Transfers – Page 5 – Bergkampesque

Montoya, Costa, Gündoğan, Bender: Who’ll move Arsenal forward?

January 7, 2014January 7, 2014TotalArsenal

How I’d Help Wenger Win the Title

I was originally writing a comment to TA’s post asking what everyone would do if they had a minute in a lift with Wenger to tell him what they’d have him do to win the title. After writing for about 45 minutes, I realized that this probably couldn’t be explained in a minute. Maybe, if I could have an assistant manger’s position at Arsenal for a few months I could explain this all to Wenger. 😉

So I decided to write a post of my own to explain my rather long (and maybe extremely boring to some) plan to bring the Premier League title (and other trophies) to the Emirates Stadium, where they belong. So I’ll do my best to put my plan into words, and justify why I think it’s a good one.

First Wenger needs to sign Montoya on a pre-contract and Costa, now or in the summer. Should Costa arrive now, he’d give us a huge boost for the rest of the season and probably push us to a trophy. If we have to wait until the summer, Bendtner will be able to fill the backup role very well. Costa would be the finisher Ozil (and everyone else) would love to link up with. He’d score boat loads of goals as well as have the “SQ Signing Affect” (like Ozil) and bring a renewed confidence to the team.

Costa could play as a lone striker, behind Giroud as a CF, alongside Giroud as a RS/LS, or even be a super sub when he’s too tired to start. Montoya would be a great attack minded RB to take over from Sagna. I’ll explain more about the role Sagna would assume after Montoya arrives in the next step. Also Montoya comes from Barca, so he really knows how to play football. He would give Jenkinson time to grow, as well as competition when Jenks is ready for full time first team action.

Next he needs to resign Sagna and Bendtner to new contracts. Nicky B is a highly underrated option and has years ahead of him to grow still. He’s a great option to start the odd rotational game, be a super sub, and strikes fear into our opponents with his legendary ponytail. 😉

Sagna goes without saying. He’s Mr. Reliable as TA calls him! He can do the job at RB for maybe another season and then move to the middle and give us cover there for a few seasons. He’s also a real leader and seems like a stand-up guy. He has stuck with us through all the hard times (one of the few) and deserves a big paying contract for 3 or 4 more years before hanging up his boots. After that I see him as the kind of player who would get his coaching badges and I’d love a legend like him to join us as a coach.

The next step is to utilize Bendtner and Gnabry more. Giroud is the kind of player who loves to play every game, but we all know he can’t. Very few players can. Nicky B is a similar type of player, better in some ways and worse in others. They are both quality target men who hold up the play well and can finish a chance in the air or a great cross on the ground. However, Giroud is more of a link up man. He likes to spread the ball around. Nicky B seems a little more dynamic and likes to take a man on right on the edge of the box and have a shot. He’s selfish, in the best of ways.

They’re different players whose talents should be recognized and utilized. Maybe we should even try playing them together sometime. Because they’re both target men, this seems like it would be a waste of a field position, but let’s look at the perfect example this season: Soldado, he can score the occasional goal by himself, but quite frequently has looked stranded up front at Tottenham this season, as he’s a target man getting too little aerial service. Then in comes Adebayor, another target man who is slightly more dynamic, who has been on the fringes of the club for a while (similar to our Nicky B?). Suddenly Tottenham have learned to score goals from open play. They even recently beat Manchester United at Old Trafford! Something the mighty Arsenal, a much better team (in my opinion), couldn’t manage.

Perhaps putting Bendtner and Giroud up front together would help us in games where one striker would be too stranded? Sometimes a change of tactics can make all the difference. Then there’s Gnabry. He looks like a quality youngster, and I’d love to have him loaned out in January to a big team, someone who really knows how to play football, like us (Wigan, Southampton, etc). But if he’s not loaned out he needs to be used much more than Wenger does, mostly as a super sub, with the occasional start. He has the X-Factor! It’s his first season! We need to use him before he has second season syndrome next year. He can play winger on both sides of the pitch, CAM, and even striker. He’s unpredictable at his young age, one might say mercurial. He should be used now, or loaned out to get first team minutes regularly.

The next step would be to use this January window to address our biggest needs (aside from those already covered by Costa and Montoya). This would be the DM position, a slightly more attacking CM, a young CB to learn from our aging players, and perhaps a backup goalie of quality (seeing as Viviano has yet to make an impression). So first things first, a beast of a DM to take over where Vieira left off and where Flamini is temporarily filling in. There are two major, realistic options; here they are in order of preference:

Yann M’Vila

Yann is a quality player who we’ve looked at in the past. He’s young and French and a beast (a true Wenger signing). Hopefully we could get him for fairly cheap from Rubin Kazan. He seems to be in the mold of Vieira and Wenger could definitely train him to be that player.

Lars Bender

Rumor has it we already have a deal set up for him in the summer. He would be a great addition to our German core. He could step in and learn a lot from Flamini and be a real terrier in our midfield for years to come. He would cost us a good bit, but is also young and would be worth it in the long run.

The next position to fill would be a slightly more attack minded CM to eventually replace Arteta. Once again there are two major, realistic options.

İlkay Gündoğan

A young German player to add to our growing German core. He looks exactly like a young Arteta to me. He’s already a world class player and under Wenger could be one of the best midfielders in the world. He would cost quite a bit, but could realistically join us and fit right into the squad.

Paul Pogba

An extremely young CM from Juventus. Another young, beastly, French player. He’s admitted he dreamt of playing for Arsenal and would surely jump at the chance to join us. He would be a great addition who could learn a lot from our current squad and is a fantastic player for the future. He would also cost quite a bit (admittedly, probably less than Gundogan), but with his potential almost any price for either player is worth it.

Next a young CB to learn from our aging group of centre backs.

Kurt Zouma

Yet another young, talented French man. He looks like a younger Koscielny to me. I watched him quite a bit in the U-20 World Cup this summer (along with Sanogo, Pogba, and Kondogbia). He could be a wonderful talent from the French league, just like Koscielny was, and would probably come quite cheap.

Fabian Schar

Admittedly, I’ve only seen him a few times (all in Champion’s League matches), but people have linked him to us quite heavily this year. People say he is also the next Koscielny, but from what I’ve seem he’s more like the new Vermaelen. He seems to enjoy picking up the ball and running out of the back, as well as going forward for situations centre backs wouldn’t usually be in (for example, he is the penalty taker for Basel, from what I hear). I believe he could be a great prospect for the future. For me, bringing in Zouma and Schar would be ideal. He should also be quite cheap.

Matthias Ginter

We’ve been linked with him for a while. I must admit I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him play, but from what I hear from other’s and what I’ve seen on YouTube he seems like Vermaelen. He seems to be more attack minded and can play CB and DM. He also would probably be relatively cheap and would be a good young German prospect.

Finally, a bonus of a talented backup keeper. There are actually very few options that would likely come to Arsenal in a World Cup year and risk not starting every game because of Szczesny’s talent.

Julio Cesar

He may not play every game, but it’s better than playing no games for QPR. He needs to earn his place back in the Brazil squad and he’s an aging keeper who could cover for Szczesny for a year or two and will be motivated to play well and challenge him. And the best part, he’s free!

Iker Casillas

One of the best keepers around, if not the best, but he can’t seem to break into the Real Madrid squad. From what I hear, he wants to leave and he’s been linked with us and City quite a bit. I’d rather us get him than City, so it’s worth a try. He’ll be motivated to beat Diego Lopez to a Spain spot and prove he is really the better keeper.

Guaita

At one point in the summer we were all told by the media that we had signed Guaita from Valencia, and that it was all but a done deal. In the end, it was either lies or it fell through as we don’t have him. This kid is younger than the other options, but perhaps this is good as it would give Szczesney competition for years to come and seems a fairly good keeper. I haven’t seen him play, and I doubt he’s in the same class as the other keepers listed, but perhaps a good option. He would probably cost considerably more than the other two.

Finally, Wenger needs to get this team playing like we’re fighting relegation every single game, and we need maximum points and pluses in the goal differential column as possible. This team seems to have great spirit and desire and Wenger needs to bring that spirit out every game. The perfect example is the second leg against Bayern last season. The team needs to play like we have nothing to lose, play for a clean sheet every game and focus on keep our possession stat as close to 100% as possible. We will have to take our chances up front and there may be a few 1-nil’s, but that’s how you win titles. The team needs to be fearless, like we’re the best in the world and we just need to play our football and win every point and bit of goal differential.

(Note to the readers, this post was written before Lewandowski was announced as a Bayern player and before it was announced that Theo would be out for 6 months. As a result I have edited the post to change the paragraph about Lewandowski to being about Costa and I am now adding a paragraph about Theo replacements.)

