Last night a 25-man Arsenal squad jet off Down Under for our first matches in Australia in 40 years.
A number of players were conspicuous by their absence. Does that mean their days at the Emirates are numbered?
In his latest Gunnervlog, James casts an eye over who has and hasn’t made the trip and what it means for our transfer window.
Announce Lemar.
I think it’s dependent on Leicester and Mahrez if they budge. At 45m reportedly, we aren’t far from Mahrez’s price (rather Leicester) He’s really worth 35m but the market is heated. We may get 35m if we wait but if we want to bring him in now, then maybe 40-45m is plausible. Depends on Leicester. Surely they would want to cash in and have the time to replace him too. Prefer Mahrez between the two. More experience (and with Lacazette bedding into PL, he is already familiar). Also technically more skillful (and less predictable) of the two but Lemar does… Read more »
I think they’re different players. If you look carefully at the past, since the move to 4-3-2-1 Arsene wants one wide man who menaces and penetrates with and without the ball, and one who drifts in space and whose head is on a swivel to find the runner. Lemar seems the former to me, and Mahrez the latter. Which one makes more sense depends on whether Arsene more trusts Iwobi/the Jeff to take over for Ozil, or Ox/Nelson to take over for Alexis. With uncertainty around Ox and Nelson only 16, Lemar makes a lot more sense right now.
“Wellease Bwian”
No Szcz, very sad.
but…Ospina
I really hope we get to see Nkietah. He’s been tearing it in our youth system and maybe this is his moment.
“you will never know, anything about my home”
It’s from the song “Nikita” by Elton John…I am wasted on you lot! 🙂
It’s one of those songs that all our lives would be richer for having never heard it. 🙂
Not many Elton fans here obviously
Debuchy has been training, James. He’s is in a fair few of the pre season photos.
Is Jeff still injured?
Xhaka=ARSENAL. Ramsey=ARSENAL
Kolasinac=ARSENAL. Lacazette=ARSENAL
Coquelin?≠ARSENAL Elnery?≠ARSENAL
Carvalho(SPORTING) kampl(LEVERKUSEN)
to guarantee the championship
William carvalho – very slow, not a very good passer, not a good dribbler. So why in the hell would you want him?
Carvalho is medioce. Don’t believe the media hype. remember Stones to City for 47m? Who’s Holding? Clearly Wenger is clueless and cohort of media ex-mediocre players turned pundits know it all… We’ve been linked to midfielders who have been prescribed as answers to our woes before..remember Yann Mvilla, Ettiene Capoue? Bakayoko still seems unresolved. Personally I prefer we get him than Lemar. Also Demirbay at TSG Hoffenhiem looks decent. We have been linked too to Inter’s Marko Brozovic. Inter have made noise (spaletti not allergic to purchasing ex-Arsenal…remember Gervinho?) about Alexis. Kongdogbia in their squad has mixed reviews but plenty… Read more »
FM?
I can see Kolasinac in a DM role.. he is certainly built for it, and if we were to sign Lamar, a left winger, surely that would make space for Sead in the DM role? He has himself said he is very versatile and able to play in the middle…
Has he ever played in a DM role for a period of time? Is that you Arsene?
Mark my words
Nothing surprising. 1) Jenkinson, Debuchy, Gibbs, Campbell, Perez all need to be cut. 2) Jack will be difficult to sell (injury) as Walcott (wages). Elneny is mediocre and will stay around in periphery happily only bc there is no interest in him. 3) Giroud as I mentioned will more than likely stay and we should keep him bc he provides us with a different set of capabilities to Lacazette. If anything, Welbeck if he doesn’t sharpen up in front of goal is now the spare man. 4) Ox will likely stay, just haggling on wages. 5) We won’t be signing… Read more »
Nice post.
I think people underrate Elneny though. He is solid and brilliantly available for the ball all the time with a great engine imo.
I hope he stays.
