Arsenal 2023/24

Currently I see our 3-4-3 options as follows (bold to be upgraded before close of window);

            Auba/Martinelli     Lacazette/Nketiah       Willian/Pepe

Maitland-Niles/Saka   Xhaka/Elneny   Ceballos/Torreira   Bellerin/Soares

            Tierney/Kolasinac      Mari/Gabriel     Luiz/Holding

                                              Leno/Macey

Also on the books: Saliba (keep), Nelson (loan), Willock (keep), Smith-Rowe (loan), Mustafi (sell), Sokratis (sell), Ozil (sell), Chambers (sell), Guendouzi (sell)

I don't think Chambers will go anywhere this window, not while he's got his injury to overcome. Likely bet will be a loan move in January. Means when he comes back Luiz is gone and he can replace him without needing to spend money on that position.

Agree with the rest of that.

Yea thats a great point brumbys and I would probably agree, given the circumstances. 

We have real issues trying to get these guys off the books right now. Very tough, we could end up with a bloated squad until Jan. Mustafi is injured too.

We'll see a few loaned that we'd certainly prefer to sell but that's just the current reality of the market. Many of the continental clubs particularly are struggling and with little clarity around when the cash money is going to start to flow readily again, they're reluctant to take on any (more) debt - which is prudent I s'pose... at least getting some of the wages off the balance sheet will give us flexibility to do other things (ie: buy a couple of midfielders lol).

Didnt really comment on the actual game... but how good does Gabriel look. Seems to have all the ingredients. 

No one seems to have mentioned that the goal came straight off his shoulder though hahahahaha certainly got lucky there.

Was very impresssed by his speed and his passing ability out from the back. Looks to be a good addition based on that performance. 

I was expecting big things from Saliba but looks like he's going to be eased in. The competition at CB is going to be intense when they start coming back to fitness. No one talking about Mari but he looked really good in the few times I've seen him.

Fudgeing amazing news. Thought there was no chance of it a few months ago and the longer it dragged on the less likely I thought it was. I like the talk about legacy too. Perhaps he's looked at someone like Van Persie who was adored and then went to the hated rival and won 1 medal and is no longer loved nor remembered by their fans. Auba will go down as a genuine Arsenal legend now and always be associated with the club.

So so good. 

Arteta and Edu are convincing players that this is the place to be, it's so refreshing. 

One year ago Gabriel and Willian would most definitely not have signed for us either. 

Where do we think Aubameyang can get to in terms of our all time scorers? Currently on 72. I think John Radford with 149 in 4th is achievable. Cliff Bastin on 178 in 3rd is probably too far even if he stays beyond the 3 years given his age. If stays fit then number 100 is possibly in reach this season.

Lacazette currently on 49 so next goal will be a milestone

Is that really fair? 12 months ago we landed Pepe & Luiz and there was a lot of expectation around the club. Willian was looking for one last pay day and Gabriel is still young - they're good players but they're not world class and expensive signings like Parety would be.

For all the shark we went through last season it was contained and improved upon within 12 months - other big clubs have spent longer floundering than I think we have.

When I got the email about the deal I yelled a "get in" and did a fist bump. Developer sitting next to me went "did you get it to work?" erm...yeah...sure!

I think its fair. 

You're not wrong about gabriel being young and willian looking for a payday, but both of them spoke about the phone calls with arteta, and clearly had other options involving more money and potentially a higher chance of silverware. I dont think an emery phonecall wouldve had the same outcome, and in fact i dont think he wouldve even made a call as his role was different, he didnt get involved in that sort of thing. 

Definitely agree with your last sentence there. Weve reacted well. 

As much as redundancies almost always suck... the club has done well and I can see that the changes we've made off the park will allow us to compete sooner on it...and we'll be in a better financial space once the 'rona has been dealt with and in the short term provide Aouar best chance to strengthen our squad.

The big question... gone very quiet on this front... what the hell are we doing with Ozil???

Runar Alex Ruanrsson is said to have passed his medical as Arsenals new back up keeper and will cost just 1.5 million. That is in my eyes a great signing as he is a decent keeper but the small price tag has meant that we have made a considerable profit on Emi which could help us bridge the gap to the kind of funds we need for Aouar/Partey

Paying him 350k squid a week to watch from the stands...................and he probably doesn't even do that.

Hopefully a Baleesque move to another club where we subsidise his wages? If he wants to stay in London loan him to Fulham.

I'm pretty impressed with the window thus far - they've done good.

Possible outgoings: Sokratis, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Torreira, Elneny, Ozil (God willing)

Possible incomings: GK, CM

You'd have to think if they move that lot on and secure 2 extra bodies we'd be alright.

Potential loans is also interesting. With the addition of Willian we've got some competition at a senior level for the RW spot which will make things hard for Nelson & Saka. I do wonder if we'd benefit from one of them going on loan - and for Saka getting a full season playing could be useful as I don't think he'll get as much game time this year.

Similar conversations required for Willock & ESR per Surges previous posts.

Perhaps they're better addressed in January when we're past the group stages of EL and early stages of the cup...

I have a feeling Elneny will stay. He's started the last two games and Arteta seems to be quite impressed with his attitude. 

I'd be holding onto Saka rather than loan, for his versatility first and foremost. If AMN goes down or needs a rest and we're playing a back 3 with Tierney as CB, then Saka is the LWB back up. And I think he's legitimately pushing for a starting spot on the right with Willian/Pepe, and on the left if Auba goes in to striker. If we go to 4 at the back then he's a real shot for a no.10 role too.

Nelson 100% needs to go on loan. Just not going to get a look in on that right side, with Willian, Pepe and Saka all preferred options. 

I'd keep Willock. He's a great sub late on when we need energy. I really like him in that role while he's developing, he definitely brings an impact from the bench, and can get starts in the League Cup and Europa League.

