Selection issues for Arteta ahead of Brentford game

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Morning. Another little later than normal blog after Thursday’s city drinks were followed up with a Friday session in Loughton.

You know when you are getting old when back to back drink-ups are a struggle. Gone are the days when I would go out 7 nights in 10 days in the lead up to Christmas, whilst still getting up at 5am and working.

Today I will mainly be sitting on my sofa feeling sorry for myself.

So, Brentford away…

For the first time since they joined the Premier League I will not be at Brentford away. It highlights the current ticketing problems and questions need to be asked as to where the away tickets have gone.

Players and club staff have had their allocations increased, as have sponsors, partners and box holders. That results in less tickets available for the “common fan”.

The ticketing issue at the club is not being caused by ticket hoarders, or those that might share 3 memberships between 5 mates. It is due to the club holding too many tickets back for sale to gift to other parties. And who knows what these sponsors and partners do with their tickets?

Aaron Ramsdale will start today, that is a certainity. I hope he makes no saves. And by that it is because I hope we dominate the game to such an extent that Brentford do not have a single shot on goal.

I am sure there will be a few nerves for Ramsdale, and the worry with him is he can become a little overhyped and try and prove too much. He just needs to relax and play his normal game.

The Ramsdale v David Raya argument is a little toxic. It is mainly driven by fans who like to create problems and negativity. They will be the ones trying to heap pressure on whichever man they back, and celebrating mistakes. Meanwhile they will amplify standard goalkeeping work by their chosen man, making out that all saves are David-Seamen v Sheffield United-esque.

Just let them play and let Arteta do his job.

We do have a few injury headaches.

Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber are both probably out until 2024. Rumours circulated that Timber has had a set-back in his rehabilitation, but nothing has been announced by a reliable source.

Emile Smith Rowe is also out injured. Again. Like with Partey, I think his time at Arsenal is running out. Another out is Fabio Vieira following his red card against Burnley.

We then have a few players who are on the cusp of returning – Martin Odegaard, Ben White and Cedric Soares. All might be available. None might be available.

There will also be questions around Gabriel Jesus.

He did play 90 minutes for Brazil on Wednesday morning but, following the late finish of that game and long flight, the decision might be to keep him on the bench to avoid yet another muscle injury.

So how we line up will depend on those late fitness checks, and whether Jesus has recovered from his national team exploits.

Ramsdale, Gabriel, Saliba, Rice, Saka and Martinelli are the guaranteed starters.

Right back will be either Ben White or Takehiro Tomiyasu depending on fitness. That then impact the choice at left back with Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko the options.

Brentford, with the way they look to turn the game into a series of set pieces, is certainly the sort of match I think we would be better off playing Tomi ahead of Zinny. His height and power in the air will be key. But that can only happen if White is fit at right back.

Joining Rice in the middle will again depend on whether Odegaard is fit.

If our captain is ready to start, then it will be a choice between Jorginho and Kai Havertz for the other slot. That will see Rice either player deeper (with Havertz ahead) or higher (with Jorginho deeper). We might also see Zinny play in that advanced left-hand position.

Havertz will replace Odegaard if the Norwegian is still not fit, and that will see Jorginho play deep with Rice more advanced.

Up top could be Eddie Nketiah, could be Leandro Trossard, could be Gebrial Jesus, and could even be Kai Havertz.

Personally, I always prefer Trossard coming off the bench. He thrives in chaos when a game is a little less organised. He is more instinctive in his play than thoughtful, and is fantastic playing off the cusp.

I am going for Eddie to start, with Trossard and Jesus to come on if needed.

If you are going, enjoy the game, make some noise and get behind the lads!

UTA

Keenos

Arsenal players through the international week unscathed

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Morning!

A little later than normal blog from me this morning. Blame it on those Thursday night city beers. Apologies if the spelling and grammer is worse than normal. I am still trying to get the old noggin going.

We are finally on the eve of The Arsenal returning. This international break seemed to have dragged on forever.

Like the last break, we return with an away trip to West London, and Brentford may well prove to be a tougher proposition than Chelsea.

Last season, they lost just twice at home – against Arsenal and Newcastle United. Brentford Community Stadium might be one of the worst grounds in the league, but it is also a bit kof a fortress for the Bees.

I think we got through the international break fairly unscathed, and yesterdays club pictures showed that almost everyone was back in training. The only players I could not spot were the lads from Brazil and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Not a surprise when Tomi would have been flying back from Japan, and the Brazilian boys were playing during the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Gabriel Jesus played the full 90 minutes, which is a good sign. The international break has given him the opportunity to get games under his belt following his latest injury. But that does not mean he will start on Saturday.

He picked up his most recent injury following the last international break, so Mikel Arteta might be advised to take it easy with him. Maybe off the bench against Brentford, start for an hour v Lens and then ready to do 90 minutes against Wolves next week.

In the most obvious news of the week, Aaron Ramsdale will return as number one this weekend.

