Summer Transfer Temps and Journeymen

Seriously though, it sounds like a win-win situation for everyone, right? Arsenal get an expensive player off our books and raise some funds to strengthen the team, Auba gets his CF spot back and a well-deserved pay rise, Atleti get a CF they’ve been after for years for a reasonable price, and Lacazette gets to live in Madrid and play CF for a CL team. In fact, Lacazette might actually end up doing better than anyone out of this!

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Originally Posted by I am invisible

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I’m sure Auba will console himself with his fat, new, long-term contract, his guaranteed starting spot as CF, a stronger team around him and his statue going up outside the stadium.

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Sure, but depending on how much Laca wanted to stay it might piss him off, but he'll probably be ok with the move

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Originally Posted by I am invisible

Seriously though, it sounds like a win-win situation for everyone, right? Arsenal get an expensive player off our books and raise some funds to strengthen the team, Auba gets his CF spot back and a well-deserved pay rise, Atleti get a CF they’ve been after for years for a reasonable price, and Lacazette gets to live in Madrid and play CF for a CL team. In fact, Lacazette might actually end up doing better than anyone out of this!

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Yeah i also think that if he stays, Auba will be in the middle next season - if reports are accurate it's where he wants to play and as he's being asked to give us his remaining best years, surely that would be a deal-breaker for him

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Originally Posted by Mac76

Sure, but depending on how much Laca wanted to stay it might piss him off, but he'll probably be ok with the move

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Honestly mate, I think he’ll just see it as a case of ‘not my problem’, no matter how much he might get on with him on a personal level. When you make demands over where you want to play then you’re not really thinking about the other players who also want to play the same role - you basically want those guys frozen out. And when you demand that the team is strengthened then you’re pretty much saying that a number of your team mates will need to be dropped or sold to fit the new guys in.

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Originally Posted by I am invisible

I think Arteta will be a big fan of Smith Rowe. Without claiming he’s anywhere near KDB’s level, he’s a similar type of player in that he drifts seamlessly between an 8 and a 10, can play down either flank, is comfortable using both feet so he passes and moves in 360°, and his first thought is generally to drive forward and do something positive.

The more I think about it, the more I think Willian makes sense (on the playing side, anyway) - outside of Auba and Laca (who might be sold), our most experienced attacker is Pepe, and he’s still finding his feet in this league. Willian gives us that bit of added experience anywhere across the attack, and he’s at an age where he won’t block the progress of anyone coming through.

Bringing those two in will add to the attack, but there’s also a lot of other things we haven’t been able to do under Arteta yet, e.g. Auba through the middle, having Martinelli available, playing Tierney as a proper LB, being able to play a 3rd midfielder. I’d like to see Willock used more as a 6-8 - I don’t think he’s a 10 - and we’ve only had the benefit of an in-form, post-lockdown Ceballos for a handful of games.

I don’t think the focus on defence is entirely lazy though - a lot of the above will depend on having CBs who are good enough and athletic enough to deal with 1-on1s so we can play with a back 2 and gain an extra midfielder. And if we want to commit more players forward then we probably need someone equally athletic and individually competent, like a Partey, sat in front of them. Like you, I’ve been really impressed with how Arteta has got this bunch of misfits organised and actually keeping clean sheets, but there’s currently way too many players there who need another player alongside them to fill in their gaps, and that’s really restricting how we can play.

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I think we're on the same page about the Willian transfer. I'm sure everyone would like a more exciting name. But, if Arteta sees him as a flexible and reliable player who can also have an influence on the younger players like Auba and Luiz clearly have, then both the player and manager deserve the benefit of the doubt at the moment. If you look at the squad, the only over-30s we've got who will play a big role next season are those three and even then, Auba is the only guaranteed starter. With the recent culling, our squad has become so much younger that guys like Laca, Xhaka and Mustafi are among the most experienced and only Xhaka is guaranteed to stay from those. So yeah, the Willian transfer makes sense and only becomes a problem if we buy more 30+ Kia clients.

On the 'lazy' defence thing, it was more a reference to the basic analysis we see all the time and over the seasons. I feel it's actually the midfield and attack that needs the most refining because we haven't had any consistency, flow or chemistry there for a long time now. Even on here we get comments about "tippy-tappy". I wish we could play tippy-tappy football. We barely put three passes together without a poor touch or an amateur hoof into nowhere. It's obviously why Arteta reverted to the back five and made us into a version of that Villa team with Agbonlahor and Young.

You're right about our football, it really is tough to watch at times. The passing is slow and boring and we don't create many chances.

I still think we need a solid defense and midfield first and build on that. Doesn't matter how good our attacking play is if we're leaking easy goals at the other end. How many times have we worked hard to get a lead, only for us to give away a easy goal a minute later?

It also frees up some of the attacking players if they have confidence in our defence. They won't have that pressure of thinking they have to score a hat trick for us to win the game. And like invisible said, having better defenders/midfielders who can win 1v1s will let us switch up our formations and have an extra midfielder/attacker instead of playing 3 at the back to cover our defensive weaknesses.

Apparently Maitland-Niles is wanted by a few clubs. I’d be surprised if we were willing to let a young, English utility player like him go but then again, if we need to raise funds to spread around the squad and someone is willing to pay enough, then so be it.

If the price is right, we’ll fuck it up for sure.

But if the commish is right, he’ll be gone quicker than you can say “where’s my cut?”.

Frankly I'd let Nelson or Willock leave before AMN. They'd bring the same amount of money (I think).

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Originally Posted by fakeyank

Frankly I'd let Nelson or Willock leave before AMN. They'd bring the same amount of money (I think).

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Definitely Willock, also Nketiah

Not as certain as i used to be that Nelson's going to be a really great player, but i'd want to keep him round for another season or two, he's still learning.

Either way i think we'd be really silly to sell AMN right now unless it really is a high offer, though not sure even then - in termsof his attitude and application he's really come good,probably the best example of Arteta bringing someone into the fold