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From Arsenal.com
Morning all.
The signing of Ezri Konsa has kind of slipped by without much fuss. His arrival was announced just before Fridays opening game of the season and presented to the fans but the focus was probably more on the match and how we would fare in our first game as Premier League Champions. As it turned out, Arsenal fared pretty well.
That’s two 28 year old signings made this summer and both are from Premier League clubs. As said the other day, Guimaraes and Konsa might have cost a lot of money considering their age but they are for now. They are about experience, they are probably about not only defending our Premier League crown but going for the Champions League title too. Jon’s knows what it’s like to win a trophy in Europe, albeit not the biggest one on offer.
I read somewhere earlier in the summer that Arsenal needed evolution during this transfer window and not revolution and I think that’s exactly what the club has done. A few tweaks here and there but nothing drastic. At least not yet anyway but with the ongoing curiosity surrounding Gabriel Martinelli’s situation, perhaps even Viktor Gyokeres’ too, who knows what might happen over the next eight days. If nothing turns out to be the answer, I think the majority of Arsenal fans will be happy with the transfer business the club has completed this summer. Not only have we added players, one of whom is Tzolis who looks an absolute steal at £34m but we have Nwaneri back, a year older Dowman and a fully fit Saka, Havertz and Odegaard.
Back to Konsa though who I doubt we’ll see for a week or two yet as he needs a few training sessions after the summer break, Arsenal’s record of signing defenders has been very good of late. Calafiori, Hincapie, Timber, White, Mosquera and one of the first in under Arteta, Gabriel. Is there a defender you’d swap any of them for right now?
Konsa is recognised as being a right footed defender who can play central or at right-back. He’s not the quickest defender in the game but nevertheless, he’s quick. He’s confident playing out from the back as well as pushing out from the back with the ball. Shot blocking and clean tackling are his strengths, the latter with a ‘91% success rate and he’s as good in the air as he is on the ground. He made 48 appearances for Villa last season as well as playing for England in the World Cup.
All well and good of course but it’s replicating his strengths for Arsenal which counts now and in the future.
The Premier League threw up a couple interesting and quite amusing results yesterday. The first game of the day saw new promoted Hull City, who are only in the league because Southampton were kicked out of the playoffs, defeat Manchester Utd 2-0 and then in the last game of the day, Brentford thumped Totts 3-0 which could easily have been 6/7-0. Sangare was excellent in midfield and one to be aware of when we play Brentford.
I don’t think much can be taken from either result other than in Hull, they are strong at set-pieces and Totts were dire despite spending over £200m this summer and are still active in the transfer market.
We know what it’s like to lose on the opening day of the season to a newly promoted club but if my memory serves me right, we had a lot of players absent when we went to Brentford. But, I do think Carrick could struggle this season, in fact I wouldn’t bet against him being the first managerial casualty of this campaign.
Today’s fixtures see Newcastle Utd host Liverpool, Aston Villa travel to Brighton and in the final game of the day, Man City take on Bournemouth at The Etihad.
Catch up in the comments.