Today is Black Friday. Our friends over at Kick Off Merchants are giving away free Arsenal bottle openers. All you have to do is buy a set of their 4 Arsenal ceramic beer mats and then pick which Arsenal bottle opener you want for free. Add all to your basket and then use the code BlackFriday2023 at check out!

Have a good day, I am off for coffee number 3.

Keenos

Would Premier League pair be “uninspiring signings” for Arsenal

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Ivan Toney and Douglas Luiz. Two names we have been linked with for some time.

In the She Wore WhatsApp group, one commented “£100m for 2 squad players…they would be uninspiring signings”…”. An I could not disagree more.

£100m for 2 squad players

Football has moved on to where squad players for top clubs will now cost £30-50 million.

Mikel Arteta is building a fantastic squad, and the result is to improve on the players we have will cost a lot of money.

We are now at a similar stage to Manchester City in our transfer policy – 1 or 2 1st XI signings a season, and then 3 or 4 squad signings.

Last summer, we signed Declan Rice for £105m. He was the only one we got that you thought “he will walk straight into our first XI.” Rice was then joined by Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber. Two brilliant talents but neither would be a guaranteed starter.

Close to £200m spent, of which around half was splashed out on what could be labelled as “squad signings”. Manchester City had a similar window.

They spent £211m last summer, of which £77m was spent on Josko Gvardiol. The centre back was the only one that you thought “he will start regularly”.

A further £134m was then spent of squad players – Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes.

Doku has started 6 games, Kovacic the same and Nunes just 2.

I expect next summer to go similar as this summe. Perhaps one big money signing, and then a couple of “squad” players. So what for Luiz and Toney?

Ivan Toney

Victor Osimhen is the only striker in world football (that might be available) who I think would walk into our team ahead of Gabriel Jesus. If he is not on the market, or does not want to join us, we need to look at the level below. And top of that list is Toney.

Toney is a different sort of forward to Jesus, but also fairly similar.

Where as Jesus is tricky and instinctive, Toney is powerful and direct. Both have incredible work rate and make space for team mates with their clevel movement.

I think that Toney and Jesus could co-exist in an Arsenal squad in the same way Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez do for Manchester City.

With 50-games a season, there will be plenty of matches for both to start (especially considering Jesus’s injury issues). Toney would have certain games he is more suited to, and Jesus would have others.

Having Toney would also free up Jesus to be cover on both the left and right wings, and he would also be an option to play centrally, in behind Toney.

You can certainly see a case of Toney starting 30-35 games through the middle across the season, with Jesus starting 15-20 up front and a further 10-15 outwide.

I think the pair would tovetail nicely, and Toney would give us an option we do not have with Jesus and vice versa.

I would not be paying anywhere near the £100m Brentford are reprotedly demanding. He will have a year left on his contract come the summer so I think we could sneak a deal for less than £50m.

Douglas Luiz

Mikel Arteta and Edu have been fans of the Aston Villa midfielder for a while.

Between January and next summer, we are likely to lose both Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny. Jorginho might make it a trio of midfield exits. That will mean we need to sign at least one, but more realistically two new midfielders.

The first midfielder would have to be cover for Declan Rice as our most defensive midfielder, and if they can also play further forward as a defensive minded “8”, it will be a bonus.

Dougie Luiz is certainly someone who can do both roles to a high standard.

With over 150 appearances in the Premier League for Aston Villa, Luiz has proved he has what it takes to perform week in week out in England. He would certainly be a “no risk” signing.

97 of those apperances have come playing as the deepest of Aston Villa’s midfield. A single pivot whilst the likes of John McGinn, Emi Buendía, Philippe Coutinho or Youri Tielemans played further ahead.

This season, with the recruitment of Boubacar Kamara and departure of Coutinho, Luiz has played further advanced.

Luiz has the right mix of defensive awareness and tenacity, combined with wonderful technique. He is Aston Villa’s best passer and anything positive they do tends to come through him.

You could certainly see Luiz in an Arsenal shirt, as cover for Rice defensively and as an option to compete with Kai Havertz further forward.

I think he would make the perfect midfield recruit.

I am seeing fees of around £60m, which might seem expensive for a squad player, but it is a figure that I think we can work with.

You would expect Thomas Partey to depart either in January or the summer.

Partey is costing us £9m a year in amortised transfer fees and a further £10m a year in wages. A total of £19m a year.

£60m for Luiz would see his amortised cost be £12m. An increase on his £4m Villa wages to £6m (£115k a week) would cost Arsenal a total of £18m a year. So despite the big transfer fee, Luiz would actually cost us less a year than Partey.

You would also hope that we can flog him to the Middle East, get a fee of around £30m+. That fee would offset what we play for Luiz.

So are they uninspiring?

No. I would be more than happy if, over the next 2 windows, we spent around £130m on Ivan Toney, Douglas Luiz and David Raya.

All 3 are Premier League proven, risk free signings. The trio would improve the depth in our squad.

We would then have kept a bit of powder dry for a further midfield signing who could perhaps walk straight into the first XI ahead of Kai Havertz.

Keenos