That's the tension though right? You keep them around as cover and they get 10-15 appearances over the season but still make a great contribution to the team. Send them on loan and they could be getting 30 appearances but don't get to make the contribution for the team - which is better for their long term development? I genuinely don't know - over to the pro's for that one :)

We'd have (deservedly) lost that match a year ago. 

Three points is three points!

Martinez saved a penalty and got man of the match on his debut. Of course he did. If he keeps this form up for a whole season he'll be at Chelsea next season IMO. Leno under those high balls the other day didn't do a lot to shake the feeling we might have banked on the wrong one. But still have to remember how good Leno has been for 2 years.

My concern is that they are similar level keepers now, but who would be high in 3-4years time? From what we have seen, the answer for me is Martinez. 

Nevertheless, we've signed his Icelandic replacement. I don't know he name but I am guessing is has a few 's' in it. And apparently we after another as macey wants to move away. I wonder if it is that Brentford keeper we were linked to a while back

I wanted to keep both but it seems that was not an option without making one of them very unhappy.

Whichever one we chose was always going to be a gamble. 

I am happy for Martinez but Leno is our man, back him to the hilt. 

Man I am so invested in Arsenal again with Arteta at the helm now. It really faded over the last couple of years, I became numb to defeats without realising it. I put it down to just growing older, but I was wrong.

When we were at 1-1 and West ham looked the likelier, I was getting so wound up, in a way I just would not have one year ago. I love Arteta and am super excited about the future, but I worry for my health. I didn't think I would care this much again.

Martinez performed really well in 12ish games without any fans in the stadium. Leno did the job well for 2 years under more intense circumstances.

We made the pragmatic call, not the emotional one (which is a change from how we've previously done things).

I really hope Martinez does well at Villa, and that Leno can get back to his best again.

Guendouzi hands in transfer request - not that shocking really. But at 21 he really does have some over the top expectations. You look at other midfielders around his age doing great things (i.e. Aouar) and he's not in their league. Hopefully someone gives us some cash.

Torreira and Lacazette are still in the mix for Athletico - if one of those comes off you'd imagine that'll be in return for Partey. Still think a Partey & Aouar double swoop would really put us into the competitive mix again.

He doesn't need to hand in a request - we've been shopping him to every football club south of the Andromeda galaxy lol.

Booooooo - it's the kind of drama that matches his attitude though!

If Matteo & Mesut can’t make the bench for a cup tie then they must be leaving, surely.

Some massive positives to come out of that. 

Really liked seeing our B Team control the game. Yes Maddison hit the post and Leno saved a one on one, but overall we bossed the majority of that, against a good side. I think it shows our B Team is ahead of Leicester's B Team, which is a good start considering where we were a year ago. 

Biggest positive for me was Willock going well in one of those two central midfield roles. I was wondering how he could fit in with this formation, outside of a bench role, and this morn showed he can play in the middle there, where we are at our weakest in terms of the squad. 

That means even without Torreira and Guendouzi we have 4 serviceable options for those two roles (Xhaka, Ceballos, Elneny, Willock), while we continue to chase Partey and others. 

Good to see Nketiah get another goal. Luiz back from injury and looked decent. Nelson looked really good in the first half in particular, and I like that he looks effective on the left, with Martinelli out at the moment. Saka was immense this morn, probably my MOM. 

Anyone heard anything further about Tierney's injury? We really need him now with the fixtures coming up. Liverpool twice, then Sheffield, Man City, Leicester and Man United. Although Kolasinac went ok this morn we are massively weaker down our left side when Tierney is out. 

Team for Liverpool? 

I'm hoping for:

                  Leno

     Luiz-Gabriel-Tierney

 Bellerin-Ceballos-Xhaka-AMN

Willian-Lacazette-Aubameyang

But I fear that we could see Holding and Kolasinac instead of Luiz and Tierney. 

I'd be going for AMN's defensive tenacity over Saka at LWB, he has played really well there in our big victories - Liverpool twice, Chelsea, Man City.

Been a while since I've posted, however the passion for the Arsenal is coming back - thanks Arteta! He's been incredibly refreshing and his results the 9 months have been incredible given the dire he had inherited (from Emery and Wenger).  The last two results have backed that up, beating west ham when not at our best and a weakened team winning this morning in exactly the style we've wanted to play.

Love how we are playing smarter against better teams (counter attacking I've been wanting to see again for years), the intensity and passion of the players again as well as the young local boys playing their part with the big guns around them. I'm under no illusion that it won't continue to be upwards forever, however it's brought my passion back to life.

Think we made a mistake on Leno/Martinez but not a huge difference. Tierney, Willian and Auba have been my best for the start so far.

Well that definitely seals it. 

If Pride of London is back and happy, then our Arsenal is back baby

Looks like we're still chasing Auour & Partey. Good discussion on The Athletic suggestion Partey is the higher priority - but I'm still holding out hope we go for both.

This is also a great watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcxh8mXVjSs&feature=youtu.be

I see there's a new UAR (United Assistant Referee) rule this season whereby in the unlikely event Man United haven't been awarded a penalty in normal time the balance will be restored by awarding them one after full time. Wonder if we may even see them have to return to the stadium the following day to do it at some point.

So is this... good chat with Arsenal's Supporter Liaison officer: https://arsenalnewzealand.co.nz/podcast-2/

"Box of fluffy ducks mate!"

Cracked me up Surge, you sound as kiwi and as enthusiastic as ever :)

2-1 down at half time, 70% possession to Liverpool, with our defensive efforts I think we're lucky to only be 1 behind.

FFS

3-1 at FT we got absolutely dominated, 33% possession, 21 to 4 shots on goal, 8 to 3 shots on target.

UGH!