Thursday, March 28, 2024

Odegaard and Arteta delighted by impact of new boys

Martin Odegaard says it didn’t take long for Jorginho to make a big impression on his new Arsenal teammates following his January move.

Signed on deadline day to provide strength in depth in midfield, the 31-year-old has looked very comfortable providing cover for Thomas Partey in the last three league outings.

Combined with the impact made by fellow new boy Leandro Trossard, who has a goal and assist to his name already, it’s looking like the Gunners did very savvy business despite originally targeting other players.

“Great guys, they bring a lot of good things to the team,” Odegaard told the Evening Standard following Saturday’s 1-0 win at Leicester.

“Jorginho especially has a lot of experience. He’s won a lot of things, brings that mentality into the team and helps the young players. It’s great to have him on board.

“He’s a great player, we saw that from the first day when he came here. He brings a lot of quality, he’s very calm on the ball, finds the right passes and dictates the game. He’s nice to play with.”

Manager Mikel Arteta has been similarly impressed by the intelligence of his new arrivals who’ve been very quick to understand the fundamentals of Arsenal’s technical football.

Facing the media at the King Power, he said: “Two players already that have experience in the league, that really fitted our way of playing, really intelligent both of them to understand what is required in many situations that we demand them to execute certain things and they have the personality to come here and play the way they played is what is required at this level.”

He also reserved praise for the club’s chief negotiators who helped get deals over the line at an important moment in the season.

“We were very clear about what we wanted to do, we could not do it and we had to adapt,” he said.

“You have to do that in the window. Don’t feel sorry for ourselves. Everybody from the board — Edu especially with [director of football operations] Richard Garlick — were really strong in doing what we had to do, and we were first there to get what we wanted.”

Arsenal now play every three days until an Interlull kicks in at the end of March. Everton and Bournemouth visit the Emirates on Wednesday and Saturday respectively, a trip to Fulham is sandwiched by a Europa League double-header with Sporting Lisbon before Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace pay us a visit.

The new boys are going to see a lot more action.

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Cliff Bastin

And we have Jesus to come back. Man it’s the hope that kills 😓

C.B.

Just what we needed, two skilful experienced players to help out the youthful and talented side we have.

4 home matches in the next 5 PL games, March could be good for us, so a chance we still have hope before a harder April/May.

We all would have taken it at the start of the season! Fingers are crossed!

Hass

Whatever happens at the end of this season it’s safe to say I think for the majority of us it’s been the most enjoyable for a long while. Of course we’ll all be gutted if we were to come 2nd but this team has made me believe again and after back to back 8th place finishes it’s a nice feeling to have

Anon

and Smith-Rowe and Nelson

Daveo

Thomas won’t believe you that Jesus is back until he see’s him on the pitch.

Guns&Gooners

Fantastic recruiting once again. We got exactly what we needed. Exciting times ahead!

allezkev

Congratulations Blogs, 21 today.
Thanks for all the great output.

wrightstuff8

Yep happy 21st Blogs. Massive achievement. Flippin love this blog

Jesus of Sao Paulo

Gabby Jesus coming back will be like a new signing! But before then I’d love to see a continuation of Martinelli/Trossard/Saka partnership upfront especially against teams that park the bus hoping to catch us on counter attack or in set pieces. Leicester was well and truly contained by the attacking threat posed by our fantastic front 3. With Partey back it’s bound to be more awesome. COYFRG! ❤

I’d be fairly confident that Martinelli and Trossard both start again on Wednesday.

Sean

Fully agreed. Wednesday for example is not the kind of game you want to turn into a battle, with Eddie attempting to physically impose himself on the likes of Tarkowski and Coady. Just look how that worked out for us a couple of weeks ago. Need to keep this fluid front three in place, and let our movement confuse their centre-backs. Partey for Jorginho (and *only* if fully fit) is the one change I’d be happy with mid-week.

Kiwamya

Partey would have definitely been rushed back for Leicester if we hadn’t signed Jorghino.

Fatgooner

Excellent performance on Saturday. That was the most comfortable 1-0 win that you could ever see. We did precisely what we desperately needed to do: we returned to that pre-World Cup form and defeated a good Leicester side comfortably. Top-quality defending was the key: we were superb.

If we can maintain this form until the end of the season then we have every chance of winning the title.

The returns of both Jesus and ESR would be really useful with all this extra football coming up.

Oddo

At 43 minutes in against Leicester, their Xg was 0, possession 26 percent, and zero goal attempts.

We totally locked them down at their home.

Frosty

I reckon I’ll get a few (lots of?) thumbs down, but: all these transfer back up plans make me wonder if plan A wasn’t such a great idea in the first place. Mudryk has shown himself to be not too smart (with social media at least), and has been regarded in Ukraine ‘as having legs faster than his brain’. Would he have the intelligence to work with Arteta’s system? I can’t really judge his football attributes right now, because lol @ chelsea…

C.B.

