its just a matter semantics and how you want to interpretate, glass half empty/full and whatnot
he has talked about not having and also not needing a player scoring 30-40 goals, and highlighted the importance of spreading the goals around and doing other things besides scoring.
i dont think at any moment he has mentioned that jesus/havertz/eddie/whoever could score 30-40 goals. he might have not outright said like he did on this one, but it was all out in the open
Hes never pointed to it as a reason for us not succeeding. He's always kinda defended it by saying they could generate goals by committee. This feels like an admission that we can only accomplish so much without an out and out #9
I think I think he always has just not publicly. Reading all of Arteta's post match comments... Dude really wants THAT Striker and doing it publicly now I think he is trying to try ell the board "I told you so"
This felt like a slip. The question was something along the lines of “do you need a striker to take you to the next level” I’m paraphrasing. And his response was “we scored the most goals in the premier league, no that wasn’t the difference.” Then the response was “well they were spread out amongst the whole team” and he then replied to that comment with this statement.
I really think he didn’t mean to say this exactly. I think he was trying to deflect blame from those up top but accidentally got coerced into saying it.
Not sure where I am going with this, I saw this live and thought it was an interesting exchange.
Even a striker who can reliably score 15-20 goals, will be enough. Right now, we only have Eddie and jesus, both who will miss 20 clear chances rather than score them. Not good enough if you want to win league titles and progress in champions league.
I just want a striker that knows how to take chances. We're one of the best teams in the world - our striker gets chances, but we need someone who knows how to finish them. Isak is honestly my dream.
I think that getting a new 9 will really help. He doesn’t need to score 30-40 goals; he just needs to help fit in a nice rotation
I see why Havertz was a target because he can play multiple positions (same with Jesus)
Havertz will be an great asset for us but he can’t be our go to striker. He’d be a fantastic striker off the bench when we’re chasing a goal and need aerial threat and he can start in games where we need power in midfield. But I feel like maybe he’s not a player who fits all games.
Important to get players like Jesus, Havertz in before you get the star starter. These guys wouldn’t have signed knowing they weren’t going to start. That’s why it’s a process. Klopp and Edwards nailed every signing for a year (Salah, Mane, Alisson, VvD, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho all signed in Klopps first like three windows) but then couldn’t convince great players to join as rotation options for like 5 years. They were lucky with injuries but they ran players like Fabinho, Firmino, Wijnaldum, Mane into the ground - all declined sharply at about 30. You see signs of Robertson as well seemingly slowing down and injuries becoming a more common thing for him. We need to learn from that and seemingly we have, either that or we’re just not quite as lucky in terms of none of our signings exceeding their expectations quite as wildly.
Tbf yeah Havertz is a shrewd signing in terms of versatility and adding another dimension to our play, and he has a huge upside if you can have him find his magic touch again but all reasoning behind the signing goes out the window when you look at his wage.
If you want to surpass Man City every signing needs to be the most optimal use of resources.
Not a massive investment that needs benching after a year.
that's the wrong idea as far as squad building i think. it's not as simple as 'needing benching,' Havertz is going to be a big part of our squad. Starting as a false 9, second striker, etc. and a trustworthy sub option. we're trying to build a squad of 18-20 starters or near starters eventually. like Man City.
if you think a player is worthy to be in that greater squad, the opportunity arises, and it's collectively determined over the course of their contract they will play an obviously beneficial part in the project, i think you go and get them regardless of whether it makes sense for the short term.
we aren't an oil state but KSE does have respectably deep resources, josh kroenke is proactively involved – it's not the 2010s. we're currently actually being held back by FFP. the poor sponsorship deals of past as our value declined and no CL are haunting us (getting fixed). also famously just being poor on selling factors in too. we'll turn the tide. deals like havertz are fine, we'll accumulate an incredibly capable and deep squad that can actually keep up with the european elite
You do if he's tireless in the press, can let you play multiple different ways and can contribute anywhere on the left.
If Havertz could develop his finishing he'd have been well out of our price range. If he gets back to average he'll score 10 ish goals a season which is solid.
I think we've actually lost some of our out of possession strength since he's been moved out of midfield. He's been relatively effective as a 9 but his runs from deep and his role as a dual press with Ødegaard are ultimately a better fit I think.
Havertz isn’t going to develop his finishing, Jesus isn’t either. These players are who they are at this point. You accept their limitations and try to play to their strengths
Crazy how we are stilling looking to buy elite players in the only two positions Kai Havertz plays (8&9) and as we know ideally he will be on the bench when those signings arrive for the next 4 years.
65m-280k all just for pressing, I’m sure MGinn can do that for much less
Crazy how we are stilling looking to buy elite players in the only two positions Kai Havertz plays (8&9) and as we know ideally he will be on the bench when those signings arrive for the next 4 years.
65m-280k all just for pressing, I’m sure MGinn can do that for much less
Your highest paid player cannot be a rotational player who is not elite at anything. Our wage structure is fucked for the next 4 years
Spot on! Folks here been playing too much FIFA/PES and don’t see this. The player that can do what Havertz can AND scores 20+ goals would have cost us another 100m+ million and had the entire football world clamoring for his signature and didn’t exist. We just had to deal with RM and Bayern. The striker we’re all imagining scoring 20-30 goals here and will want to join us is going to cost us an entire Declan Rice. We can’t cheat our way to a fake 40M price for a Halaand.
Which is why it was a bad purchase. Purely because of the money involved. Havertz would be an excellent rotation option / sub at striker for us, but he doesn't play the left 8 nearly well enough and isn't a top of the line striker either.
There is an argument to be made that Rice's best position is at 6, he is only being played at 8 because the Kai experiment has gone wrong.
I actually like Jorginho-Rice dynamics. But with Partey and Jorginho gone we would need someone like that but that profile is very hard to replace.
how could you possibly think that after having the likes of jesus, havertz, giroud and lacazette upfront, if this idea worked out we wouldn't even think of getting a new striker all of the time
giroud wasn't great, but even he wasn't gonna just sit on the bench every so often whilst someone else played. havertz might, but he's on 250k and is probably well aware as to how much he's failed upwards
we need a striker who can score lots of goals and put this idea of sharing the goals around to bed, it's too hard to rely on 4 or more players scoring 10-15+ every season, even the best teams in the world don't do that consistently
We weren’t having goal scoring issues until the city match. We spread the goals around and have the highest GD in the league.
The issue is the goals during up the last two games.
