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Yes it is exciting to be linked with the prolific goal scorer and assist producer, Pepe. It looks like the deal will go ahead even though there is a big Mata-feeling about this one; we could still be Pepe-pipped at the last minute. It would be a coup to sign Pepe and bolster our attack significantly nevertheless, even though it may mean that either Laca or Auba will be sold soon to pay for him.

Whether the latter happens or not, the mature question to ask is why are we investing in our attack when our defence was so incredible leaky over the last two seasons ? Why are we not doing an, admittedly less sexy, ‘Liverpool’ and spend our money on a top quality Van Dijk-esque beast of a defender? Is this because of Emery’s philosophy of rather winning 6-3 or 5-4 than more predictable and safe 1-0s?!

Imagine a Van Dijk in our defence. Leno is coming good and I predict a great season for him. Bellerin, once back, is a safe pair of hands at RB. Big Sok will play his part again this season, but maybe more as back up than automatic starter. Koz has gone AWOL. Mustafi is a good squad player to have but not to be banked on in the centre of defence. Chambers is unlikely to make the grade. Nacho is good back up but not a season-long first teamer; and Kola is Kola: full of bubbles up front but porous at the back. Mavropanos is most likely not ready yet.

My big hope is for a massive season for Holding. He has the calm and intelligence, leadership and passing skills, and aerial dominance to be our next Campbell or Adams. But the man is coming back from a big injury and it is likely to take time for him to establish himself in the team. It will be a gruelling season with 38 PL battles and many a EL game in the furthest corners of Europe during our national late-shopping nights: we really cannot bank on him to be our much needed rock as yet.

As it stands, I foresee a lot of pressure on Super Sok to hold the defence together until Holding is able to help him. The Hold-Sok CB-pairing is one I believe in. But how long will it take before they are fully fit and up and running together? Will Chambers or Mavropanos fill the void? Will Koz do a U-turn and become Sok’s reliable partner for a while?

For all the Pepe-excitement, and let’s not forget the potential of good seasons for Eddie, Nelson and Martinelli in attack, I would like us to take our defence much more seriously for once. As Pool and Citeh have been shown us recently, progress is made by taking both areas of the pitch – defence and attack – equally serious (and that includes the all important balance in midfield of which I have written a lot on BK). Being hard to beat whilst full of attacking endeavour is the best strategy, but Arsenal seem to think that defending is a dirty word, and will most likely go into the season with a naïve believe that we will outscore our opponents in every game.

We need a left back and we need a quality CB to become the long-term partner of Holding, and however excited I am about the prospect of Pepe-peppering up our attack, if we don’t invest in these I reckon we will make little to no progress. There is a reason why the football pundits are predicting an average of us finishing sixth this season…

So let’s make a real paradigm shift and do the mature thing…

By TotalArsenal.

Pepe is an Ivorian footballer. Yes he is from Gervinho country. The goal post scares Gervinho to death. He regularly misses sitters. Not so his countryman. In front of goal Pepe has no nerves to lose. And that is not all to him in and around the box. He sorts out his feet so quickly. He does not need a back lift to generate sufficient power on a shot. He knows where the goal posts are. His decisions in the box are ‘reflex’ i.e. damn fast. He is very weak with his right foot but in this respect think Arjen Robben, except I can’t remember the just retired Dutchman ever using his head. Pepe does and very well too. Spot kick, spot on. Please add up these attributes and tell me what pops up. Goals and goals and goals! Nicolas Pepe, the pearl of Lille, is a red hot goal scorer and assists producer: 22 goals and 11 assists last season says it all! The hottest pepper, hotter than the Carolina Reaper and Trinidad Moruga Scorpion combined! Take that home for starters.