Today (January 6, 2014) it has been announced that Theo Walcott has torn his ACL in the FA Cup game against Tottenham and will be out for 6 months. As a result, we only have Giroud who can play a striker role well in our current system. We also only have three wingers again, at least until the Ox is back. Therefore, we have to buy a winger who, like Walcott, can play winger and striker.

Marco Reus

Marco Reus was originally a striker converted to winger (similar to Theo). He would add to the German core and would give us pace on the wing or in the middle. He can also play CAM and is still young. He could be developed into a player who could play any position Wenger would want. He could become a world class player with us and will link up perfectly in Ozil.

Stephan El Shaarawy

El Shaarawy is a player Wenger has admitted liking in the past. He is even younger than Reus and can play winger or CF. We could switch the system to play a false nine type CF (similar to Barcelona’s system) and play El Shaarawy there. This system would also be on that Podolski would thrive in. El Shaarawy is a skilled player and more of a true winger, but could possibly fill the need if required.

One final bonus that would please every Gooner is the return of a legend. Bringing back Cesc Fabregas would be the icing on the cake. If we were to switch the system to play with a false nine CF type player, Fabregas could slot in there when we needed someone to fill the role. Should we not do that system, Cesc can play the DM role of our pivot, the CM (box to box role) of the pivot, and even the furthest forward CAM position when Ozil needs to rotate out. Imagine the midfield we could have with Ozil, Santi, Wilshere, Ramsey, AND Cesc! We could possibly have a better midfield than Barcelona and Real Madrid! This signing would also give us that “SQ Signing Boost”, as well as give us back an old captain and a son of Arsenal and of Wenger. Whether he’s signed this month, or next summer, this signing would be the best possible thing for Arsenal. It will represent a complete turnaround from previous years of letting our captains go. Bringing back Cesc is ideal and would secure trophies for years to come.

If these steps are followed we will win a title/trophy this season, as well as being set up for success for many seasons to follow. This coach, with this team, and this transfer budget is a recipe for success. We just need consistency.

Thanks for reading! 😀

Written By: Dylan.

How can Arsenal win the title? Your advice to Arsene Wenger

January 2, 2014January 2, 2014TotalArsenal

Isn’t fantastic, even a bit surreal, for Arsenal to still be top of the league at the start of 2014? I am always hopeful – even confident – we do well at the start of the season but to be ahead of the Oilers – South and North – and eleven points better off than Manure is well beyond my expectation.

It looks like the battle for the title will be between the Oilers and us. I expect Liverpool to come close to us one more time this season, but it looks like they have not got enough to really push us for the title. It is of course still early days to start pulling conclusions, but as we have played all the teams at least once now, we can say we were not embarrassed by any of them, except maybe the Northern Oilers who caught us at our weakest moment and at their ground. I wonder where we would be right now if we had played ManCity at the home of football and less fatigued: we could be five, even seven points clear from them now.

We also had bad games against Villa at home and Manure away. The former can happen but the latter was more than a bit disappointing, although we should take into account the fatigue factor as well after two big battles – and well earned wins – against Liverpool and Dortmund in the week prior to that match.

We played two of our three hardest away games already (both Manchester clubs), with the Chavs game still to come. We also have to go to the great football city of Liverpool, where we have to play both high-flying teams. Our recent record against Everton and Liverpool is good, but this year round it will be hard to take six points from the North-West.

I reckon we will battle it out with Chelsea and ManCity for the title right till the end. MC have the far harder second part of the season with away games against Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Manure, and Spuds still to come. Given that they have been quite poor away from home, there is real hope they will fall away gradually despite their impeccable home record.

The hardest challenge for the title is most likely to come from Maureen’s Chavs, who have played most top teams away already (only fellow Oilers to play away) and are starting to find more consistency in their away performances. If they can improve their away form further, it will be very hard for us to beat them to the title, I fear.

It amazes me how many pundits make excuses for Maureen’s current team – some even feel he is doing really well ‘given the circumstances’. Chelsea are apparently missing a striker, but they are having a laugh with the likes of Torres, Eto, Demba Ba and Schurrle in the team.

Chelsea, with Maureen’s natural safe (yes boring), defensive football style and an embarrassment of riches in midfield and attack are of course the favourites for the title. If we were to beat them to it, Arsene will have done extremely well IMO. To achieve this, we will need a lot of luck and to reinvigorate the team through tactical changes and/or arrival of new players in this transfer window….. or should we stick to what we have and how we play and change nothing…..

My question to you, fine fellow Gooners is:

Can Arsenal win the title this year, and what do we need to do to achieve it?

Imagine – as just a bit of fun – you have one minute in a lift going up with Arsene Wenger today, and he asks you what you would do/change to win the title this year: what would you say?

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Arsenal’s future: Ottewill, Hayden, Bellerin, Yennaris, Eisfeld, Zelalem, Akpom, Gnabry, Campbell, Sanogo, Lipman, etc?

November 11, 2013November 11, 2013TotalArsenal

To buy, or not to buy. That is the question?

The big questions over transfers are:

A; What position? i.e. to replace who? in the short/medium/long term, and with that comes B.

B; Do we really need somebody if we have someone in the academy ranks that could do that role in a year or two years time?

We, as intelligent supporters tend to stick with the A, often without the secondary thoughts of how well they might fit in with the team? And then, later to whom it might affect?

I will run through a few names from the academy, who in the near future could develop into our main squad/first 11:

GK – No real problems here, imo. Martinez is out on loan and will be an able deputy long term. Plus Iliev, and the new guy from Bristol, Macey who from reports is big and commanding despite his age, just 19. So unless we are replacing our current Number 1? I doubt we will be buying anyone?

CB – Only one name in the frame here. Isaac Hayden. He must be a very good listener as AW is clearly rating him highly, but not necessarily in this position? But he is versatile. That could leave an opening for Ignasi Miquel, currently out on loan. If that is successful, he could be a useful back up? While Boateng and Fagan’s turn is probably a little way off, should they be of such quality?

So I think new blood here is pretty certain.

LB – Again, one name that has blossomed recently, Brandon Ormonde Ottewill, aka BOO54.

Seriously good prospect in the period beyond Monreal’s tenure.

Position covered in the short and medium term. BOO54 could be such a talent to take us beyond that?

RB – No question, Bellerin is the one. …. (if he stays in this position? – personal note!). Recently injured in the Dortmund junior game, after playing well. He looks like overtaking Jenks especially when/if Jenks goes out on the loan which would give regular games to get more varied experience? That may be harsh on Jenkinson, but the alternative would likely mean a transfer in? We just need Sagna to sign up for another 3 years – I year playing at top level. I year as mentor/rotation. 1 year back up. Not to mention usefulness at CB throughout?

Essential note to management – Do it!

Midfield: sub division; Defensive; Isaac Hayden looks to be the one at the present time to take over or cover for Flamini? He needs to be guided, but as I said earlier, he must be a good student. He is also the marker for the younger ones hoping to make it one day. Not unlike many a young player, prone to try too hard to impress, but he has all the attributes to become a great DM.

Not forgetting Nico Yennaris. Alas his progress has been stalled by injuries at crucial times. If he can secure a decent loan deal where he can play week in week out, and stay out of the treatment room, then you could be looking at Arteta’s natural successor, although he can play RB too. Very few deserve it more, but sadly, it may not happen? Such is the pressure for the here and now? It is likely a new face will be brought in that will change the whole dynamic in this area. We shall see?

Other areas of midfield are so competitively covered it is hard to see who can break through, or where? However, such is the talent brewing, that current players, and those on the fringes may need to improve just to keep their places in a year or two?

The candidates are plentiful, but perhaps not all will make it at Arsenal?

Attacking/creative midfielders: Eisfeld looked nailed on to force his way into the first team squad, yet has hardly made the bench this season? Niggling injuries, some criticism of his ‘team play’, and others breaking through, all seem to have contributed to him slipping out of contention. He probably needs a loan spell to develop his undoubted talent further? His position, or where he performs best, is probably the one that Podolski plays most often: near the main striker, where he can ghost into the box and shoot with either foot. That is strength, and his weakness for a future here?

If ever we do sign a second striker, his potential is at most risk? In the deeper role, Ozil seems to have the only other option, and that position looks secure for some time to come?

Second striker?

Zelalem surprised many on tour pre-season, and showed he lost none of his flair in the recent Dortmund game. Again injury halted his progress so he missed the COC matches, but he looks destined to play, despite his young age, in that all round creative role that Ozil or Cazorla play? In the short term, he will find opportunities, longer term he could be the real reason why Cesc does not return …. as a player at least?

