Author Archives: keenosafc

Where do Arsenal need to strengthen for 2018/19?

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The majority of people who read my blogs are glass half empty types. Always wanting more. To be better, never settling.

Upon the window slamming shut, rather than be happy about the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang and Henrik Mkhitaryan, minds immediately went to other positions where we failed to strengthen.

So looking forward to the summer, bar changing the manager (big rumours floating around about Joachim Lowe at the minute), what do Arsenal need to do?

Squad Goals

It must always be remembered that in the Premier League, you have to name a 25 man squad, of which just 17 can be non home grown. For the 2018/19 players born on or after 1 January 1997 do also not required to be registered.

So when building the squad, it must be remembered that the likes of Danny Welbeck is home grown – probably why we kept him over Olivier Giroud. Ainsley Maitland-Niles need not be registered due to his age, and Alex Iwobi will now take up a squad place – he was classed as an under 21 player for the current season.

Players Out

Over the last two windows, Arsenal have done a good job letting go players who were never really top, top draw. The likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Francis Coquelin, Olivier Giroud, Mathieu Debuchy, Gabriel and Kieran Gibbs have been moved on.

I fully expect the cull to continue.

Per Mertesacker is retiring, and Santi Cazorla will surely not get a new contract – and if he does, he will probably not be included in the Premier League squad due to his long term injury.

The likes of Lucas Perez, Carl Jenkinson, Emiliano Martinez, Joel Campbell, Takuma Asano and Chuba Akpom will also leave the club one way or another. Ideally a transfer, but potentially loan deals once more.

This summer will surely be the transfer window the David Ospina leaves the club – especially as a new first choice goal keeper is a must (more on this later).

2018/19 Provisional Squad

If all those mentioned leave, Arsenal have just 19 senior players, topped up with youngsters who do not require to be registered:

Players In

So Arsenal’s squad will be massively under resourced, 6 players short of the maximum 25 man squad. This will give the club plenty of wiggle room to sign new players.

It will also contain just 11 non-homegrown players, meaning that we could, for all intents and purposes, sign 6 foreign players without breaking Premier League squad rules.

So what do Arsenal actually need?

First on the list is a new first choice goal keeper. Petr Cech is going down hill fast and needs to be replaced.

He will be 36 come the new season, and whilst he will still be a useful number 2, with his experience and influence a benefit on the training pitch, we need to go out and sign the next man who will be in goal for the next 10 years.

We also need a centre back.

Laurent Koscielny, like Petr Cech, has his best days behind him. I am still confident that Shkdoran Mustafi is a decent centre back. He is still just 25. What he needs is a steady partner and Arsenal to play a steady system. Continuity is the key.

Like a centre back has been on the top of every Arsenal fans wish list for about a decade, a defensive midfielder is also key. We can spend £1b on a new centre back, but if they do not get protection from the midfield, it is pointless.

Granit Xhaka has not solved the problem. A new defensive midfielder is a must.

Finally, Arsenal need a winger.

With Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gone, Arsenal do not have a natural wideman. Even if we play with Mkhitaryan and Ozil as narrow number 10s, we still need to invest in a winger to allow us to mix it up if needed.

He will not be first choice, as it is unlikely we will play the system for him to play week in week out, but a new winger needs to be on the shopping list.

Is that it?

Just 4 signings. A GK, CB, DM and winger. It might not seem like much, but if we get the quality in, and alongside the two superstar signings in January, it would give us a squad of depth and quality enabling us to compete once more.

It will give us 23 senior players, still two players short of the maximum 25, but then you always want to be a player short then have one two many – enabling a January reinforcement.

It also does not take into account that the likes of Maitland-Niles and Mavroponas will be key squad players next year, even if they do not need to be registered.

So how do I hope the squad will look going into the new season?

Keenos

If Carlsberg did panic buys

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A Manchester United reject and a moody Gabonian who wants to join Real Madrid. Arsenal are in “panic buy” mode after losing Alexis Sanchez.

That is how the signings of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are being reported by some.

Well if both players are panic buys, they are possibly the best panic buys in the world.