It took Emery several months to fully realize and confess that in the Premier League physicality is sine qua non like in no other league. Pepe has  pace, agility and the courage of Mane. Pepe to Premier League is fish to water, be rest assured. His runs off the ball are immaculate, Walcottesque. High defensive lines won’t like him. When he runs with the ball at opponents Walcott doesn’t show his face, not at all; pace, close control as if the ball is glued to his left foot and yet a vision for the final pass. He can play anywhere in the front three but he seems to give the biggest to the team as an inverted right winger. Emery is bent on his 5-4 extravaganza with still no fresh CD in the vicinity. Give me Pepe anytime.

Is his story with us true? £72m, a long cue and us the most eligible? Pepe excites me immensely. 13 times MOTM only behind Messi and Hazard in Europe last season (WhoScored). But even more exciting to me is the statement his signing makes. Yes we know that Arsenal is the 6th most valuable club in the world but we also know that they have grown as miserly as Silas Manner. Is our sojourn on foreign land, scavenging on the streets over? If Pepe is true (my dreams never come true), then the club  has found the will to go back to its heritage. The fattest cow would be slaughtered and who knows Everton Soares and who else might be the next and the next. Am once again the pampered child of a billionaire, so why shouldn’t I ask for more. Imagine if we take this my mood to the Emirates.

I have given you words. If you are keen on stats here’s 7amkickoff below;

http://7amkickoff.com/index.php/2019/07/27/wow-pepe/

If you want highlights click below and watch out for all I said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk0PvCvHDKw

Pepe is hot pepper!!!

By Pony Eye.

Two weeks to go till our season-opener against Newcastle, so the next few friendlies are important games to get the team ready. With three wins and a draw (after 90 minutes of footie) Arsenal had some good results and, as per my hardly commented on post yesterday, there are some positive developments within the team and the way we play.

Today’s friendly against Lyon at the home of football should provide another opportunity to test the team’s tactics and interactions. The addition of Ceballos also offers food for thought. Will he start or come of the bench? And who will he replace, Willock or Mesut or Mkhi?

So how will we line-up? I am expecting us to go with our strongest possible first 11 or thereabout. I am hoping we will see Ceballos straight away but not for the in-form Mesut or Willock but for the still looking rusty Mkhi. With the possible arrival of Pepe, it would not surprise me if it’s the Armenian who will make way for him this summer.

So attack is Ceballos – Laca – Auba – Mesut. Then two in the (deep) centre of midfield: Xhaka and Willock (expect Matteo G to replace JW28 at some point in the game). At the back it should be Leno – AMN – Sok – Mus – Nacho (expect Jenkinson, Chambers and Kola to make appearances too).

So here is my anticipated starting 11 for the Lyon encounter:

If you are lucky enough to be at the game – enjoy! COYGs.

By TotalArsenal.

It is only early days and there is still a good chance that Arsenal will strengthen (and or weaken) the squad further before the transfer window closes, which could still have a big impact of course, but there are definitely some interesting early observations to be made. Friendlies are of course just relatively meaningless friendlies but Arsenal have played these games with intensity and purpose, which in itself is a positive thing and may indicate that Emery and the squad are still (again?) in harmony.

Eight early, pre-season observations:

