Looking closer to home players wise.

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

In my opinion for the team to actually improve (within budget reason) we need to be looking more at the teams around us and below us in the league and hunting for those players who have another level in them.

They have the experience of the league and wont be just joining Arsenal for the money or for London but to actually make a step up in their career and for them to prove themselves at a bigger team. Even stake their claim for national sides.

The below names are super unglamorous but what I believe is these players below could be affordable additions and 1 or 2 of them could help improve the team.

Jack Stephens (soton)
James Tarkwoski (burn)
John Egan (sheff)
Declan Rice (w ham)
Dwight McNeill (burn).

I get they may not appear world beaters but could they add and improve our structure and team. 1 or 2 of them yes. Would they come to Arsenal. Yes. Would they see it as a big challenge and to improve. I believe so.

Anyone else have any other names? I think we really need abit of toughness. I'm not going to say British-ness as but abit of identity. A different attitude maybe.

For me I would take Rice and Tarkowski all day over 2 obscure foreign players. Would they cost more? Yes. Maybe 60m would buy them both. But you gain valuable experience and they are good players. Better than what we have. Perfect ages and I believe they both have another level in them.

They also wouldnt be needing such high salaries as they would be recieving a lot less where they are.

Being Irish and keeping an eye on him Egan is not actually just a fairly good level defender but far better on the ball than you'd give him credit for. Egan unfortunately now would be expensive, whats funny is I think we had some low levels links with him for years and now thats hes proven his ability in the premiership its too late.

I think Chambers can pretty much do the job Rice can as a holding midfielder and think Rice's long range passing is relatively limited as well as his ability to deal with pressure on the ball in a team that is pressed, hes okay at it but not great. So while I think he does well in a West Ham side (same as Scott Parker) he probably wouldn't do too well here.

Out of the players likely to get relegated theres the standout performer in midfield that is Grealish. Its just a case of paying the money, putting him in the team and he'll perform, theres not a whole lot of question marks about him. If we don't buy him and try to "oUtSMarT ThE mArKEt" again it will be another risk that may or may not pay dividends (when has ti actually worked out?). I think youd be better paying 50 million for Grealish who has caused most teams in the premiership problems than chancing someone for 30 million from France. Pay the money and get the position sorted for a few years.

Just buy the the players with very few question marks... I dont think it necessarily has to be premiership based, like if you watched a game with Cazorla in it before we bought him you just knew he was absolute class. Most of the players we buy lately seem to have hefty price tags and question marks. Even after nearly a full season someone like Pepe is very divisive and Ceballos has been somewhat similarly divisive.

Edit: I'm not saying that Chambers should be in midfield, merely that Rice is somewhat limited

 

[OnlyOne]

Yeah. It's like when it comes to selling our players no one will sign them because of CV however if we want to buy we cant because players are still 60m.

I just think theres decent value to be had in the league and in the championship. British players or foreign players who have played in the league. Weather isnt a problem, language, food, physicality nothing is a problem. Right now that's what we need.

Tierney for me is abit like that. Hes not world class. Nowhere near Ashley Cole. But hes got a mentality of work. He knows hes not Roberto Carlos despite have a cupboard full of silverware and he isnt worried about driving around London in his Ferrari. Hes here to play football.

I agree, but just like my point above, they have to fit the system our manager wants otherwise we'll be paying a premium for guys who won't look as good here as they did at Southampton for say because the skills they possess won't correlate.

Arteta recently spoke about buying from the league so I am hoping thats geared towards a Grealish or Ake rather than a Willian/Fraser.

 

[14Henry]

That's how Mikel wants to play though and it's how we'll win more football matches, all the best teams have defenders who are great on the ball. Sure we can turn into a Burnley and buy guys who can defend well but we won't win as much.

Arteta has his ideas on what he wants to do with this team, he knows how to win football matches first hand, he's seen it with Pep, now we must buy the players that fit the way HE wants to play, which starts with defenders who are good on the ball.

But theres not 1 way to win football matches. If there was we beat Sp**s. Everyone played 442 years ago. All of a sudden 442 isnt viable?

It just bugs me that Wenger spent so long trying to copy Barcelona. Now Arteta wants to copy Man city. And it's all for nothing as we will never have those type of players with that quality.

So sometimes you have to look at another way. Like Conte when he switched for 3 at the back the year they won the league.

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

Tierney for me is abit like that. Hes not world class. Nowhere near Ashley Cole. But hes got a mentality of work. He knows hes not Roberto Carlos despite have a cupboard full of silverware and he isnt worried about driving around London in his Ferrari. Hes here to play football.