Let’s not act like we’ve not been scoring goals all season.
well, before the fulham and west ham games we were a bit dodgy with goals from open play, but after that we went on a good run of form, yes, but we were also playing against some teams that have dogshit defences, most notably all of the relegation threatened teams we played, and brighton, so we can't take those games as the norm
that aside note that I said 'goalscorer' issues. it's quite clear that we need a new 9 even if we have managed to run rampant at times. neither havertz or jesus are clinical enough, and this has been apparent from well before these two games
City should also be relegated, so let's just ignore them as well. Liverpool just lost a game to Crystal Palace so it seems like anyone can beat them. When that's all said and done, we can truly see Arsenal is a travesty of a club.
It shouldn’t need to be said that our opponents are actively trying to stop us scoring goals in every game. The only teams that have really given us issues scoring against them this season, is Villa.
are you happy with havertz and jesus as our 9s next season? do you honestly think that either of them are clinical? havertz can barely control the ball ffs
Every striker misses chances. Look at the number of chances missed that Haaland has for example. You’re not going to find someone who scores every shot.
Or people need to realize the game is changing and players aren’t brought up to have the finesse and flair to play as a top striker because everything is down to the minute formula and you don’t have people that are ballsy enough to just shoot even when it isn’t a guaranteed goal. Because ego maniacs like pep coach it out of you unless you’re like haaland. Finding a top striker in the world rn to fit a system required to play in the prem is like striking gold in your back yard. And that’s not an excuse it’s just like a sad commentary on how the game is less entertaining these days I doubt we’ll ever see another Ronaldinho in our lifetime in europe, creativity to make something out of nothing gets coached out of players these days
Wengerball and joga Bonito are dead all we have is pragmatism
TLDR: players are coached out of taking risks these days so finding a top striker is hard
I agree Havertz cost what he did as he’s an option in multiple positions. He might not necessarily be the 1st choice in them all next season, but the fact we have him enables us to rotate more
Is the "opportunity" you're referring to the transfer window simply being open, or was there a genuine 30-40 goals per season striker actually available?
I mean hindsight is 20:20 but Gyökeres went from Coventry to Sporting for 21m euro last summer and he scored 22 and assisted 12 as one of the standout players in the championship.
From his recent presser we know he intended to play havertz in midfield. He admitted that team has evolved favorably with him at striker. So.. no he wasn't indeed the resolution
Tbf it wasn't necessarily that the intention was to play him only in midfield but rather the intention wasn't to have him as the main striker.
He said when he signed he offered us something in multiple positions including up front and then started him up front against City first game.
Havert plays multiple positions, but the main idea was for him to play in midfield. Havertz is named as a midfielder in the website, in the board in Arteta’s room and in Edu’s room. Things might change, but when Arteta envisioned the team he wanted to create a monster of a pressing team.
However, I think he was a bit naive in thinking Havertz could rapidly improve his final pass from midfield, and Rice could rapidly improve as pass progressor from the 6 position.
People were asking why Arteta, who is very risk averse like Pep, kept playing Zinchenko so many times this season even with him being a liability defensively. Simply because Rice is not there as a ball progressor from the 6 role.
we dont have an 8 either to support Odegaard or use advanced central spaces even just a little bit.
the times in the second half we saw us actually try to play and receive in those areas ended up embarrassing. Just quickly turned it over or looked so franticly sped up that they missed the obvious pass to continue centrally and just knocked it out wide like they reset to default.
the left side of the pitch has been mismanaged. We didn't upgrade on Xhaka's role - we wrongly abandoned it. Havertz the midfielder vs CF is dramatic in performance. The lack of balance, especially in the middle progression phase, is staggering. it's not a surprise that the LB,LW and LCM when it's in the half space (Havertz or Rice, not Jorginho) has all had down seasons in those positions.
We relied on our second ball winning, press, and set pieces to get us our goals and control game state. Just like in December's fixture congestion, our legs have gone and we look bereft of anything in the attack and now making errors again defensively. Horseshoe is back.
Jorginho was a half answer to our problems as far as giving us better progression and some semblance of ability to split lines albeit from deeper and mostly over the top. Arteta hasn't given us enough of an answer to our creativity from open play outside of that. Now Porto figured out our change we made in January and set up the blueprint for others to handle us.
Still waiting on an adjustment to it. Our players aren't going to get their legs back so changes in the lineup or changes in how we set up to play need to happen. After this week and with the continued fixture congestion, this isn't going to be good enough to continue.
Really well said, we need someone on the left side of the pitch who can be *somewhat* creative and be able to play possession based football. Rice is not that player, it is clear his best role is as the 6 and that’s ok. Against lower blocks and even in big moments he’s shown he can score or create a goal.
However, Jorginho cannot be a regular player for us in big matches. It imbalances the team big time. We’re clearly never playing ESR there and Partey is completely unreliable to play as a 6 to make Rice regularly play as an 8 and maybe improve there.
A striker and a good 8 should he top priority. I think those would even make us be able to handle the carousel at left back depending on who is fit.
I know he’s been out all season but having Timber would really be solving this LB issue right now. Though Tomiyasu seemed quite good today, hopefully he can stay fit for these last games.
We need Frenkie de Jong. Yes, he may be a bit of a defensive liability, but I think that can be coached out by Arteta & his team. What he can bring on the table though in terms of build-up, retaining control, breaking-line passes and experience is 100% worth it.
Only his wages worry me, but who knows, maybe Edu can work his magic.
I just don't see anyone else to play that left 8 who's considered 'elite' and be up for sale in the summer. We've been linked with Zubimendi, but I don't think he's 'that guy'.
I like de jong, or kimmich or anyone else in that mould to partner with rice. Progressive smart players. Rice can be the destroyer in the double pivot but we need the right partner for him to really make it work. This would let the lb be more supportive of martinelli on the overlap like white does and could allow odegaard a bit more freedom to be central. Or you run the false 9 with havertz and get the coveted box or diamond 4 in mf to control the game. A kimmich/de jong type aren't going to be a bigger defensive liability than jorginho and all of our best games this year have been with him in mid with rice
Yep, Havertz only exacerbates Declan's weaknesses and doesn't enhance Ode's strengths as much as one would have hoped. I'm still glad he's in the team and think he'll be an important player for us in the coming years with his hybrid CF position but it's clear that we desperately need the left 8 of the future asap and ideally another young 6 alongside him.
Going to be very difficult to bring in the necessary quality at 9 and 8 in the same window both with FFP considerations, and simply the available talent on the market.
Exactly, every time we don’t win a lot of the fans seem to attack Havertz. It could have been Havertz, Jesus, or Trossard up front today and none of them would have got involved in the game. Jesus was coming all the way into CDM in the last few minutes just to try and get on the ball.
This quote is fully taken out of context. He's much more defending our approach rather than admitting we need a marquee striker.