1. Leno is looking strong and ready to be the undisputed nr.1 of the team. He made a number of strong saves but I also liked the way he talks to the team and imposes himself on the pitch. I reckon this will be his proper breakthrough year. But then I also liked Martinez’s appearances and I feel he would be a good nr.2 to Leno this season;
2. I am hopeful that Emery will get the midfield balance and strategic positioning right this time round and was impressed with our midfield performance v Bayern (see also previous post). It will be interesting to see what he will do with his new nr.8 Ceballos, who some have described as the ‘Rambo’ replacement. I have already written about how impressed I have been with Willock, and especially the chemistry between him and automatic first teamers Xhaka and Ozil, but now Emery can also throw his RM loan signing into the mix. And what does this mean for young Guendo? He impressed many but I saw more areas for improvements then qualities, especially in terms of defensive awareness and interception skills. I reckon Willock is a more complete midfielder at this stage… a bit of a Wijnaldum if you ask me. Guendouzi is still young and maybe a loan spell for four to six months would do him good?
3. It is really important that we have some spare firepower in the team other than from the super combo LacaMeyang. With Welbeck and Rambo gone we have only a few other players who can get the occasional goals. We need more from Ozil, Xhaka and Mkhi this season, but we also need one or two CFs to get the goals for us. I am really pleased that Eddie has scored three goals already and have a feeling that Emery will give him regular first team opportunities this season. The beauty of having Laca and Auba in the team is that the likes of Eddie and Nelson will be able to learn and express themselves without too much pressure on them. Bu we still may need to get an experienced CF to come of the bench occasionally…
4. The Koz on strike situation is not good. It looks like he is just trying to force the club to let him go (and get a to him more lucrative contract in France) whilst leaving a gap in our central defence. I would imagine Emery’s strategy was to combine Koz and Sok at the start of the season and then ease Holding into the CB pairing, with a gradual reduction of games for the Frenchman, which, giving his age and proneness to injury, I could sympathise with. What is Emery to do now? Continue to use Mustafi as a regular next to Sok? I don’t think they form a good partnership and get the best out of themselves. Maybe a deal could be done with Koz: keep him till Christmas and then allow him to go home. Or is this now a great opportunity to buy a quality CB and let Holding and Sok fight out between them who gets to play next to them? A big decision to be made here in the coming weeks… that’s for certain!
5. Nelson is struggling to impose himself and a new loan deal may well be the best option for him this season. With Gabriel Martinelli Arsenal already have a promising young attacker and surely he will be given a proper chance to play first team football this season. So it is up to Nelson to give Emery a luxury headache and I don’t think he is doing that right now.
6. The left back situation remains unresolved. On the day Nacho M is as good as anybody but this will be another gruelling season for him and we need back up. Kola is a good option for a 3-4-3 formation (so ideal to come from the bench in many a game), but unless the opponents start flashing knives at the Bosnian beast his defending will remain below par. A great player to have for a Plan B, though.
7. The most important early conclusion is that Mesut is staying and is playing with fresh mojo. I am really hoping that Ozil and Emery have reconnected and are aligned about the way they want to play football this season (see also previous posts). We have a top-three PL player in our midst and need to build the team around him, and show him the love. A hard ask for today’s Arsenal fan, I know… 😦
8. A left back, potentially a centre back… do we need anything else? A quality winger would really, really help but maybe Martinelli is an instant hit. When teams park the bus we need players like Iwobi who can dribble past a player to get some momentum in our attacks. Ideally we get an experienced, 15-20 goals/assists a season, Hazardesque player before the window shuts. Zaha would be nice but I am still hoping we can complete the signing of Nicolas Pepe. However, I am also happy to see us use youngsters here and give them a chance to grow. As written earlier, an experienced CF to come from the bench would also not be bad – another loan deal perhaps?

All in all, I am starting to get excited about the coming season, and I hope you are too. Come on You Rip-Roaring Gunners!!!!

By TotalArsenal.

I took my time to watch the Bayern v Arsenal game. Germans do not do friendlies and so it was a good, meaningful game to analyse.  Key question for me, as I am sure regulars on BK will know, is how will Emery fix the midfield for the coming season.

We need to get the balance right, and once we do this we will realise that we do not have such bad defenders after all. Fixing the middle part of the team will also allow us to score more goals, or should I say even more goals.

It is clear that Xhaka will once again be our main player in midfield. He may not be the fastest player and make the occasional mistake, but he is clearly the brainy rock in the heart of the team. Many do not get Xhaka’s qualities but there is no doubt he is also Emery’s first player on the team sheet.

Captain Granit will need a player around him who hoovers up balls and links up well with him, and I reckon Willock is showing real promise. Clearly, once Torreira is back JW28 will struggle to hold his place, but if he continues his impressive start of the preseason Emery may have a ‘great problem’ in that key position next to our Captain. Joe is quite the complete midfielder: he can harass opponents and obtain the ball with some ease, he passes well, and has an eye for both a key pass and goal.