Mkhitaryan has had a tough 18 months at Manchester United. He has struggled to get a consistent run in the Manchester United team.

Describing him as a panic buy is a bit erroneous taking into account that 18 months ago, he was on the verge of joining Arsenal before Manchester United swooped in. He has been on Arsenal’s radar for some time.

The 8 time Armenian Footballer of the Year was named Bundesliga Players’ Player of the Season in his last season for Borussia Dortmund.

Last season for Manchester United, he was named in the Europa League Team of the Year, and got more assists than any other player. Likewise in 2015-16, his last at Dortmund, he was in the team of the year and was Bundesliga Team of the Year.

Anyone who saw him play for Dortmund would say that he is a quality player, and that he has been a shadow of himself for Manchester United.

He is certainly not the first player we have ever bought who was struggling before he came to us. Think Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry.

He struggled at Manchester United, but he is certainly not a bad player.

Then we come to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Another panic buy. A striker who has scored 141 in 212 games.

Even this season, when Aubameyang has had a falling out with staff and apparently been moody and disinterested, he has still scored 21 goals in 23 games.

Aubameyang is a proven goal scorer who is at the peak of his powers.

In their last season together, Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang scored 62 goals between them. They are not players bought because we were in a panic and had no other options. They are both brilliant signings.

Keenos

Arsenal’s transfer window round-up

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Well that was an interesting window for The Arsenal.

Off the field there were some positives, even if on the field it was a bit ropey. Hopefully the dealings we saw were less controlled by Arsene Wenger and indicate that his time at Arsenal is coming to an end.

So how did the transfer window turn out for Arsenal?

We went into January with 2 key players able to negotiate a free transfer abroad. We ended the month with one committed to stay until 2021 and the other out the day.

Mesut Ozil staying is great news. It has been interesting to watch the pendulum swing over the first half of the season. Many in August would have preferred to keep Alexis Sanchez and let Ozil leave. By mid-January, it had swung to the majority wanting Ozil to stay.

Losing Sanchez was disappointing. He is a great player. Up there amongst the best in the world. Arsenal swapped him for Henrik Mkhitaryan. It was a good deal all round.

Another positive was the players out. I bet a number of fans used the Pinnacle vip code 2018 to predict that the likes of Theo Walcott were not going to be hanging around.

Arsenal raised £50m in selling Olivier Giroud, Francis Coquelin and Theo Walcott. Three players who had started 2 Premier League game between them this season.

All go with their head held high, knowing that they gave 100% to the cause. Walcott for me will always go down as one of the most underrated players of the last 10 years.

Over 100 goals at around 3.6 games a goal is not to be sniffed at. He might never have been the prettiest player in the world but he was effective.

Regardless of my opinion, both were surplus to requirements. No longer required.

Then we have Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang. A truly world class striker – even if some of the northern media had gone out of their way to deride his talents.

To get him for £56m is great value. A club record. To effectively sell Walcott and giroud, and buy the Gabonian (is that correct?) is fantastic.

Over two transfer windows, we have seen Sanogo, Szczęsny, Gabriel, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Debuchy, Walcott and Giroud leave. Players who were not really part of our present, let along the future.

Hopefully this is the beginning of clearing the decks for the new manager.

With Santi Cazorla, Mertesacker, Jenkinson, Perez, Akpom and Campbell also set to leave in the summer, it will be 14 players who many would have classed “dead wood” out the door in a little over 12 months.

This frees up squad places and wages for players who are better than those who have gone.

What we now need to do is ensure we invest in the right mixture of proven talent like Aubemeyang, and young talent like Konstantinos Mavropanos, the young Greek centre back who joined early January.

So we saw players who were not needed leave, and players who are ready for the first team join. Good news.

I have always been of the Sir Alex Ferguson school of thought. That you improve the first team every window. By improving the first team, the previous first team player then becomes a squad player, and the weakest squad player is then allowed to leave.

By buying Aubemeyang, all strikers have had to shuffle down one, and Giroud has fallen out of the bottom. We are infinitely stronger.

Now we just need to do something about the manager.

Keenos