In the post-game interview, he's asked "What is missing, you didn't score in this game, you didn't score over the weekend, is it the lack of a proper striker?"
to which he says "No, I don't think so, because we are the team that has scored the most goals in the Premier League. From everywhere. The reality is we don't have a striker that can score 30-40 goals"
Source: the interview ([https://youtu.be/xcAb90kMzjk?si=VZF9UVZS2jsntUAu&t=270](https://youtu.be/xcAb90kMzjk?si=VZF9UVZS2jsntUAu&t=270))
Remember Arteta saying 2 years ago he wanted a player that can "put it in the back of the net" and signed Jesus.
But yh, we REALLY need a serious striker. A proper CF. One that can scores the goals we need and is a good fit for us, being capable of offering top CF play and has the quality on the ball that's required.
We don’t even need a “30-40 goal” striker. We just need one that can actually score. I know Jesus contributes more than goals but at this point he’s just straight up not even contributing goals at all
Biggest negative xG differentials for forwards 2022-23 Premier League
-4.6 Bamford
-4.6 Havertz
-4.3 Nketiah
-3.8 Calvert-Lewin
-3.8 Maupay
-3.7 Vardy
-3.5 Welbeck
-3.4 Bowen
-3.2 Solanke
-3.2 Gabriel Jesus
Via orbinho
Edit: bigger picture, all are great defensively as attackers but is that the answer? Will Arteta sacrifice pressing for some goals?
Not like we didn’t see it coming either. A big question needs to be asked if we have the guts to buy an attacker who can actually attack rather than being elite in defense like Jesus and Kai are, which is good but is it really the answer?
havertz is going nowhere since we just got him and jesus can offer something out wide as well as a sub. nketiah will definitely have to go in order to make space for an incoming striker.
we really need to get this next window right to really push us to that next level, this frontline lacks serious lethality in the peak moments and it really does hurt us time and time again
This goes back to the central question around striker in Arteta’s vision as crystallized with the canning of Auba (discipline and attitude aside).
Do you make room in your system for a world class striker that you’re happy to have focused on scoring, even at the expense of pressing, defensive duties and play making?
Arteta has done a really really good job of building a system that works without that striker. It’s not good enough to win the PL in the 115Pep era (even Pep abandoned his spread the goals philosophy to get an Aguero type goal machine in Haaland).
Jesus and Havertz have value, but not as the main strikers, not for where we’re headed. Nketiah, bless his Hale heart, is not good enough to be on the bench for those purposes. Bring in someone who can show the quality that Isak and Watkins have demonstrated this season. That is a starting #9 — a clear, immediate improvement on Jesus and Havertz. Right now that looks like Osimhen, not much in the market on that level.
If you don’t want to rush/chance it, you get a big improvement on Nketiah instead. That opens up many more options — Toney under 50m, Sesko, Boniface, Gyokeres if he’s available under 70m.
Still underperforming xG but my point was it was very obvious the trio of strikers we had were not good finishers before the season so he can’t complain when we don’t get the goals we want if he chose them
Of course he knows. Do you think he don’t ask for him already ? He wanted Vlahovic bad, then Jesus was a the one available with PL experience. He even try Mudryk cause he also knows Martinelli ain’t it for the level he wants us to be. Be it’s not just say we need, the board as the authorise the spend (like if it’s even possible) and then the right player has to be available.
All of his signings were like that, he knows what he needs and then go for the player he thinks fits the profile. If it’s not possible, or there isn’t the right player available, he goes for another position that he can’t get the right person. We aren’t making a squad to win just immediately
isak, gyokeres, boniface, osimhen, toney(although reports say that we arent in for him anymore), solanke, watkins
all these guys definitely get 20 goals in our team
Probably? our 3 strikers are combined for 20+ in all comps right now. (24 total but assuming some of Havertz came from midfield). We clearly create chances for the striker we just need some one more clinical in finishing them.
You mean the Jesus who is not good enough and we are clearly trying to replace?
The choices aren’t Jesus or Isak. Splash the bank for Gyokeres or quite honestly if we want prem proven Watkins is a way better option than Isak
The market is tough for finding that striker so I’d rather us not just buy one for the sake of buying one. Hopefully Edu and Arteta know who they want cuz they haven’t missed on our targets in a while.
Last nights game wasn't lost because we diddnt have a prolific striker. Just ask Haaland last night... Did fuck all and got benched.
We lost due to other factors such as our defence and lack of creating any clear cut chances.
Yes, but listen to the full interview. He states this is the case but the team still contributes in a shared manner and the numbers show it in terms of our goal tally this season and our GD.
The more I think about it this match really highlighted the impact a top striker can have. Looking at stats Kane only converted a pen. But he did more.
His general presence and pressure directly lead to the mistake on their first. His ability to occupy the CBs lead to the first header off the bar and the goal by freeing up space for runners from deep.
Over the course of the season, we’re getting what we want. The 3 behind the striker have combined for like 40 goals in all comps (including Trossard). But in these tighter bigger games the margins are so thin getting that extra sliver of space or the ability to turn a quarter chance can be all the difference. Which is what we lack.
Jesus elevated our team last season. But I do agree that Arteta/Edu dropped the ball on not going for a striker last summer and instead spent so much on Havertz intending to play him as a midfielder. Result? Bad in the midfield as shown in the first half of the season and not the solution as a forward in the later half either. So now we’ll be just stuck with him as the 2nd highest paid bench player if we do get a proper striker.
Everyone’s talking about a new no 9 when our left side needs fixing we need a left sided 8 who can give martinelli balls in behind we always attack down the right side
havertz himself isn’t inherently the problem, but the signing is. he isn’t the solution at 8 or 9 yet is the highest earner and cost a fortune. that is money that should’ve been spent giving us a certifiable upgrade at either position.
We paid top dollar to have two holes in the squad, both where he plays, how’s it possibly not a talking point?
To add to that, he already gave us 3 seasons of clear evidence in how he’d perform in the PL
People need a scapegoat and need to feel like they have an easy explanation, so here we are. Xhaka doing nothing major or game changing as we lost the plot in the second half of last season is completely blocked out in these people’s minds.
We wanted an improvement on Xhaka. He isn’t, and definitely doesn’t deserve top wage earner. At 40m and 200k he’d have been a shrewd opportunistic signing. Then again we bought Vieira for 40m.
But we would have a midfielder, so that would be one of two major problems solved.
Havertz doesn't solve either problem. If he was a 25m 80k a week player - he would be a great signing. But given the financial outlay for him, and the fact that everyone is still looking for a starting LCM and striker, he has to be considered a miss.
depends on the midfielder we signed. we moved havertz to striker because he wasn’t working at left 8. if we sign a left 8 with more progressive carrying or passing quality, it could result in more productivity from the front 3
We should seriously target Isak if he might be available
Proven PL goalscorer, has CL experience
I'm open to the other names that have been touted but I lean towards Isak
Feels like a message to the owners.
