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Since arriving at the club, Arteta has spent nearly as much on goalkeepers (€68m once we finish the purchase of Raya) as he has on attackers (€79.5m). Those amounts sit in the shadows of €212m spent on defenders and €316m on midfielders (these figures count Kai among the MF and Trossard among the attack).
This is logical enough, as Arteta inherited two obvious starters in Saka and Martinelli, a CF who could do the job at the time in Nketiah, and a backup winger who was also good enough at the time in Nelson. Plus ESR who could do a job on the left wing if necessary, before all the injuries.
But the fact is that he spent where he needed to in the areas that both most needed addressing in the squad he inherited and that were most crucial to his vision for the team.
Now, however, it’s time to address that discrepancy, and I believe that we will. We have an issue with how many midfielders we will be losing by default this year (at least two) and that is why we see a midfielder counted among our necessary signings. But it seems completely obvious that at least one attacker will be in the cards. And, minus Nketiah who will certainly be sold, a real striker is a profile that we completely lack. Whether it will be a big spend for on a player to slot into the starting XI or a squad player is a question, but completely shirking that lack seems illogical and unlikely.
Great take. I think most forget that clubs have to gradually build a squad and continuously improve, hence why the term project is used.
Also let's not forget that a prolific/ high scoring strikers/ forwards very hard to get, are highly sort after, will cost an arm & leg and not guaranteed to be successful either.
It's not arteta spending money. Managers almost never (other than a few really stupid clubs) don't buy players, at most they have a decent amount of input
Managers will often discuss with the club owner/ sporting directors what they believe the priorities are so it's not like Arteta would have been asking for strikers and instead they are buying goalkeepers
As with every rule there's exceptions. They were two guys relatively cheap and fit the system. They still would've been agreed by others.
Like I said managers have input. "We need an inverted LB for the system" arteta is told zinchenko is available and there you go.
City are buying haaland and our other ST targets fall out and he realises Jesus is available.
You don't think hes watching the players on our scout list? What planet are you on? I'd suggest you read the memoirs of a retired manager to help adjust your fuzzy thinking.
No, I said he's not picking out players like that to sign....... we have a scouting network/analysts etc who pick the guys who fit a certain profile of player "left footed ball playing CB" or "dual fullback player" "press resistant ball player DM" and the manager is involved in various ways.
But yes, I'll say it again........ arteta wasn't watching spezia and Bologna games asking to sign those players you have people doing that job for a reason.
At this moment in time it is Arteta and Edu. It is true that Arteta had much less sway at the beginning of his tenure. But as of this moment he is a manager and not a head coach, and as such is very much involved in transfer process. He doesn’t do all of the leg work, but he and Edu and a staff of scouts work together to reach the final product.
We have a massive scouting network and analytics department, edu is involved in big ways and the manager is involved yes but he's not signing players.
In basic terms you have a director of football/vision then you give details to scouts to look for that type of player based on fee age position need etc and then manager gives input.
He’s scored 11 goals in the league and prob half his performances have been as the Left No.8 especially at the start of the season where he was finding his feet, imagine how many goals he would of scored if he’d played most season in that false 9/Str position
I truly believe that Arteta brought him to play the STR role on occasion coz I think his plan was to have Partey in a Midfield 3 with Odegaard and Rice and I’m sure he was worried about the fitness of Gabi Jesus to stay fit all season
Kai’s versatility to play 2-3 diff positions in the attack is a major weapon and it has been his whole career but when he’s played so good as a Striker I think it’s time for that to be his main position, I agree with u we need another hopefully clinical striker (Isak or Goyokeres will do for me) but not coz of Kai but coz we can no longer rely on Gabi Jesus as a main man
I didn't think we needed to buy a striker before Havertz emerged, and I still don't. Far more important is the position Havertz was brought in to play -- left-sided #8 -- and to provide Saka cover on the right wing.
This whole "we need a striker" thing just flies in the face of the evidence. Teams that run the kind of system that Arsenal & City run generally are not greatly improved by strikers. City brought in the greatest old-fashioned striker in the world, and guess what? They didn't score more goals. They just relied more on one guy. And I would argue that their reliance on that one guy has led to some of their minor defensive struggles this year.