Position covered!

Jon Toral is another who made a comeback from injury in that Dortmund game. Made one goal, scored another, missed two easy chances. Rosicky mark 2 by any other name? I would go so far as to say, he is the only player at the club that is closest to the TR7 in style. When he breaks through into the squad, and with enough mentoring from the same TR7, he will be an absolute star. Not only that, he can play anywhere behind the strikers.

Positions covered – In spite of my tendency to covet another young player in the short term, it will have little effect on young Toral’s advancement into our list of great players.

The deeper lying Kristoffer Olsson has also claims on the box to box role, but has several young players ahead of him already in the squad, and he too, may need to go out on loan to get game time. Then we might see how he fits in at a later stage? Quality player none the less, and should any of the senior player fall by the wayside he could be ready to take on that role seamlessly.

That is all the midfield positions covered. Re-read this list in two years time, and tell me I am wrong?

Striker/Front line? The most talked about roles in terms of transfer in news presently.

Mostly because it is thought the young players are not enough like Giroud to lead the line, or not experienced enough to either support him in the second striker role, if we should ever demand that starting position. Alas, all of this is true, with the exception of Gnabry, who is gaining experience, and adding width to our play. The others have yet to experience this.

I will put Gnabry in this category, because, although untried, he could be a contender for Giroud’s understudy? If anything, he has more claims than Walcott for example, given he can shoot with either foot, he can dribble, has pace, above all has the physical build to bully his way past defenders. But like all of these young players, close support around them in the early stages will be necessary, whilst they fully learn their skill to do it alone? None are at the stage that can take on the Giroud role in the way he does, but Gnabry is just one who could do a job there if called upon?

Akpom heads the queue of those outside of the current squad, and although is different in style to Giroud, I believe he is not far behind Gnabry in skills and build, to command a leading role? It is whether the team can adjust to his style of play? He is a ball player, rather than a hold up guy. You play the final pass to him in and around the box and he will work a shot away almost every time. Expecting him to hold off two or three defenders near the halfway line, take a ball down with a deft headed touch, and you will be disappointed. Play a ball to his feet and watch him twist away for a couple of one-two’s and he’s your man. He is your RVP replacement far more than Giro is, but he needs playing time to get to that level? In the meantime, he would be your Podolsksi deputy ..if only Podolski held a regular spot in the team? Or playing with Podolski would be equally interesting for him and Gnabry?

Sanogo has all the attributes to be a top class striker, except the physical body to match. I believe physically he is a late maturing type, and his injuries have held him back considerably. He is going to be a slow, long term project that I hope the club persevere with. If he follows the Gibbs line and develop his core strength through exercise, whilst gradually getting the confidence to withstand what is the norm in the EPL we could have a real star on our hands. Ignore stories of him going back to France, or out on loan. What he needs is right here, and Gibbs has shown it can pay off in a big way, that what you do off field will bring all you deserve it you want it badly enough. I hope he sticks with it and achieves his goal for himself and the club. It may take another year before he blossoms, so providing that space has not been filled by some big name transfer, we should see the benefits for years to come?

A similar type of player to the above is currently on loan, but may well return next season? He is the slightly in and out Joel Campbell? He would bring a Thierry Henry type flair to the team. Skills to burn without a doubt. Hopefully he is learning all the time how to put it all together. The big problem with these players is they need playing time. I think he might like the regular game at a lesser club rather than irregular games here? No disrespect to him, but for visa issues he has not been able to ‘associate’ himself with the club. That needs to change if we are going to profit from his undoubted talent?

He has got the Walcott position very much in his sights. A striker who can play out wide, and cut in and score goals from the most unlike of angles. Not bad at developing his assists to his repertoire either?

Should Walcott fancy a move to where he got married, then we need look no further than this lad to fill his shoes, as long as he continues on this upward curve?

Austin Lipman has been prolific in his scoring recently, and is the other name that has the potential to develop further, and could be considered down the line, but he has to displace a lot of others to get there?

Sadly, any signing will knock the prospects of all back a little, and in football, timing is everything. Most of these strikers are a year or so behind the club’s need, and need that time to break into the squad to develop? But if nothing happens in the forthcoming windows, next season could change our view of who we need?

I am caught in the middle of my own argument here, as, like many others, I see a young striker of huge potential and think, Yes, he’d be great in an Arsenal shirt … and then I look up this list and think, yes so would these in a year or two? I am hoping that Arsene Wenger will make the right decisions and we get to keep the best from those I have outlined above, and at the same time can secure players that will get over the line in the short term. But quality is essential.

I will not name players, but from the above I think we do need a DM for when the going gets tough, and our current small squad is stretched beyond its limits.

A CB, beyond what we have in the squad at the moment.

Sagna’s signature at RB, a priority.

The luxury of a Rosicky back up, as well as his signature on an extended contract, also a priority.

Main striker, who can also play alongside Giroud, and be a model for those I named above?

The one signing I will name, Dennis Bergkamp as coach to these fine prospects would be the icing on the cake?

Written by: Gerry

Karim Benzema Vs Robert Lewandowski: who is best for Arsenal?

November 7, 2013November 7, 2013TotalArsenal

Let me open with a disclaimer. This article is not based on any news, be it rumor or fact. All I did here was have a look at the two best strikers that could be available in January and knowing we are in need there, I chose to analyze the two best options and what they’d bring to Arsenal. I reiterate we aren’t linked with them in any way (and if we are, I am not aware) so this article is purely a ‘what if’ scenario.

That said, it’s very rare to find top quality strikers available in ANY transfer market, let alone a January one. In this one, there are two; Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski. Same age but very different styles of play. Let me begin with Benzema.

I’ve been a long time fan of Benzema, since he played for Lyon and scored both home and away against Man Utd. Benzema AT HIS BEST is a striker few (if any) defenders can handle. This is because he has it all. Pace, dribbling skill, fantastic ball control, power, aerial ability, intelligence, a commendable degree of ambidexterity, team play, passing and finally, finishing. When he played for Lyon, he looked like he was (at 19 years old) a player set for world domination. His first season at Real Madrid showed signs of that continued promise but since then he never really hit those heights again.

Don’t get me wrong he always returns 15+ goals a season which is not too bad but for a player with his capability, it really should be double that. To be fair to him, he plays for Real Madrid which has CR7 as their main man. Add that to the fact that history has shown much like Chelsea, some players just don’t do well there ( ask Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and company) and maybe it is just a case of being in the wrong team. That said, its is difficult to ignore his glaring inconsistency while there. He will score 5 goals in 3 games then go on a 5 game goal drought.

Also, over the years he has suffered attitude problems but this looks to be a thing of the past. Therein lies the problem for me. Ideally, he would fit seamlessly into our side but he is an unknown quantity (as per now). Thing is he is still not yet in his prime so Arsene can turn him into a world beater like he did Henry. And believe me, all the qualities are there. In fact given the midfield we have, it could take him very little time to adapt.

Then there’s Lewandowski. He is a very different kettle of fish to Benzema. Lewandowski reminds me of Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Except he is better at holding up play. Lewie is not the fastest of players but he is ruthlessly lethal. In fact if I didn’t know better I’d think that rather than normal training, Klopp locks him in a room where he undergoes non stop target practice. Lewandowski does not suffer goal droughts simply because his intelligence levels are sky high. He guarantees 30+ goals every season.

My issue with Lewie is that he is a poacher, pure and simple. He has scored roughly 90 something goals the past 3 seasons but there are a fistful (if any) spectacular goals because what he does best is finish off moves. If you look at Arsenal’s recent history, there aren’t any poachers save for Eduardo so would he fit in? But then again, with the midfield we have, do we really need anything more? Besides Lewie is still 25, so he still has room to learn new tricks..

Anyway I put this question out to you. Which of the two (given the choice) would you rather see playing at Arsenal and why?

Written by: Marcus

Mesut Özil: History, Strength, Weaknesses of the best nr10

September 16, 2013September 16, 2013TotalArsenal

Nik produced a very fine post about half a year ago on how Arsenal could beat Bayern in our CL encounters with them. Nik is based in Germany and knows German football really well, and that’s why I asked him to write a background post on our new super-quality signing. He did not hesitate to say yes, and below you will find a very fine post about MO11. Enjoy. 🙂

TotalArsenal.

The Perfect Transfer?

Thanking the Guardian for today's picture. — Thanking the Guardian for today’s picture.

Born and raised in Gelsenkirchen, Mesut Özil joined Schalke in summer ‘05 at the age of 16: a move that really kicked off the career of the best number 10 in the world.

