Morning all.
When Arsenal announced that Mika Biereth had joined the club and signed his first professional deal back in July, I doubt many Arsenal fans took a lot of notice. Admittedly, I didn’t. The 18 year old came from Fulham off the back of being the under 18 Premier League south’s 2020/21 top scorer and admitted that when Arsenal came calling, he couldn’t say no.
It feels great and I’m really excited to be here. Mika said. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I couldn’t really turn it down. I think now with the recent track record of youth going into the first team, I thought it was a great project to try and be a part of.
Yesterday, he was part of the under 23 team which thrashed Chelsea 6-1 at their own ground. Flo Balogun scored two, Mika Biereth though, nabbed three. Arsenal were playing with ten men for much of the game too after Rekik received a harsh red card.
There’s a report on the game on the Chelsea website if you’re interested in reading more. Disappointingly, there’s absolutely nothing written about the game on Arsenal’s official website. Here’s a few highlights from YouTube.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpuyw4WFeZ8
For an 18 year old, he looks physically strong and he certainly caused the Chelsea defence problems. Any team from Arsenal which thrashes Chelsea is good news in my book but right now, it’s only something the women and academy are able to do. Give it time eh, give it time.
What’s great for Arsenal is that within the next few years, some of players who were beating the Chelsea under 23’s will be in the first team. They’d have had time working together in training, playing on a match day and building good relationships both on and off the pitch. The thought of Biereth and Balogun leading our attack is exciting I think. Plus we have Moller who is tipped to be top notch striker in time.
Of course Biereth is right, Arsenal are again an attractive club for younger players because Mikel Arteta has ripped up ‘let’s sign ready made’ script. All our summer signings were young with their best days in the game yet to come. Hopefully Arteta will be the one to turn Arsenal into a club which challenges for trophies but if he’s not, then so be it. It’ll be of his own doing if he’s replaced.
Biereth is as Rick says, the new kid on the block but he’s not the only one who looks as if he’ll enjoy a good career at Arsenal. Taylor-Hart, Patino, Balogun, Rekik, Ballard, John-Jules, Hein, to name a few, have a great chance of pushing their way into the first team in the future.
For now though, the enjoyment I get from watching Arsenal is mainly from the new signings Arsenal made in the summer along with the likes of Gabriel, ESR, Saka, Martinelli (when he plays) Tierney, AMN etc. Aubameyang, Pepe, Xhaka and even Leno just continue to disappoint. Still, they won’t always be at Arsenal.
See you in the comments.
Good morning Rico, a post a day keeps the site crashes at bay. 😉
It’s great to read that we have young strikers who know how to put the ball in the net, perhaps Aubameyang should be compelled to watch the videos, he may learn a few things.
I read this morning that Arteta is very pleased with Aaron Ramsdale, particularly with his ability to kick long balls over the top of defences. Just a shame we have nobody to take advantage of them. 😕
Morning Cicero, didn’t work yesterday 😜
Cicero, we’ve got Aubameyang for two more seasons – let it go… 😄
I bet we don’t Kev, I reckon he’ll be gone by the end of next summer’s transfer window.
How useless is Martin Atkinson and how useless is VAR?
Soucek clearly taken out but old duffer Atkinson saw nothing wrong and VAR must have been having a wee, obvious penalty No.1
Ronaldo fouled in the box, clear penalty No.2
Ronaldo probably fouled although he was going down before contact, maybe penalty?
We have the worst bunch of officials I can ever remember and nothing is done, Riley is a fraud and the Premier League are cowards.
The Premier League needs to start employing some of the top officials from around Europe and maybe the World, it is after all the biggest show in town!
Morning Rico, thanks for the post.
Depends Rico, depends on who is interested in him and whose prepared to pay what we’re paying?
Morning Kev, I guess Atkinson thought Utd didn’t need help yesterday… lol
Seriously though, dreadful decisions from Atkinson and VAR.