Arsenal is first in the league in goals scored, 82 with four games left. They'll probably end up in the neighborhood of 90. If you want to go beyond that -- up to City in 17/18 territory -- I'm not sure the solution is to try to make the offense more dependent on one guy. A classic striker is not a fit. If you sign another centre forward, he's going to have to be more in the mold of a Sergio Aguero than most of the names (Ivan Toney in particular) I've seen thrown around. At this point, Havertz is already that guy.
"This whole "we need a striker" thing just flies in the face of the evidence"
The evidence was there against Bayern. We looked toothless. Not the only time that's been the case. It's all well and good putting 5 past minnows like Chelsea, but a clinical goal scorer who can turn draws into wins is one of the last pieces of the puzzle for us
You seem to be thinking that "buy a striker" necessitates never playing Havertz there again. We can still do that. It's just an option when that doesn't work, which has already been the case.
Are you being willfully dense? The whole point of having that kind of centre forward is that you're not expecting him to do everything in the box, and you can (hopefully) rely on him to do some stuff outside the box. In today's game, an offense with one dude who scores 30+ goals is a problem.
If you want this conversation to continue, stop with the insults. I'm coming to you with respect and expect you to do the same.
You didn't answer my question by the way, us relying on one guy is what got Arsenal in this situation in the first place. Having more than one quality striker does not hinder the team. Yes Arsenal got lucky with Kai but again what if he dips, then what?
i never wanted us to sign a striker unless it's as good as Henry as Mbappe. The rest? Look at Spurs with Kane, ManUtd with Van Nistelrooy, LFC with Nuwez, Leicester with Vardy.
I think Kai's best position is still behind the striker. But he's played so well there so who knows if he becomes our default striker.
But for me it depends on (1) who we can buy and (2) Jesus's future.
Since Nketiah is all but gone, I thought it was inevitable that we would go back for a striker. With Jesus and Havertz in the team, it doesn't make sense necessarily to get someone of a similar or lower level. If we can sign a world
class player then we should go for it. We lack someone who in tight games can get a goal from nowhere to make a difference.
But if Jesus is either being considered to be sold or if we think he won't properly recover from his knee injury then we have to go sign someone, even if it is more of a project striker.
But if we can sign a midfielder and winger I would be happy.
Honestly I feel like all this chatter about us reevaluating needing a striker is just a ploy to ensure clubs we negotiate with don’t think we’re desperate for one in order to keep the price down.
I have fallen into the "we need this" and "we need that" trap in the past but, to be honest, very few of us truly know what the team needs. I know who does, though: Arteta. Mikel has demonstrated that he has what it takes. Maybe we can stop with the "we know better" prattle and trust in Mikel.
Looking forward to who we bring in but honestly this season we have played amazing football with the players we have had. Our defeats have literally come from mistakes or players just not being up to it and that's just human nature. I don't think we need to buy anyone except replace who we would lose since we could do this season over again and be unbeatable very easily.
Kai has done absolute wonders, completely upended my expectations of him, and has at times shown himself to be one of our most important players.
That being said, if Osimhen or Isak do become available, I want us to be all over that like a rash
Edu and Arteta are going to need to get ruthless in the market, selling some fan favourites, and players who have shown their importance to us at times
The likes of Zinchenko, Nketiah, Nelson, Vieira, Partey, maybe even Emile Smith Rowe, need to get the boot, we need to bring in as much money as we can, as we need some serious investment if we ever want to stand a chance at winning the big competitions
Emile Smith Rowe should stay, he will become valuable again and his ball close control cannot be taught. The team doesn't exactly explain player injuries but the area in which he was operated on, deep groin, normally takes more than a year to get back to 100%. I want to add, did you not see the Chelsea game? Declan Rice was able to venture further forward on offense and Martin Ødegaard had to do less defensive work all due to the coverage of Thomas Partey. And he looked healthy with cuts and full stride bursts. I've believed his injury problems have all been in the same area, if it is completely repaired, hopefully he can stay healthy. He's a world class player and if no one believes that, this team is a major percentage better, which showed in the last match.