Only half a year later he starred in the prestigious indoor tournament ‘Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup’. Schalke won the Cup beating youth sides of Dortmund, Stuttgart, Bremen, Basel and some others along the way. Özil was top scorer and impressed with his footballing intelligence and technical skills. He also was ‘chief actor’ of Aljoscha Pause’s short-film ‘Mesut17’ – only available in German: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utXR5BDU3sQ

In the movie Joachim Löw, Jürgen Klinsmann’s assistant at that time, and Uli Stielike, German U20 coach back then, talk about Germany stepping up their youth-development and the possibility that Mesut Özil could become a part of Germany’s 2010 WC team. Özil himself talks about wanting to play for Germany despite not having acquired the German citizenship yet. Later that season, Özil made his debut for the German U19 and went on to win the U19-Bundesliga.

At the end of the short-movie Özil was asked how he rates his chances of playing in the first team for Schalke. Özil confidently replied ‘by the end of the season, I think I will make it’. It only took seven months before Özil was handed his first Bundesliga match on the opening day of the 2006/07 season, coming on as a substitute after 80 minutes. Özil went on to make 20 appearances for Schalke and 10 for the U19 national team.

Özil started 6 of his 11 games for Schalke in the first half of the 2007/08 season, before Schalke announced they will not give him a new contract. The reason for the decision were long running contract talks with Özil’s father and agent, Mustafa Özil which did not come to any conclusion.

Bremen signed Özil on January, 31st 2008, deadline-day. He made 12 more appearances including 6 starts for Bremen until the end of the season and was able to score his first ever Bundesliga goal.

Objectively, Özil moving to Bremen was the best possible move inside of Germany for him. He was able to learn from the best number 10 in the Bundesliga, Diego. Diego was the heart of Werder Bremen’s great offense and he collected 13 goals and 11 assist in the ‘07/’08, and 12 goals and 6 assist in the 08/09 Bundesliga seasons.

The 08/09 season saw the breakthrough of Mesut Özil.

Collecting 3 goals and 15 assists, scoring the winning goal in the DFB-Cup final and reaching the UEFA-Cup final, saw him become one of the most established young players in Germany. On international level, Özil collected his first senior cap in a friendly against Norway, and he won the U21 Euros, being named the man of the match in the 4-0 final victory over England, where he scored 1 goal and produced assists for 2 of the other 3 goals.

With the departure of Diego, the 09/10 season was perfectly set for Özil to become the key-player for Bremen. He delivered 9 goals and 17 assist and led Bremen to another DFB-Cup final, which they lost to Bayern. Özil made his first competitive game for Germany in the WC qualification against Azerbaijan and has been present ever since. The 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and his move to Real Madrid a month later, saw Özil’s popularity rise on a global scale and his well documented development to being one of the best number 10s in the world (I consider him THE best number 10 in the world).

Strengths:

For me Mesut Özil has two major strengths:
1) His vision. It is absolutely amazing how Özil always picks the right pass at the right time. He sees possibilities, spaces, runs that no other would see and therefore collects all those assists. Every time I see him play I get the feeling that he has a radar in his vision.

2) Technical skills. Özil is one of very view players who could run half an hour with the ball at his feet with another player chasing him, without losing the ball. He has absolutely perfect control of the ball at any time.

Weaknesses:

His biggest and only real weakness to me is his defensive work. Most of the time he gets robbed of the ball or plays a bad pass he is disappointed with himself, and does not track back immediately. Fortunately he doesn’t lose the ball too often.

The perfect transfer?

Over the course of the transfer window I have read what feels like millions of stories, rumors, articles and gossip. My mood went from great we have 70 million to spend to, are we going to spend at all; and I know most of you felt very much alike.
But when I read that we were close to signing Mesut Özil on deadline-day, I went absolutely crazy.
I believe that we could not have made a better signing to strengthen our attack, for the following reasons:

All our front players will profit from Özil’s passing. (Theo in particular);
At times, our possession did not seem to get us anywhere, because we were just playing it from left to right and back again. Özil is the player who will unlock the defence when we play too many square passes;
Wilshire, Ramsey, Ox, Zelalem, and all other young central midfielders, can and will learn a lot from playing with Özil.
He is just 24.
He is a statement of intent from Wenger. (hopefully)

Now, do you agree with me on his strengths and weaknesses, and do you think we could have made a better single transfer this summer?

Written by: Nik.

Could Arsenal be in a better position right now to end trophy-drought?

September 8, 2013TotalArsenal

Towards the end of last season, I wrote about the five things that Arsenal would need to look at if the club wanted to be serious in its pursuit of silverware. A solid start to the new season (including a win against the “strongest ever” Spurs – which for some reason made me so very very very happy!!) and one harrowing, frustrating and ultimately exciting transfer window later, it’s a good time to go back to those five points and reassess where the club stands:

1 – Sort out the squad by the middle of July, have a consistent first team and timely rotations

When the transfer window started, the club had three objectives: a) get rid of the deadwood, b) keep our good players at the club, and c) bring in new players who would add value to the squad, ideally a superstar or two. Ivan Gazidis went out and put the cat amongst the pigeons by saying Arsene had a huge kitty to spend from, that we’d get in our players nice and early and that we could afford the likes of Rooney etc. Cue, huge expectations.

Did we achieve those objectives? A categorical yes to a) and b). We did very well with the deadwood, and we retained all of our core players. As far as bringing in new players was concerned, I felt the club struggled. Key areas to be strengthened were ST, GK, DM and defense.

Sanogo came in early, and was a victim of being a free signing. I rate him, but he is at best a third option striker, so the ST position still needed to be strengthened. Links with Higuain and Rooney arose, and Higuain was all but signed. Then came Suarez, and from what I understand, we were led up the garden path by his agent regarding the 40 mn + 1 offer. The only good thing that came out of that was a statement that we were willing to spend huge money.

Flamini came in next, again on a free, after being linked with Gotze, Fabregas, Cabaye, Fellaini, Gundogan, Illarmendi etc. At the time, I felt that Flamini was a brilliant and shrewd signing, but underwhelming when you compare him to the likes that we were being linked too. A word on Flamini before we move on: he should never have left. He was brought in to replace Viera and for a while did a great job. Seeing him back against Spurs really made me happy, because he’s one of those players who can take the bit between his teeth and push everyone around him to be better. He’s a shouter, an organizer, a tackler… and Gosh, how we have missed someone like that.

Then came the deadline day and we ended up with Oh My God… Ozil! And in that one signing Arsene showcased that he is still well respected around the world and an attractive option to superstar players. Remember, Ozil did not want to leave Madrid or come to Arsenal, he had an offer from PSG and unconvincing interest from Man U, but he signed for us after Arsene convinced him that we mean business. You can’t ask for more than that. And in doing so, Ozil became the 3^rd most expensive British signing and the most expensive German ever signed. 42.5 mn… wow! Arsenal paid that!

So was the first point achieved? Yes in the sense that the team remained stable, no players important to us were sold and our first team is gelled and ready (unlike others who have spent 100 mn +) and that was on show in the last 4 games that we have played and particularly against Spurs. Spurs on the other hand looked disjointed at times and will take a while to gel.

However we did go off-track in the sense that despite ending up with Ozil, we could have planned the window a bit better, and gotten good players in early. I still find it head-scratching that we couldn’t get a striker. I’m not going to pretend to understand how a lot of things work in the transfer window between clubs, but surely in two months you can sign one striker.

Ozil should have been a bonus (he still is), the cherry on top of 4/5 players that we needed to strengthen. Having said that, we did strengthen, and the only place I feel we are light now is the ST position.

I would point out that this was the first window where Wenger, Gazidis and co. could spend big money, and talk to big players (hopefully we should have a similar kitty in upcoming windows), so to an extent it may have been a learning process for all involved. I feel Higuain and Suarez could have been handled a lot better.

Having said all of that at least we didn’t end up paying 5 mn extra for a player who could have been signed a few weeks before via the get-out clause in his contract! Guess who I’m talking about!

2 – A strong vocal performing captain

In my article I had put forward Arteta as one possible option. Arteta has been our spiritual leader in many ways, and a player that the team can look up to. Unfortunately, along with TV, Arteta too is out for now and the mantle of the captaincy has fallen upon the BFG! And I’ll tell you what, he has done a bang up job so far in terms of organizing and leading the team. However, I do not feel he can be a long term solution.

It is clear that Arsene plans on keeping TV as the club captain, so it becomes vital for a) TV to recapture his old form and force his way back into the side, and b) for all of our other leaders to make their collective mark and push the team forward. I’m referring to Per, Arteta and Flamini.

