He too expensive and likely staying. I'd honestly go back and sign Vlahovic perfect plan B but also will be expensiveOsimhen?
He too expensive and likely staying. I'd honestly go back and sign Vlahovic perfect plan B but also will be expensiveOsimhen?
Saliba has been a big miss, it has been remarkable how quickly our tactics have moved on making holding appear more of a liability than he would be in a different team.The big problem that needs to be addressed is that we concede way too many goals. Our first half of the season (ok we didn’t play City or Everton at least once during this period) was near perfect in terms of how few chances we were giving away.
The second half of the season however we have been gifting chances to every side in this league and probably have been lucky to not have been punished more. I think this has been the big determinant of why we have fallen off more than anything else. It’s a bit reductive to say Saliba was the sole reason why our defence was so strong but take him out of the team and we are shipping goals and chances at a vastly increased rate. Saying that, I can’t forget how Toney monstered Saliba in the Brentford game at home.
We need a group of 4 starting quality CB’s with different qualities who we can call on for any given game.
Vlahovic can't header or hold the ball up. He would flop in England.He too expensive and likely staying. I'd honestly go back and sign Vlahovic perfect plan B but also will be expensive
Vlahovic can't header or hold the ball up. He would flop in England.
When do the contracts expire of every Arsenal player?
Goalkeepers
Matt Turner: June 30, 2025
Aaron Ramsdale: June 30, 2025
Defenders
William Saliba: June 30, 2024
Cedric Soares: June 30, 2024
Rob Holding: June 30, 2024
Takehiro Tomiyasu: June 30, 2025
Gabriel: June 30, 2025
Kieran Tierney: June 30, 2026
Ben White: June 30, 2026
Oleksandr Zinchenko: June 30, 2026
Midfielders
Mohamed Elneny: June 30, 2023
Granit Xhaka: June 30, 2024
Bukayo Saka: June 30, 2024
Thomas Partey: June 30, 2025
Martin Ødegaard: June 30, 2025
Albert Sambi Lokonga: June 30, 2026
Emile Smith Rowe: June 30, 2026
Fabio Vieira: June 30, 2027
Forwards
Reiss Nelson: June 30, 2023
Gabriel Martinelli: June 30, 2024
Gabriel Jesus: June 30, 2027
Eddie Nketiah: June 30, 2027
Plus ElnenyRamsdale, Gabriel, and Martinelli have all extended.
Plus Elneny
Position | First Choice | Second Choice | Cover1 |
GK | Aaron Ramsdale | Matt Turner | |
DL | Oleksandr Zinchenko | ||
DCL | Gabriel Magalhães | Jakub Kiwior | |
DCR | William Saliba | ||
DR | Ben White | Takehiro Tomiyasu | |
DM | Thomas Partey | Jorginho | |
CM | |||
AMC | Martin Ødegaard | Fábio Vieira | |
LW | Gabriel Martinelli | Leandro Trossard | |
RW | Bukayo Saka | ||
FW | Gabriel Jesus | Eddie Nketiah |
Interesting video here on squad building. He is right though, most of us do tend to think in the rigid 2 players for each position, one starter, one backup. I myself find it hard to break that thought process but he makes a lot of valid points.
I've made a few changes to this (see bold text). This is how our squad is right now & taking into consideration KT & Xhaka will leave. Nelson & Balo are the only uncertainties.Looking at the players we have (very critically), based on where we stand currently and with Xhaka leaving, Tomi injured, and with Emile frozen by Arteta, surprisingly for me, the main issue we have now, seems central midfield:
Position First Choice Second Choice Cover1 GK Aaron Ramsdale Matt Turner DL Oleksandr Zinchenko Takehiro TomiyasuDCL Gabriel Magalhães Jakub Kiwior Takehiro Tomiyasu DCR William Saliba Takehiro Tomiyasu DR Ben White Takehiro Tomiyasu DM Thomas Partey Jorginho Elneny CM Elneny AMC Martin Ødegaard Fábio Vieira
ESR LW Gabriel Martinelli Leandro Trossard ESR RW Bukayo Saka Nelson ? ESR FW Gabriel Jesus Balo ? Eddie Nketiah
Not including the players on loan, as I don't think any of them is to the level required to challenge for the Premier League, or they will like to move to a permanent team (e.g. Balogun).
Altogether up to 9 positions where we should upgrade if we want to challenge in England and Europe.
Probably will get a bit more clarity when the transfer window opens in two weeks. Hopefully we will be able to get our main targets earlier. But yes, it looks we will need more than one window to fix all positions.I've made a few changes to this (see bold text). This is how our squad is right now & taking into consideration KT & Xhaka will leave. Nelson & Balo are the only uncertainties.
Links to Simons & the Turkish lad suggest we are the market for another ACM, so also question marks over Viera.
We have 4 clear squad requirements & a further 1 or 2 if any of Balo, Nelson, or Viera move on. Too much for one window ? We'll see.
I gotta preface this by saying I've faith that we'll do a lot more than Sp**s did in terms of recruitment and improving depth but this is also a warning of how quickly an overachieving side can be brought down to earth again. This season our problem was depth largely. Midfield options dramatic drop in quality. Forward positions a bit better once Trossard came in but could do with a bit more. Defence Tomiyasu being unreliable might become a massive issue if we don't add there.
It's important that we get this window right not just improving the first team, i.e just swapping Xhaka for Rice but making sure we've got capable options to deal with the amount of games we'll have to play. In the video it points out how Sp**s brought in players like Janssen and Wimmer among others who had absolutely no impact on the first team. We've gotta be careful because we've spent quite a lot in bringing in Tavares and Lokonga who've got no futures here and Vieira had a very mediocre first season. The warning is that things can become stale pretty quickly tho I think we'll do more than enough this window. Rice and Caicedo would really freshen up the midfield while another couple of signings in other positons should help.
The point is you have to build and build properly.