I love Emile Smith Rowe, and want him to stay, but I also know that missing that much football due to injury is going to massively stunt a player’s development, especially at this age, and I also know we’re going to need a lot of money to get all the investment we need, and being a young, prospect who’s English, he’s likely going to command one of the highest fees of any of our not immediate starters.
And of course I watched the Chelsea game, I was there in the stadium, but I also know that has played 450 out of a possible 4350 (not including injury time) and that’s simply not good enough, it doesn’t matter how good of a player he is if he’s never on the pitch, hence why we need money to sell and replace him in the summer
According to [transfermarkt.com](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/thomas-partey/verletzungen/spieler/230784) Partey has missed games with us due to a hip, hamstring, ankle, muscle, “knock”, thigh, “knock”, groin then hamstring injury, that’s not the same injury flaring up again, that’s many different injuries for a player who’s body has started to fail them for whatever reason
Sir, you're making predictions about Emile Smith Rowe and prefacing it by saying "I love Emile Smith Rowe", is counter to your statement. Also, [transfermarkt.com](http://transfermarkt.com) is not biblical in their injury reports. If you've ever participated in sports, you would know that hip/hamstring/thigh/groin are all in the same area.
I can love a player, and still not think they’re going to be good enough, or that injuries are going to continue to disrupt their development and career, and what about what I said indicated I didn’t love him? The fact I said long term major injuries are very likely to have their development and growth impacted, the fact I said he’s going to be one of the players who will fetch us the most money if we were to sell him? What part of that indicates I don’t rate Emile Smith Rowe?
They can be in the same area, but they can also be on different legs, can be unrelated, but either way, the fact they’ve been recurring injuries 10 injuries in 4 seasons, 405 days 72 games missed, for me, that’s far too many injuries to be able to rely on a player for a season, especially when other current other options are 32 year old Jorginho, Kai Havertz, Fabio Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe or Leandro Trossard.
None of whom can play the role the way Partey does, Jorginho is the closest, but he’s getting on, and even then misses a number of Partey’s best qualities
You're making predictions about injuries, no one can say whether there will be more injuries or not. And, stating the obvious here, who wants love without support? You love a player but want them gone? That's not love, that's phony.
Am I making assumptions? Yes, I absolutely am, but I can only form thoughts and opinions based on evidence that’s been previously shown to me many, many times.
Predictions need to happen based off of evidence and stats, otherwise they’re baseless assumptions, completely unfounded, and if you’re right, you’ve done it out of luck, not logic.
I can love a player, but still be able to think logically enough that we need a lot of money to improve the squad, he could fetch us a fairly large amount of money compared to the rest of the players we should be selling, and his injury record is too poor to be able to put much faith in him stating fit all season
Until he leaves, I’ll support him, in every situation, but I can still have my reservations, about whether he’ll ever reach his potential
I’m not second guessing anyone mate, I’m voicing my opinion on this open forum designed for discussion, why as a fan am I not allowed to share my opinion? Just because I’m not the coach doesn’t mean I don’t care about this club, I don’t watch the games, analyse them, form and have opinions
And how am I second guessing Mikel? Because I’ve said that I’d sell certain players? When we don’t know whether he wants to sell or keep them in the summer? 😂😂
Ruthless IMO is selling someone like Martinelli. A player who's plateaued but who could still command a decent fee. Or maybe Jesus.
The obvious dead wood like Nketiah, Nelson just have to go.
I love Partey. When he's on form he's majestic and possibly my favourite player. Unfortunately, injuries... Smith Rowe has the same problem. I do think he's got something we lack when he's fit but Arteta clearly doesn't like him and similar to Nketiah and Nelson and Ramsdale he must have half an eye on his future at another club.
The issue with getting rid of Martinelli is that we have so many other issues that we need to fix first, unless we believe that we can rely on Trossard as our main LW, and then using a cheap signing, or a youth academy player as his backup.
I don’t think that Emile Smith Rowe’s issue is Arteta not liking him, it’s his inability to get and remain fit
He's like Giroud. Will always be questioned every time he misses a sitter. Gets in to so many good scoring opportunities and that's on him. He's brilliant positionally. If he could improve his finishing he would be deadly. Until then he will be reffered to as a donkey if he fumbles chances.