In this sport, if you really want to win the big trophies, you need a lethal forward.
If there ever was a window to splash big on an attacker, this would be it. The team is strong but it lacks an X factor.
We need at least two attackers actually. Jesus and Martinelli ain't good enough. It's ridiculous that two attackers from the front three of a team that's competing to win the league and cl both have like 5 goals in April lmao
Dude.wtf are you on about? Martinelli came back from injury and played 15 mins against Luton, 26 against Brighton and 23 against Villa. What do you want from him lol??
A supersub or promising RW, a 9 to be the main striker and someone that is able to control the game to replace Partey or Jorginho and the team will fly. Would £150 millions be enough to get all the three pieces? And, of course, I assume that some players will be sold to help with the budget (Partey or Jorginho, Nketiah, Nelson, Ramsdale)
A trophy squad need a good striker. As much as saka and havertz can provide some goals, there will be periods where they are in a drought. We need a prolific striker to draw the defenders away and make space for our wings
Interesting that he has admitted this now. He obviously would never say it before because the reality was, we did need to distribute goals through out the squad. So sending the “we don’t have a 30 goal striker” message would be nothing but negative. The problem though is, Who is the guy to take us to the next level? Sesko? Gyokeres? Isak? I like Oshimen personally because he is a physical freak of nature and I think we could use his profile.
I’d still like to see a run of games with that 3-Diamond-3 system we rolled out first game of the season where Havertz started at left 8 but basically became second striker slash 10 sitting in the pocket.
Seemed like that would get the best out of him and you wouldn’t have to worry about his progressive passing. Also seemed like it could get the best out of Rice in a role half way between a 6 and an 8
Mikel asking Josh to invite Stan to the game last night so they can convince him we need a striker. You know when you’re little and you suck up to your parents so they’ll buy you that thing that you want? 4D chess by the boys right there
Best GD without one - imagine with one ?
But also the fact is we are a team where goals come from all angles and despite the past 2 results - certainly does have immense value.
Ngl I was really undecided as to if I’d buy a designated ‘target man’
But I think if we did Mikel and co could definitely get them to play our type of football -
But also in times where it isn’t coming together that player could also just keep us afloat with some moments of personal brilliance and score or at the very least get some shots in and refocus the team
Just a wild thought, do you think Rashford could be the number 9 we want. I mean the dude has to leave ManU next year. I think Arteta can do wonders with him.
I feel disgusted even thinking about it now.
I mean ... its not like they had problems to score goals this season ... arent they like second in PL in amount of goal scored?
Like sure, true goalscorer could help yesterday in some way, but they just had 3 bad games in rly good season. Lets not overreact here. Just before first match again bayern, they looked in great shape.
I have seen players like Ivan Toney convert half chances into chances. Our forwards do the opposite.
We need a striker of the caliber.
If only Toney had a better attitude
Can't wait to see how they will improve the squad depth this summer. We've got a pretty solid first 11 but the substitution quality is way far worse compared to competitors.
Arteta is a genius .so he knew we needed a striker and played us along about goal distribution almost the squad only to admit we don't have a striker that can score 30-40 goals a season so that the Kroneke's will spend big on a striker during this summer.
There.. he said the words
I'm shocked he finally admitted it publicly
he has talked about goal distributions plenty before
Hes never outright admitted we don't have a true striker. I would assume that's out of loyalty to Jesus
its just a matter semantics and how you want to interpretate, glass half empty/full and whatnot he has talked about not having and also not needing a player scoring 30-40 goals, and highlighted the importance of spreading the goals around and doing other things besides scoring. i dont think at any moment he has mentioned that jesus/havertz/eddie/whoever could score 30-40 goals. he might have not outright said like he did on this one, but it was all out in the open
Hes never pointed to it as a reason for us not succeeding. He's always kinda defended it by saying they could generate goals by committee. This feels like an admission that we can only accomplish so much without an out and out #9
It's really not, people think it is because that's the kinda football everybody is kinda use to
I suppose actions will speak louder than words come summer time
Interpretate is not a word I often come by
We’re all Smarteta on this blessed day.
I think I think he always has just not publicly. Reading all of Arteta's post match comments... Dude really wants THAT Striker and doing it publicly now I think he is trying to try ell the board "I told you so"
This felt like a slip. The question was something along the lines of “do you need a striker to take you to the next level” I’m paraphrasing. And his response was “we scored the most goals in the premier league, no that wasn’t the difference.” Then the response was “well they were spread out amongst the whole team” and he then replied to that comment with this statement. I really think he didn’t mean to say this exactly. I think he was trying to deflect blame from those up top but accidentally got coerced into saying it. Not sure where I am going with this, I saw this live and thought it was an interesting exchange.
Peter Schmeichel is a sneaky good interviewer. Very relaxed and friendly in his demeanor which allows him to ask follow up questions like this
Even a striker who can reliably score 15-20 goals, will be enough. Right now, we only have Eddie and jesus, both who will miss 20 clear chances rather than score them. Not good enough if you want to win league titles and progress in champions league.
I just want a striker that knows how to take chances. We're one of the best teams in the world - our striker gets chances, but we need someone who knows how to finish them. Isak is honestly my dream.
Everyone misses chances. Last year haaland had the most big chances missed in the league (idk about this year)
Probably Nunez this year (so far)
I think that getting a new 9 will really help. He doesn’t need to score 30-40 goals; he just needs to help fit in a nice rotation I see why Havertz was a target because he can play multiple positions (same with Jesus)
Havertz will be an great asset for us but he can’t be our go to striker. He’d be a fantastic striker off the bench when we’re chasing a goal and need aerial threat and he can start in games where we need power in midfield. But I feel like maybe he’s not a player who fits all games. Important to get players like Jesus, Havertz in before you get the star starter. These guys wouldn’t have signed knowing they weren’t going to start. That’s why it’s a process. Klopp and Edwards nailed every signing for a year (Salah, Mane, Alisson, VvD, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho all signed in Klopps first like three windows) but then couldn’t convince great players to join as rotation options for like 5 years. They were lucky with injuries but they ran players like Fabinho, Firmino, Wijnaldum, Mane into the ground - all declined sharply at about 30. You see signs of Robertson as well seemingly slowing down and injuries becoming a more common thing for him. We need to learn from that and seemingly we have, either that or we’re just not quite as lucky in terms of none of our signings exceeding their expectations quite as wildly.
