summer '22 transfer craziness and stupidity

[Marc Overmars]

I think Arteta will have no choice but to show some faith in Lokonga. I haven’t been particularly impressed with him but he’s a CM by trade and needs to be given a shot. I would start him tonight tbh.

[selassie]

Arteta has already said Zinchenko can play there (attacking and holding MF) and he also stated "When Viera plays there" talking about Xhaka's position.

That's what he's said, it's not my opinion or interpretation, man. He literally said it.

He's also played Lokonga in the DM position before too, so even with Partey and Elnonentity out he still has Lokonga, Xhaka, Zinchenko and Viera.

That Midfield quartet you posted is largely untested. Xhaka and Zinchenko is passable, but Viera has not played a minute for us yet and Lokonga hasn't really developed in the way I would have liked. Compare our Midfield to our rivals challenging for top 4, right now it doesn't look great.

Its not about panicking, it's about bringing in quality additions to an area of the team that needs it.

[Mac76]

I honestly think we need to stop over-reacting to individual results/performances. In any season you're going to get great results and performances and days where it all goes to shit. Happens to every club.
Sometimes you can play brilliantly and still not get a result - City last season, in All or Nothing I was once again reminded how we were robbed that day. Other days you don't play that well but still get a result somehow, the Fulham game was one of those. Let's see where we are at Christmas.

I agree everyone can have a bad day, it's just a concern when it seems as though long-standing problems are still there, which could point to real issues if true

[selassie]

I was feeling rwally good after the first three games but came away from the Fulham one with some trepidation, albeit we did show character to win.

Arteta's faults are still there, underusing subs, thinking Xhaka should wear an Arsenal shirt, ignoring some useful players (anyone see how Tavares is scoring for fun now he's free of Arteta's undermining management style?) etc

Happy to be proved wrong but we need to beat Villa soundly and get at least a point at Old Shiteford to show we're serious

Feel the same, minus the Xhaka bit

[Mac76]

I think Arteta will have no choice but to show some faith in Lokonga. I haven’t been particularly impressed with him but he’s a CM by trade and needs to be given a shot. I would start him tonight tbh.

if Lokonga, AMN, Tavares, Pepe and others had been given all the chances Xhaka has, they'd all be established and making a real contribution by now, but Arteta's undermining of each one of them has cost us time and money and wasted those players' time

[HCZ_Reborn]

It looks like Zinchenko is in full training which suggests he might play tonight. Of course no one who has a brain can think that being able to cut inside to clear up the mess Xhaka invariably makes, makes you a central midfielder. For tonight we should go with Lokonga and that Albanian Cunt. It will be disastrous but given we are playing Villa we might just be able to sneak a draw (not blaming Lokonga he’s not a holding midfielder and it’s not his fault that Cunt Arteta won’t play him)

Before Sunday we must go into the transfer market for a central midfielder, any other position is irrelevant compared to that

I’d prefer Tielemans in a perfect world but with Partey crocked and Elneny hopefully out forever we need to gamble and buy a midfielder who can both hold the ball and run with it….given our budget it will have to be someone of limited technical ability which will hamper our chances of getting top four. But frankly we are in a position where our best hope for getting it will rely on Chelsea getting results like last night, it’s not in our hands.

[I am invisible]

Who do you think Arteta sees as options for CM?

CM as in the Partey part of CM?

If we’re looking at keeping the exact same formation then you’re looking at Lokonga, Xhaka or White coming in for Partey - the important thing here is they’d be bracketed by Zinchenko and either White or Tomi as the inverted FBs so it would effectively be a midfield three for much of the game. (Zinchenko could also play the Partey role, but we’d then lose our inverted FB on that side so I don’t know if I’m as keen on that option. Maybe Tomi could play inverted LB, but that starts to feel like too many unnecessary changes.)

If we’re looking at reverting to a double-pivot then it’s going to be Xhaka-Zinchenko, Xhaka-Lonkonga or Zinchenko-Lokonga. Tierney at LB would work fine in that setup, with Gabriel, Saliba and White sliding across to make a back three.

None of it will probably work quite as well as having all our first choice options in their usual places, but this is what cover looks like. Personally, I think stuff like this is what makes the game interesting! Should be the first proper test of this leaner, more flexible squad we’ve been building.

[selassie]

CM as in the Partey part of CM?

If we’re looking at keeping the exact same formation then you’re looking at Lokonga, Xhaka or White coming in for Partey - the important thing here is they’d be bracketed by Zinchenko and either White or Tomi as the inverted FBs so it would effectively be a midfield three for much of the game. (Zinchenko could also play the Partey role, but we’d then lose our inverted FB on that side so I don’t know if I’m as keen on that option. Maybe Tomi could play inverted LB, but that starts to feel like too many unnecessary changes.)

If we’re looking at reverting to a double-pivot then it’s going to be Xhaka-Zinchenko, Xhaka-Lonkonga or Zinchenko-Lokonga. Tierney at LB would work fine in that setup, with Gabriel, Saliba and White sliding across to make a back three.

None of it will probably work quite as well as having all our first choice options in their usual places, but this is what cover looks like. Personally, I think stuff like this is what makes the game interesting! Should be the first proper test of this leaner, more flexible squad we’ve been building.

Aye, CM as in Partey.

I'll be honest the Midfield without Partey does worry me. Games like Fulham the other day and maybe tonight we should have just enough, but forget about it going into a game against a top half side, I think we will struggle in Midfield.

On paper the Midfield looks alright, but we struggle to get consistent performances out of the Midfield Partey and Xhaka aside. I guess part of that is to do with nobody else really getting games unless we have injuries to those two. Though to be fair, Zinchenko we haven't seen yet in Midfield.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Aye, CM as in Partey.

I'll be honest the Midfield without Partey does worry me. Games like Fulham the other day and maybe tonight we should have just enough, but forget about it going into a game against a top half side, I think we will struggle in Midfield.

On paper the Midfield looks alright, but we struggle to get consistent performances out of the Midfield Partey and Xhaka aside. I guess part of that is to do with nobody else really getting games unless we have injuries to those two. Though to be fair, Zinchenko we haven't seen yet in Midfield.

Maybe because Zinchenko isn’t a midfielder he’s a left wing back who can play in left midfield. For Man City he’s never played in central midfield and only seldom does for Ukraine.

We needed a Tielemans player before Partey and Elneny were inured we now need a Tielemans and a competent holding midfielder. That we are in this position on August 31st shows the extent of the incompetence of Arteta and Edu. Getting rid of Xhaka and Elneny should have been the top priority. And then bought in two midfielders to replace them.

If we hadn’t wasted money on Skeet Ulrich I’d have prioritised a winger after a striker.

And then we come back to Zinchenko, for me the only reason we could countenance that signing is selling Tierney and having Tavares as his back up.

Another summer with money spaffed up the wall. With the exception of Gabriel Jesus it’s been wasted

[mandela8]

That Midfield quartet you posted is largely untested. Xhaka and Zinchenko is passable, but Viera has not played a minute for us yet and Lokonga hasn't really developed in the way I would have liked. Compare our Midfield to our rivals challenging for top 4, right now it doesn't look great.

Its not about panicking, it's about bringing in quality additions to an area of the team that needs it.

Again, no issue improving the quality of CM but anyone who thinks it's in more need of an upgrade than the wide positions is simply fuckin mental.

And Lokonga has played nearly 100 games in his career and is capped for Belgium. He's not unproven, at all. He's unplayed by Arteta. That's entirely different to untested, man.