if the players are not playing ? I mean that’s what they’re paid to do. The attack is not scoring , the midfielders aren’t passing and the defenders aren’t defending.
The players are simply not good enough, we need better ones. And if they’re not good enough, we have to bring in even better ones…..I mean there are tiers to this thing.
I mostly agree with Doc’s comment and his tiers. They seem to match reasonably well with Tim’s assessment from his post on April 2. Fans tend to over rate their own players but if we get past our home team bias and take a realistic look at the squad I think its clear we have major holes to fill if we hope to compete for a top 6 much less a top 4 position.
The only major disagreement I would have with Doc is including Auba in his first tier. Anything is possible and may be this was just a bad year for him and may be he will return to his previous form and score 20+ league goals. However next year will be his age 32/33 season. All players are different but Father Time is undefeated. Thierry Henry scored 6 league goals between Barcelona and MLS in his age 32/33 season and Dennis Bergkamp each scored 4 league goals in his age 33 season. Anything is possible but planning on Auba to return to his tier 1 golden boot winning form may not be a realistic expectation.
Matt B at 2:43PM
Your numbers are a bit off. Lacazette has been with Arsenal for 4 seasons with 3 different managers and different systems and he has never scored more then 14 league goals. He has averaged 12.5 goals league goals per season. I think we can safely assume around 12-13 from him again. That’s not terrible but its not enough for the CF from a team that desperately needs to score more goals if it hopes to compete for a Europa league spot next season.
I discuss Auba in my comment above at 4:06AM. It would certainly be a huge help if he could return to golden boot form but that may not be a realistic expectation.
Even if everything goes perfectly and we have an ideal scenario with Auba scoring 20 and Laca scoring 13 league goals. That scenario seems a bit of a long shot but even if it happens when you do the math its still going to be very tough to score enough with the squad as currently constructed.
Laca numbers are correct. Goal actions (goals and assists).
Left up to me, I’m keeping Joe Willock. No one else of Arsenal’s midfielders has his skillset. His was the most successful loan since Wilshere to Bolton, and maybe Song to Charlton. Time to inject some directness into our posse of sideways passers.
Devlin is right. There’s no such thing as a perfect squad, and Arteta isn’t going to get it. Right now coming to Arsenal is a career killer. Ask Auba and Partey.
We should be brave and sell Xhaka. Getting a world class replacement would be difficult with no European football to offer, so we’ll get soaked on wages. Elneny is the perfect squad player, well liked by staff and players, and he never bitches and moans about his role. You’re never going to sell an injured Guendouzi, so he’ll have to work with the player. Perhaps it’s the same with Laca, but I’d be selling there too.
The coach underperformed with the bunch players he had. Simple as that. If he’s still in that job at the end of the summer, he can count himself fortunate.
MattB
Saka has been a good player but comparing him to KDB or Grealish is not realistic. Correct me if I am wrong but both of those players are central midfielders and Saka plays mostly as a wide attacking player. KDB and Grealish both average about 7 league goals/season which is good for a central midfielder but not that great for a wide attacking player. Again if you do the math thing thing we need for us to improve If we are really going to improve are Mo Salah, Alexis Sanchez, or Bobby Pires type goal scoring numbers form our wide attacking players and right now Saka is on pace to average about 4 league goals/season in his first 60 games if you assume a 35 game season. Its possible Saka develops into the next Alexis Sanchez and score 15-20 goals/season. That is what we really needed and hoped from players like Ox, Iwobe, Welbeck and Walcott but it never happened.
In terms of players like Martinelli, Nketiah, Nelson, Balogun, etc etc none of them played a lot of minutes but we have seen dozens and dozens and dozens of talented youth players since the start of project youth in 2005 but we still don’t have even one double digit goal scoring season from any of our academy grads during in the last 16 years. Anything is possible but making your squad building decisions and assumptions based on a player like Nketiah or Martinelli breaking out and scoring double digits is most likely to end up missing the mark.
once again, you view is skewed. sure, saka hasn’t scored many goals. however, he’s a kid continually being moved around and he’s played the majority of those minutes as a defender. can you really judge goal-scoring talent based on a comparison between an attacking player and a defender?
the bigger question is what idiot would think it brilliant to continually move around a 19-year old against world class opposition in the toughest league in the world? we’ve seen games where bukayo saka has played 4 different positions in the same damn game. what good manager does that to a young kid?
Did you read anything I wrote? Forget it Bill. You don’t read or listen. You’re only interested in talking.
mattb, i did read your post and i agreed with it. i was responding to doc’s tiered assessment of the current value of arsenal players.
devlin is right, arteta will never get a perfect squad. his job is to maximize use of the lemons he has, not snivel and moan about the strawberries he doesn’t have. any idiot can do that. the way he gets the backing of the club is to take those lemons and make lemonade.
bill, we’ve talked enough about your exclusive numbers-based approach. professionals use more than just numbers. a proper strategy that maximizes the strengths and minimizes the weakness of the team is the manager’s job. arsenal aren’t going to just go out and sign someone who’s better than lacazette and aubameyang when they’re not even in europe. auba and laca cost arsenal a fortune for a reason. it’s reasonable for arsenal to expect a return on the huge investments that were their transfer fees.
claude, joe willock has scored some big goals for newcastle but you have to ask the question: is he really playing well? while it would be great to move on from xhaka and lacazette, who will you bring in to replace them, are they willing to come, and for what money? we have to be careful as both players are in their prime with xhaka still only 28 and lacazette only 29.
