Summer '21 transfer lunacy and overpayment

[selassie]

Ok, so there’s a couple of profile pieces out there now about Tomiyasu - sounds like he’s quick, v. good at 1v1s, calm in possession, a good distributor with both feet and strong in the air (6’2, fwiw).

As a RB, it sounds like he’s going to be more defensive than offensive, so if I had to guess at the thinking here I would say this is to a) balance Tierney down the left and free him up to get up and down that side with less worries, and b) protect our big, centrepiece defensive investment in White by bracketing him with two fast, aerially dominant players.

I think we might get away without the rampaging attacking RB because Ødegaard naturally drifts towards the right allowing him to double-up with the winger on that side. That’s probably bad news for Pepe, who I think really needs that overlapping fullback to be effective - think we’ll probably see Saka on the right now.

Whether it will work like that in practice is another matter, but that’s my thoughts on why we’ve gone for this guy.

The only thing that worries me about this signing is that he appears to be our fourth option for the right back spot. If reports are to be believed, our number 1 option was Hakimi, that was always nothing more than a pipedream and clearly a big step down for him. After that, we were linked with Tyler Adams of Leipzig, again a step down right now for him. The third option appeared to be Emerson Royal who joined Spurs, if reports were to be believed, he chose Spurs ahead of us.

So we signed what appears to be our fourth option in Tomiyasu who Spurs deemed not good enough for them.

Despite the above, I have also read profile pieces and seen bits and pieces of him in action on You Tube and Tomiyasu looks decent enough and a very good prospect, but was this signing a desperate last minute move after all our favoured targets chose not to pursue a move?

[I am invisible]

The only thing that worries me about this signing is that he appears to be our fourth option for the right back spot. If reports are to be believed, our number 1 option was Hakimi, that was always nothing more than a pipedream and clearly a big step down for him. After that, we were linked with Tyler Adams of Leipzig, again a step down right now for him. The third option appeared to be Emerson Royal who joined Spurs, if reports were to be believed, he chose Spurs ahead of us.

So we signed what appears to be our fourth option in Tomiyasu who Spurs deemed not good enough for them.

Despite the above, I have also read profile pieces and seen bits and pieces of him in action on You Tube and Tomiyasu looks decent enough and a very good prospect, but was this signing a desperate last minute move after all our favoured targets chose not to pursue a move?

If true, it’s nice to actually have several names on the list that we can work through, instead of just leaving it if the best option in the world isn’t available.

Doesn’t sound right to me though - those 4 names are just too different in terms of profile and style to make me think they were options on the same list or part of the same strategy.

I guess what might have changed is these last-minute ‘clear the air’ talks with Ainsley? If he’s genuinely getting another chance, and is prepared to commit to RB, then that might have suddenly covered off the need for an offensive / overlapping option and allowed us to switch to a more defensive target?

Or maybe this guy was always the target and we were just waiting for one of our 4 existing RBs to leave before we could move?

[selassie]

If true, it’s nice to actually have several names on the list that we can work through, instead of just leaving it if the best option in the world isn’t available.

Doesn’t sound right to me though - those 4 names are just too different in terms of profile and style to make me think they were options on the same list or part of the same strategy.

I guess what might have changed is these last-minute ‘clear the air’ talks with Ainsley? If he’s genuinely getting another chance, and is prepared to commit to RB, then that might have suddenly covered off the need for an offensive / overlapping option and allowed us to switch to a more defensive target?

Or maybe this guy was always the target and we were just waiting for one of our 4 existing RBs to leave before we could move?

Yeah the list is quite scattergun but i guess Hakimi and his agent let it known we were not an option quite early on, especially as he was linked with both Chelsea and then PSG who he joined. The other 3 are all different profiles, but close in age and experience I guess even though they are all young. Adams for instance plays DM as his primary position for Leipzig so he could have well been a Xhaka replacement as he looked Roma bound earlier this summer. Adams is also very good at right back. Emerson and Tomiyasu are actually very different, Emerson being a very offensive right back and Tomiyasu being more defensive and solid. I guess we will see who fairs better now that Emerson has joined the Spuds.

I do think Tomiyasu was always a target, just a backup option more than a primary one though. He is here now so I'll get behind whatever happens.

[I am invisible]

Yeah the list is quite scattergun but i guess Hakimi and his agent let it known we were not an option quite early on, especially as he was linked with both Chelsea and then PSG who he joined. The other 3 are all different profiles, but close in age and experience I guess even though they are all young. Adams for instance plays DM as his primary position for Leipzig so he could have well been a Xhaka replacement as he looked Roma bound earlier this summer. Adams is also very good at right back. Emerson and Tomiyasu are actually very different, Emerson being a very offensive right back and Tomiyasu being more defensive and solid. I guess we will see who fairs better now that Emerson has joined the Spuds.

I do think Tomiyasu was always a target, just a backup option more than a primary one though. He is here now so I'll get behind whatever happens.

I’m guessing the way these things actually play out is that we have a series of plans drawn up where complimentary targets are grouped together rather than having individual lists for each area that we work through - if we sign CB A then we pair him with RB X, if we sign CB B then we pair him with RB Y, etc. You sound out everyone to begin with to see who’s available, and everything is on the table right up until one of the signings drops - at that point you’re all in on that battle plan. We probably landed on Tomi because he’ll be a good foil for White, and it probably happened at the last-minute because none of our existing RBs moved until then.