F*kin hell he only just arrived, lets see how good he can be. Its a lot easier to be Ashley Cole at Arsenal when you cna knock it long to Pires or Henry and you had GIblerto or Viera covering the midfield in front of you. or Campbell munching through someone who tried to act tough.=

 

[OnlyOne]

I like the sentiment - I wouldn't sign any of the guys you mentioned though. Not only would they cost a pretty penny but other than Rice, I don't think they are any good for us. Just because they are in the PL doesn't mean they're gonna slot in and do well for us, especially if they don't fit what we're trying to do.

But ideally, looking into the PL is something we should definitely consider doing, we just have to be smart about it IMO. I think if we were gonna spend money on a defender from the league, we should be looking at what the team wants to do and hence what we need. If we're gonna be seeing a lot of the ball, having a CB who isn't fiddlesticks with the ball at his feet will be important, regardless of whether it's better to become a kick and rush team because of where we are. Who in the league is good on the ball as well as defending? Ake is definitely arguable. Ben White is off the back of an excellent Championship campaign. Ben Godfrey has managed to look good individually in what's been a very poor season for Norwich. If I were taking a defender from Villa, I would rather take Konsa than Mings - Mings really isn't that good a defender, just tall. Konsa younger, mobile, more versatile.

EDIT: Here's another possible name - Jamal Lascelles. One of the more underrated CBs in the league.

In terms of midfield, I'd again look to the championship. One of the best #6s in England is Kalvin Phillips of Leeds, an excellent player who not only defends well but distributes the ball extremely well. It's doubtful he'll look to leave given Leeds have just been promoted so that will be big money aswell. I'd also consider bringing back Josh DaSilva from Brentford. He is big, powerful, a very solid technical player and can carry the ball. He should be a Partey alternative for sure.

In terms of attackers, I'm less sure. I'd rather we use our Hale End attackers as I think there's more potential there personally but I'd love us to get a Benrahma. Buendia is also a pretty good shout but I think he might be better from deep. Also, we're quite set at RB but we should absolutely sign Jayden Bogle from Derby before he goes to a PL team and balls.

Woah you better hold your darn horses or I'll come out swinging if you have jinxed this.

 

[MutableEarth]

Woah you better hold your darn horses or I'll come out swinging if you have jinxed this.

Sorry, freudian slip!

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

But theres not 1 way to win football matches. If there was we beat Sp**s. Everyone played 442 years ago. All of a sudden 442 isnt viable?

It just bugs me that Wenger spent so long trying to copy Barcelona. Now Arteta wants to copy Man city. And it's all for nothing as we will never have those type of players with that quality.

So sometimes you have to look at another way. Like Conte when he switched for 3 at the back the year they won the league.

Odd example, Conte's default formation is always back 3, its what he used at Juve previously as well... he was just trying to train the team in to it before throwing them out on to pitch and expecting them to use it straight away.

Edit: but your point makes sense

 

[14Henry]

F*kin hell he only just arrived, lets see how good he can be. Its a lot easier to be Ashley Cole at Arsenal when you cna knock it long to Pires or Henry and you had GIblerto or Viera covering the midfield in front of you. or Campbell munching through someone who tried to act tough.=

He was also world class at Chelsea and world class at England. Never once seen Ronaldo get the better of him and if you combine a PL team of the last 20-30 years, and an England team theres probably one 1 person who is 100% in every team. And that's Cole. It's the least debatable thing.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Reading some of the poverty names in this thread is making me sick, you guys want to fill our squad with relegation fodder just because they're English.

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

He was also world class at Chelsea and world class at England. Never once seen Ronaldo get the better of him and if you combine a PL team of the last 20-30 years, and an England team theres probably one 1 person who is 100% in every team. And that's Cole. It's the least debatable thing.

Oddly enough I think he wasn't as good at Chelsea.... he bombed forward a lot but didnt put up quite the numbers youd expect him to and dilly dallied up and didn't make up the ground to get back. Ronaldo never got the better of him? Are you sure? Like I can't recall it but it feels like he would've at some point.

 

[14Henry]

Odd example, Conte's default formation is always back 3, its what he used at Juve previously as well... he was just trying to train the team in to it before throwing them out on to pitch and expecting them to use it straight away.

