Category Archives: Arsenal

Arsenal’s horrendous January comes to an end

1 Reply

Before the World Cup, all the pundits, journalists and opposing fans said the same thing: Just wait until January.

Arsenal then became the biggest losers of the World Cup with star striker Gabriel Jesus rules out for many months.

Facing Newcastle, Tottenham and Manchester United in consecutive games, whilst relying on Eddie Nketiah upfront, would see the end of Arsenal’s title race.

Well that is what was supposed to happen. The reality was somewhat different.

We returned from the World Cup with a bang – a comfortable 3-1 win at home to West Ham.

That was followed up by a 4-2 win away to Brighton. A great result considering the South-Coast has not been a happy hunting ground for us in recent years.

Then disaster struck. We drew 0-0 at home to Newcastle United.

If you listened to the media, you would think that result was the worst thing that had happened. Ever.

It had been forgotten that Newcastle had already taken points off Manchester City this season. Also Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea. And it had only been a controversial 98th minute goal that saw them lose to Liverpool.

They were a team set up not to lose, and have doing that very well with just one defeat all season.

A trip to Tottenham was next up. A place we had not won at for close to a decade. Without a win in one game, we were on a poor run of form.

Defeat to Spurs would make it no wins in two. We won 2-0. Never looked in danger.

And then we get to a resurgent Manchester United. Unbeaten since the return of the World Cup. They would put in the final nail of the coffin. 3-2 Arsenal.

January was supposed to be the month our title race ended. It has ended up being the month we have confirmed ourselves as season-long challengers.

Since the World Cup, no team have got more points / only Fulham have got more points.

13 is our lucky number. The same amount of points as Manchester’s City and United. But we have played a game less. And that game in hand is at home to Everton.

Instead of being out of the title race, we are now bookies favourites. Most Arsenal fans I speak to however still have City as favourites.

Accusations of arrogance and smugness are being blown out of the water. It is basically opposing fans saying “Arsenal fans need to be humbled” rather than us getting too big for our boots.

If we do not win the title, a narrative will be writting that “we should not have been so arrogant”. Even though we are not. It is a falicy. Created by those who will use the strawman they created to beat us in the future.

One game at a time is what is needed. And that is what Arsenal fasns are looking at. Everton away next week.

Our detractors however have already moved on to predicting the next run of games that will see our title challenge crash and burn.

From 8 April to 6 May is the dates they have picked.

During that period we face Liverpool (A), West Ham (A), Southampton (H), Manchester City (A), Chelsea (H) and Newcastle (A).

Not an easy run, but a run we will need to get through if we want to lift the trophy.

For now though, the focus needs to be on Everton.

UTA.

Keenos

Jorginho – “The winner that could take Arsenal over the line; bought primarily for Europe”

3 Replies

On the face of it, the Jorginho transfer is an odd one.

Arsenal’s recent signings have been young and dynamic.

He has struggled in a struggling Chelsea team. And whilst he has never been the most mobile, never been quick, he seems to be slowing down.

And at 31-years-old, he certainly does not fit the criteria of players Arsenal have recently recruited.

So why did Arsenal opt to sign him?

It comes down to Mikel Arteta. He has always liked Jorginho.

In 2018, Manchester City were expected to complete the signing of Jorginho. At the last minute Chelsea swept in to secure the Italian.

At the time, Pep Guardiola’s assistant was Arteta.

A couple of years ago, when Granit Xhaka was on the brink of leaving, Jorginho was top of Arteta’s list. In the end Xhaka stayed.

In a recent interview, Arteta spoke about any player coming to Arsenal this late in the window needed to be “ready to go straight away”.

They had to be Premier League ready, fit, and ready to start at Everton if needed. And the first choice for that was Moises Caicedo. We ended up with Jorginho.

Whilst he is the wrong profile in terms of age and dynamism, he does fit what Arteta needs now – someone who will not need to settle in.

Over 200 games in England, he will need no time to settle down. He will probably not move from his current abode. And I would imagine he already knows Arsenal’s Brazilian contingent on a social basis.

He is an Arteta type of player.

Fantastic on the ball, he thrives in a posession based system. He is also a leader and a winner.

It was only 15 months ago that he was named the 3rd best player in the world, finishing behind Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski in the Ballon d’Or.

The same year he was also named UEFA Player of the Year and was in both the UEFA Euro 2020 Team of the Tournament and UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season. He was also named in the FIFA FIFPro World11.

In 2021, he was key as Chelsea won the Champions League and Italy won the European Championships. That same year he was also part of the team that won the European Super Cup and World Club Cup.

When you look at his credentials, he could just be the winner to take Arsenal over the line.

It left a lot of fans mystified. But there is some solid theory behind it. And it is mainly Europe.

Midfield is where we lack depth.

Xhaka and Thomas Partey’s are fantastic. But there is not much behind them.

Mohamed Elneny is a solid professional but likely out for the season. Albert Sambi Lokonga has flattered to deceive. At the time of writing he is being linked with a loan move out of the club.

We have a maximum of 26 games left in the league and Europe. I expect us to continue the rotation policy in Europe.

But with no adequate cover for Xhaka and Partey, the squad situation meant they would both likely have to play in Europe.

