Morning all.
Well that was a bit of a goal fest at the Nou Camp last night. The game between Barcelona and Inter Milan ended 3-3 with the home team recovering from 2-0 down. Admittedly, I didn’t watch all of the game but should we perform a miracle in France next week, either club we face in the final is going to be tough. I’d read somewhere that Inter play more defensively and are hard to beat, well, they didn’t look like a defensive team last night.
PSG are in a great place ahead of our match next Wednesday because they’ve already secured the league title so Enrique can rest assured many players as he wishes this weekend. Mikel Arteta doesn’t have such a luxury because a place in next season’s Champions League is not yet certain.
Too many matches drawn, it’s as simple as that. A squad not deep enough in strength and seriously lacking goals. Something which will remain the same next season if not addressed this summer. The players Mikel Arteta seldom plays need to move on. Some will, naturally as their contracts run out or if younger players are sold/released and before we even look at who they might be, we have to sign a midfielder and at least one striker.
I suspect we’ll all have differing views on which positions need addressing but for what it’s worth, I think the minimum is a midfielder, winger, creative midfielder and a goal keeper. Then, replace whoever is sold.
The players you and I would like to see Arsenal sell will probably differ too but again, my choice would be Leandro Trossard, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu and those out on loan, Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares, Reiss Nelson and Marquinhos. I still can’t make up my mind on Kai Havertz.
I realise though that a number of players on my exit list are injured so the chances of selling them are slim to none and before anybody questions the inclusion of Tomiyasu, I really like the player but he’s never fit. If we get to next summer and Riccardo Calafiori has spent more time with the doctors/physios than he has with Mikel Arteta on the training ground, then move him on too.
I know Arteta has said throughout the season that our very mixed performances throughout the domestic cannot be attributed to injuries but I disagree because the players who come in for the injured, haven’t always been able to play at the level required. In the case of Kai Havertz though, I think his understudy Mikel Merino, has been excellent. Better even. As has Myles Lewis-Skelly and whilst Ethan Nwaneri has done really well, he’s no Bukayo Saka. Yet! Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli have had their moments throughout the season but are they really good enough to help this team win the league or Champions League? I’m not suggesting Arsenal sell Martinelli because we need players like him in the squad, just not always in the first team. Our first eleven should be stronger, much stronger.
Right now there must be a lot of Arsenal fans in the world who are quite concerned about Martin Odegaard’s form. Big games should be when our captain shows his strengths but against PSG, he was about as useful as a chocolate fire guard and not for the first time this season. In fact he’s had the worst season yet in an Arsenal shirt. In my opinion of course. If the reason behind his poor form is as simple as lack of movement ahead of him then doesn’t that suggest our forward players are the problem? Or the tactics of course but then how does that account for last couple of seasons when he was in good form? Do Kai Havertz and Ben White really make that much of a difference to his own game?
Perhaps we’ll find out once Havertz returns which could be before the end of the season.
Catch up in the comments.
My pennies worth on Odegaard which I was going to turn into a post but decided against it.
How many times have we seen an England cricketer be appointed captain and then lose the form he once had. Ian Botham, Joe Root, Nasser Hussain, Jos Buttler and most recently, Heather Knight. They start off well but then things start to change.
1981 will live on in many an England Cricket fans mind, especially The Ashes series that summer. Botham had been brilliant for England but after replacing Mike Brearley, little went right for him. In 10 Tests (all but one against West Indies) England had lost three and drew the other seven. Alarmingly, Botham’s own form and fitness went downhill. An opening test defeat followed by a draw and Botham resigned as captain. To be fair, he’d have probably been sacked anyway but what followed was simply remarkable as his form came flooding back and he ended up earning the player of the series award.
Other captains in the game have faired better too once the role of captain has been removed from their game. It’s not sin or failure to give up the captains role in sport, in fact I’d say it was a strength to simply admit “it’s not for me”, especially when form drops because of it.
I don’t think Martin Odegaard is a good captain and I never have. Waving his hands at the fans asking for the noise levels to increase is not being a captain. Leading by example with the ball at his feet is and he’s not being doing that this season. He’s quiet on the pitch too, especially compared to the likes of Gabriel or even Declan Rice and he just doesn’t have the kind of personality he perhaps needs. He might be a great captain off the pitch but I’d like to see someone more vocal, more challenging with the officials, lawfully of course and someone who can rally his troops in a way Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira used to. We needed that kind of captain against PSG, we’ve needed that kind of captain throughout this season when trying to turn draws into wins but we haven’t had it. He’s not even playing well enough to suggest his performances are helping us to win games in the way Fabregas or Henry did as captains.
If life away from football is a reason for his drop in form, he needs to be bold and ask Mikel Arteta to take the role of captain away as it’s one responsibility too much. If he’s carrying some kind of injury, then step out of the team and let someone try and do better which quite frankly, isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. Some might even say probability.
I wrote the above yesterday which is interesting in itself, or at least I think so. 😜
Today in The Athletic there’s a great piece about the Arsenal captain and those perhaps better suited to the role.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6323641/2025/05/01/declan-rice-martin-odegard-arsenal-captain/
Good post Rico.