Edit: but your point makes sense

In the league everyone nearly played 4 3 3. He tried that. His players couldnt do it. They weren't solid enough. He switched to the 5 with Moses on one side (who wasnt a great player but could do the job effectively) and Alonso on the other. Quite good forward, terrible defender. He got the best of some limited players because he made a system different from that of the "typical 4 3 3". Could Arteta do something similar?

 

[14Henry]

Reading some of the poverty names in this thread is making me sick, you guys want to fill our squad with relegation fodder just because they're English.

No. Not because they are English. It's because they are better than some of the players we have got.

 

[14Henry]

Oddly enough I think he wasn't as good at Chelsea.... he bombed forward a lot but didnt put up quite the numbers youd expect him to and dilly dallied up and didn't make up the ground to get back. Ronaldo never got the better of him? Are you sure? Like I can't recall it but it feels like he would've at some point.

I remember Ronaldo not getting much change out of Cole anytime I watched them. Could have been maybe one game where he got the better of him but Ronaldo used to torture most defenders. Cole no though.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

No. Not because they are English. It's because they are better than some of the players we have got.

Well they're obviously not or they would be at better teams. Some of these players are losing every week and you want us to fill our squad with them because they're used to the weather

 

[MutableEarth]

But theres not 1 way to win football matches. If there was we beat Sp**s. Everyone played 442 years ago. All of a sudden 442 isnt viable?

It just bugs me that Wenger spent so long trying to copy Barcelona. Now Arteta wants to copy Man city. And it's all for nothing as we will never have those type of players with that quality.

So sometimes you have to look at another way. Like Conte when he switched for 3 at the back the year they won the league.

There are similarities between what Arteta is doing and what Pep does at City - I don't think any of us can confidently say that Arteta is specifically trying to copy City though, it's possible he will have a few tweaks of his own but we should wait before we start saying he's copying them!

The main basic thing is wanting more of the ball, so it would help having guys who aren't **** with the ball at their feet!

Reading some of the poverty names in this thread is making me sick, you guys want to fill our squad with relegation fodder just because they're English.

I wouldn't go that far - there are some hidden gems to be had. Everyones slobbing on Liverpools willy but some of their most important pickups (Wijnaldum, Robertson, even someone on the fringes like Shaqiri) came from teams who weren't up to much. I'm not as high on a lot of the players named but there's others.

 

[OnlyOne]

Reading some of the poverty names in this thread is making me sick, you guys want to fill our squad with relegation fodder just because they're English.

Aren't you the same poster who said your celebrity crush was Kerry Katona?

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

In the league everyone nearly played 4 3 3. He tried that. His players couldnt do it. They weren't solid enough. He switched to the 5 with Moses on one side (who wasnt a great player but could do the job effectively) and Alonso on the other. Quite good forward, terrible defender. He got the best of some limited players because he made a system different from that of the "typical 4 3 3". Could Arteta do something similar?

Conte point is irrelevant I guess. I think most managers use 433 and most people here want ti because its very adaptable. Like some people mean 433 with defensive shape and other 433 with a very attacking shape. Its almost like everyone is saying that everyone has a valid point we just need to agree. I guess the thing with 433 is with good enough players it can be as attacking or defensive as you like or the matches call for, so it allows a nice consistent setup fro the team.

 

[14Henry]

Well they're obviously not or they would be at better teams. Some of these players are losing every week and you want us to fill our squad with them because they're used to the weather

If Pepe was so good he wouldnt be at Arsenal.

If Bergkamp had been so good at Inter he wouldnt have came to Arsenal.

Stupid idea.

And unless you havent realised we too are behind Sheffield United in the league and something like 1 point above Burnley. So what does that say about us? Where are we going to sign players from? Barcelona and Madrid?

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

Aren't you the same poster who said your celebrity crush was Kerry Katona?

Tbf he might have a shot :rofl::rofl::rofl:

 

[14Henry]

Conte point is irrelevant I guess. I think most managers use 433 and most people here want ti because its very adaptable. Like some people mean 433 with defensive shape and other 433 with a very attacking shape. Its almost like everyone is saying that everyone has a valid point we just need to agree. I guess the thing with 433 is with good enough players it can be as attacking or defensive as you like or the matches call for, so it allows a nice consistent setup fro the team.

It's not irrelevant. People are saying we cannot buy x y or z because Arteta thinks that the best formation is 4 3 3 and everyone plays 4 3 3 with the defenders building up the play.

Everyone thinks that is the best system because Barcelona and City do that. But that's where it becomes irrelevant because Barca and City could play probably a different formation every week and still win most of their matches. Why? Because they have the best teams 99% of the time.