apparently atletico might go after Laca - tbh if we could get someone like Ings as a replacement i'd be in, laca can't score for toffee right now, the only danger is if it loosens our hold on Auba
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apparently atletico might go after Laca - tbh if we could get someone like Ings as a replacement i'd be in, laca can't score for toffee right now, the only danger is if it loosens our hold on Auba
I like Laca but if a good offer comes in, I'd let him go and keep Nketiah here.
I don't get how any fan could want Laca gone at this point. He's absolutely essential to what Arteta's trying to do, as is Torreira and (increasingly) Xhaka. These are the three who carry the ballast when Ozil is having an off-month or (particularly now) Auba is not there or when Pepe is being Pepe-ish. Some fans are even suggesting the statue be brought back in his place. That's just crazy talk.
Would you be okay letting him go if we got 80 million quid? Dudes going to be 29 in a few months and hasnt set the world on fire for us. I like him, I like his effort but we'd be foolish to not accept a big bid for him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
I think the problem with Lacazette is: when is gonna start scoring?
His work rate is brilliant and he battles with the best of them, but he hardly ever scores.
No point having a 'top' striker if he cant score :shrug:
Yep. Giroud was great at all the donkey work too but couldn’t quite score enough when he was really needed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aubameyang's Wang
Laca simply has to deliver in the next few games with Auba suspended. No excuses.
Replacing Laca with Giroud is going backward. If we Let Laca go it must be for someone better like Danny Ings if we are staying local or an upgrade on the continent.
Arsenal fans are a nostalgic lot. A few want Ramsey and Wilshere back. 20 games a season between those 2. Hey lets just get Walcott too. Can he still run fast without falling over?
You think Xhaka is essential, what has the world come to, the guy is slow, can't tackle and consequently gives away fouls left right and center and has a bad attitude. The sooner we sell this guy the better, then we can get a proper CM who has more energy and drive to play alongside Torreira.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
As for Lacazette, he's hopelessly out of form at the moment, I hope he can come good, but with Aubameyang probably on his way out we can't afford to lose him as well really.
Nketiah couldn't even get a game at Leeds and hasbarely scored any goals, I don't see the merit in keeping him around until he's proved himself on loan.Quote:
Originally Posted by fakeyank
Watching the way the shape of the team shifts between attack and defence, it looks like Lacazette is playing a kind of false 9 role, where he leads the line when we're defending, but almost drops back alongside Özil as a second 10 when we attack (with Kola moving down the left and Auba moving central)? Definitely needs to start finding the net, but he's still contributing well outside of that.
Martinelli looks like a really good fit for that LW/CF role, so hopefully the shape and system won't suffer too much while Auba is out - maybe this will even force certain players to step up and stop relying on him so heavily for goals? (Also, I'm thinking it might be wise to delay sending Nketiah out on another loan until after Auba's suspension is up? Certainly until after the Chelsea game, anyway - I'm not so fussed about B'muff in the cup.)
Long-term, I think Lacazette will probably be sold. As it stands he's yet to sign a new contract, and it will probably take an offer far in excess of what he's worth to persuade him to sign one - something we shouldn't even be considering. However, I think it would take an absolutely obscene offer from someone for us to even consider selling him in January.
I think what he means is that Arteta has a system that he wants to play and he only has this group of players to choose from - Xhaka is currently the best fit we have for one of the roles within that system, so that in itself makes him essential right now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
It doesn't mean that we can't find / shouldn't look for a better, more dynamic option at some point - it's more about pragmatism for the moment. My gut-feeling is that he will also end up leaving in the summer - regardless of how much Arteta likes him as a player, or whether he can coach him back to some kind of usefulness, I just think his relationship with the club and the fans may be too far gone at this point. What we're seeing at the moment is probably some kind of mutually-beneficial agreement between the player and the club / manager to hold off until the summer: the player gets to build his reputation back up for 5-6 months with the hope of attracting some better offers; and the club don't lose a senior player that we wouldn't be able to adequately replace half way through the season (and might be able to get a bit more for him, if he looks a better player by the summer).
I didn't say Xhaka is essential, I said Arteta seems to find him essential right now, at this early stage of us learning to play effective football again. Assuming we aren't buying Arteta's ideal 11 this month (and probably won't be buying anyone at all, given all the talk of loan deals) we have to make the very best use of what we have. Xhaka may not be a world beater, but he's improved in the last few weeks and is doing a job for now. Doesn't mean we can't get someone better when the chance arrives (if ever), but also doesn't mean we should cut our noses off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Of course I'd take 80 million quid. I'd take 160 million too but nobody will pay either. And even if they did, I'd be wanting to see that money spent - this month. Do you have any confidence that would happen?Quote:
Originally Posted by fakeyank
I definitely don't want Giraffe back and as for Xhaka i completely agree with Ozim - he simply isn't good enough, is too slow and has too many suicide moments to be part of a genuinely successful side
i'm slightly worried about how Arteta's so positive about him, but i'm hoping that he's just seeing him as important to tide us through to the end of the season until he can rebuild a bit
if Arteta saw Xhaka as part of our longer-term future i'd be really worried
It's difficult to judge anything that happens at the moment because I'm sure Arteta has plenty of ideas on how we should move forward but we currently don't have the time nor funds to make that happen this season.