He might want out Kev, like Willian. Auba can’t cope with the PL anymore imho, he may see moving as a better option, especially if it’s for free.
“let it go” Kev? a misprint surely, should have been “let him go”. 😉
Morning Rico and all
Auba better start scoring our he may have a record he doesn’t want.
It’s called the longest stint on the bench by a fully fit captain.
Leave the VAR alone, why it’s helping us, let’s not rock the apple cart just yet
Morning Geoff.
I don’t think it’ll be long before our captain is benched. Imo, this is Mikel Arteta all over, give a player a handful of games and if it doesn’t work, he’s dropped. He’s done it before with Eddie, AMN, Cedric, Willock, even Chambers.
Let it go or let him go ? or even with Lacazette let them both go at the same time. ?
Lacazette is out of contract June 2022 , a year before Aubameyang and Pepe a year after that.
Rico I don’t know if Arteta will drop Auba as he could be worried about getting into the same situation as Ozil having our top earning player sitting on the bench and running his contract down.
I wouldn’t be sad if both go Potter.
Don’t think that would bother Mikel Geoff.
Well if Aubameyang and Lacazette and Nketiah all leave next summer, who do we replace them with?
Nobody is scoring any goals as it is, I can’t see Pepe or Saka or Smith scoring more than 10 between them, we need a goal scorer around the 24/25 age and probably a goal scoring winger/wide midfield, so that’s only about £120m 😁
Well I would buy 2 bargains at half that in Martial and Sane.
If we’re going for an English striker I would try for Ivan Toney.
That was my point , you can’t let them all go at the same time without a contingency plan . If we are going to hang our hats on Martinelli , Balogun , Bierith , John Jules etc we are going to have to spend to get the focal point.
To provide that striker , you need a couple of things , the first being European Football . The likes of Kane , Lukaku etc are not coming here without it and we need someone of that ilk to obtain it.Secondly you need a lot of money to attract them as any likely looking goalscorer will be up for auction with a very high reserve .
I don’t neccessarily blame the club as who would have thought that Aubameyang would completely dry up but it seems that he has and now is the time to be studying alternatives.
What about the Championship, there are some good strikers there I’m sure, or someone from overseas just waiting to burst onto the scenes.
Andy Carroll is a free agent and as such could be signed right now. If you reverse his age, he’s only 23, and that’s bang in the middle of our preferred age range. 😉
Andy Carroll it is then… 😵💫
Chelsea spent about £97m on a striker whose about 29 in Lukaku, Harry Kane would have cost around £120m and he’s what, 28?
I reckon that £60m/£70m would be a fair price for a goal scorer and Ivan Toney is a good shout, he’s about 27.
Martial wouldn’t come cheap even if Man Utd would sell him to us.
Let’s see if our scouts can earn there pay by finding a striker to replace the ones we have got.
Thinking outside the box…
Koki Saito — Yokohama FC (18)
Koki Saito is the only player in this list still playing in the J-League in Japan. After shining with the Japan U-17 side, the then 17-year old debuted for Yokohama FC in a league match against FC Gifu, becoming Yokohama’s youngest ever player. Koki is a quick and lively striker, pleasing the crowds with his fast feet and dribble skills and is likely to join a European team in the coming years.
I don’t think we have scouts anymore Geoff, we have a bunch of nerds who work from home looking at stats, profiles, metrics and you tube clips. No doubt they have an algorithm which tells them when to go to the bathroom and wouldn’t know a goal hanger from a coat hanger. 😉
If we’re going to sign a striker to replace or complement Aubameyang then we’ll need someone whose ready to play, if the game at Brentford proved anything it’s that Martinelli and Balogun aren’t ready yet and they’re the best of our youngsters. Nketiah isn’t good enough and certainly not at centre forward.
Anelka did ok though…
I think judging Balogun and Martinelli on the Brentford game alone is unfair. Arsenal were dreadful from front to back that night. The only way to get those two into the groove is by playing them imho. It’s not like Aubameyang and Pepe are doing much.