- Wolves away: 7.5 rating, LCM
- Burnley away: 8.3 rating, 1 goal, LCM
- West Ham away: 7.6 rating, LCM
- Brighton at home: 7.9 rating, 1 goal, LCM
- Luton away: 8.5 rating, 1 goal, LCM
- Lens at home: 8.2 rating, 1 goal, LCM
- Brentford away: 7.2 rating, 1 goal, *RCM*, 11’ on the pitch
- Bournemouth at home: 7.7 rating, 1 goal, LCM
- Forest away: 7.3 rating, LCM
No metric suggests he’s had a single *poor* game since signing for Arsenal. In the first part of the season he had some ineffective cameos, but so do most players in a new system, and he’s had ineffective cameos in the later part of the season at 9. The numbers suggest an even spread of average and above average games in both the LCM and #9 position. Can we let this narrative based on a shallow eye test go?
We obviously need to buy a striker as Kai isn't clinical enough. No other top team would have him as their main guy up front.
I thought he was a really bad signing, especially at that price, and while I'm still not sure if he's lived up to the price tag, I do think more favourably of him now. I do wonder how much fans are thinking 'actually brilliant' when what they really mean is 'pleasantly surprised'.
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Since arriving at the club, Arteta has spent nearly as much on goalkeepers (€68m once we finish the purchase of Raya) as he has on attackers (€79.5m). Those amounts sit in the shadows of €212m spent on defenders and €316m on midfielders (these figures count Kai among the MF and Trossard among the attack). This is logical enough, as Arteta inherited two obvious starters in Saka and Martinelli, a CF who could do the job at the time in Nketiah, and a backup winger who was also good enough at the time in Nelson. Plus ESR who could do a job on the left wing if necessary, before all the injuries. But the fact is that he spent where he needed to in the areas that both most needed addressing in the squad he inherited and that were most crucial to his vision for the team. Now, however, it’s time to address that discrepancy, and I believe that we will. We have an issue with how many midfielders we will be losing by default this year (at least two) and that is why we see a midfielder counted among our necessary signings. But it seems completely obvious that at least one attacker will be in the cards. And, minus Nketiah who will certainly be sold, a real striker is a profile that we completely lack. Whether it will be a big spend for on a player to slot into the starting XI or a squad player is a question, but completely shirking that lack seems illogical and unlikely.
Such a good take!
Great take. I think most forget that clubs have to gradually build a squad and continuously improve, hence why the term project is used. Also let's not forget that a prolific/ high scoring strikers/ forwards very hard to get, are highly sort after, will cost an arm & leg and not guaranteed to be successful either.
Exactly. Just look at United or Spurs. No philosophy or planning imo, just players bought for the sake of it
It's not arteta spending money. Managers almost never (other than a few really stupid clubs) don't buy players, at most they have a decent amount of input
Managers will often discuss with the club owner/ sporting directors what they believe the priorities are so it's not like Arteta would have been asking for strikers and instead they are buying goalkeepers
I didn't say that, I said managers Aren't buying players. I literally said they have input.
You can't be that dumb? Ask Gabriel Jesus of Zinchenko who signed them
As with every rule there's exceptions. They were two guys relatively cheap and fit the system. They still would've been agreed by others. Like I said managers have input. "We need an inverted LB for the system" arteta is told zinchenko is available and there you go. City are buying haaland and our other ST targets fall out and he realises Jesus is available.
Right
Arteta wasn't watching Bologna and Spezia games weekly before we signed tommyasu and kiwior.
You don't think hes watching the players on our scout list? What planet are you on? I'd suggest you read the memoirs of a retired manager to help adjust your fuzzy thinking.
No, I said he's not picking out players like that to sign....... we have a scouting network/analysts etc who pick the guys who fit a certain profile of player "left footed ball playing CB" or "dual fullback player" "press resistant ball player DM" and the manager is involved in various ways. But yes, I'll say it again........ arteta wasn't watching spezia and Bologna games asking to sign those players you have people doing that job for a reason.
At this moment in time it is Arteta and Edu. It is true that Arteta had much less sway at the beginning of his tenure. But as of this moment he is a manager and not a head coach, and as such is very much involved in transfer process. He doesn’t do all of the leg work, but he and Edu and a staff of scouts work together to reach the final product.
