Morning all.
I saw this in the Daily Mail online. It relates to the transfer window and what “Arsenal need to do and why”.
Despite their lucrative spending already, Arsenal still need to add depth. Their title race collapsed last season with the loss of several key players through injuries and they’ll to avoid a repeat of that. Mikel Arteta’s side have an even more congested fixture list this season – with the addition of the Champions League – so will need to continue to acquire players that will play a key role this season.
RATING: 8/10
Call me an old cynic but I thought playing Europa League Thursday/Sunday was supposed to be the thorn in football clubs side, not the Champions League fixture schedule. Regardless of which competition in Europe we qualify in, the result is the same, an extra fixture a week at certain times of the season until we’re knocked out. Same goes for the FA Cup, we’ll always be in it but not until the new year which leaves the League Cup and that’s gets going quite early in the season.
The Champions League draw takes place on the 31st August then we’ll have two extra fixtures a month until just before Christmas. By then we’ll know if Arsenal are through to the knockout stages which begin in February 2024.
Perhaps The Mail are confused with the new Champions League format which comes into play in 2024/25. It’s then that all qualified clubs will play eight matches (instead of six) against eight different opponents – four home ties and four away. All 36 clubs will be ranked in one single league table instead of being in groups. The top eight will go straight into the knockout stages, while those from ninth to 24th will compete in two-legged play-offs to join them in the last 16. Clubs from the same league will be able to face each other earlier than they do now. The Athletic explains it better.
I had a quick gander around the Arsenal internet yesterday and noticed how quickly the the optimism for the upcoming season can change after one lousy result/performance in pre-season. A week ago, everything, or rather nearly everything was rosy and we’d just signed three top quality players whilst selling just one senior one. More are likely to be moved on but that was always inevitable when a lot of mature players had been out on loan. Like Mari, Cedric, Pepe, Lokonga, Trusty and Runasson. Even if/when those five, Mari has already gone, are sold, we will still have 30 first team players. Okonkwo has been linked with a move away, Holding and Tavares too – their sales would take the numbers down to 27. Two more departures required, more if Arsenal are intending to make further signings this summer. Marquinhos and Vieira out on loan seems the obvious solution to me. Selling one or more of Elneny, Tierney, Nketiah, Balogun, Jorginho or even Jesus appears to me to be the only way to free up further space in the squad.
Anyway, going back to the story at the top of the page, the only way our season will be more congested than last, is if Mikel Arteta’s squad goes further in both domestic cup competitions and reach the last eight of the Champions League. Plus, there’s no break for a World Cup which will make a big difference to the fixture schedule for every club. Obvious the season ahead will be tough, extremely tough as I fully expect Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea etc to be better than they were last season but then we should be too.
Catch up in the comments.
heavy schedule, but arsenal can manage this.
Good morning Rico.
Let’s not forget that United are still entangled in the not so imminent sale of the club, so are struggling to sign significant reinforcements. Chelsea are in a state of flux with a new manager and the need to sort out a lop-sided squad. Liverpool have an aging squad and are losing experienced players at a rate of knots, without, so far, signing appropriate replacements. City are another example of the ageing squad syndrome and Guardiola will have to make big decisions soon about how to reduce the average age of his players. Lastly, Spurs are just still Spurs. The one club that are looking threatening is Newcastle, they are already active in the transfer market and have a very good manager and a sound financial basis.
It’s my opinion that we have strengthened the squad and are no longer in a state of transition and all our important players are signed up to long term contracts. With one or two exceptions we have a young, but Premiership experienced squad playing to a well rehearsed system in which the whole team are invested.
I’m looking forward to a bright and vibrant season.
The media follows the social media narrative, these people aren’t journalists they just spend all day trawling Twitter, Facebook etc for ideas because they’ve never had an idea of their own in their entire lives. I read some critiyof Ramsdale after the United game and hey presto suddenly some genius of Talk Nonsense was banging on about Ramsdale this and Ramsdale that yesterday, it’s all bollocks, they have nothing to add to the debate and should be disregarded…
Good post Rico btw, you should ge5 a job on the Daily Mail you talk more sense than those charlatans.
I’d heard of the cha ges to the CL, it’s all show iz isn’t it, the CL, a moneybox but I’m glad we’re back in it.
Morning Cicero, Kev.
You’re right Cicero, a number of the so called top 4/6 are in transition but as much as Liverpool are losing experience, they have made a couple of good signings I think. Poch should in theory should do better with his collection of players but Utd, although bullish the other night, won’t last imo.
I still think we’ll be there or there abouts come May.
Thanks Kev. The negative media coverage Arsenal get is incredible really. They really don’t like seeing us do well do they. Pathetic really.
It’s interesting that the genius in the Daily Mail didn’t stipulate where exactly Arsenal needed strengthening, maybe I missed it, it was a generalisation from a nobody whose never had an original thought in his life.