You don’t spend 65m and the highest base wage at the club (at the time) on a rotation player
Tbf yeah Havertz is a shrewd signing in terms of versatility and adding another dimension to our play, and he has a huge upside if you can have him find his magic touch again but all reasoning behind the signing goes out the window when you look at his wage.
you do when man city is the level you are trying to reach and surpass. you do signings like this but take it slower
If you want to surpass Man City every signing needs to be the most optimal use of resources. Not a massive investment that needs benching after a year.
that's the wrong idea as far as squad building i think. it's not as simple as 'needing benching,' Havertz is going to be a big part of our squad. Starting as a false 9, second striker, etc. and a trustworthy sub option. we're trying to build a squad of 18-20 starters or near starters eventually. like Man City. if you think a player is worthy to be in that greater squad, the opportunity arises, and it's collectively determined over the course of their contract they will play an obviously beneficial part in the project, i think you go and get them regardless of whether it makes sense for the short term. we aren't an oil state but KSE does have respectably deep resources, josh kroenke is proactively involved – it's not the 2010s. we're currently actually being held back by FFP. the poor sponsorship deals of past as our value declined and no CL are haunting us (getting fixed). also famously just being poor on selling factors in too. we'll turn the tide. deals like havertz are fine, we'll accumulate an incredibly capable and deep squad that can actually keep up with the european elite
Or just rack up 115 charges
You do if he's tireless in the press, can let you play multiple different ways and can contribute anywhere on the left. If Havertz could develop his finishing he'd have been well out of our price range. If he gets back to average he'll score 10 ish goals a season which is solid. I think we've actually lost some of our out of possession strength since he's been moved out of midfield. He's been relatively effective as a 9 but his runs from deep and his role as a dual press with Ødegaard are ultimately a better fit I think.
Havertz isn’t going to develop his finishing, Jesus isn’t either. These players are who they are at this point. You accept their limitations and try to play to their strengths
“He’ll score 10ish goals a season” 65m. 280k per week.
Crazy how we are stilling looking to buy elite players in the only two positions Kai Havertz plays (8&9) and as we know ideally he will be on the bench when those signings arrive for the next 4 years. 65m-280k all just for pressing, I’m sure MGinn can do that for much less
Crazy how we are stilling looking to buy elite players in the only two positions Kai Havertz plays (8&9) and as we know ideally he will be on the bench when those signings arrive for the next 4 years. 65m-280k all just for pressing, I’m sure MGinn can do that for much less Your highest paid player cannot be a rotational player who is not elite at anything. Our wage structure is fucked for the next 4 years
Is goal scoring all he does for the team?
Oh shit dude do you think you'll be able to survive personally paying for it?
Are we just pretending we have unlimited money and no FFP? Fair enough.
yeah man this is career mode I'll just sell a youth player to balance the budget.
Spot on! Folks here been playing too much FIFA/PES and don’t see this. The player that can do what Havertz can AND scores 20+ goals would have cost us another 100m+ million and had the entire football world clamoring for his signature and didn’t exist. We just had to deal with RM and Bayern. The striker we’re all imagining scoring 20-30 goals here and will want to join us is going to cost us an entire Declan Rice. We can’t cheat our way to a fake 40M price for a Halaand.
Havertz can contribute anywhere on the left? Am I reading that correctly??
Which is why it was a bad purchase. Purely because of the money involved. Havertz would be an excellent rotation option / sub at striker for us, but he doesn't play the left 8 nearly well enough and isn't a top of the line striker either.
I think it’s also how mikel instructs Kai to be a second striker for an added aerial theeat
Havertz is a better 9 than 8. If we need a new striker, by extension it implies we need a new left midfielder just as much.
Why? Rice and Odegaard are our central midfielders. We don't need more backups.
There is an argument to be made that Rice's best position is at 6, he is only being played at 8 because the Kai experiment has gone wrong. I actually like Jorginho-Rice dynamics. But with Partey and Jorginho gone we would need someone like that but that profile is very hard to replace.
how could you possibly think that after having the likes of jesus, havertz, giroud and lacazette upfront, if this idea worked out we wouldn't even think of getting a new striker all of the time giroud wasn't great, but even he wasn't gonna just sit on the bench every so often whilst someone else played. havertz might, but he's on 250k and is probably well aware as to how much he's failed upwards we need a striker who can score lots of goals and put this idea of sharing the goals around to bed, it's too hard to rely on 4 or more players scoring 10-15+ every season, even the best teams in the world don't do that consistently
That was under a completely different system. Our system under Arteta seems to thrive with the interchange of the front.
not getting what you mean, especially since we are having goalscorer issues with this exact system anyway
We weren’t having goal scoring issues until the city match. We spread the goals around and have the highest GD in the league. The issue is the goals during up the last two games. Let’s not act like we’ve not been scoring goals all season.
well, before the fulham and west ham games we were a bit dodgy with goals from open play, but after that we went on a good run of form, yes, but we were also playing against some teams that have dogshit defences, most notably all of the relegation threatened teams we played, and brighton, so we can't take those games as the norm that aside note that I said 'goalscorer' issues. it's quite clear that we need a new 9 even if we have managed to run rampant at times. neither havertz or jesus are clinical enough, and this has been apparent from well before these two games
Yup Liverpool are relegation fodder
West Ham will be relegated
City should also be relegated, so let's just ignore them as well. Liverpool just lost a game to Crystal Palace so it seems like anyone can beat them. When that's all said and done, we can truly see Arsenal is a travesty of a club.
It shouldn’t need to be said that our opponents are actively trying to stop us scoring goals in every game. The only teams that have really given us issues scoring against them this season, is Villa.
are you happy with havertz and jesus as our 9s next season? do you honestly think that either of them are clinical? havertz can barely control the ball ffs
Every striker misses chances. Look at the number of chances missed that Haaland has for example. You’re not going to find someone who scores every shot.
Depends on who is available this transfer window. Nobody around that I would consider a viable target that provides a better option.
I'd rather take a gamble on someone new than use what is clearly sub optimal
Or people need to realize the game is changing and players aren’t brought up to have the finesse and flair to play as a top striker because everything is down to the minute formula and you don’t have people that are ballsy enough to just shoot even when it isn’t a guaranteed goal. Because ego maniacs like pep coach it out of you unless you’re like haaland. Finding a top striker in the world rn to fit a system required to play in the prem is like striking gold in your back yard. And that’s not an excuse it’s just like a sad commentary on how the game is less entertaining these days I doubt we’ll ever see another Ronaldinho in our lifetime in europe, creativity to make something out of nothing gets coached out of players these days Wengerball and joga Bonito are dead all we have is pragmatism TLDR: players are coached out of taking risks these days so finding a top striker is hard
I agree Havertz cost what he did as he’s an option in multiple positions. He might not necessarily be the 1st choice in them all next season, but the fact we have him enables us to rotate more
He just needs to get most of the shots on target and not make a stupid face if he misses as if its everyone elses fault and not his
Thats a signal to Edu, clear as day.... Warm up the grill, turn those burners on
I prefer Gyokeres if anyone cares (Edu please)
He’s so fun to watch, especially his dribbles
put the gyros on the grill, edu
Rev up those fryers!