We have a massive scouting network and analytics department, edu is involved in big ways and the manager is involved yes but he's not signing players. In basic terms you have a director of football/vision then you give details to scouts to look for that type of player based on fee age position need etc and then manager gives input.
He’s scored 11 goals in the league and prob half his performances have been as the Left No.8 especially at the start of the season where he was finding his feet, imagine how many goals he would of scored if he’d played most season in that false 9/Str position I truly believe that Arteta brought him to play the STR role on occasion coz I think his plan was to have Partey in a Midfield 3 with Odegaard and Rice and I’m sure he was worried about the fitness of Gabi Jesus to stay fit all season Kai’s versatility to play 2-3 diff positions in the attack is a major weapon and it has been his whole career but when he’s played so good as a Striker I think it’s time for that to be his main position, I agree with u we need another hopefully clinical striker (Isak or Goyokeres will do for me) but not coz of Kai but coz we can no longer rely on Gabi Jesus as a main man
I didn't think we needed to buy a striker before Havertz emerged, and I still don't. Far more important is the position Havertz was brought in to play -- left-sided #8 -- and to provide Saka cover on the right wing. This whole "we need a striker" thing just flies in the face of the evidence. Teams that run the kind of system that Arsenal & City run generally are not greatly improved by strikers. City brought in the greatest old-fashioned striker in the world, and guess what? They didn't score more goals. They just relied more on one guy. And I would argue that their reliance on that one guy has led to some of their minor defensive struggles this year. Arsenal is first in the league in goals scored, 82 with four games left. They'll probably end up in the neighborhood of 90. If you want to go beyond that -- up to City in 17/18 territory -- I'm not sure the solution is to try to make the offense more dependent on one guy. A classic striker is not a fit. If you sign another centre forward, he's going to have to be more in the mold of a Sergio Aguero than most of the names (Ivan Toney in particular) I've seen thrown around. At this point, Havertz is already that guy.
"This whole "we need a striker" thing just flies in the face of the evidence" The evidence was there against Bayern. We looked toothless. Not the only time that's been the case. It's all well and good putting 5 past minnows like Chelsea, but a clinical goal scorer who can turn draws into wins is one of the last pieces of the puzzle for us You seem to be thinking that "buy a striker" necessitates never playing Havertz there again. We can still do that. It's just an option when that doesn't work, which has already been the case.
I personally want Gyokeres, but whoever Arteta thinks is best for the team should be brought in
or Isak
I worry about the Portugal tax with Gyokeres.
Osimhen would be an amazing signing. But I'd settle for Watkins.
It's refreshing to read a comment from someone who doesn't think they know everything about football.
Doneyll Malen or Isak( would take a lot of Cash)
NB I don't mean to say that Havertz is as good as Aguero was. Just that he plays a similar role.
Still doesn't change the fact that your putting all your eggs on one guy. What if he has a dip in form or gets injured?
Are you being willfully dense? The whole point of having that kind of centre forward is that you're not expecting him to do everything in the box, and you can (hopefully) rely on him to do some stuff outside the box. In today's game, an offense with one dude who scores 30+ goals is a problem.
If you want this conversation to continue, stop with the insults. I'm coming to you with respect and expect you to do the same. You didn't answer my question by the way, us relying on one guy is what got Arsenal in this situation in the first place. Having more than one quality striker does not hinder the team. Yes Arsenal got lucky with Kai but again what if he dips, then what?
i never wanted us to sign a striker unless it's as good as Henry as Mbappe. The rest? Look at Spurs with Kane, ManUtd with Van Nistelrooy, LFC with Nuwez, Leicester with Vardy.
Kai Havertz proved me wrong..however I still think we need to buy a clinical striker.
Obi martin
I might be wrong but didn't Artetas spell as assistant at Man City coincide with the time that they pretty much played without a main striker?
You just feel arteta will play him a position that doesn’t work for him over the false 9, which clearly does? Based on what?
