OPTIONS TO KEEP THE TEAM GOING
It's Christmas Eve and in my football life, I'm not feeling particularly festive. The film is more Nightmare Before Christmas than Klaus on Netflix (great film, man, great film).
Arteta has admitted for the second time in a year that he has the thinnest squad in the Premier League, and we now have the chance to play with that accolade without our best player for 2-3 months.
The reality for every major club in the Premier League is that no one has adequate backup for their very best players.
If Liverpool lose Salah, they're in trouble. Don't talk to me about Cody Gakpo picking up the pieces.
City lost Rodri and they're talking about Pep being a fraud; who do you think is stepping in for Haaland?
Spurs lost their best players and went from being an average Europa League side to getting absolutely battered by Liverpool in second gear.
Arsenal had backup in Raheem Sterling, who we were all pretty excited about (ok, just me), but now he's out of action.
The challenge Arsenal have is you have to sign a player who is capable for more than 5 months. There's no point in blowing money on something to make the fans feel better, because those same fans will destroy you if you have to rely on that player the season after (Odion Ighalo).
That leaves you with opportunistic loan moves, which we're going to struggle to make unless we sign Sterling or Neto on permanent deals. Or, you have to sign players you had planned for the summer. Which tends to mean the teams you're buying from have to be out of everything (Southampton), need funds to bolster (West Ham), need to ship a problem (United), or they have to be players from teams that are in desperate financial situations (Barca).
The pattern tends to be the same for most teams... the situation is rarely so bad that the answer is to sell a crown jewel... and we're in the market for jewels.
Jorginho was an excess piece from a team swimming in new players. Trossard was an attitude problem that worked out really well for us, Martin Ødegaard was a loan move because Madrid just didn't rate him.
Mbeumo is playing for a Brentford that is flying, Semenyo is at a side that'll be flush with cash after selling Solanke, Marcus Rashford is only attractive to people who are writing "One Last Dance"-like scripts in their heads. But, aside from the mountains of personal problems he has, he really is the only player on the list you could almost guarantee would do an adequate job IF his head was right and he wanted to do the work.
But what are the chances there?
That does make me look to the continent... Barcelona are in extremely bad shape financially, again. The story is Dani Olmo can't be registered. If they truly are in a mess, then someone like Raphinha could be an option again. That said, signing players from their dream clubs also comes with baggage. Nothing is ever the same as Barcelona. Every move is a drop down, especially to a Brazilian. We also have to be realistic: would Barcelona really ship a player who has 17 goals and 10 assists, mid-season, to make way for Dani Olmo? I'm not so sure...
Can we also stop asking to see the return of Reiss Nelson? He injured his hamstring even worse than Saka and is out for 10 weeks.
The one players that does feel, very, very Arteta is Kudus at West Ham. He’s a bonified star for them, he has really good output, he’s very strong, won the most duels in the league, and will have character references from Jurrien Timber. The money is big, but if we wanted him in the summer, West Ham might be tempted to cash in to bolster elsewhere. Mad that they put so much down on Fulkrig, but that’s to our advantage. You also have the benefit that he’s Premier League ready.
Internal solutions feel very Wenger-esque, but there are benefits because the players know the system, and you give the opportunity to the shadow-dwellers to feel the light of being the main man.
Gabriel Jesus has played on the right many times in his career, and he's currently looking like one of our best players. The drawback is he rarely sustains the form, and even if he does, he's always 4 games from tweaking something and rupturing his flow.
Martinelli can play on the right. He looked very comfortable against a Palace on the ropes, and his form has been very questionable all season long. But... we know he's capable, and why wouldn't you roll the dice on someone so young and hungry?
Tougher decisions that start to push the boundaries are names like Kai Havertz. He landed his mega-money move to Chelsea after contributing to goal feasts in Germany. He lacks the pace and trickery to be a one-vs-one god out there, so would seem like a tough pivot.
Ethan Nwaneri hasn't been able to break into the starting 11, but Arteta rates his finishing, and it's sometimes easier for young players to get minutes when they're out wide. Just ask Ramsey and Wilshere about that.
There are examples of big wide players dropping out of the side. Robert Pires blew his knee in March 2002, down the home stretch, when we were in contention for the Premier League and the FA Cup. We won both, then the whole squad bowed down to him like a god when we lifted the trophy.
What did we do? Arsenal won 10 games on the bounce to secure the league. That season, Thierry scored 32, Freddie 17, Wiltord 17, Dennis 14, even Kanu popped up with 6 goals.
A new signing lifts the dressing room, gives players the feeling that help is at hand, and can bring new options... but if we're honest, the only way we get through 8-10 weeks without Bukayo is if players like Kai, Martin, Martinelli, Jesus, and Trossard step up and start scoring more goals at a faster clip.
Ok, short post today. Enjoy your Christmas party, don't drink and drive, and make sure you dominate all conversations with extreme Arsenal takes. Make Christmas Eve about you... it's how your partner would want it, even if they don't show appreciation of it in the moment. x
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