Antonio Conte spent the entire fall whining about the players he had at Milan. The owners told him that nio new players would be coming in and he ended up making major changes to his approach and getting the best out of the squad he had. Now, to be completely fair, we are talking about Eriksen and Perisic which are better than what we have here at Arsenal but the point is that the coach needs to coach.
I’m not a fan of Arteta’s public facing methods. He blames the players too often and rarely admits his system was wrong. But more than that he just seems like an unlikeable guy.
I know that stuff doesn’t count for much – Gasperini is uncompromising and well known for being quite an asshole and Wenger rarely took the blame for his system – but that stuff, along with the poor finish and ugly football turns me off.
this… what conte did is the epitome of what management is. now, he’s about to win serie a. i gave my definition for management the other day. everything else is bs.
it’s the media pundits who give these guys a pass, talking about “when he gets his players in”. f-that! if i were an owner, you have to earn the right to sign future resources by showcasing a level of excellence in managing the current resources. there’s no way the current arsenal roster should be mid-table and no way they should be sent out to play so cowardly in big games like in the last liverpool game.
How is a manager supposed to win things without the players !? Is he supposed to go out there and score goals himself !?
I mean where are the goals and assists going to come from ? The math doesn’t add up
Inter won the title because they had superior players, and Lille are going to win Ligue 1 for the same reason. Wish we had a striker like Burak Yilmaz, we’d be walking the league.
i’m not saying arteta has to win the league but he’s got to do better than he has. the current arsenal roster are better than mid-table. arteta should be required to show his potential to maximize current resources before being granted additional resources. arsenal have better players than aston villa, west ham, everton, leicester city, and villareal but they don’t have better results and that’s the fault of the manager and his strategic skill and team building.
you make it seem as if arsenal don’t have any talent. they totally do, both currently at the club and the players arteta has sent on loan or sold.
My guess is the reason we spent $72M on Pepe is someone recognized that we needed a player who could give us similar production to Alexis or maybe even Mo Salah if we expected to compete for the top 4. At the time Auba was winning golden boots and a front line of Auba with around 22 league goals, Laca with 14 and Pepe with 18 is 54 goals from our starting forwards and with that sort of production we would have been a legitimate threat to the top 4.
Obviously we can’t afford for our front office and Arteta to make any Pepe level mistakes. IMO, our future success will depend mostly on how well our front office and the manager use our resources to rebuild. They need to hit mostly more home runs and we certainly can’t afford big money mis kicks.
My 2 cents, organised by position group:
GK
1 – Leno has two years left on his deal and (according to the Guardian) wont extend it, so he is for sale if an offer comes in. Honestly probably wise for a team that wants to play out from the back. Maybe we can sign that Villa keeper, he seems pretty comfortable… oh. Yeah. Anyway, after just two seasons, GK is back to being a problem position.
2 – Ryan makes sense to buy as a depth option, assuming the price is sensible. If not, someone else needs signed as no.2.
3 – Runarsson is a sunk cost. No one is going to sign him and he shouldn’t play for us again. Maybe we can get him out on loan, but we’d be paying most of his wage anyway, and he’s on the books for £40K p/w till 2024. With fee included, he’ll cost the club about £10M in total. Woops.
Summary: 1 or 2 signings required; 1 possible outgoing; 1 deadwood player.
LB
1 – Tierney is great, and still improving. Needs more rests, though.
2 – Kolasinac is a better WB than FB(not that he’s great there, either…) and he can’t play the possession football Arteta wants. Should go, but its hard to see who’s taking him off our hands.
Summary: 1 signing needed; 1 outgoing if possible
LCB
1? – Gabriel had a positive start, but lost Arteta’s trust. I think he wants better distribution. Still a very promising player giving age and profile.
1? – Mari can pass a bit, but not so well that he makes up for his deficiencies as a player. Not terrible, but not particularly good either.
Summary: unlikely to see change here, need Gabriel to step up in consistency next year.
RCB
1 – Luiz was our best CB this season, which tells a sad story by itself. No good reason to extend, though.
2 – Holding is a good foil for Mari, as his mostly-ok defending isn’t good enough to make up for his not-ok distribution. Homegrown, though.
3 – Saliba is a wildcard, but from what I can tell he is good in possession and likes a dribble, but his positioning is very suspect. I don’t think Arteta appreciates suspect positioning
4 – I haven’t watched a minute of him and have no clue what the club thinks of him either.
Summary: highly dependent on Saliba’s performance in preseason, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
RB
1? – Bellerin is clearly out of favour, has two years left, and is ready to move on; if a decent bid comes in he’s gone. Probably wise – love the man, but the player hasn’t been good enough for a while now.