He is playing for a mid-table side, so it is hard for him, and to judge a 21-year old.

But agree Plan B is looking like far the better one given our circumstances and the players bought (and for a lot less than Mudryk…).

Emi Rates

Mudryk would likely have fared better under Arteta than Potter who is out of his depth and unable to turn him into the player he could be. Mudryk chose that himself so fuck him. Hope the extra millions he didn’t need was worth his career stalling.

More important though, Trossard has been a joy to watch since he arrived. I’m so glad we have him.

Santi’s Thigh Grab

To me, Mudryk was being controlled by his agent and his club both of whom profited greatly from the deal. They both wanted more upfront money and Chelsea likely paid him more salary. He would have been a good player at £40 for us, but anything over that is a roll of the dice. Very few players meet their valuations once they go over £70. We dodged one there and who knows we may get another opportunity once Chelsea decides to sell him in three years for £40. Much happier bringing in PL experienced players to win now. The club’s… Read more »

C.B.

I’d have forked out for him at £70…

TeeCee

Easy tiger.
Fifty quid and a couple extra for every goal he scores for the next season.
Seventy up front? That’s for mugs like Chelsea.

Group Captain Mandrake

Santi’s post said £70, not £70M. Pedantic for sure, but I’d take him for that too.

Emi Rates

If he’s so easily coerced into gambling his future then it’s just another reason why he doesn’t belong at Arsenal. We are a level now where we require serious players who are focused on what they want, not immature children. Personally I don’t ever want to see him at Arsenal. Not even if he came for free.

mjc1892

Think that’s a bit unfair, I would suspect there are some very persuasive folk doing business behind the scenes with football clubs, especially Chelsea and Shakhtar both of whom seem often involved in questionable deals.
And by persuasive I mean dangerous.
If that were the case, can’t really expect the poor kid to make a stand. I just feel sorry for him!

Emi Rates

Until I’m presented with facts like there was a gun to his head, or similar, I’ll have him down as someone who talked big about wanting to be at Arsenal but was persuaded by a few more millions he didn’t need to join a club whose fans sing songs about their former owner who also happens to be Putin’s favourite oligarch. My sympathy for Mudryk is zero.

Unfettered tr...

I had to proof read your entire post, to make sure you weren’t missing an M on your keyboard.

VAR will solve all the problems

Yes… no one is mentioning Kiwior but he is a super talented defender as well. So hoping to see him give Gabriel and Saliba some competition

Tony2

Disagree Emi. Mudyrk wanted to join us. It was the clauses written into his contract that couldn’t be agreed. ( ballon doir winner being just 1)Cfc jumped in gave the asking price without quibbling. He would have thrived with us no doubt in my mind

Emi Rates

Mudryk wanted to join us, then Tubb Bollock wiggled his flabby man tits at him and he had a sudden change of heart and wanted to be at Chelsea instead. It’s all in Tubb’s man tits I guess. I hope they are happy together.

Emi Rates

“ballon doir (sic) winner”

You need to score goals to get one of them. So far he’s scored nothing.

Eric Blair

But where would he have fit in? At that price he would have want Ted to be a starter, but he plays wide where we already have Martin Ellis and Saka. Just a thought.

beldar77

Did I miss the fact that Shaktar actually ever accepted an Arsenal offer? If they didn’t than Mudryk didn’t decide against Arsenal his club did.

Emi Rates

You missed the fact that Mudryk also decides where or if he goes. All this “poor lad he didn’t have a choice, oh they leaned on him the poor lad, he’s Ukrainian you know, so desperate to escape and hear tribute songs to Putin’s most beloved oligarch for the rest of his career” is a load of horseshit. He chose that disgusting Russian oligarchs nest because they tossed a few more million at him and that’s all it took for him to change allegiance in a flash. He definitely belongs at Chelsea. Even more so because he’s been shit for… Read more »

Emi Rates

And as for Shaktar, fuck them too. Unreliable underhanded greedy cunts. At least we know their level now so I sincerely hope we never do business with them again. Fool us once but not twice.

Ebo

So if Shaktar said to him there was no way they were selling him to Arsenal what would you have done in his place, stay there playing in a crappy league in a war torn country, earning much less than you could going to the Premier League? I’m sure a bunch of people were in his ears convincing him how it’s still London, still “a big club” (lol) and christ the kid’s 21, practically a baby, imagine you at that age with all of that money on the table, would you have been prepared to stay in Shaktar earning pennies… Read more »

Emi Rates

I just read an interview with the Shaktar president who alleges Mudryk was offered to stay until end of season and that they could probably sell him for even more money in the summer if he wanted too. Mudryk chose Chelsea, the club that owes its big club status to a Putin enabler which is still held in very high regard by the fans. A club steeped in Ukrainian blood and he’s tied to them for most of his career. But apart from being fickle and prioritising money over any principles he probably doesn’t have anyway it matters very little… Read more »

Ebo

Well, me too, so we agree on that front at least 🙂

I don’t actually disagree with almost anything else you’ve said, except I tend to be less judgmental of 21 year old kids who have much bigger issues than the first world problems we’re used to dealing with, when they make bad decisions like he has.