3 – Capture the fans imagination, change the press narrative

Oh how well we have achieved this is: absolutely utterly phenomenal! Not since Bergkamp has such a superstar been signed. Arguably the greatest playmaker in the world, Mesut Ozil! Dear oh dear… I still get goose bumps! However, we need to keep in mind that we were very close to ending the window with a narrative that would have been worse than where we started from. I do believe that Arsene had his eye out on a big signing, and delivered accordingly.

The narrative is now exciting, the fans are now excited! We are a team that is intent on making a statement, we are a team that is together and gelled, we are a team that has just trebled its record transfer in one go, signing the best in the world; and we are a team led by a man who may be flawed, who may be misunderstood, but one who is still well respected and who still, in my opinion, is something of a genius!

Could we possibly be in a better position right now to mount a challenge on ending the barren trophy run?

4 – Be strong against the top six, and clinical against lower half opposition

We have started off OK. A loss to Villa was a perfect example of everything going wrong, but since then we have been solid and we have been strong. That is very heartening. Add to that the incomparable form of Ramsey, Kos, Per, Scez, Ollie and Santi, and we are looking good. The win against Spurs was all about positive work going forward and being solid at the back, and as a supporter you can’t ask for more. I recall thinking during the last five minutes that I can’t really fault them even if Spurs get an equalizer, even though we deserved to win. But we pulled through… in many a season ago that win might have been a draw or even a late loss, but our team ran themselves to the ground and won the game. It may be a big statement, but its matches like these rather than 5-0 thrashings that define a championship/cup winning team and breeds the winner mentality.

5 – Do the basics right and have clear objectives

So what do we expect from this team and this squad? As much as I would love to believe that with Ozil we can challenge for the title, I feel that may be a step too far. For me in the premiership we should finish second (although we are dark horses for sure). I firmly believe that with the squad Arsenal have, we should win both the League Cup and the FA Cup, if not one of them. The Champions League we can only take one step at a time, and for now the biggest challenge is to get through the group.

Bottom line though, if someone tells me right now that we win one cup at the end of this season, I will gladly take it! If nothing, that would make the narrative more positive and enhance the winning mentality with which we can look to win the league next season, with the possible addition of a couple of more quality players.

I would love to hear what you guys think!

Written by: Umair Naeem

Why Arsenal signing El Shaarawy, Reus, Di Maria etc in future could become the new reality

September 6, 2013September 6, 2013TotalArsenal

JM tends to look at the broader picture of running a football club and safeguarding its future, and his insights are always refreshing and thought-provoking. In this post, he analyses what is happening with regards to our club – as well as our competitors – linking up with a number of key sponsors/brands and fellow football clubs across Europe, and how this will position us better to have access to top talents from European top competitions in the future. Enjoy, TA. 🙂

The big benefits of sponsors and contact clubs networking.

The connections and network web that the senior management team and manager of Arsenal have painstakingly established with (and not losing their shirts and pants) a few key sponsors and contact clubs, is likely to bare big and juicy fruits for our club. These are the key connections:

Emirates – a global airline brand under The Emirates Group, with shirt sponsorship deals with Arsenal, Real Madrid, AC Milan, PSG, Hamburger SV, which means the big 5 Europe leagues represented: PL, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga;

PUMA SE – a global sports brand under Kering, with kit sponsorship deals for: Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, VfB Stuttgart, Newcastle Utd, Leicester City, USPalermo, Rennes, Bordeaux, Feyenoord, Espanyol, Sporting Lisbon, Olympiacos etc, etc;

Contact clubs this season – where players are sent out on loan: Hamburger SV, SC Freiburg, Olympiacos, LeicesterCity

What is seen on the front of each football jersey?

Firstly, the enlarged wordings in the middle (of main shirt sponsor) – BIG global companies/corporations/establishments want their name to be promoted and recognised with sports; what better way than using football/soccer to do this (e.g. next time, the travellers would like to take Emirates airlines(Fly Emirates)/Qatar Airways/Etihad Airways; buy Samsung/LG products/android smart phones/LED flat-panel TVs; drive a Volkswagen/Jeep/Mazda/Kia and more etc);

Then, the club badge (left top) – the team/club that the jersey and player associates with;

Lastly, the smaller logo (kit manufacturer) at the right top – to football supporters/fans, casual viewers, general public alike who like sports in general, an advertisement in sports branding (e.g. next time, look out/buy for products from Nike, Adidas, Puma, Kappa, Jako, Macron, Errea, Lotto etc for their association with sports and personalities, as well as a daily wear or fashion trend)

The marketing brands:

Premier League
(1) Arsenal
Emirates/Nike(soon to be Puma)

(2) Man Utd
Aon/Nike

(3) ManCity
Etihad Airways/Nike

(4) Chelsea
Samsung(The South Korean MNC conglomerate company of electronic goods)/Adidas

(5) Liverpool
Standard Chartered/Warrior

(6)Tottenham
HP(Hewlett-Packard)/Under Armour

(7) Everton
Chang(Thai Beverage, i.e. free beer every game)/Nike

The above are the battle ground for marketing share between Nike, Adidas and soon Puma

La Liga
(1) Barcelona
Qatar Airways and UNICEF/Nike

(2) Real Madrid
Fly Emirates/Adidas

(3) Atletico Madrid
Azerbaijan(yes, it is THE country) and Kyocera(MNC electronics and ceramics manufacturer)/Nike

(4) RealSociedad
Canal+( Spanish satellite broadcasting company) and Kutxa(savings bank operating with a regional scope in the Gipuzkoa province of Spain)/Nike

(the above, big battle ground b/w Qatar Airways vs Fly Emirates. Likewise, Nike and Adidas)

Bundesliga
(1) Bayern Munich
T-Mobile(Deutsche Telekom AG, German telecommunications company)/Adidas(a dominant role, their CEO is the Vice-Chairman of BM’s supervisory board)

(2) Borussia Dortmund
Evonik(one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies, owned by RAG Foundation)/Puma

(3) Bayer Leverkusen
LG(South Korean MNC conglomerate corporation for electronics, chemicals, and telecom products)/Adidas

(4) Schalke 04
Gazprom(Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom, Russian, largest extractor of natural gas, and one of the largest companies in the world)/Adidas

(5) VfL Wolfsburg
Volkswagen/Adidas

Serie A
(1) Juventus
Jeep(a brand of American automobiles produced by Chrysler Group LLC, a consolidated subsidiary of Italian multinational automaker Fiat)/Nike

(2) Napoli
Lete (Lete SPA, company which produces natural sparkling water), MSC Cruises (Italian, division of Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. devoted to the cruise market)/Macron

(3) AC Milan
Fly Emirates/Adidas

(4) Fiorentina
Mazda/Joma

(5) Internazionale
Pirelli(tyre manufacturer)/Nike

Ligue 1
(1) PSG
Emirates, Qatar Investment Fund/Nike

(2) Marseille
Intersport(international sporting goods retailer, based in Switzerland)/Adidas

(3) Monaco
Fedcom/Macron

Gradually, more and more links will be established between clubs and sponsors; it has already started this season:

Mesut Oezil: from Real Madrid, Emirates -> Emirates sponsorship link;
Emiliano Viviano: on loan from US Palermo with option for a permanent move, future PUMA SE -> PUMA SE sponsorship link;
Johan Djourou: on loan to Hamburger SV with option for a permanent move, Emirates -> Emirates sponsorship link;
Joel Campbell: on loan to Olympiacos, future PUMA SE -> PUMA SE sponsorship link;
Ignasi Miquel: on loan to LeicesterCity, future PUMA SE -> PUMA SE sponsorship link

These are some of the possible near future movements of players/ coaching staff

via Emirates network connections (and goodwill established) to Arsenal or other brand-linked clubs:

Real Madrid?
– e.g. Sami Khedira, Angel di Maria;
AC Milan?
– e.g. Stephan El Shaarawy;
PSG?
– e.g. Marco Verratti, Blaise Matuidi;
Hamburger SV?
– e.g. Milan Badelj;

Via PUMA SE network connections (and goodwill established):

Borussia Dortmund?
– e.g. İlkay Guendogan(Gundogan), Marco Reus;
VfB Stuttgart?
– e.g. Rani Khedira(brother of Sami), Goetoku(Gotoku) Sakai;
Newcastle Utd?