1? – Chambers might work as an inverted FB or something – he’s certainly better in possession than most of our defensive options – but we don’t have a lot of evidence to go on and with one year left a decision needs to be made. He’s versatile and homegrown, but is that enough grounds for an extension?
3 – Cedric has, in fairness, been better than I expected. Still, he’s finished the season as third choice in two positions so it’s hard to see what purpose he serves. I think the club would like to move on, but who’s buying? (spot the pattern yet?)
Summary: 1-3 out, 1-2 in, lots of question marks here.
CM / DM
1A – Partey was inconsistent but is going nowhere.
1B – Xhaka was one half of our only functional midfield duo this season. He has two years left and is reportedly open to a move, so a sale is pretty likely.
2 – Elneny is functional. Given all the upheaval, he would make sense to retain, except he has one year left on his deal. Sell if possible?
3? – Willock has a unique profile in the squad as a midfielder who can get into the box and beat a man off the dribble. While he lacks refinement in the possession game, he would make sense as an ascending squad player and useful plan B off the bench. I expect he’ll be sold while his value is inflated by his improbable scoring streak, though.
4? – Guendouzi: France U-21 captain. Properly annoying human, but one with undoubted potential. I don’t know if another coach could get it out of him, but I know that Arteta won’t. Sale.
5? – Torreira: lord knows where he ends up, but it won’t be here.
6? Maitland-Niles, sale.
Summary: EGADS. Up to 6 players out and how many in depends on the formation Arteta wants to play.
CAM
1 – Smith Rowe is a gem but is not the finished article and can’t play every game.
2 – oh right, we don’t have one.
Summary: a player who can both play with and instead of Smith Rowe is needed urgently.
Wide forwards
1 – Saka is one of the best players his age in the world. Currently carrying the load to an unacceptable degree.
2 – Pepe has a pretty good rate of goal involvements per 90, but isn’t suited to Arteta’s control first football, as positioning, passing and pressing are all suspect.
3 – Willian (insert tirade here). Hard to imagine anyone taking on his contract.
4 – Martinelli has a high ceiling, but if Arteta doesn’t want him playing off the last man’s shoulder, he’ll need to improve his all-around game significantly.
5 – Nelson’s race is run. Sell if anyone’s buying.
Summary: hard to see much change here, unless the new CAM can also play wide.
CF
1? – Aubameyang hasn’t has a great year, though there are mitigating factors. Still, that a player who thrives off service in and behind the defence is struggling in a team that wants to hold possession and pick away at low blocks is no surprise. Why was he extended again? Was there ever a plan to play around his strengths? Going nowhere, so lets see if Arteta can find one.
1? – Lacazette has been one of our better players, without setting the world alight. In terms of performance? Keep. With one year left on his deal, though, a decent offer probably means sell.
3 – Maritnelli: see above.
4 – Nketiah is a decent poacher and can press, but that isn’t enough. Sell.
5 – Balogun is untested at this level. Should get some playing time, but can’t be relied on.
Summary: no drastic changes unless an offer comes in for Lacazette. If that happens, one more in required.
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All of which is to say that there is simply too much business to do to get it all done in one offseason – almost every position could be in flux. It’s absolutely true that Arteta inherited many of these problems, but a bunch of them are new ones of his own making. Even if he can move out all the players he’d like to, they won’t bring back a huge amount in return.
Matteo’s just become a father. Maybe he’ll now put his enfant terrible days behind him?
Still, I find it intriguing that you think if a coach can’t get anything out of players of high promise, you get rid of the players. I don’t love any coach that much. Turning straw into gold is not part of their JD, but you should reasonably expect a coach to improve players, particularly young ones.
The problem with fans (and journalists, thought not with you here at all, sir) is that we too readily buy official framings. If we look at this objectively, we’d see that Guendouzi for what he cost, his ability and his age, was of significant value to Arsenal. I saw a lot of him under Emery, and a little of him for France U21 (where he has more attacking responsibilities). He’s no mook. But you know, the coach who sent him on loan, brought in Willian. Too many of us forget what we saw with our own eyes, because Arteta doesnt like him. He’s the exact profile of player we need in the squad… young, plenty upside.
I didn’t mean it as a compliment to Arteta. I’m very worried that we’ll regret this one, but I don’t see much future for Matteo while Mikel is boss.
I agree with PRVHC @ 6:51. At the beginning of the season I predicted we would finish 7th however, that assumed Auba would score around 20 goals. His bad season derailed any chance we had of finishing in the top 6. Look at the squad analysis by Doc at 3:57PM and Tim’s analysis on April 2. This is not a top 6 squad.
Josh:
Saka has been brilliant this season and full credit to him. However, he needs to start scoring a lot more if we want to continue to use him as a wide attacking forward. There is only room on the pitch for 3 forwards and a team can’t afford to use up those 3 slots with players who don’t score. A whole squad full of Saka’s would be incredibly talented but it would struggle to win enough games because there would be no one to score.
I understand no one likes to agree with me just out of principle, however, the idea that you need players in your squad who are going to score seems so incredibly straightforward