Jorginho’s recruitment means that we can keep protecting Partey for the league. And then the choice is still there to play Lokonga (if he stays) instead of Xhaka.

When you realise Jorginho has been bought primarily for Europe, to allow us to rest Partey mid-week, then you understand his recruitment.

Yes, we all would have preferred Caicedo, Declan Rice or Martin Zubimendi. But those deals could not be done. I am sure we will go again for them in the summer.

The choice ended up being “no one or Jorginho”. And at £12m on a 1.5 year deal, the Italian-Brazilian does not take too much out of the pot for the summer.

Every game Jorginho plays is one less Partey has to. And protecting Partey is what wins us the League.

Keenos

Caicedo chaos not a cause for concern

Leave a reply

So for the second transfer window in a row, we are in late for a defensive midfielder and could potentially come out empty handed.

In the summer, we launched a bid for Douglas Luiz. A snatch and grab deal, we tried to take advantage of his contract situation by low-balling Aston Villa.

The interest in Luiz only materialised late in the window due to Mohamed Elneny’s injury.

We failed with the bid as Villa held firm. The failure to secure him has not really damaged us this season.

Then we have Moises Caicedo. Long term readers will know how much I like this guy.

We went have gone big, reportedly offering around £70million. But Brighton are refusing to sell and Arsenal are unwilling to offer a fee so large that it would be impossibile for them to turn it down.

Although I would argue that £70m for a 21 year old with 26 Premier League games to his name is already astronomical.

As I said when we walked away from Mykhailo Mudryk, we need to back Edu and his team over their valuation on players.

They have proved with the signings of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard that walking away from a deal is not a disaster.

So Caicedo. What is happening?

Hand forced by Chelsea

What Chelsea have done in January forced the hand of many clubs, including Arsenal.

Mudryk was clearly a long term target for us and we were prepared to negotiate a deal for him. We probably would have got him for want we wanted. But then Chelsea swopped in and “paid the asking price”.

They have now spent over half a billion in the last two transfer windows. And in most of those cases they have paid that asking price.

Not negotiating might get them the player, but also leads them to over pay and puts them in tough situations later down the line.

They attempted to negotiate with Lyon over Malo Gusto. Lyon refused to, and they ended up having to pay the asking price – £31million when their initial first bid was £15m.

This tactic is already putting them at a disadvantage in the market and could have long term repercussions.

What Chelsea also did was bring forward their summer spending to January.

6 permanent signings (7 if the Enzo Fernandez deal goes through), and over £200m spent. This “early transfer business” is what really forced our hand.

Caicedo is a long term target, and we were probably looking to sign him in the summer. But then Chelsea began discussions with him.

The result was we had to act fast, and submitted our bid. Having lost Mudryk, we did not want to lose another long term target.

If Chelsea showed no interest, I imagine our January transfer business would have been done and we would have gone in for Caicedo, or Declan Rice, or Martin Zubimendi in the summer.

Caicedo might not be on his way to Arsenal, but he is also unlikely to join someone else today.

No longer pressing

As we intensified our interest in Caicedo, Chelsea’s interest seemed to disolve. They also returned to Enzo Fernandez – their primary choice for central midfield.

Chelsea’s late pursuit of Enzo meant that they would not longer be in the market for Caicedo. And it is no longer as pressing for Arsenal to get a quick deal done.

Thomas Partey’s rib injury is also not as serious as first thought. He will likely be fit for Everton.

With our FA Cup exit, we have just 26 games left to play this season. We should be able to manage the squad through those games.

We will not bow down to social media pressure to make transfers for likes. That is not how a big club operates.

Can take a breath

If we were not sure on Caicedo’s worth, we are right to take a step back, take a breath.

Caicedo’s price was being driven up by a few factors:

  • Chelsea’s interest
  • Arsenal top of the league
  • No other top targets on the market

A lot changes in the summer. Mainly because two additional targets will emerge – Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi.

Rice is head and shoulders of the trio, and would probably be available for around £80million. That is less than what it would take to get a deal for Caicedo done now.

Meanwhile, Zubimendi has a £52m release clause.

Caicedo sits between the two, value wise.

So come the summer, we would have 3 options which would give us a much stronger hand at the negotiating table.

Brighton demand too much for Caicedo? Well we either spend big on Rice, or spend less on Zubimendi.

Arsenal will probably try and get Caicedo for as close to the Zubimendi price as possible, knowing that if Brighton hold out for £80m we can just move for Rice.

And we have cover

Mohamed Elneny is reportedly out until the end of the season. But we still have Thomas Partey cover.

Oleksandr Zinchenko is the most sensible option to repalce him. Then we also have Granit Xhaka and Albert Sambi Lokonga. New boy Jakub Kiwior has also previously played defensive midfield.

The drop off from Partey to anyone is huge. He is the best defensive midfielder in the world right now.

We will need to continue managing his time. Not playing him in the Europa League. Only seeing him in the Premiership.

That will also allow us to assess our options for his cover in Europe.

Final thoughts

Love Caicedo. I think he is the best U21 defensive midfielder in the world right now. And could become one of the best defensive midfielders in the world in a couple of years.

I would not be surprised if we are back in for him in the summer.

Keenos