– e.g. Papiss Cisse;
Leicester City?
– e.g. Liam Moore;
US Palermo?
– e.g. Emiliano Viviano (permanent deal), Abel Hernandez;
Rennes?
– e.g. Some player from their reserve, academy teams;
Bordeaux?
– e.g. Some player from their reserve, academy teams;
Feyenoord?
– e.g. Stefan de Vrij, Jordy Clasie, Daryl Janmaat;
Espanyol?
– e.g. Some player from their reserve, academy teams;
Sporting CP Lisbon?
– e.g. Eric Dier.

Via PUMA SE relationships with players from sponsorship ties:

Arsenal FC players (Mikel Arteta, Bacary Sagna, Tomas Rosicky, Olivier Giroud, Santi Cazorla, Emmanuel Frimpong);
Former Arsenal players (Thierry Henry, Lauren, Gael Clichy) – e.g. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal to be notified if Barcelona sells, first option), Marco Reus (Eisfeld returning to Dortmund as part of goodwill exchange deal?), Marco Verratti, Sergio Aguero, Roman Weidenfeller etc.

Via contact clubs:

SC Freiburg?
– e.g. Matthias Ginter

The future is bright and strong for Arsenal FC … on the pitch and off the pitch as well.

Written by: JM

Finally Arsenal have their own Van Bommel: what a difference he’ll make!

September 5, 2013September 5, 2013TotalArsenal

If Ozil can provide the absolute icing on the cake of the current Arsenal team, it will be Mathieu Flamini who can give us the much needed robustness, passion and never say die attitude the Gunners have often lacked in recent seasons. Flamini is the UMF: the ultimate midfield force.

Flamini is not the best DM in the world; far from it; but neither was Van Bommel, and yet he brought something to every team he played for that was invaluable: hunger, passion, aggression, presence!, leadership, believe! In a nutshell: a winner’s attitude. A Dutch friend of mine summarised it perfectly recently: ‘Van Bommel wins you things’. The hard as nails former PSV, Bayern, Barcelona, Milan player won eight league titles (at least one with each club) and once the CL, and a lot of this was down to his deep desire to win for his team – whoever he plays for – AND his ability to influence others to follow his lead.

Flamini has been in the shadow of Van Bommel, Ambrosini and Gattuso at Milan in recent years, and this will have frustrated him no end. During his last three seasons, Flamini only managed an average of 14 League games for Milan, although injury had a big part to play in this as well. The good thing is that Mathieu has been able to learn from the masters of DM (dark) arts, and not having played so much in recent years should mean there is plenty left in the 29 year old. We just have to hope he will stay fit and not suffer another bad (knee) injury.

I like Flamini, always have. When he came on against the brand new Spuds team, he brought something old fashioned to our team from the moment he ran on to the pitch. It brought tears of joy to see him directing his colleagues, waving his arms like a nutter and sticking his Gallic chest out, bursting with pride. Here is a player who left and was given an unexpected chance to come back, to make amends, and a last opportunity to become an immortal Gunner; and it is clear he will do anything in his power to make his second stint at Arsenal a successful, and unforgettable one.

I made a prediction this week:

IF Flamini can stay fit for most of the season, he will make as much, if not more, difference to the team as/than Ozil will.

Here are the reasons why:

Flamini knows how to tackle and how to win aerial battles (despite his lack of great height at 1.78 meters), and he also knows how to get under the skin of opponents. As jgc likes to put it: he brings that bit of Adamsesque mongrel to the team. He loves to put his foot in but seldom does he cross the line. This is a skill we have been missing, and if and when we play the more physical/robust teams, our very own UMF will make a great difference this season;
Mathieu will protect the likes of Ramsey, Wilshere and Ozil better than anybody else. The way Jack has been targeted and having to fend for himself against the thugs of Villa and against Fenerbahce recently – something he is very good at doing btw – without getting much support from his team mates, is unacceptable. With Flamini on the team this is very likely to change. Like Van Bommel, Flamini knows how to protect his colleagues and how to boss a midfield. His Presence! and street wisdom will see to that! I predict a huge difference in this area;
Flamini will protect the defence with incredible zeal: he will bring passion AND focus to our defensive midfield play. He is not as good a reader of the game as Arteta, but he knows how to guard a defence behind him and he will scare opponents with his tackling ability;
Leadership – he might not become our captain but the Flame is an extrovert and born leader: he just cannot help himself – he needs to lead and he needs to make himself heard. This is something we have been missing in the team, as many of our midfielders are less vocal and focus more on the technical/tactical aspects of the game. Flamini will be a great support to Wilshere, who is also a born leader but needs to develop further in the next few years;
Because of his natural DM skills and focus, he will allow us to have a more committed box to box midfielder in the team: this is great news for the likes of Ramsey, Ox and Wilshere, who will be able to go forward without having to worry constantly for leaving the defence exposed.

Despite my optimism that Flamini will make a big difference this season, I am not (yet) entirely sure whether Wenger will give his fellow countryman a pivotal role this season. My gut feeling tells me Wenger’s plans to play Flamini occasionally rather than making him a first team choice. If everybody is fit, his double DM pivot is likely to be occupied by two out of Arteta, Ramsey and Wilshere; the likes of Flamini, Ox and Rosicky could become second/third choice for the DM positions (although they might be used elsewhere as well). Wenger likes his ‘DMs’ to be multi-skilled, all-round midfielders who can play football as well, and it remains to be seen whether he regards Flamini’s skill set as good enough for a constant first team role.

But I reckon Flamini will work incredibly hard and show his worth to the team once more, both in terms of technical/defensive skills as well as his ability to lead and drive the team, that within no time he will become a regular first-teamer.

And what a difference he can make to Arsenal this season; let’s enjoy the Flamini ride. 🙂

Written by: TotalArsenal.

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We had the perfect TW, actually… An optimist’s perspective?

September 4, 2013September 4, 2013TotalArsenal

Before the TW and all its attendant terror, the main discussion was, as always, around two things:

Who had to go, and it was a large number including: Squillaci, Arshavin, Denilson, Djourou, Santos, Bendtner, Chamakh. Opinions were also split on Mannone (not good enough) and Gervinho (too Jekyll and Hyde)
Who had to come: GK, DM, ST were the main calls, with lesser calls for defenders.

I am thus presenting an optimist’s view, perhaps, although no one can be as optimistic as Glic and his tattoos, which says that this TW was wildly successful. I base this assessment on 3 metrics, like any good engineer, offering a measure of redundancy in my analysis!

Net Flow or Team Quality (TQ) – where the goal of the TW is to raise your average quality, admittedly while keeping enough players to make a side. Thus, when an Oiler buys their third national side, the team quality doesn’t go up much, was it worth it? Equally, for Everton, Fellaini out of a strong(er) midfield and Lukaku in is likely a big improvement for them for this year. I fear them more not less now.
Risk (R) – will said player achieve vs what is paid, in terms of when you need that achievement at that position. Thus, coverage is included here as well. Suarez was always high quality but the risk of him being out and not delivering was also high. Equally, Fellaini offers little risk to ManU, but little return, leading to…
Quality of Return (QR) – what can the players and modified team (potentially) achieve in terms of improving the team’s outcome in placing, cups etc. No sense to pay 100M for no change in cups or outcomes, which makes the risk of say RMs Bale investment somewhat high if they don’t win any more than last year.

So, I think this summer we did great, and here’s why.

Total Quality of TQ: We got rid of all but the world’s greatest striker from our deadwood and both mixed opinions. We added a potentially very good youngster who will play in League Cup perchance (Sanogo), a very good GK with option to buy who will provide the necessary competition for Scez that (somehow!) Fabianski does not, a solid DM with Adamsesque bite and mongrel (for free no less), and possibly the world’s best creator if we let our Cesc blinders slip a bit.

For me, the deadwood out is critical, it frees us now and long term. There was no way Squillaci or Santos was going to play, even if we had only 1 defender left on the squad. You’d have seen JW playing LB first! Thus, why have them?

Finally, we have seen glimpses that OG will become more clinical this year. In fairness, last year he was not so good but with ball to feet he has been very good in front of goal so far. Well may it continue.

I think there is little argument that our TQ is now far, far higher than it was a week or two ago.

Risk or R: There are two aspects, achievement (or player failure) and coverage. First, achievement: I think that the positions with least risk are defenders and creators. Defenders can always fall back on their own physicality, fitness and Presence!, and fit into most systems easily enough. Thus, low risk. Creators, all across the park at any position are equally lower risk, as they rely primarily on ball holding skills that they always have, vision and passing accuracy. Thus, as long as the supporting cast is good their skills transfer anywhere pretty easily, although putting Ozil into Stoke would be a waste! J

Hence, we got one of the world’s best creators in a scheme that favors them, a very good defensive DM, and Sanogo is the long term bet for no money. The GK should also be fine.