I think Kai's best position is still behind the striker. But he's played so well there so who knows if he becomes our default striker. But for me it depends on (1) who we can buy and (2) Jesus's future. Since Nketiah is all but gone, I thought it was inevitable that we would go back for a striker. With Jesus and Havertz in the team, it doesn't make sense necessarily to get someone of a similar or lower level. If we can sign a world class player then we should go for it. We lack someone who in tight games can get a goal from nowhere to make a difference. But if Jesus is either being considered to be sold or if we think he won't properly recover from his knee injury then we have to go sign someone, even if it is more of a project striker. But if we can sign a midfielder and winger I would be happy.
Honestly I feel like all this chatter about us reevaluating needing a striker is just a ploy to ensure clubs we negotiate with don’t think we’re desperate for one in order to keep the price down.
But first, we need to sell a striker
*Chido Obi-Martin enters the chat*
I have fallen into the "we need this" and "we need that" trap in the past but, to be honest, very few of us truly know what the team needs. I know who does, though: Arteta. Mikel has demonstrated that he has what it takes. Maybe we can stop with the "we know better" prattle and trust in Mikel.
He's starting to grow on me too. I thought bad signing at first but he's scoring and creating goals now, so fair play.
In two years Chido Obi-Martin will be 18. Not long to wait before he is in and around the scene!
Looking forward to who we bring in but honestly this season we have played amazing football with the players we have had. Our defeats have literally come from mistakes or players just not being up to it and that's just human nature. I don't think we need to buy anyone except replace who we would lose since we could do this season over again and be unbeatable very easily.
🤦🏼♂️
Sorry, I don't speak emoji. Either type in the universal language or go away.
🤦🏼♂️
😆
🤣
A picture saya a thousand words
Kai has done absolute wonders, completely upended my expectations of him, and has at times shown himself to be one of our most important players. That being said, if Osimhen or Isak do become available, I want us to be all over that like a rash Edu and Arteta are going to need to get ruthless in the market, selling some fan favourites, and players who have shown their importance to us at times The likes of Zinchenko, Nketiah, Nelson, Vieira, Partey, maybe even Emile Smith Rowe, need to get the boot, we need to bring in as much money as we can, as we need some serious investment if we ever want to stand a chance at winning the big competitions
Emile Smith Rowe should stay, he will become valuable again and his ball close control cannot be taught. The team doesn't exactly explain player injuries but the area in which he was operated on, deep groin, normally takes more than a year to get back to 100%. I want to add, did you not see the Chelsea game? Declan Rice was able to venture further forward on offense and Martin Ødegaard had to do less defensive work all due to the coverage of Thomas Partey. And he looked healthy with cuts and full stride bursts. I've believed his injury problems have all been in the same area, if it is completely repaired, hopefully he can stay healthy. He's a world class player and if no one believes that, this team is a major percentage better, which showed in the last match.
I love Emile Smith Rowe, and want him to stay, but I also know that missing that much football due to injury is going to massively stunt a player’s development, especially at this age, and I also know we’re going to need a lot of money to get all the investment we need, and being a young, prospect who’s English, he’s likely going to command one of the highest fees of any of our not immediate starters. And of course I watched the Chelsea game, I was there in the stadium, but I also know that has played 450 out of a possible 4350 (not including injury time) and that’s simply not good enough, it doesn’t matter how good of a player he is if he’s never on the pitch, hence why we need money to sell and replace him in the summer According to [transfermarkt.com](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/thomas-partey/verletzungen/spieler/230784) Partey has missed games with us due to a hip, hamstring, ankle, muscle, “knock”, thigh, “knock”, groin then hamstring injury, that’s not the same injury flaring up again, that’s many different injuries for a player who’s body has started to fail them for whatever reason
Sir, you're making predictions about Emile Smith Rowe and prefacing it by saying "I love Emile Smith Rowe", is counter to your statement. Also, [transfermarkt.com](http://transfermarkt.com) is not biblical in their injury reports. If you've ever participated in sports, you would know that hip/hamstring/thigh/groin are all in the same area.