Mkh

Well, the money goes to the club rather than Mudryk. Seems he tried to come to Arsenal, but it did not work.

Giuseppe Hovno

More like MykhaylWHO? Mudryk

ALBangbang

Can’t judge Mudryk’s play too harshly, there are some absolute superstars playing like shite in that team. That said, it will knock his confidence and hamper his progression as a young player and he should have come to us. So judge him for his decision making as harshly as you like.

Emi Rates

He might come good for Cuntski but while that remains at might level it’s hard not to laugh as the player we bought in his place has scored one goal, had another goal disallowed and two assists in his short time here. Cuntski with all their disgusting money and their love for Putin’s favourite door opener are struggling while we cook on (non Russian) gas.

Long may it continue and COYG!

Emi Rates

We got two very decent and readymade reinforcements in Trossard and Jorginho. Looking forward to seeing Kiwior when he’s ready too. We have a good team now!

Hass

Happy 21st Blogs! Been my go to place to read all things Arsenal since I was in my early teens and hopefully many more years to come!

shokim

Huge congratulations on your 21st anniversary, Andrew! Many more to come 🥳🥂🍻🎂

Badaab

not sure if signing one midfielder while allowing another to go increases our depth, when we all saw we needed at least one more body in that position before elneny’s injury.
sincerely hope the recruitment team have all their targets lined up and ready to go when the season is over, because renewing another 30+ year old player isn’t going to get us the cover we need in the center of the park or we run the risk of being this season’s liverpool should we suffer 2 injuries

A Different George

So, at some point in the run in, we should have our “regular” starting 11 with the bench including the following: Turner, Tomiyasu, Kiwior (or Holding), Tierney, Jorginho, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Trossard, Nketiah.

I don’t know if we will win the title, but this is our strongest squad in a very long time.

It’s very unlikely that we go the rest of the season without any new injuries. When Jesus is back, someone else will probably be missing.

Teryima Adi

Jorginhno and Trossard are a great buy.

wrightstuff8

I really think they both are a blessing. It mirrors Martinez and Zinchenko in the summer. Plan B is Plan A in disguise! We saved an incredible amount of money in January with our plan B
Although I would love plan A to work this summer… Declan Rice would be tasty. Anyway enough daydreaming, we got a PL title to get first!!!!!!

All those players that were strongly linked but not signed since Mikel arrived; Raya, Onana, Martinez, Raphinha, Douglas Luiz, Caicedo, Mudryk, Felix, Vlahovic. Can’t say there’s been any huge regrets really. Although Raphinha would have been a great option to rotate with Saka.

Caicedo could still be a good purchase in the future but Brighton asking for silly money.

Eric Blair

I don’t watch a lot of West Ham, but couldn’t we do better than Rice? We will surely have a lot to spend on a midfielder having ‘saved’ a bit the last two Windows.

Qwaliteee

Agree.

He’s certainly not worth the £90m+ figure being bandied about.

Scored a good goal at the weekend, but flatters to deceive most of the time. Another Grealish. Good but somewhat overrated by the media.

Then again, someone like Arteta and the players we have might bring out the best in him.

Qwaliteee

Have to say I have been pleasantly surprised with Jorginho’s contributions thus far. Not quite the world superstar that some were heralding on transfer deadline day, but neither has he been (to date anyway) a last-paycheque Chelsea coaster. He has settled very quickly, is keen to do well and has – I’ll readily admit – given us something different. He doesn’t have Partey’s physicality, but with a skilful passing range, it isn’t really required. For now, I’m more than happy to neck a slice of Narnia humble pie, washed down with a Mr Tumnus cup of tea and a side… Read more »

Daveo

He’s fine. But he’s a backup and it shows. Great passing game, but he’s slow and a risk in open play. It’s still exactly the same for me as it was on transfer day – the less he plays in the league the better because Partey is the far superior player and one of our most crucial pieces on this team – we need him fit a firing for the run in. Jorgs is great to spell Partey in the Europa and I really hope that’s how it plays out. I think we should be doing a heavy dose of… Read more »

TexasRed

Has anyone seen an apology from Qualiteee or Johnny 4 Hats for all the ugly and uncalled-for names they called the club when we signed Jorginho? I’d settle for just meal of crow for those two.

Qwaliteee

Whilst you, of course, have been right about everything your entire life?

Go away.

Gabigol

Glad the squad is strong. In previous years we would be aiming for Jorginho and Trossard because they were quality at value prices and set THAT as our priority
Then we would fill out the squad with filler at bargain prices.

These days it is a whole level above, to the point such quality international players want to speak to us first, even as squad players.

Gabigol

What Mikel has done really well is to make everyone feel very included and equally part of the journey. Everyone works hard for each other . No excuses, no.blaming. the perfect psychologically safe environment to grow

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