Aubameyang has been crap for over a season now.
Morning Rico and all
I understand why we brought white but wonder if the money we spent on him would have been better off used to by a striker and let Laca go as no one wants Auba
Apparently Inter are about to tear up Alexis Sanchez contract and make him a free agent .
Discuss.
Morning Geoff. The White debate for months I think.
In a flash Potter.
Arsenal are interested in Noa Lang apparently…
Noa Lang? Who he?
Dutch winger that plays for Brugge in Belgium valued at 30 million in the last window.
Do we want another player out wide or a central striker ? I know what I think.
I know his age may be of concern but depending on what he wants Sanchez could be worth looking at if only for 2 years to give us a chance to find another striker
Currently at Inter he is earning half of what Auba is getting here .
Sanchez couldn’t be worse than Aubameyang, sign him up.
Why would we want another winger, unless Arteta is thinking of cashing in on Saka.
Personally, we need a player that can dribble, run at players and finish. Pepe was supposed to be that but I only saw his price tag, never heard of him before that.
Maybe we can recover something if we sell Pepe back to France.
That’s the rumours going around
I can’t see Arteta selling Saka not unless he feels Saka’s lost interest.
I just recon Saka needs a break, he looks tired to me.
Anthony Martial 25, is free to leave Man U in January. He earns around £250.000 per week and would cost in the region of £40 million. He has three years left on his contract.
Morning All, Lacazette in his limited playing time at Arsenal, behind Aubameyang, has scored an average of 13 EPL goals per season. His hold-up play and tracking back is better than all of the current strikers, and he integrates better with the younger players. Aubameyang has scored more from the wing and cutting in as an Arsenal player than as a lone striker. Moreover, the Arsenal attack is more lethal when the two play together. But for some reason or another Arteta gives him a few games and then sits him on the bench for two months. Again, it is a testament of Arteta lack of depth as a manager.
I can’t believe we are discussing Martial and Sanchez as solutions. Martial scores an average of 9 EPL goals a season, he’s drastically wasteful and lazy, and Sanchez has something like 5 goals in 3 years. The problem is Arteta, his selection and in game management is awful.
The Lacazette situation is interesting , I tend to side with Obi on this . I think the team gels better with him than without . He is a team player that scores his goals not prolifically but consistently. whereas Auba is a lone wolf that scores goals to the detriment of others.
I believe that with Laca there is more chance of the other players chiming in with goals than with Auba and three players getting 10 is just as productive as ne getting 30.
Good Morning Rico and all
Potter and Obi…I have been saying that about LAcazette ever since Auba has been signed by AW. We get on better with Lacazette in the team and he brings others into play.
I think that the club are wrong to put their eggs in Auba’s basket. It should be Laca’s basket. And he should be the one leading the line.
Today I feel Laca will start. And if he scores I feel that he will play on Sunday against Tottenham
I feel today that Arteta will go with a 3-4-2-1 formation if he wants to rest all the 11 players who played against Burnley.
Leno
Chambers, Holding, Mari
Soares, AMN, Sambi-Lokonga, Tavarez
Balogun, Martinelli
Lacazette
I simply cannot see how those players will fit in a 4-2-3-1 formation unless one of the CB has to drop out to make way for an AM since Odegaard and ESR have both played with the first 11.
So its either 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1.
Morning Devil and all.
Totally agree re Lacazette. The Europa League last season showed how much better Arsenal are in attack with him in the team, certainly when the younger players played.
However, he’s not a 20 goal a season striker either but as you guys have already said, he brings others into the game more.
If it were for me the line up against Tottenham would be
Ramsdale
Tommy, White, Gabriel, Tierney
Partey, Odegaard, ESR
Saka, Lacazette, Pepe
Arteta shouldnt see beyond that.
New post up now btw.