Arsenal ran out of steam last season because we lost Saliba, simple as that, not when Jesus got injured, not when Partey lost his energy but it was all down the Big Bill and having no adequate cover – well this season we do have adequate cover what we don’t have is the element of surprise and that’s what we’ve gotta adjust to. Also other teams will have seen how Man Utd roughed us up and they’ll try the same tactic so we need to be more resolute and physical because our referees won’t protect us. We have to reconnect with the togetherness, that all for one and one for all sense of unity – and I’m sure we will once the real football starts and the fans are behind the team.
Isn’t that always the way?
Sky pundits do it too. They used to talk about us needing to spend big in certain positions but seldom was a name mentioned or whether that player was available.
Saying that, I do worry about our attacking unit and where the goals are going to come from if the team can’t replicate the sharing of goals as they did last season. That’s why I’d rather we kept Balogun, at least for one season.
I don’t think we faded just because of losing Saliba, I think there was a multitude of reasons. Rotation, or rather not enough of it, especially because of the World Cup and players were knackered. But no, not because of the injury to Jesus, in fact I think we were better without him.
Fair enough Rico, but to me the whole team had to adapt when Saliba dropped out, White stayed back more to cover Holding, Partey also and by the time Arteta took Holding out the damage was done and injuries were piling up, yeah rotation I agree but the depth of the squad wasn’t there, players like Tavares, Lokonga, Marquinhos, Niles, had been loaned out because they weren’t up to it and it left us short.
Afternoon Rico and all.
Injuries and lack of rotations played a part but I still feel we lacked that killer instinct to put some matches to bed, even Arteta later said himself we needed to get more of a killer instinct, as we sore last season 2 nil up was not guaranteed a win, however finishing 2nd was way better than 5th place were I thought / hoped we would finish.
Anyway it’s onwards to Barcelona on Thursday . Lets see how that pans out according to .com it’s 3.30 am kickoff so I doubt that I will be staying up for this one. Will be interesting to see who plays and in what positions.
RIP Trevor Francis.. 69 years old.
I’m not doubting we missed Saliba Kev, just other factors too.
Anyway, as Potter suggests, on to Barca and this coming season. 3-30 is a no from me too, unless another bout of insomnia hits me..
Hi Geoff.
Paris Saint-Germain ‘ACCEPT £259MILLION bid for Kylian Mbappe’ from Al-Hilal, as PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi ‘allows Saudi side to speak to French superstar’ .
Ridiculous!!
A bit of money washing here then ! Get’s PSG out of FFP problems ,
I read elsewhere that Mbappe was moving to Al-Hilal on a two year contract but he has an agreement to join Real Madrid when his contract with PSG runs out next summer. An open case of finacial shenanigans.
My thoughts exactly. The Ozark of football…
And you know what, UEFA will do nothing as the influence of the Middle East grows and the competition becomes totally compromised.
No matter what happens against Barcelona, unless we get beat 5 nil I am still looking forward to the new season.
but more importantly right now let’s hope we can move some players on and maybe still bring in another striker from somewere.
I don’t think that a specific striker is in Arteta plans , he is not ready for the Haaland route he is still in the shadow of Guardiola’s post Aguero period.
Nketiah may be a sort of fox in the box, but a number nine he is not. I no longer know what Jesus is now, but he’s not going to get twenty plus goals in this coming season. Why not give Balogun a chance?
I don’t either, seems to me he likes a false 9, well, we have plenty of them. 😂
Personally, I’d love it if we could find a 25 year old Giroud kind of player.l
Should we read much into Balogun training alone?
I don’t think that Balogun will be with us next season, Arteta/Edu will grab he cash, anywhere between £30 and £50 million. We will then have to pay far more than that if we want a genuine number nine.
Exactly so what’s the point when we don’t even know how he’d slot into the team yet. Jesus isn’t scoring enough, Eddie is hit and miss too..
Spurs owner Joe Lewis has been charged over alleged insider trading in the USA.
Chickens coming home to roost , they have been living beyond their means for years despite all the government handouts. Rumoured to be
£ 100 million for the stadium rebuild
£ 5 million form the Premier League
£ 32 million from the London development agency
£ 70 million tax break .
Didn’t they do well !
Going to be interesting to see what happens to Tottenham if their owner is found guilty.
https://dailycannon.com/2023/03/arsenal-tottenham-stadium-finance/#:~:text=Tottenham%20Hotspur%27s%20new%20stadium%2C%20located,%C2%A332m%20of%20government%20grants
Poor old Joe Lewis… 😂
If poor old Joe gets banged up he will not be allowed to remain as owner of Spurs.. Enter the Saudi Public Investment Fund! That would be a test for UEFA, Fifa and The Premiership as the PIF already own Newcastle Unlted.
I wonder if Joe Lewis has a bank account with Coutts?
PIF also have significant investment in Chelsea, whilst not totally in control they have an influence which could be seen as an unfair, uncompetitive influence.
Another can of worms the FA/PL need to look into..
New post up.