I think by now, we all have to accept that Arteta isn't changing his "winning" system for anyone...... if one wants an additional attacking CM starting then one is actually asking him to repeat his experiment of copying Pep and trying the 3 defenders at the back which was so disastrous the season he elected to do so by taking Gabriel out of the team.
Then we have to accept equally that we aren’t going to win the titleOriginally Posted by 21_GOONER_SALUTE
Playing two creative midfielders especially at home to mid table sides is indispensable
I don’t think we will win the title, and that’s why I’m minded to sign players for the future that a less intractable coach could make use of with a year’s experience under their belt
Although as much as Arteta is an impediment to our title hopes, I fear that with Rodri back that the league is in the bag for City no matter who we buy or what we do (I say fear rather than think)
Thus why I was in a psychopathic fury at our failure in the league last season
I see Norgaard as the Jorg replacement while Zubi is the Partey replacement
so it will be Zubi who generally plays those big games although Norgaard will certainly not be inexperienced enough to be a concern so it should work well.
So we're replacing two departing DMs, both of whom are needed, with ... two DMs - I don't see a problem
I also agree with signing the Christian whatisname guy as someone who can (as far as I've heard) take some minutes off both Big Gabby and Saliba, which we need to do, again to keep them fit for the big games
Add in Kepa as a good backup keeper who again can take some minutes off Raya, and I think it's all been sensible so far
ofc we are all more interested in the other end of the pitch but if you think about Gabby's injury, plus Saliba and Raya losing their heads a few times towards the end of the season, i think being able to take some minutes off them all in cup and lower table league games is very important
So now we need Gyokeres/Sesko and Rodrygo/Eze/AN Other to happen
my biggest concern is the Martinelli talk - I don't know how quick Rodygo is, but Eze's not that quick (even though btw he's literally only just turning 27 so not past it by any means) so we'd lose one of our few attackers of pace if we let Martinelli go - as much as I like Trossard, I'd rather he went than Martinelli if it came to it
btw I think there's a decent chance that if Martinelli went somwhere where they coached him better and, on the pitch, actually gave him the ball on a regular basis he could develop in the way we feel he hasn't at Arsenal
Last edited by Mac76; 27-06-2025 at 01:52 PM.
There is a very strange narrative going around about the Norgaard signing because we haven’t signed a top defensive midfielder. That’s not the problem at all. The problem was signing a defensive midfielder full stop when we didn’t need one even with Partey going. Oh it’s only £10 million + add ons, that’s ten million + add ons (plus the impact on the wage bill) that should have been spent on attacking players
Oh that Spanish lad from Valencia is only 16 million??, well that becomes 26 million that could (no not could, should) have gone to signing creative and attacking players.
I have no issue with the calibre of the players, Norgaard is meant for cover, as is the Spanish lad it’s just cover we don’t in anyway need
I'd expect the fees for those players to be wholly or largely offset by selling Nelson, Lokonga/Tavares (I forget which one it is) and maybe one or two others
As I've explained above, last seaon showed very clearly we do need cover at DM/RCB, it's not an either/or with that and getting attackers
And I’ve clearly explained why we don’t
Centre back is covered (Saliba, Kiwior, Gabriel, White, Timber, Calafiori) , defensive midfield is covered (Zubimendi, Rice, Merino)
26 million wasted
Hmmm...if reports are to be believed, this is really getting out of hand.
Apparently we've bid for another baby DM, and this time from Barcelona, Marc Casado.
Seeing as he is Spanish and plays for Barcelona, I'm pretty afraid this might be true.
https://www.football365.com/news/ars...ment-zubimendi
I took this from a site which suggests a few ways we could lineup with Eze....if we had a proper tactical coach, he could realistically work a combination of 1&3 or 3&1 in 90 mins depending on the situation....but yeah, if wishes were horses.... so we know it's always going to be 3 (alternating between Eze or Martinelli)
https://www.arsenalinsider.com/opini...d-partnership/
Last edited by 21_GOONER_SALUTE; 27-06-2025 at 06:58 PM.
Cala is suspect IMO, he can perhaps can do a job at LCB in the right game but hardly a top defender
Kiwior can also only play LCB (he may also be leaving, it's not clear)
White and Timber can only play RCB, but one of them we need at RB for any game, so you can only count one of them as available and tbh they should be alternating at RB rather than having to play CB except in emergencies, so I don't count them
So there's actually no dedicated cover for Saliba and the Gabby options are questionable
I might slightly accept the DM argument a bit more, although Rice was Player of the Season playing at 8 so we are weakening our forward play by having him at 6 - so really it's between Merino and Zubi
Of course we also only have one LB in MLS so should be strengthening there too - Cala can't defend in that position. btw all of this could be a sign we're selling Cala which I'd be happy with unless there's a potential role in MF
Last edited by Mac76; 27-06-2025 at 03:58 PM.
if he represents an alternative to Ode then I'm in, Ode shouldn't be playing every game, also sitting him down to give him time to think could help iron out all those stupid things he does
Last edited by Mac76; 27-06-2025 at 04:03 PM.
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