What I like is that Emery has played both Xhaka and Willock relatively deep AND close together. This gave our defence a much better protection than in the previous season. The risk of doing this, though, is the potential lack of support for the attackers from midfield. This is of course most needed when we have to build an attack from the back, rather than play for quick turnovers (as suits us best it seems).

And Emery seems to have found an answer for this now: a free role for Ozil in which he plays midfield-to-box constantly.

Yes Mesut had a very dynamic role v Bayern and was constantly available to connect midfield with attack. With Auba, Laca and Mkhi he had three players to connect with in attack, and as such they were playing the often in the ‘old’ Mesut (Nr10) role. Mesut did not only come and get the ball in midfield time and again, he also made many a run into the box and was thus an attacking threat too. His calm on the ball and superior passing ability were also well used against the Bundesliga dominators.

It was also good to see that both Auba and Mkhi made themselves available for the midfield players and were willing to come deep to come and collect balls. Especially Auba was in fine form and a constant threat to the German defence by running at them from deep. And mobile, dynamic Laca was of course also a real threat throughout the game.

I like to see more of the WOX midfield, but there are some promising signs that Emery is fixing the midfield at last.

By TotalArsenal.

“There are two things that must be rooted out in human beings- arrogant opinion and mistrust. Arrogant opinion expects that there is nothing further needed, and mistrust assumes that under the torrent of circumstance there can be no happiness.” Epictetus.

There is a lot of arrogant opinion and mistrust of our very own Gunner, Shkodran Mustafi, out there. It looks like all the unhappiness that the whole team and manager created over the last twelve months is being almost solely projected at the 2014 World Cup Champion from Germany. Yes Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka also get their share of vitriol from the fanbase (which, surprisingly, also include a not to be underestimated number of reasonably intelligent supporters) but the abuse on line and elsewhere for Shkodran is getting out of proportion. We once were a classy club and supported everyone who wore the shirt with pride and gave his all, even if they were not really that good, but these days are over it seems.

I think GoonerEris summed it up best on the blog last night:

“Lastly, it’s going to be hard, but I wish the fans can step down the Mustafi-hate while he is turning out for us. The man can’t put up a tweet or instagram story without some trolls hurling abuse at him. He was booed at some stage in a pre-season friendly (vs Colorado), for Pete’s sake. That was awful and can affect the mentality of any one. It’s a surprise for me that he’s chosen to stay instead of taking a walk; it cannot be for just the money. He must like it at the club and the country. Let’s encourage him as we should the rest of the team and see if we don’t surprise a few.”

Yes GoonerEris is right. Mustafi is a fighter and always gives his all, and he did go to the States whilst our captain decided to go on strike… I know that he makes mistakes, mistakes that have cost us in the past. These mistakes stand out and his good stuff is forgotten. Mustafi scores high on Whoscored every season; he is usually in the Arsenal players top-three by the end of the season. But all fans seem to notice are his few mistakes.

I like a player who gives his all and wears the shirt with pride – don’t we all?! Maybe it is time for Emery to move Mustafi away from the last line of defence and play him to his strengths. His drive, energy, tackling and interception abilities, strength in the air and crisp passing make him pretty ideal for playing somewhere in the four of Emery’s 3-4-3 system. He could be back up for both Torreira and Bellerin and prove to be a great squad player for us.

Whatever Emery does with him this season, just back off a bit and support Shkodran instead. He is one of us in the end… Victory Through Harmony.

By TotalArsenal.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP.