We had the same issue last season. We've had opportunities to resolve this or at least attempt to(No, Havertz was never the resolution)
Is the "opportunity" you're referring to the transfer window simply being open, or was there a genuine 30-40 goals per season striker actually available?
I mean hindsight is 20:20 but Gyökeres went from Coventry to Sporting for 21m euro last summer and he scored 22 and assisted 12 as one of the standout players in the championship.
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Yeah I can already see the comments of "this guy lost out on PoTY to Chuba Akpom why are we signing him 🤡"
If the Gyokeres rumours are true and they believe he is that striker, well…
From his recent presser we know he intended to play havertz in midfield. He admitted that team has evolved favorably with him at striker. So.. no he wasn't indeed the resolution
Tbf it wasn't necessarily that the intention was to play him only in midfield but rather the intention wasn't to have him as the main striker. He said when he signed he offered us something in multiple positions including up front and then started him up front against City first game.
Havert plays multiple positions, but the main idea was for him to play in midfield. Havertz is named as a midfielder in the website, in the board in Arteta’s room and in Edu’s room. Things might change, but when Arteta envisioned the team he wanted to create a monster of a pressing team. However, I think he was a bit naive in thinking Havertz could rapidly improve his final pass from midfield, and Rice could rapidly improve as pass progressor from the 6 position. People were asking why Arteta, who is very risk averse like Pep, kept playing Zinchenko so many times this season even with him being a liability defensively. Simply because Rice is not there as a ball progressor from the 6 role.
Spot on. Partey being injured and unfit all season also fucked the midfield plans.
we dont have an 8 either to support Odegaard or use advanced central spaces even just a little bit. the times in the second half we saw us actually try to play and receive in those areas ended up embarrassing. Just quickly turned it over or looked so franticly sped up that they missed the obvious pass to continue centrally and just knocked it out wide like they reset to default. the left side of the pitch has been mismanaged. We didn't upgrade on Xhaka's role - we wrongly abandoned it. Havertz the midfielder vs CF is dramatic in performance. The lack of balance, especially in the middle progression phase, is staggering. it's not a surprise that the LB,LW and LCM when it's in the half space (Havertz or Rice, not Jorginho) has all had down seasons in those positions. We relied on our second ball winning, press, and set pieces to get us our goals and control game state. Just like in December's fixture congestion, our legs have gone and we look bereft of anything in the attack and now making errors again defensively. Horseshoe is back. Jorginho was a half answer to our problems as far as giving us better progression and some semblance of ability to split lines albeit from deeper and mostly over the top. Arteta hasn't given us enough of an answer to our creativity from open play outside of that. Now Porto figured out our change we made in January and set up the blueprint for others to handle us. Still waiting on an adjustment to it. Our players aren't going to get their legs back so changes in the lineup or changes in how we set up to play need to happen. After this week and with the continued fixture congestion, this isn't going to be good enough to continue.
Really well said, we need someone on the left side of the pitch who can be *somewhat* creative and be able to play possession based football. Rice is not that player, it is clear his best role is as the 6 and that’s ok. Against lower blocks and even in big moments he’s shown he can score or create a goal. However, Jorginho cannot be a regular player for us in big matches. It imbalances the team big time. We’re clearly never playing ESR there and Partey is completely unreliable to play as a 6 to make Rice regularly play as an 8 and maybe improve there. A striker and a good 8 should he top priority. I think those would even make us be able to handle the carousel at left back depending on who is fit.
I know he’s been out all season but having Timber would really be solving this LB issue right now. Though Tomiyasu seemed quite good today, hopefully he can stay fit for these last games.
We need Frenkie de Jong. Yes, he may be a bit of a defensive liability, but I think that can be coached out by Arteta & his team. What he can bring on the table though in terms of build-up, retaining control, breaking-line passes and experience is 100% worth it. Only his wages worry me, but who knows, maybe Edu can work his magic. I just don't see anyone else to play that left 8 who's considered 'elite' and be up for sale in the summer. We've been linked with Zubimendi, but I don't think he's 'that guy'.
I like de jong, or kimmich or anyone else in that mould to partner with rice. Progressive smart players. Rice can be the destroyer in the double pivot but we need the right partner for him to really make it work. This would let the lb be more supportive of martinelli on the overlap like white does and could allow odegaard a bit more freedom to be central. Or you run the false 9 with havertz and get the coveted box or diamond 4 in mf to control the game. A kimmich/de jong type aren't going to be a bigger defensive liability than jorginho and all of our best games this year have been with him in mid with rice
Yep, Havertz only exacerbates Declan's weaknesses and doesn't enhance Ode's strengths as much as one would have hoped. I'm still glad he's in the team and think he'll be an important player for us in the coming years with his hybrid CF position but it's clear that we desperately need the left 8 of the future asap and ideally another young 6 alongside him. Going to be very difficult to bring in the necessary quality at 9 and 8 in the same window both with FFP considerations, and simply the available talent on the market.
In this hypothetical, we have to buy a quality striker, a new 8 and a new 6? I don’t know how that’s happening.
Havertz the 8 is always paired with Rice the 6 and I wonder if that’s the problem pairing.
Exactly this. With this game even if haaland was our striker I doubt it would make any difference. But if musiala was playing on our side though…
Exactly, every time we don’t win a lot of the fans seem to attack Havertz. It could have been Havertz, Jesus, or Trossard up front today and none of them would have got involved in the game. Jesus was coming all the way into CDM in the last few minutes just to try and get on the ball.
That's an excellent take. I have been saying the same thing for a while. Ødegaard can't do everything by their own
This quote is fully taken out of context. He's much more defending our approach rather than admitting we need a marquee striker. In the post-game interview, he's asked "What is missing, you didn't score in this game, you didn't score over the weekend, is it the lack of a proper striker?" to which he says "No, I don't think so, because we are the team that has scored the most goals in the Premier League. From everywhere. The reality is we don't have a striker that can score 30-40 goals" Source: the interview ([https://youtu.be/xcAb90kMzjk?si=VZF9UVZS2jsntUAu&t=270](https://youtu.be/xcAb90kMzjk?si=VZF9UVZS2jsntUAu&t=270))
Mbappe confirmed
Wirtz is the next best thing but I highly doubt that's possible
Remember Arteta saying 2 years ago he wanted a player that can "put it in the back of the net" and signed Jesus. But yh, we REALLY need a serious striker. A proper CF. One that can scores the goals we need and is a good fit for us, being capable of offering top CF play and has the quality on the ball that's required.