Hence, I think there is virtually no risk in our TW activity from an achievement standpoint.

Next, is coverage. The complaint on the various e- and bloggo-spheres is that we didn’t get a defender. In that regard we have:

Central defender: Per, Koz, TV (when healthy), Sagna, Flamini
Outside defender: Jenks, Gibbs, Monreal, Sagna, Flamini

There are some youngsters too for the League Cup. Equally, some loan deals also have a mid-year return built in if one has nuclear war type injuries and loses far too many players. I would be surprised if we didn’t have that with Coquelin for example, at a cost of course.

Similarly, we are now relatively well stocked in the more defensive midfield portion as well, and can really offer some teams different “looks”. I am particularly excited about our ability to look very offensive with Ram-Teta, and equally more aggressive with Flam-Sey or Flam-Zorro (warning: I have copyrighted all nicknames! J ). There is also Flam-Shere which would be like Flam-Zorro but with more aggressiveness. Overall, with Zorro, JW, Ramsey and Flamini we are well placed.

It will also allow a full year for Diaby to recover and we may thus have him signed for the third or fourth time next year! One can only hope his outlook improves finally.

Out wide, injuries to Poldi and Ox don’t help but will be recovered. Meanwhile, we have Santi, Theo and JW, as well as Gibbs with Monreal back deeper to help out.

Equally, the Ozil signing frees JW to play both offensively and defensively in various combinations, or even out wide where Poldi, Ox, Theo, Santi, and others roam. We should be able to offer so many different looks of quality that others will fear our overall Presence! in midfield, no matter that they park the bus or play us straight up.

Finally, the ST. I want to point out we still have the world’s best and that he will never play for us. I think not even in League Cup, perhaps. OG is more clinical and I think Ozil will give him great service. Equally, Ozil with Santi and Theo wide should remove 1-2 defenders from clinging to OG and swarming him. Ozil is the one magic player that will make OG even better.

Hence, I think there is very little risk in our TW activity from a coverage standpoint, especially with January and ~40M or more on hand coming soon enough. Injuries, we already have a lot of, but if they get worse, well that’s life. But, I think we are more than well placed to be very confident about two things:

1. Our ability to really stick it to any team we play

2. Our ability to stack up against the best in Europe (1^st up is BD in group stages!)

Thus, I think we were actually very low risk

Quality of Return or QR: Finally, I think I’ve said it all, but to repeat shortly:

Ozil will make Theo, Santi and OG better. He will allow JW to develop. I think he will score ~8-10 goals but have 20+ assists and we will score at least 10-15 more league goals because of him. Given last year’s defense that would allow for something like 3-4 more wins easily and a few more draws (i.e. far less losses), and we would have been at or near ManU.
Flamini: will add bite and defense within a system and culture he knows well. He offers now so many looks with Ramsey and JW and Arteta that we should be far more organised and full of Presence! down the middle. His experience will also improve Ramsey and JW I think

Sanogo and the GK are the future and competition.

So, our quality for just two players, IMO, the exact right two players by position and choice, are going to make a huge impact on our ability to compete for the EPL, cups and Europe. Injuries always are a risk, but January is soon

Hence, I think we got a very high QR this TW, better than anyone in Europe and far better than some think, both for direct contribution and how those players will impact those around them.

The Future:

In future, I hope for Diaby to come right, or for January or next summer to see us get a more proper long term solution at DM. I’d like a little depth at the backs, but think we are solid now, and can afford to wait on the youngsters to develop.

A SQ striker, … Well, there were actually very few STs moving this year if you look at it. They have the greatest risk of not fitting into a new system and scoring immediately, as we know from history, and with the WC coming, I think many would not move unless they were highly confident of their national team position (eg Bale who’s not really a ST)… From the standpoint of Jovetic, you have to wonder what he’s thinking now… In my opinion we can wait on it and there is always Theo or Poldi when better, as anyone should do well in front of Ozil et al. And if not, there is January or the dreaded Dane.. J

Cheers, I am optimist at heart I guess!

Written by: jgc.

Deadwood gone, the Flame returns, Marquee signing made: the big TW summary

September 3, 2013September 3, 2013TotalArsenal

During the summer, after the end of last season, we were told there was money to spend by the likes of Wenger and Gazidis. As a result, Arsenal were linked with almost every player who had a feasible chance of signing for us by the media. Throughout the summer, after Arsenal failed with a number of bids for the likes of Williams, Rooney, L.Bender, Suarez, and Arsenal pulling out of a number of deals for the likes of Williams, Fellaini, Gustavo and Higuain, we went into the new season missing a number of players through injury and with only one addition: French under-21 international Yaya Sanogo.

After the Villa loss (which saw even more players pick up injuries) fans wanted some new signings to come in as soon as possible, and rightly so. We then went on to play Fenerbahce in our CL play off tie before going away to Fulham in the EPL, and returning to the Turks for the second leg of our vital CL play off tie – still without any signings. Luckily we managed to win all of those vital matches.

Arsenal fans were still quite worried about how we would fare in our match against the Spuds, as we would be going into the North London derby with no new signings and still a very thin squad; meanwhile, Tottenham would be coming into the match with a number of quality signings and a much bigger squad. A bit of good news came before the match with Arsenal announcing that Flamini was set to return and would be eligible to play in the North London derby. Arsenal then went on to win that match 1-0 with Flamini forced to come on for Wilshere, who started to feel unwell during the match.

Now the Spuds match was done, many fans were hoping that Wenger would finally go into the transfer market once more and get the players we desperately needed to compete at a higher level than we currently were, which he did.

This summer transfer window saw Wenger and co get rid of most of our ‘deadwood’ (Mannone, Santos, Squillaci, Johan, Denilson, Coquelin, Gervinho, Arshavin, Chamakh and a whole load of youth players), but excluding the likes of Bendtner, Frimpong and Park (who are still at Arsenal), by either selling, loaning or releasing them while bringing in a number of new players (Yaya Sanogo, Mathieu Flamini, Emiliano Viviano and Mesut Ozil), but fail to bring in Demba Ba on a season-long loan deal from Chelsea.

Let’s take a further in-depth look at the four signings which we made during the summer transfer window:

Yaya Sanogo

Our first summer signing came in the form of French under-21 international
Yaya Sanogo. The young Frenchman arrived from French Ligue 2 side Auxerre on a free transfer and is definitely one for the future. Signed on a long-term contract, he was given the No. 22 shirt, which was previously the shirt number of Francis Coquelin before he was sent out on loan.

Yaya possesses a very good first touch and is technically sound. His strength and size automatically makes him very good at playing with his back from goal and he is very athletic for a player of his size.

He is known for being a very explosive player who can combine his pace and strength very well; much like Christian Benteke does (who he has been compared to) to get past defenders by beating them for pace and out muscling them.

He has already made appearances for Arsenal against Galatasaray during the Emirates Cup (where he made his Arsenal debut), Fulham in the EPL (where he came on for Lukas Podolski), and Fenerbahce in the second leg of our Champions League play off tie.

During his appearances he has looked a bit out of his depth but that is to be expected. He is a young player who is still developing and has not yet adapted to playing at the top level.

He is a young talent with raw potential, which must be nurtured if he is to reach his full potential. He has all the necessary attributes needed to become a successful center forward in the English Premier League and could be a very big player for us in the future, by offering presence to our attack. My only worry is that Sanogo is injury-prone and has suffered from injuries in the past.

A good signing by Wenger (very promising young player on a free) as he continues to build for the future: if he can now stay injury- free he could make a really big impact for Arsenal in the future.

Mathieu Flamini

With injuries starting to plague our squad during pre-season and early into the new season, the former Arsenal man was resigned by Wenger (also on a free transfer) on a two year deal with an option for the deal to be extended for a third year, just in time for the North London derby. He was given the No.20 shirt.

Wenger himself said he had no intention of signing Flamini but his positive attitude and really good fitness levels, along with our injury crisis changed his mind. This was shown when he was forced to come on during our match with Tottenham in place of Wilshere. He put in a very solid performance which helped us secure the win keeping a clean sheet in the process.

Flamini is a very experienced player who has Premier League as well as Champions League experience. He was also part of the Arsenal squad which won the FA Cup in the 2004-05 season. The fact that he used to play for us is even better. He knows what Arsenal is all about, knows how to play Wengerball and we did not have to pay a transfer fee for him. Then add that Mathieu is a very versatile player, makes this purchase even better. He can cover a number of positions on the pitch (CM, DM, RB, LB etc.) which makes him very useful in the case of injuries, which is almost certain to keep members of our squad out at times throughout the season. He will mainly act as cover for the injured Diaby which might mean Abou can finally have the time he needs to recover fully from his injury, without having to come straight back into the team while he is still recovering from his injuries.