Let me respond to the squad depth issue because we do have depth, but the depth lacks fitness reliability and technical proficiency. We have some great squad players who’re never fit – and that has to be on those responsible for the scouting and analytics – we also have a lot of squad players who clearly aren’t up to the level required but you can’t ditch everyone at the same time.
It can also be on the manager himself because Mikel still has that authority to push for a particular player (Califiori). The red flags should have been out for him but Mikel I understand really wanted him, ostensibly as a left-back!
Nobody last August predicted Myles Lewis Skelly…
Tomiyasu is another, a wonderful player when fit but when is he fit?
Then again you could have said that about Thomas Partey and look at the season he’s just had!
I remember Marc Overmars arriving with huge question marks over his reliability after a terrible knee injury but he turned out ok. It’s not an exact science buying and selling players there is still risk involved, a hunch. Sometimes it works as with Jorginho and Trossard and sometimes you get a Kaba Diawara or a John Hawley maybe a Willian or sadly a Raheem Stirling!
Even spending big dough doesn’t guarantee success, for every Declan Rice there’s a Nicholas Pepe, for every Kai Havertz there’s a Gervinho…
We’ll never know for sure how close we came in January to strengthening the attack, but as Tuesday evening proved we didn’t do enough, but then the decision makers didn’t know that we’d lose Havertz in Dubai?
I think we’ll have a huge summer, especially if we lose next week.
The owners will be sensitive to the decisions they have been a part of and Berta will want to lay down a statement.
I think we’ll come out of this season stronger mentally and will definitely be more competitive next season. I’m not worried at all, I believe those at the club will make the right business decisions during the transfer window and next season could be memorable.
I do hope so Kev but how many season have we been here saying two or three players . It seems to be a never ending cycle . Perhaps Berta will bring a change of luck or maybe like previous incumbents he leaves in a couple of years with a well lined pocket.
This window’s signings will be the last chance saloon for many , Arteta included along with his coaching , touchline team This season has been catastrophic with injuries not only have we had a large number but all in the same positions at the same time . Perhaps we need less spectactular players but ones without suspect injuries . Maybe 5 or 6 at £ 60 million as opposed to three at £100 million plus.
On the last thread I said that the knives were out for Odegaard’s captaincy as I see it there will be a toss up between Rice and Gabriel , both have their merits and both in their own way have led the team before.
Thanks Kev, depth in strength is what I mean. Having players constantly injured is a huge problem too although a part of me hopes that for Tomiyasu, who has two years on his contract, will be over his injury problems in a way Partey has got over his this season.
Just realised I’ve pretty much written the same. 😂
Potter, the fans were probably saying that ‘we need to sign three more players’ after winning the league in 1931, it has been forever thus.
Tbh you always need more players, if you stand still you’re finished, so needing those elusive players is simply the norm.
As for Arteta, I think he’s as safe as the Bank of Saudi Arabia.
Or the Bank of Blackrock if you like.
We need a few who have great work ethic and talent and imo, they don’t have to cost £60-100m. I read yesterday that Bayern among other clubs were looking at Hayden Hackney of Middlesbrough for midfield. I bet we don’t look at players like him. Not suggesting he’s right, but there are some top quality players in the Championship
I thought for a moment you’d gone all George Gershwin with your headline Rico. 😉
Some ruthless decisions need to be made this summer. Jesus, Zinchenko, Tomiyasu, Tierney, Jorginho, Sterling and, dare I say Odegaard on his form alone this season all need to go. Plus the lesser spotted Neto.
Of course all will depend on incoming signings, Zubimenda, and Gyokeres appear to be high on the agenda and maybe Hein can move up to fill Neto’s place. Maybe one or two more gems from the academy as well as A N Other from Senor Berta’s little black book.
Goes off singing…and the living is easy/ fish are jumping and the cotton is high / your daddies rich and your mama’s good looking so hush little baby don’t you cry……
Afternoon Rico and all,
Keep = Trossard,
Sell = Jesus, Tomi, Zinchenko and all the player over 20yrs old on loan.
Captain = I would keep Odegaard, as all the players have been up and down or injured so to drop / replace him seems a bit unfair to me.
Buy = I don’t think we need we another keeper but a striker and midfielder would not go a stray and then change our style of game and make us a more attacking team and get rid of this kick to kick style that we seem to be playing.
My choice for captain would be Declan Rice, it would give him vital leadership training for when he takes over the England job from Kane, the trophy jinx, who will, no doubt, either get fired or resign after the World Cup.
😂 Cicero, I like that.
We’re pretty much on a similar page re ins and outs. Well both probably be way off come the summer..
Geoff if Raya gets injured , then we need a keeper better than Neto who is only with us on loan . Maybe Hein can do the job but bear in mind that he has played in a rubbish team but they still have a goal difference of minus 59 having let in 81 goals in 33 matches of which I believe he has played the majority . So a keeper may be required.
Hi Geoff, I think if Odegaard’s struggling to juggle all his balls, he might be better off dropping one of them.