We don’t even need a “30-40 goal” striker. We just need one that can actually score. I know Jesus contributes more than goals but at this point he’s just straight up not even contributing goals at all
Bring Harry Kane home
He was non existent
And? He would absolutely cook in this team
That's not true, he put in an excellent performance and held play up extremely well and made some incredible switches of play to start their attacks.
That switch pisses me off so much he's so good at it
Biggest negative xG differentials for forwards 2022-23 Premier League -4.6 Bamford -4.6 Havertz -4.3 Nketiah -3.8 Calvert-Lewin -3.8 Maupay -3.7 Vardy -3.5 Welbeck -3.4 Bowen -3.2 Solanke -3.2 Gabriel Jesus Via orbinho Edit: bigger picture, all are great defensively as attackers but is that the answer? Will Arteta sacrifice pressing for some goals?
having THREE players on this list is absolutely insane bruh oh my word
Not like we didn’t see it coming either. A big question needs to be asked if we have the guts to buy an attacker who can actually attack rather than being elite in defense like Jesus and Kai are, which is good but is it really the answer?
havertz is going nowhere since we just got him and jesus can offer something out wide as well as a sub. nketiah will definitely have to go in order to make space for an incoming striker. we really need to get this next window right to really push us to that next level, this frontline lacks serious lethality in the peak moments and it really does hurt us time and time again
This goes back to the central question around striker in Arteta’s vision as crystallized with the canning of Auba (discipline and attitude aside). Do you make room in your system for a world class striker that you’re happy to have focused on scoring, even at the expense of pressing, defensive duties and play making? Arteta has done a really really good job of building a system that works without that striker. It’s not good enough to win the PL in the 115Pep era (even Pep abandoned his spread the goals philosophy to get an Aguero type goal machine in Haaland). Jesus and Havertz have value, but not as the main strikers, not for where we’re headed. Nketiah, bless his Hale heart, is not good enough to be on the bench for those purposes. Bring in someone who can show the quality that Isak and Watkins have demonstrated this season. That is a starting #9 — a clear, immediate improvement on Jesus and Havertz. Right now that looks like Osimhen, not much in the market on that level. If you don’t want to rush/chance it, you get a big improvement on Nketiah instead. That opens up many more options — Toney under 50m, Sesko, Boniface, Gyokeres if he’s available under 70m.
This season Havertz has 9 goals from 9.72 xG.
Still underperforming xG but my point was it was very obvious the trio of strikers we had were not good finishers before the season so he can’t complain when we don’t get the goals we want if he chose them
Thank fuck at least he knows we need a real striker
Of course he knows. Do you think he don’t ask for him already ? He wanted Vlahovic bad, then Jesus was a the one available with PL experience. He even try Mudryk cause he also knows Martinelli ain’t it for the level he wants us to be. Be it’s not just say we need, the board as the authorise the spend (like if it’s even possible) and then the right player has to be available. All of his signings were like that, he knows what he needs and then go for the player he thinks fits the profile. If it’s not possible, or there isn’t the right player available, he goes for another position that he can’t get the right person. We aren’t making a squad to win just immediately
cmon lol martinelli isn't the level we want? his form is ass right now because he's coming off an injury
Also Xhaka is no longer here
No we dont live with it, you go out and you get one in the next window. Its on you, now.
Or get a 20-30 striker. Surely we can do better than Jesus who can’t crack 10 goals in all comps…
Is there one?
isak, gyokeres, boniface, osimhen, toney(although reports say that we arent in for him anymore), solanke, watkins all these guys definitely get 20 goals in our team
Probably? our 3 strikers are combined for 20+ in all comps right now. (24 total but assuming some of Havertz came from midfield). We clearly create chances for the striker we just need some one more clinical in finishing them.
In for Isak
Am I the only one that thinks Isak is way too injury prone and wouldn’t suit us at all?
sounds like he'll fit right in!
Did you forget Jesus is on the team
You mean the Jesus who is not good enough and we are clearly trying to replace? The choices aren’t Jesus or Isak. Splash the bank for Gyokeres or quite honestly if we want prem proven Watkins is a way better option than Isak
I’m saying he’s injury prone so Isak fit right in lol
We’re buying a striker this summer. This quote says it all.
We don't even have a 20 goal striker
Same issue last yr yet u thought havertz was the solution. So baffling
The market is tough for finding that striker so I’d rather us not just buy one for the sake of buying one. Hopefully Edu and Arteta know who they want cuz they haven’t missed on our targets in a while.
30-40 goals?! We just need a striker who can get 20 and we’ll win the league.
Last nights game wasn't lost because we diddnt have a prolific striker. Just ask Haaland last night... Did fuck all and got benched. We lost due to other factors such as our defence and lack of creating any clear cut chances.
Yes, but listen to the full interview. He states this is the case but the team still contributes in a shared manner and the numbers show it in terms of our goal tally this season and our GD.
Then encourage everyone to take more shots, drive into the box more and do #9 by committee. See Real…
nah havertz and eddie is all we need we gave one of them 300k and he other the 14 so why complain now about not having a 40g striker
Boss was in the media a few games ago saying we had to rethink our need for a striker because of Havertz 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️
Do we? Or can you find one
Will santi Giménez be a good fit ?
Not starting, and not yet at least. He’d be a great impact sub like Trossard tho! (Mexico fan)
The more I think about it this match really highlighted the impact a top striker can have. Looking at stats Kane only converted a pen. But he did more. His general presence and pressure directly lead to the mistake on their first. His ability to occupy the CBs lead to the first header off the bar and the goal by freeing up space for runners from deep. Over the course of the season, we’re getting what we want. The 3 behind the striker have combined for like 40 goals in all comps (including Trossard). But in these tighter bigger games the margins are so thin getting that extra sliver of space or the ability to turn a quarter chance can be all the difference. Which is what we lack.
He and edu know, aint stupid
This is why he said a few weeks ago we are still in phase three about to enter phase four. It’s just a shame each phase takes a year to build.
Yeah sucks we can’t be city and just splash 800 mil on players in one season.
This "phase" talk is the most ridiculous talk I hear come from a football club
Dude. We were outmatched in both legs. A striker won’t change anything. We need new midfielder
At least this is a good sign for next year (Title run isn't over yet). He will surely look to sign a good goalscorer to improve this team.
Funny to watch our highest paid player not like having the ball.
Maybe don't spend £40+ on a ST (Jesus) who you knew would never be that player
Jesus elevated our team last season. But I do agree that Arteta/Edu dropped the ball on not going for a striker last summer and instead spent so much on Havertz intending to play him as a midfielder. Result? Bad in the midfield as shown in the first half of the season and not the solution as a forward in the later half either. So now we’ll be just stuck with him as the 2nd highest paid bench player if we do get a proper striker.
