Scrolling through Twitter, I came across an interesting thread entailing “10 Unpopular Arsenal opinions”.
With not much new news floating about, I thought it would be fun to see how valid these opions are.
Both Balogun and Nketiah should be sold to fund a better striker
This opinion is both right and wrong.
I do not think too many people would be against the sale of both if it meant a single, superior replacement was bought in. But where it falls down is who that replacements could be.
There is a lack of top strikers in world football these days. Manchester United are searching for on. Chelsea have had to sign a winger turned striker.
Anyone who is deemed an improvement on Balogun / Nketiah would probably start regularly for Manchester United, so unlikely to join Arsenal to play second fiddle to Gabriel Jesus..
And if we go the level above, there is only one realistic name that would be an improvement on Jesus – Victor Osimhen. The sale of Nketiah and Balogun would not finance him, and we would also probably end up losing Jesus as a result.
Saliba could start for any team in the world
I really do not think this is that much of an extreme opinion, and I imagine very few Arsenal fans would disagree.
William Saliba is one of the best central defenders in the world. It is probably only Manchester City with John Stones and Ruben Dias where you would think “he would not walk straight into their first team”. But then Manuel Akanji started 40 games last season…
Saliba could certainly start in place of Stones or Dias, and would have been a suitable alternative to Josko Gvardiol if he was not at The Arsenal.
Do not think this one is too unpopular.
It’s a massive mistake to sell both Partey and Xhaka in the same window
Like the Saliba one, I do not think you will find too many disagreeing.
Thomas Partey, when fit, is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. The issue is he can only play 30 games a season.
Granit Xhaka is a leader of men. Whilst he might not have worn the armband, he was a captain on the pitch.
Declan Rice certainly replaces Xhaka’s leadership, and he can also be a long-term replacement for Partey at 6. But I think my preference is we keep Partey despite Rice’s signing.
That would allow us to go with Rice and Partey as a pair for bigger games, then Rice and Kai Havertz for games we look to dominate.
Then again, if £40m is on the table for Partey and we think we can get Romeo Lavia, then maybe we need to make the switch?
Replacing Xhaka, Partey and Albert Sambi Lokonga with Rice, Lavia and Havertz. Not sure too many would be unhappy with it.
Jakub Kiwior should start as our left back next season
File this one under “I am going to say something controversial that makes zero logic just so that I can say something different to everyone else”.
This is not an unpopular opinion. It is simply a stupid one.
Granit Xhaka had a better Arsenal career than Cesc Fabregas
I guess this one depends on how you define success.
Xhaka won 2 FA Cup’s, but was never the clubs most important player. Never the first name on the teamsheet. Was incapable of winning games for The Arsenal himself.
Cesc Fabregas was one of the best footballers I have seen. One of those players that would make inferior players around him play better, won a single FA Cup and was key as we made our first and only Champions League final.
For me, Cesc was the first name on the team sheet, our most important player and one of the best in the world. He was certainly the better player between the two.
But then if you base their Arsenal careers on trophies, then Xhaka is ahead.
Declan Rice is the best defensive midfielder in the league
Not really sure this is that unpopular. Many will agree.
Last season there were 3 defensive midfielders in the league who were head and shoulders above the rest: Rodri, Thomas Partey and Declan Rice.
All 3 could start instead of eachother and you would not see a drop off in quality.
Tomiyasu is the perfect back up option all over the defence. He is one of our ebst defenders.
Like with the Declan Rice one, I doubt you will find too many Arsenal fans disagreeing with this.
Tomiyasu’s quality has never been in question. Just his fitness.
Smith Rowe can’t be a winger next season. He’s better as an interior and can be elite
This is actually 3 opinions in one. So lets break it down:
Smith Rowe can’t be a winger next season – Emile Smith Rowe has spent almost all of his senior and youth career on the wing. Like Leandro Trossard, he gives us an option of playing outwide or inside. Why restrict a player to playing in a single position?
He’s better as an interior – Literally no evidence of this. He has only played a handful of games as an 8, and was not overly impressive. Whilst many, including myself, believe he can play there, he has yet to put in a top performance playing more centrally.
Can be elite – Like with Tomiyasu, quality is not Smith Rowe’s problem. It it is fitness.
Havertz is not good enough defensively to play in midfield. He should play false 9 instead.
Like with Smith Rowe, I do not really get why fans try to put players into a silo, expecting them to only play one position.
Kai Havertz is a versatile attacker and gives Arteta 6 tactical options.
His defending and workrate is underrated. He is certainly not a defensively lazy player. His long limbs and ability to glide across the pitch just make it appear that way.
When we dominate games, expect Havertz, Rice and Odegaard to be the midfield. When we are looking to defend, it will be Rice, Partey and Odegaard. Havertz gives us further creativity in midfield for those games when defending is not a focus.
Likewise, he can play upfront, and on the wing.
Arteta is building a team where players can play more than one position. I do not really understand why fans do not get this yet.
Jesus needs to play on the wings. He’s not clinical enough for us to win the league
Last season we scored 88 league goals. the most in our history. Just 6 less than Manchester City.
Our top league scorers (jointly Gabriel Martinelli and Odegaard), scored 21 less than Erling Haaland. But we had 3 players finish in the top 10 Premier League goal scorers.
Our strength last season was goals from across the front 4 positions. We were not reliant on a single main outlet.
You could go out and sign a Dusan Vlahovic who might score 20 goals. But the sacrifice is Jesus’s movement and ability to create space for others.
We might end up with a single striker scoring double what Jesus did, but that could result in those around him scoring less. A net loss in total goals.
Some interesting “unpopular opinions”.
A few are clearly attention seeking. Those sort of posts someone makes to stand out from the crowd and try to portray themselves as a superior thinker.
Others are not actually that unpopular and many Arsenal fans would agree. Often this happens when people talk about unpopular opinions (or underrated players). Thousands will agree which means the opinion is not actually unpopular / the player is not underrated.
And finally you get those that just expose somes lack of understanding as to what Arteta is doing. These are mainly around trying to put a player in a single position.
What do you think of these opinions? And what are oyours? Join the conversation on Facebook.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 