How things can change so quickly. Just a week ago I was feeling very low about the state of things and I wrote this …. “Arsenal seem to be in the dungeon. We have lost Cech, Ramsey, Welbeck and Litchsteiner on the free. Ospina has been sold for peanuts. Our captain Koschienly is on strike. Ozil and Emery seem not to know how to meet. Bellerin and Holding won’t be fit to start the season. It’s all over the place that we have a meager £40-45m budget for the window. No whiff of any of the dead woods being sold to raise money to add to the budget. Talk on Kieran Tierney is bogged down by all the haggling over pennies. There are rumours that our nearly done deal for William Saliba is being high jacked by the Tots, even though the nearly done deal would only have been available to us 2020/21 which by the current state of things is eternity away. Iwobi, Guendouzi and Torreira are on extended holiday and unlikely to be there for the start of the season. It’s so desperately gloomy, it can’t just be true”.

Today my mood is all different.

We are on top of the game in the pursuit of Saliba. We have brushed the Tots aside. Edu has done the good job of reminding us of the necessity for both short, medium and long term planning. Saliba, only 18 yrs old and at £27m falls into the medium and long term category. In 3 years time, it’s projected he’d be worth upwards of £60m on the field and in the market. That’s says everything about his budding talent. He is the kind of win-win signing that we have missed this past decade except for maybe Torreira and Guendouzi.

22 yr old Dani Ceballos falls into the short term category with a season’s loan being negotiated. He is Emery’s 1st choice and Emery is not compromising on that. He replaces Ramsey. By the time he would have finished the season for us Willock would have fully arrived.

Celtic are beginning to buckle under the Kieran Tierney pressure. Tierney wants to seize his chance. He wants to play for The Arsenal. Have you ever watched him? He is better than Wan Bissaka who cost United £50m. He is 22 yrs old and ticks the short, medium and long term boxes. Another win-win signing.

Zaha is said to have requested for a transfer. We are watching the whole saga develop. If it fails to materialize in our favour, no problem. Everton Soares is the newest biggest thing from the Samba county. He might even prove a better buy. The 23 yr old wants Edu to guide him into Europe and Edu believes in him. Short, medium, long term and another win-win. We can see a pattern.

There is a new romance between Emery and Ozil. Both said as much. In our preseason match against Fiorentina, our American fans started chanting that they wanted to see Ozil. Emery happily submitted. Our dressing room would feed off that romance.

Ditch all that £40m talk. It’s balderdash. Josh Kroenke said no ceiling was fixed. Emery has promised 3 or 4 signings that each improves the team. Where did that nonsense (£40m) come from?

Look at what our kids are doing in our pre-season matches: Eddy, Willock, Martinelli and co. Torreira, Guendouzi, Iwobi on extended holiday can take their time. What more, Holding is in full training and Bellerin is ahead of schedule. We have so quickly come to terms with the Koscielny’s rumpus that it’s no longer a rumpus. North of 33yrs, £6m for him and I’d only remember the 7 great years he gave us.

As for sales, it would be done. It’s safer to guarantee the purchases first. It’s better to have one or two extra bodies in the squad than one or two less. We have a new management structure and they have an Invincible in their midst. Let’s ride with them. They would get us there. Address .. “The Arsenal”.

The results of pre-season matches don’t say much. But those wins are helping to cheer us up, Colarado Rapids, Bayern Munich, Fiorentina. Sunlight is flooding into our room and that itself is nurture to the team.

The new season is nearly on us. Am glad things are looking up.

By PE.

You can never turn a tiger into a hyena, or an osprey into a magpie. Mesut Ozil is a hard-thinking, hard-running, intelligent player, a genius at finding and creating space and he possesses that rare overview of the entire pitch and sense where the ball needs to be played next. Mesut is of course also the former king of the key pass as well as king of assists in the PL. Yet Unai Emery is desperate to change him into a hard-chasing, constantly harassing hyena/magpie, and in the process he is killing a very loyal Gunner, and with that the quality of the football we play.

Oh I’ve heard people say, Mesut is ‘an employee’ and needs to do what he’s been told to do. They say that he has not been giving his all and is far too stubborn. They say Ozil should grow some balls and fit into ‘the system’ – WETF that is.