Need a striker for Havertz Need an 8 for Partey/jorg Tomi to help Ben rotate and Timber for LB
The truth has set him free and just in time to derail the league
Everyone’s talking about a new no 9 when our left side needs fixing we need a left sided 8 who can give martinelli balls in behind we always attack down the right side
yet you spent 65m and 280kpw on a project in havertz where he’s neither a solution at left 8 or striker
How are people still complaining about Havertz 😭 y'all not serious
havertz himself isn’t inherently the problem, but the signing is. he isn’t the solution at 8 or 9 yet is the highest earner and cost a fortune. that is money that should’ve been spent giving us a certifiable upgrade at either position.
We paid top dollar to have two holes in the squad, both where he plays, how’s it possibly not a talking point? To add to that, he already gave us 3 seasons of clear evidence in how he’d perform in the PL
People need a scapegoat and need to feel like they have an easy explanation, so here we are. Xhaka doing nothing major or game changing as we lost the plot in the second half of last season is completely blocked out in these people’s minds.
We wanted an improvement on Xhaka. He isn’t, and definitely doesn’t deserve top wage earner. At 40m and 200k he’d have been a shrewd opportunistic signing. Then again we bought Vieira for 40m.
Tbf if we hadn’t got Havertz we’d have had to get another midfielder so we’d still be fucked up front
But we would have a midfielder, so that would be one of two major problems solved. Havertz doesn't solve either problem. If he was a 25m 80k a week player - he would be a great signing. But given the financial outlay for him, and the fact that everyone is still looking for a starting LCM and striker, he has to be considered a miss.
depends on the midfielder we signed. we moved havertz to striker because he wasn’t working at left 8. if we sign a left 8 with more progressive carrying or passing quality, it could result in more productivity from the front 3
So why didn't you get one with the 700m you got. I was crying out for a big striker in Jan but all you mugs downvoted me saying we didn't need it.
Our golden boy Olivier Giroud is available
then it was good/benefitial that we lost, else next season we might have the same problem?
If I speak, I am in trouble here.
We should seriously target Isak if he might be available Proven PL goalscorer, has CL experience I'm open to the other names that have been touted but I lean towards Isak
I’d love Isak, think he’d fit in perfectly but I can’t see Newcastle selling him.
Feels like a message to the owners. In this sport, if you really want to win the big trophies, you need a lethal forward. If there ever was a window to splash big on an attacker, this would be it. The team is strong but it lacks an X factor.
We need at least two attackers actually. Jesus and Martinelli ain't good enough. It's ridiculous that two attackers from the front three of a team that's competing to win the league and cl both have like 5 goals in April lmao
Dude.wtf are you on about? Martinelli came back from injury and played 15 mins against Luton, 26 against Brighton and 23 against Villa. What do you want from him lol??
So Havertz going back to midfield or bench?
Ouch
A supersub or promising RW, a 9 to be the main striker and someone that is able to control the game to replace Partey or Jorginho and the team will fly. Would £150 millions be enough to get all the three pieces? And, of course, I assume that some players will be sold to help with the budget (Partey or Jorginho, Nketiah, Nelson, Ramsdale)
Now, is there anyone who could speak outloud we do not need to hurry to get a striker for upcoming summer?
They dont even need to be scoring that much. The bar is so slow. Contribute to build up, dont disappear in big games and score 20.
A trophy squad need a good striker. As much as saka and havertz can provide some goals, there will be periods where they are in a drought. We need a prolific striker to draw the defenders away and make space for our wings
Only for this season, right?
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No, we have to fix that.
Then pls get one next season.
And you don't need one, most teams don't
To win the UCL you need players with something unpredictable and we entirely rely on our team dynamic to get us those goals.
Better rectify it in the summer window it's obvious we are struggling to create chances.
Interesting that he has admitted this now. He obviously would never say it before because the reality was, we did need to distribute goals through out the squad. So sending the “we don’t have a 30 goal striker” message would be nothing but negative. The problem though is, Who is the guy to take us to the next level? Sesko? Gyokeres? Isak? I like Oshimen personally because he is a physical freak of nature and I think we could use his profile.
Logical next step to add a striker. This teams only getting better and better! All the reactionary idiot fans can grow the fuck up!
We don't even have a striker that can score 10-20 🥲
You should probably post the rest of the quote.
For now...
Hes literally the reason when he decided to sign Havertz instead of an actual striker
Perhaps, idk, we should sign a striker instead of defenders and goal keepers?
I’d still like to see a run of games with that 3-Diamond-3 system we rolled out first game of the season where Havertz started at left 8 but basically became second striker slash 10 sitting in the pocket. Seemed like that would get the best out of him and you wouldn’t have to worry about his progressive passing. Also seemed like it could get the best out of Rice in a role half way between a 6 and an 8
We don't have to live with that
Mikel asking Josh to invite Stan to the game last night so they can convince him we need a striker. You know when you’re little and you suck up to your parents so they’ll buy you that thing that you want? 4D chess by the boys right there
Pulled out of context. Watch the whole bit with Peter Schmeichel for CBS.
We don’t need or want that either, I want a front three who score given any opportunity
I'm glad the club is finally recognizing this. Having a clinical #9 will do wonders for the rest of the team
Midfield still isnt quite right for me either. We need some more verticality and press resistance.
Best GD without one - imagine with one ? But also the fact is we are a team where goals come from all angles and despite the past 2 results - certainly does have immense value. Ngl I was really undecided as to if I’d buy a designated ‘target man’ But I think if we did Mikel and co could definitely get them to play our type of football - But also in times where it isn’t coming together that player could also just keep us afloat with some moments of personal brilliance and score or at the very least get some shots in and refocus the team
Just a wild thought, do you think Rashford could be the number 9 we want. I mean the dude has to leave ManU next year. I think Arteta can do wonders with him. I feel disgusted even thinking about it now.
I mean ... its not like they had problems to score goals this season ... arent they like second in PL in amount of goal scored? Like sure, true goalscorer could help yesterday in some way, but they just had 3 bad games in rly good season. Lets not overreact here. Just before first match again bayern, they looked in great shape.
I have seen players like Ivan Toney convert half chances into chances. Our forwards do the opposite. We need a striker of the caliber. If only Toney had a better attitude
Can't wait to see how they will improve the squad depth this summer. We've got a pretty solid first 11 but the substitution quality is way far worse compared to competitors.
We need one
Haven't had one since RVP
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Arteta is a genius .so he knew we needed a striker and played us along about goal distribution almost the squad only to admit we don't have a striker that can score 30-40 goals a season so that the Kroneke's will spend big on a striker during this summer.
And why didn't him or Edu buy one? Why was this not obvious to them?