Freepik.
Morning all.
It’s no secret that Mikel Arteta’s teams have often struggled against opponents who deploy a low block. Or teams who are solid in defence, good on the break. Finding a way to rectify this has no doubt been in Mikel Arteta’s mind for a while. Watching us huff and puff in and around the box, hoping someone will do something magical, well, it’s been painful.
Come across opponents who like to open and expansive football has in my opinion, been easier for Arsenal to overcome. Perhaps that’s why we did so well in the Champions League because European football doesn’t always follow the Premier League way of playing. Or at least that’s how it seems to me.
PSG are a different animal altogether because they have it all. From keeper to Dembele, they work well both on and off the ball. They have tacklers, dribblers, direct players, wingers, a top notch striker matched by a top class goalkeeper. They are the leading example of almost perfect football in my opinion. What’s interesting though is they’ve achieved that by dumping a number of big names and big egos. Enrique clearly doesn’t take any nonsense either because it didn’t matter that it was Dembele, he still dropped him for disciplinary reasons for our Champions League fixture at the league stage.
If you look at the players Arsenal have signed since Mikel Arteta became manager, not one has arrived with a reputation of being a bit of big time Charlie. Yes, a few have been expensive, but in most cases, worth it. Admittedly, the likes of Lokonga, Vieira, Tavares etc didn’t work out as hoped but that’s football.
Also, if we look at the players Arsenal have signed so far this summer, no egos just solid players who will add strength and depth to our team/squad and bring something different to the way we play. If we sign Noni Madueke, he’ll give us something very different to what we already have too. Pace, width, two footed, can play left and right and he’s a dribbler. No, not that kind of dribbler. lol
Arsenal seem to be addressing our needs. Slowly yes but hopefully surely. For what it’s worth, I think Norgaard is an excellent signing. Premier League ready, a leader and pretty darned good in both boxes.
From Arsenal.com
Eze, Gyokeres and Mosquera are reported to still be on Arsenals radar and should all three arrive, then in my opinion, this will be a very good transfer window for the club. Gabriel and Lewis-Skelly have committed their future to the club and once Saka, Nwaneri and Saliba do the same, then it’ll be even better.
I doubt anyone likes the fact that we’re helping Chelsea raise funds with the Madueke deal but what’s the difference between buying from them or another Premier League club? They’ve already signed the players they wanted anyway so it’s not like we’re helping them buy more, they’ll do that regardless of what we do and they can only name 25 in their league squad just like the rest of the clubs. Far more important than what Chelsea do is what Arsenal do.
The reality of a transfer window is that we will seldom agree amongst ourselves on what the club do, let alone agree with the clubs decisions but ultimately, until the season kicks off, we won’t know how these new players fit into the team or what impact they will have on the way we play. So until then, I’m keeping an open mind.
The players and staff have landed in Spain for a training camp. Timber and Gabriel are there which is great news.
Catch up in the comments.