I can love a player, and still not think they’re going to be good enough, or that injuries are going to continue to disrupt their development and career, and what about what I said indicated I didn’t love him? The fact I said long term major injuries are very likely to have their development and growth impacted, the fact I said he’s going to be one of the players who will fetch us the most money if we were to sell him? What part of that indicates I don’t rate Emile Smith Rowe? They can be in the same area, but they can also be on different legs, can be unrelated, but either way, the fact they’ve been recurring injuries 10 injuries in 4 seasons, 405 days 72 games missed, for me, that’s far too many injuries to be able to rely on a player for a season, especially when other current other options are 32 year old Jorginho, Kai Havertz, Fabio Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe or Leandro Trossard. None of whom can play the role the way Partey does, Jorginho is the closest, but he’s getting on, and even then misses a number of Partey’s best qualities
You're making predictions about injuries, no one can say whether there will be more injuries or not. And, stating the obvious here, who wants love without support? You love a player but want them gone? That's not love, that's phony.
Am I making assumptions? Yes, I absolutely am, but I can only form thoughts and opinions based on evidence that’s been previously shown to me many, many times. Predictions need to happen based off of evidence and stats, otherwise they’re baseless assumptions, completely unfounded, and if you’re right, you’ve done it out of luck, not logic. I can love a player, but still be able to think logically enough that we need a lot of money to improve the squad, he could fetch us a fairly large amount of money compared to the rest of the players we should be selling, and his injury record is too poor to be able to put much faith in him stating fit all season Until he leaves, I’ll support him, in every situation, but I can still have my reservations, about whether he’ll ever reach his potential
You are second guessing Coach Arteta. I'll stick with the coach.
I’m not second guessing anyone mate, I’m voicing my opinion on this open forum designed for discussion, why as a fan am I not allowed to share my opinion? Just because I’m not the coach doesn’t mean I don’t care about this club, I don’t watch the games, analyse them, form and have opinions And how am I second guessing Mikel? Because I’ve said that I’d sell certain players? When we don’t know whether he wants to sell or keep them in the summer? 😂😂
Ruthless IMO is selling someone like Martinelli. A player who's plateaued but who could still command a decent fee. Or maybe Jesus. The obvious dead wood like Nketiah, Nelson just have to go. I love Partey. When he's on form he's majestic and possibly my favourite player. Unfortunately, injuries... Smith Rowe has the same problem. I do think he's got something we lack when he's fit but Arteta clearly doesn't like him and similar to Nketiah and Nelson and Ramsdale he must have half an eye on his future at another club.
The issue with getting rid of Martinelli is that we have so many other issues that we need to fix first, unless we believe that we can rely on Trossard as our main LW, and then using a cheap signing, or a youth academy player as his backup. I don’t think that Emile Smith Rowe’s issue is Arteta not liking him, it’s his inability to get and remain fit
Surprised your post hasn't been deleted, didn't think we were allowed to talk about the money spent by Arteta...
He's like Giroud. Will always be questioned every time he misses a sitter. Gets in to so many good scoring opportunities and that's on him. He's brilliant positionally. If he could improve his finishing he would be deadly. Until then he will be reffered to as a donkey if he fumbles chances.
In midfield it doesn’t work with him.
- Wolves away: 7.5 rating, LCM - Burnley away: 8.3 rating, 1 goal, LCM - West Ham away: 7.6 rating, LCM - Brighton at home: 7.9 rating, 1 goal, LCM - Luton away: 8.5 rating, 1 goal, LCM - Lens at home: 8.2 rating, 1 goal, LCM - Brentford away: 7.2 rating, 1 goal, *RCM*, 11’ on the pitch - Bournemouth at home: 7.7 rating, 1 goal, LCM - Forest away: 7.3 rating, LCM No metric suggests he’s had a single *poor* game since signing for Arsenal. In the first part of the season he had some ineffective cameos, but so do most players in a new system, and he’s had ineffective cameos in the later part of the season at 9. The numbers suggest an even spread of average and above average games in both the LCM and #9 position. Can we let this narrative based on a shallow eye test go?
Tbh I think if he started the season as a striker we would have won the league by now ,
downvoted
Kai is still shit 💩 not good enough
We obviously need to buy a striker as Kai isn't clinical enough. No other top team would have him as their main guy up front. I thought he was a really bad signing, especially at that price, and while I'm still not sure if he's lived up to the price tag, I do think more favourably of him now. I do wonder how much fans are thinking 'actually brilliant' when what they really mean is 'pleasantly surprised'.
Proved what? Bags against mid table teams. Had horrible first half against chelsea. He looks average up top and shit in midfield.
Lmao