“The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives anything except genius.” Oscar Wild

Oh how wrong they are. A genius like Mesut Ozil only comes around every ten years at a club like Arsenal. Mesut is like Dennis and Cesc: players who bring the game to life and around whom a team needs to be build. Key is to leave them be, embrace them, love them, and listen to them. Today I read an interview with Toto Wolff of Mercedes and I reckon he understands much better how a genius needs to be treated. Talking about Lewis Hamilton, the highly successful Formula1 Mercedes driver, he said:

“Most important is to acknowledge that we are all different individuals and we need different frameworks in order to perform well”.

“Lewis is somebody who needs to be able to pursue his other ambitions and interests. And rather than putting somebody in a box and saying, ‘This is how a racing driver needs to behave – you need to be on time, you need to avoid jet lag before the race, or don’t record music overnight when you are jet-lagged but try to sleep,’ I realised very early on that giving him the freedom of pursuing his interests, we were able to extract more performance on track.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/48911849

Wolff is talking about Lewis’ outside of work activities and personal interests, which is of course not an issue with Mesut. But key in it all is to accept a genial sportsman for what they are and how they are wired. Wolff does not force Hamilton to be an exemplary driver on AND off the pitch but rather opts to embrace his full character, qualities and needs, resulting in a happy and yet highly performing driver when it matters. It takes an intelligent and humble manager to understand this.

I reckon it is not yet too late for Emery to accept Mesut for what he is and has to offer. Build a team around him and show him the respect he deserves. Provide him with a bespoke framework so he can perform to maximum levels once more and from which all will benefit. By embracing Ozil’s genius and showing him the respect that he has earned,  and by not forcing him into the one-framework-for-all he wants his players to fit into, Emery can still both save Arsenal and his own career. He is a lucky man to have Ozil, but a fool to misunderstand/mistreat him.

By TotalArsenal.

It is very quiet on the transfer market for Arsenal, it seems. With about a month to go till the start of the new season, this is not what we had hoped for. It looks like the club want to strengthen the left side with bids for Tierney and Zaha. However, it has gone quiet re the former and we and Crystal Palace appear nowhere near a deal for Zaha the Gooner. Ah the life of a Gooner in summertime!!

I have not heard from Emery publicly for a while and he must be worried that Arsene has yet to decide what he will be doing next. I would not be surprised if he is waiting for a heroic return as interim manager at the Home of Football. But many a Gooner believe that Emery will get it right next season, so let’s see how this could be established.

Before I come up with a way to get the best out of the squad we have, which believe it or not is a good one, let me make some assumptions re Emery’s options and views:

1. Defending is not his main focus and the return of Holding and Bells will be like two new signings: other than possibly a LB nobody else will be bought in defence this summer and Holding will become his main CB around which the defence will be established;
2. He wants to play attacking football but has struggled to get the balance in midfield right. With Xhaka and Torreira the team plays too deep for him and with Guendouzi (and Rambo, albeit less so) in the B2B role he leaves the back too exposed. Rambo is gone and Guendo remains a work in progress, and the same would go for the likes of EMR, Willock and AMN);
3. To get the balance right he has to decide whether to sit naturally more deep with two footballing DMs (Xhaka and Tor) or push up with just one DM and two AMs close to the attackers. For this he will need a ‘Busquets’ (or a Frenkie de Jong) which may not be Xhaka or Torreira, although the latter (and also AMN and Willock over time) could be developed into one;
4. I expect us to go for one DM and two AMs next season, especially once Bells is back and another LB has been added to the squad (most likely Tierney). These will add speed and tenacity to our midfield;
5. I don’t expect us to play 3-4-3 next season, as this has not really worked for us in terms of balance in midfield and at the back. Four at the back seems the way forward once our best full back options are available;
6. We have great attackers and with Welbeck and Rambo gone we need to add further firepower to the team: either by buying or by hoping that one of the youngsters can step up: will this be Iwobi’s breakthrough season? Will Nelson hit the ground running? Will Eddie come good? Will Mesut find his stride again?
7. Youngsters will get a chance but not significantly so. The demands of the PL are too high to take too much risk re introducing too many youngsters in one season. However, we should see more of AMN, ESR and Nelson and possibly Willock and Eddie. We are desperate for some of these to break through, especially in terms of producing assists and scoring goals.
8. Based on the above, I expect us to buy another attacker: especially a left winger is required (first priority). We may also buy a mobile, athletic and visionary DM to play behind the two AMs but they may be hard to find. We may add a LB but I still believe that Nacho will be our main one for the coming season.