A wise signing by Wenger, and a no brainer in my opinion. Flamini will add much needed depth to our squad as our utility player. My only worry, as with Sanogo, is that Flamini has suffered from many injuries throughout his career. The last thing we need is another injury-prone player on our books so let’s hope Mathieu can also stay injury- free.

Emiliano Viviano

Our first deadline day signing was Emiliano Viviano. We signed the Italian international on a season-long loan from Palermo with an option for a permanent deal. Emiliano will provide back up for our current No.1 GK, Wojciech Szczesny while also acting as competition and pushing Szczesny for the No. 1 GK spot.

This is quite a good move by Wenger.
We now have added depth for the GK position on a sort of one season trial. Based on his performances Wenger will be able to either sign him to a permanent deal or choose to let him go back to Palermo and look for another experienced GK.

Mesut Ozil

Having already signed Sanogo and Flamini before deadline day, Arsenal fans were expecting at least one big name arrival. While it was reported we were close to signing Viviano on a season-long loan many reports emerged that Arsenal had agreed a fee with Real Madrid for Ozil for around £40-45 million. As the day went on further details emerged and the deal seemed to progress with Ozil undertaking a medical and agreeing personal terms with Arsenal. The deal was reported as close, and then done, awaiting official confirmation.

Apparently the official announcement was going to be made at 4pm which didn’t happen, and then the official announcement was going to be made at 6pm which didn’t happen. At this point, I along with many other Arsenal fans, were starting to get a bit worried that transfer talks may have broken down over wages or another club had hijacked the signing, but finally the Ozil deal was announced late into the night.

Arsenal football club needed to make a statement of intent and show fans, pundits, clubs around the world and most importantly our own players, that we are serious about wanting to compete and win trophies. Signing one of the best playmakers in the world has done just that. Our marquee signing, which was signed from Real Madrid for €50 million (around £42.4 million), will most likely wear the No.11 shirt.

The German international is a brilliant flair player, who is at his best when playing behind the CF/ST as a number 10. He has very good ball control, agility, dribbling skills and pace just like our very own Jack Wilshere has. He has great vision, passing range (technical ability) which he can use to create loads of chances for other players and can even score goals himself. He is also very versatile, as he can play on either wing as well as a CM and is a brilliant crosser of the ball which can only help Giroud get better service.

For more information on this fantastic player we have signed, click on the link below to read a great post written by fellow blogger HH, that analyses what Mesut Ozil has to offer to Arsenal.

https://bergkampesque.com/2013/09/02/27-goals81-assists-in-157-games-arsenal-just-signed-a-world-top-ten-footballer/#comment-44293

So with these additions (considering everyone in our squad is fit) I can see our team line-up (best eleven) looking something like this:

Szezesny will likely remain as our first choice GK with new signing Viviano pushing him for the starting spot. Fabianski will most likely play in the early rounds of the two domestic cups we are currently in.

I can see Wenger sticking with the CB-pairing of Mertesacker and Koscielny as this was our best combination last season. Despite Sagna’s good performances as a stand in CB I can see him moving back to RB as he is our most experienced option, with Jenkinson making some appearances there during the season. Very hard to say who will be our number one LB: I can see both Monreal and Gibbs starting matches with Wenger likely to rotate them throughout the season.

Arteta is likely to come back into the team in place of either Ramsey or Wilshere, as Mikel (our vice-captain) is the leader of our midfield and our team. His calm and collected approach in the middle of midfield is often vital to our victories. Wilshere has suffered from several injuries and is still recovering from these. Wilshere will need to be handled carefully and protected until he is fully fit and has overcome his injury problems; meanwhile, Ramsey is on fire and is really developing his all round game.

Wilshere will not be able to play matches week in week out, so I see Wilshere and Ramsey being rotated with Arteta regaining his place in our midfield. I can see Flamini being our 4th choice for DM, coming into the squad to fill in for any injured players either in midfield or defence. Diaby may also come back into the squad if he can finally stay injury- free.

Walcott will retain his place at RM/RW with the Ox deputizing for him when needed, while Santi will most likely remain out wide on the left, operating in a free role with Podolski as back up. Ryo may make a few appearances this season in the two domestic cups as well as in the EPL. Ozil will come straight into the side at the expense of Rosicky who will become back up for the CAM role.

Giroud will definitely remain our first choice ST/CF to lead the line as he provides a structure and purpose to our attacks. He will be able to bring the likes of Santi, Ozil and Walcott into play through his good hold up play. Sanogo will get a chance to prove himself throughout the season, which will mainly be in cup matches with a few EPL appearances. I can even see Bendtner starting matches for us in all competitions; he is a similar player to Giroud as he can offer the same structure and purpose to attacks with his hold up play, which is better than Giroud’s and can be used to bring midfielders into the game.

In my opinion this transfer window was not a particularly good one or a bad one. I would say this was an ok transfer window in terms of the players signed. While we made a big marquee signing, signed a very experienced and versatile former player, signed a good solid GK and signed a very promising ST, we failed to sign some of the players we needed. We failed to sign a world class ST, top quality DM and young CB/experienced RB.

Saying that, I can see that Wenger, in terms of signing super quality players – adding the final pieces of the puzzle – is taking it one step at a time. Wenger has shown a willingness to spend big on world class talent and building a title winning team is a gradual process.

In future transfer windows I can definitely see Wenger trying to sign a young CB to start the process of rebuilding our central defence, as Vermaelen, Koscielny and Mertesacker are all starting to age, or buying an experienced RB to come into the squad with Sagna moving to CB; a top quality DM as a long term replacement for Arteta and Flamini; and a world class ST who come into the squad and play in our biggest matches while giving Giroud some competition.

For the four competitions we are currently in (EPL, CL, FA Cup and the League Cup) I feel our current squad with the new additions could/should achieve the following:

EPL- 3rd place finish

In terms of potential EPL champions this campaign has been as open as it has ever been. The return of Mourinho has seen Chelsea improve significantly, while the appointment of Moyes at Manchester United have seen United drop from their best. Manchester City have spent as they always do, but there seems to be a bit of uncertainty as to how Pellegrini and Manchester City’s new look team will fare over the entire season. Whilst Liverpool and Tottenham, who have also spent quite a lot of money, will be expecting to get into the top four.

I can see Chelsea remaining very solid throughout the campaign and my bet is on them winning the title, while I can see Manchester City and Manchester United fighting for that second place finish, which I feel Manchester City will come out on top for; which will then lead to us fighting United for that third place finish. For me, we are not genuine title contenders just yet.

We are missing the one or two super quality players needed to turn us into title contenders. If Wenger can pull off one or two more massive signings before next season we will be genuine title contenders and we will also be able to challenge the best teams in Europe in the CL.

CL- Quarter final finish

With the addition of a world class player such like Ozil and the signing of a versatile experienced player like Flamini, we should be aiming to get into last eight of the Champions League. Players like Ramsey and Giroud have improved massively, Wilshere is starting to get back to his best, whereas Monreal will be able to play for us in the Champions League (something he could not do last season), and not to mention the addition of Viviano who is a good solid GK.

FA Cup- Winners

Wenger is very likely to go with a strong team throughout the FA Cup. In the early rounds he may choose to play some of our very promising young players, but I feel when it comes to facing other EPL sides, or even sides from the Championship, he will show he means business and play the best eleven available for that particular fixture. In the latter stages of this competition we may get knocked out by the likes of City and Chelsea, who have larger squads but we will and should be very close to winning this competition.

League Cup- Winners

Wenger again is very likely to go with a strong team throughout the League Cup. In the early rounds he may choose to play some of our very promising young players, but I feel when it comes to facing other EPL sides of even sides from the Championship he will show he means business and play the best eleven available for that particular fixture. Again, in the latter stages of this competition we may get knocked out by the likes of City and Chelsea who have larger squads but we will and should be very close to also winning this competition.

As Arsenal fans, all we want is for our team to be able to compete for trophies. For us to do this, Wenger needed to buy players. In my opinion, I feel the players Wenger has signed have improved the quality of our squad while increasing our overall squad depth. While the CL and EPL is probably out of our reach (for this season at least), there is no reason why we cannot go and win a FA Cup or League Cup to end our trophy drought, or even win both as well as challenging (coming closer) to the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea in the league and start to catch up with the elite teams in Europe.

Are you happy with the players we signed?

Did we sign players in the positions we needed to?

Where do you see us finishing (in all four of the competitions we are currently in) this season with these new additions?

Written by: AFC