We knew when he was appointed the remainder of the season was a bit of a free hit because of how poor we've been. Lets just hope we can finish a few positions higher in the league and win one of the cups, preference obviously being the EL.
Then let the real work begin in the summer.
If we don't qualify for the CL by winning the EL our summer funds will probably be limited, we've already spend 30 million on Saliba and a chunk of the Pepe money has been spread over several seasons so there's probably 20 odd million to be paid there as well, that's probably about 50 million already gone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
Think we hedged our bets that we'd qualify for the CL thus covering these purchases.
Agreed - the whole thing felt a little desperate to me, with no real strategy behind it. In some ways, I'm kind of glad it didn't work out as planned because we now have to be smarter than just throwing money at our problems.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Tbh, I'm not overly fussed about how much we might have to spend in the summer - for one thing it might actually force us to sell before we can buy, but also I'm not actually convinced that we do our best work at that [expensive] end of the market anyway? I'm mostly anxious to see whether Edu and his scouting team can keep the unknown gems coming - Martinelli was a good start, but how many more can they come up with? What other markets do we have expertise in, or is it just Brazil / South America? How is foreign recruitment going to work after the UK leaves the EU?
Dont worry! An African Billionaire is going to buy us in 2021and spend shit loads of Money 😁Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
He can't buy us he will have the pay the $10,000,000 he promised me :sulk:
That guy’s back is he? Let me guess - he’s just working on some oil deal first... but after that, he’s definitely going to buy us!Quote:
Originally Posted by Chippy
We're signing Kurzawa from PSG apparently.
Always rated him.
:unsure:
Youngy is off to Inter.
:wave:
Good news for Man Utd.
injury prone, 3rd choice left back for PSG. Will fit right in, another one we can add to the list of substandard players we can't shift if we do sign him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gooner23
Loan or perm?
I'd rather just let Sako learn his trade instead of buying another established player who we won't get much of a return on. Kola isn't out long term anyway so I don't see why we need to lumber ourselves with 3 high value left backs.
Not buying a RB when Bellerin was injured helped AMN a lot, so lets offer Sako the same courtesy.
Talk is of a 6 million permanent 5 year deal.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
yeah especially when we could do with bolstering our centre midfield and CBsQuote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
Arteta the driving force behind Citeh's continual purchasing of full backs. :ninja:
That should be our focus, no wasting money on full backs, we've got full backs it's just that they're injured but Kolasinac won't be out too long so Saka can fill in.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
This kinda thing is why the can't progress, we seem to always sign the wrong players in the wrong positions.
Lot of chat that our transfers are now being driven by Raul's close ties with the super agents e.g. Mendes and Joorabchian which is a bit worrying.
It's probably bullshit anyway but it doesn't make any sense to buy another left back. Kolasinac won't be out for long and Tierney is due back before the end of season.
That's the logical approach but when does this club ever do anything logical, last summer we spent 72 million on a winger when we desperately needed a CB, then scrambled and signed a poor CB for cheap after signed a 30 million CB and loaned hin out for the year so we didn't have to pay for him there and then. This guy is also cut price, or free if you wait till the sumer, so it makes perfect sense to the club.Quote:
Originally Posted by Penguin
Could only offer Aubameyang 3 1/2 years but are willing to offer this guy 5 years, go figure!
The arseblog podcast had a guy on who knows about the player, who basically said he's a jack-the-lad who doesn't work that hard and often gets injured - sounds like a great buy :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Penguin
Sensible post. IMO the last couple of results have merely underlined what we all knew - there is no quick fix for this team, and Arteta's task is a long term one. What we needed to see was some team shape and positional discipline. We have seen this since Arteta came. As fans we want to believe that a manager can be a magic bullet but this is usually the exception rather than the rule. I'll take the modest progress so far as part of a longer term progression, and I am prepared to acknowledge that Sheffield United are a good team who have also drawn at Spurs and Chelsea this season, and at home against Manure. We need a player overhaul and more potency up front, but the manager can only work with what he has got ATM. Patience needed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
Sounds like journeyman left back Layvin Kurzawa will be joining on a free. But not until the summer. Can't see the benefit really, beyond a bit of cover. And if this is a hint of the calibre we'll be chasing in the summer, pretty uninspiring.
Never know, he might buck the trend and be useful.
Sign him up!Quote:
Originally Posted by Xhaka Can’t
Fooling nobody Lineker.
:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...