You can’t be serious about Chambers for right wing back
i like elneny . he’s a better backup to xhaka than coquelin ever will be . besides i like how elneny never stops running . he’s constatly on the move , always available and gets in to shooting position . in a 343 he’s actually a better fit that ramsey , but obviously ramsey’s got more quality than elneny. so elneny can be a quality backup to both ramsey and xhaka
I am guessing you were the only upthumb on my comment. 🙂
Chambers is a RCB in the 3-4-3, though he can play RB in a pinch in a 4-3-2-1 especially now that Kolasinac is available as a LB with pace (we need one bombing wide man to provide width up front in the 4-3-2-1). But I really think Wenger sees Chambers sitting to the right of Holding in a back 3, especially in a year or two. Gabriel, in my opinion, is the more likely to get shunted wide. With Kos, Gabriel, and Mustafi probably ahead of him, my bet is Chambers spends another year on loan, though the manager may… Read more »
Ospina is in Sydney…maybe he isn’t too impress with offers for him.
Next season’s squad (Two for every position) :
……………………………………Giroud/Welbeck*……………………………………….
Ox/(New Player)………………….Ozil/Iwobi……………………..Lacazette*/Walcott
………………….Granit/(New Player)……Ramsey/Coquelin………………………….
Kolasinac/Monreal…………………………………………………….Bellerin/Chambers
………………….Koscielny/Holding……….Mustafi/ Gabriel……………………………
……………………………………Cech/Ospina/Martinez…………………………………
* Lacazette can plat top (particularly 3-4-3), Welbeck left wing.
Santi, Per senior players make 25.
BC Santi is still on the mend, Elneny will hover around in periphery (for lack of buyers) in his place and be content with it (which is his main asset)
That makes 25. Two new players hopefully maybe some young hopefuls like the Jeff on periphery but likely to be loaned for experience.
arsenal spent record money to get a striker and you think we will play him in the wings . maybe you should leave this thing to wenger himself
Why is Wenger dressed like the ground staff?
Is he saving money for an Mbappe bid still?
He does look a bit ridiculous – doesn’t help that he’s stood next to Per, who must be the almost tallest man in the squad. Would’ve thought it could’ve been arranged a bit better – thought he was quite open to rotating squad formation now ….
His outfit is genuinely hilarious. He looks like he’s about to grab two paddles and help guide the plane onto the runway. That said, I was more interested in the BFG’s long socks, which seem a little unnecessary for embarking on a plane. Perhaps he’s worried about DVT.
With Alexis probably going and with one more signing this could be our first eleven playing three at the back?
Cech
Bellerin
Holding
Kos
Monreal
Kolasinac
Xhaka
Ramsey
Ozil
Lemar
Lacazette
I now disagree with myself on this but can’t be bothered to delete it. 🙂
you put holding ahead of mustafi , i freaking love u dude . mustafi might’ve cost more but holding definitely showed us he is less error prone and more reliable than mustafi . maybe because of mustafis experience he will play ahead of him but in the longer run holding should definitely be a starter ahead of him
I put him ahead of our BFG as I think Mustafi is a bit rubbish.
We should loan Jack, walcott and perez until January and sell to highest bidder, same may happen to giroud. This means we are covered if we need to spend big in january.
Off topic but since there precious little happening in the world of all things Arsenal, here’s Källström scoring for his Djurgården against GIF Sundsvall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66A1-fn-DQM
I know James says friendlies arent the most thrilling to watch, but dont be fooled by Australian teams. They want to win against the big boys, and will play as competitively as they can! Its our aussie underdog attitude to always be up for a clash with the big boys. In any sport.
I just hope the players at SydneyFC or Wanderers dont go in too hard in a tackle and injure one of the stars.
Oddly, I don’t recall ever having a seat like those on any flight I have ever been on. Business class, probably.
With Woj, Jenkinson, and Gibbs all leaving the club we’re going to be short of home-grown players. Martinez, Maitland-Niles, Ramsey, Bellerin, Iwobi and Coq are the only 6 near certain to make the squad (Maitland-Niles won’t need to be registered, so he doesn’t even count).
I think the Jeff staying home means he’s going on loan, which means either that some of the youth forwards heading to Australia will make the first team roster, or Ox is staying. Otherwise it just doesn’t seem like we have the home-grown quota.