I’m glad we’ve signed him though - it’s tied some of our other moves together a little bit more for me and I think I can see a bit of joined up thinking there now. Seems pretty clear that we’ll switch between a back 4 when we defend and a back 3 when we attack, and I like every combination of the 3 that would stay back, e.g Gabriel-White-Takehiro / Tierney-Gabriel-Takehiro / Tierney-Gabriel-White (I expect Gabriel will always stay back).

Worries: can Arteta now execute it properly? And what’s the threshold for absentees before the system starts to fail?

[I am invisible]

“Judge us at the end of the window,” Edu said, so let’s judge the shit out of this!

The plan (A-F)
Incomings (A-F)
Outgoings (A-F)
Overall (Success / Fail)

[Mac76]

“Judge us at the end of the window,” Edu said, so let’s judge the shit out of this!

The plan (A-F)
Incomings (A-F)
Outgoings (A-F)
Overall (Success / Fail)

The Plan - Well the plan to stop bringing in Willian types and get in younger players is good in principle, however there's the fact that they loaned out Saliba again plus even with the players available Arteta will no doubt fail to make the most of them - the plan should have included a new manager so it's a B for the younger players but an F for the manager part

Incomings - they seem decent although not sure about Ramsdale and we clearly massively overpaid for White - if we ought to have bought him at all - so a C

Outgoings - as the Arseblog pod said, "Joe Willock sold Joe Willock" by his performances so basically Edu's failed to sell anyone - ok, it's great Willian's gone but we're lucky he wanted out rather than stay and pick up the cheques for another two seasons. Turning down offers for Nketiah and Xhaka was also a massive mistake - so it's an F


Overall - a mixed picture but if you made me choose it would be a fail.

[I am invisible]

Yeah, I’m not far off that, although I’m not including the manager in this because we can make that change at any time (and the signings look like they’ve been chosen to outlive him).

—

The plan - B+
No issues with the plan - the plan was sound, and I 100% support it. Should have done it 3 years ago, in fact! Question marks over execution, but the idea was right, and I could clearly see what the thinking / logic was.

Had to knock it down a grade because of Edu’s non-committal answer when asked about targets in his interview - if there aren’t targets then how can we set expectations or measure success? How is anyone held to account?

Incomings - B-
I’m actually very happy with all of the signings we did make - might have overpaid for a couple (HG tax) but then got some bargains on others, so value is kind of neutral for me. Can’t give it anything higher though because we weren’t able to refresh CF and CM. A very high bar this window.

Outgoings - E
The only thing that’s saved this from being an F is the Willock sale and Willian walking away for nothing (and that was more luck than judgement). There’s still a chance we could make some sales / loans to the continent, but it’s still a pretty sorry list on the outs. I expect Nketiah, Lacazette and Leno will all leave for nothing next summer now.

Overall - Fail
Tbf, I’m not sure it was even possible for this window to have been anything other than a fail, given the dead market and the squad full of overpaid crap that no one in their right mind was ever going to take off us (even in the best of times), but that is where we find ourselves as a club, and nothing short of a double-A for incomings and outgoings was ever going to make this window a success. Could anyone else have done any better? Maybe not, but it was certainly too big an ask for Edu.

[Mac76]

The only thing that’s saved this from being an F is the Willock sale

like I say he sold himself, nothing to do with Arsenal

[selassie]

“Judge us at the end of the window,” Edu said, so let’s judge the shit out of this!

The plan (A-F)
Incomings (A-F)
Outgoings (A-F)
Overall (Success / Fail)

Edu would be out of a job if he held the Technical Director role at any of the other top 6 clubs, he has been a disaster in this role here at Arsenal. I read the other day we could (most likely will) have up to 6 players walking away on a Free come next summer, now admittedly most of the players are ones we need rid of....but to not get a fee for any of them is a sackable offence. The players off the top of my head who will be free to leave in the summer are as follows;

Leno
Lacazette
Nketiah
Chambers
Elneny
Kola

We should have got fees for at least Leno, Lacazette and Nketiah this summer, criminal really. Even Chambers and Elneny are transferrable IMO. Judge Edu? 1/10.

P.S. I wouldn't be surprised if we offer the likes of Chambers, Elneny and Kola improved deals just to save face!!!

[I am invisible]

Edu would be out of a job if he held the Technical Director role at any of the other top 6 clubs, he has been a disaster in this role here at Arsenal. I read the other day we could (most likely will) have up to 6 players walking away on a Free come next summer, now admittedly most of the players are ones we need rid of....but to not get a fee for any of them is a sackable offence. The players off the top of my head who will be free to leave in the summer are as follows;

Leno
Lacazette
Nketiah
Chambers
Elneny
Kola

We should have got fees for at least Leno, Lacazette and Nketiah this summer, criminal really. Even Chambers and Elneny are transferrable IMO. Judge Edu? 1/10.

P.S. I wouldn't be surprised if we offer the likes of Chambers, Elneny and Kola improved deals just to save face!!!

Chambers I could see getting an extension - his home-growness might still make us some money when things pick up, esp. in a post-Brexit market - but the other two? Nah. Getting them off the wage bill will make us more money than any fee. Still have my fingers crossed that we might be able to get rid of at least Kolasinac before Europe closes for business - he’s probably just waiting for us to pay him to fuck off. Personally, I’d do it in a cold minute.