The formation below should give us a strong attacking edge with the emphasis of pushing back opponents in their own half as much as possible:

Key to it all is that Iwobi and Ozil will be working close together in a 4-1-2-3 formation and conduct our attacks and keep the pressure on the opponents’ defences AND that we add better wing power with the addition of a ‘Zaha’ type player – and Nelson on the right wing is also an exciting prospect.

Our attackers will get much better service and our defence will get less exposed as we try to dominate games in the opponent’s half. This style of play would suit best Arsenal’s 21st century football philosophy and Emery’s ‘win games 4-3 or 5-4’ approach, I reckon. Finally, with the reintroduction of Holding and Bels we will add energy and speed to our defending; and SuperSok (and occasionally Koz) will add further calm and organisation to it.

So just a couple of buys could give us a new lease of football life we so desperately need. Let’s use what we have and realign and reenergise our talents, whilst adding a bit of quality in key areas (and one or two youngsters). All to play for!

What do you think, fellow Gooners?

By TotalArsenal.

… and keep our romanticism re using lots of youngsters under control…

Remember those bad first halves we used to play at the start of last season? We sat back and made ourselves seem vulnerable and thus invited and encouraged the opponents to come and have a go. We were desperate for space to operate in, and by sitting back and having a go at teams with quick rebounds and counter-attacks we sometimes got the first goal. Unfortunately, it just as often did not work as we regularly conceded during those first halves, leaving Emery no other option than to take off players during the break as to turn things round again (and in the process affecting their confidence and not doing much good to the player-manager relationships – the days of the effective autocratic manager are well and truly behind us, thank Dennis).

Luckily, we had the likes of Torreira, Ramsey and Auba on the bench: the sort of big guns that can really make a difference. For a while, this formula worked but during the second half of the season we saw our super-subs more and more used from the start rather than from the benh.

There is no doubt that we cannot pooh-pooh the need for having a strong bench of players to change things round if and when necessary. For this we need experienced and self-motivated players who have the quality and confidence to have a meaningful impact on the game within a short period of time. Youngster are almost always not suitable for this.

Ramsey is gone and Torreira really has to feature in games from the start, so Auba is the only one left who could start on the bench and be our supersub-hero later on in games next season.

I am going to state the bleeding obvious that to win games we need to score goals – lots of goals given our lack of prioritisation of defensive discipline these days. Auba and Laca had a share in 48 of our 73 PL games (35 goals and 13 assists), so it does not take a genius to realise how dependent we are on them. That is why the idea of selling either Auba or Laca really does not wash with me. We need them both, and if we don’t buy another quality attacker (like Zaha for example), Arsenal will simply not score enough next season now that Ramsey and Welbeck are no longer donning the home of football.

It is all good and well to say we need to give more of our youthful players a chance, but you only have to look back at the likes of Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iwobi, and many a young CF, to conclude that the one thing young players struggle with is producing the bread and butter stuff: assists and goals.

So for me it is clear that we need to keep both Auba and Laca and need to buy another quality attacker to add both assists and goals next season. We need to have the firepower at the start of the game and on the bench if and when it’s required.

But what do you think?

By TotalArsenal.