Arsenal target “Croatian John Stones” for summer transfer

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Last week I labelled Josip Sutalo as the “Croatian John Stones“. And the more I look into this lad, the more I think he will be the perfect man to add depth to Arsenal’s defence.

23-years-old, Sutalo reminds me a lot of Stones in his Everton days.

Comfortable on the ball, sometimes too comfortable. Great reader of the game, but does not always impose his physical presence.

Manchester City knew in Stones they had a player with the natural attributes to be one of the best in the world. He just had to iron out those kinks and fill out his frame. Sutalo is the same.

Sutalo is comfortable with the ball at his feet. A capable short and long passer , he is also very good when he drives forward with the ball.

For Croatia, Josko Gvardiol is becoming his countries Nemanja Vidic to Sutalo’s Rio Ferdinand.

Like Stones, Sutalo does not panic when he is being pressed. He trusts his first touch and technique to get him out of tight situations and find the right pass. He does not quickly become anxious and look to smash the ball forward just because he is under pressure.

Comfortable with both feet, he is also happy bringing the ball forward, breaking those lines between defence and midfield. Important when trying to get through a high press.

But what is his defending like? Again, he reminds me of a young John Stones.

A fantastic reader of the game, he is often in the right position to intercept play rather than having to get involved in a more physical battle against his opponent. Once he has intercepted, he is very good at moving his body shape to protect the ball which gives him the time and space to pick out a pass.

He can struggle physically at times, and certainly does not impose himself in the way someone who is 6ft 3in should. This can occasionally lead him to be too eager to get the ball and overcommit. Again, not unlike Stones at Everton.

What is impressive is when he is one-on-one, with an opponent facing him, he is equally as strong defending on both sides. He is not one of those who will always try and win the ball with his right (and therefore wrong) foot.

This means that when he wins the ball, he is able to escape from the duel quickly and start an attack. And again, his two-footedness means he can get a pass forward with less touches. He does not have to first move the ball from left to right before being comfortable passing.

Sutalo also has good positional awareness.

He is someone who recognises danger and is comfortable tracking runs in behind his full-back. William Saliba and Gabriel do a greatr job covering their full backs, which allos Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko to press into midfield.

In the games I have seen him, he is also confident coming out of his defensive line to make a tackle. Looking to press and tackle or intercept a forward moving attacked before they reach the dangerzone of the box.

His game does need polishing. Sutalo sometimes attempts passes which are too risky for the reward, and on occassion he does not get the pass right even though it was the right pass to attempt. But this is something he can learn. He often has the vision, but not always the execution.

His physical presence is also a concern, and this can lead him to be bullied and pinned by more physical forwards. He knows when to get tight to a defender and when to drop off, but he does struggle when he is touch tight and can be pinned and spun easily.

With a reported £20million price tag, he comes a lot cheaper than John Stones did back in 2016. Even though they players with similar attributes.

The step up from Croatia to England is a big one. And we already have a “project centre back” in Jakub Kiwor. But that is where Arsenal are at – making stars not buying them.

For those thinking “not another project”, think about this:

If we miss out on him this summer, and he joins a mid-table Premier League side, I would not be surprised if he moves again for £50million+ in a year or two time. And we will all be complaining that we turned down the opportunity to sign him for £20million.

I have often seen people praise Brighton for their recruitment. With some going as far as saying “we need to recruit their recruiters“. Well Sutalo is the sort of player Brighton would buy, stick next to Lewis Dunk for a year or 18 months, then treble their money on.

If Sutalo fills out his frame, he could become one of those central defenders that has it all – physical presence, great reader of the game, fabulous on the ball. A bit more maturing, like Stones, and he could become a top, top defender.

I am very excited that some outlets are now linking us to Sutalo, He ticks every box needed to replace Holding – and has the ceiling to replace Saliba further down the line if the Frenchman’s contract is not sorted.

Keenos

Arsenal do not need “2 XIs” to compete with Manchester City

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We have all done it. Written down a first XI and a second XI. It is a common method used by fans to establish whether we have squad depth. But it is also floored.

Manchester City do not have a 1st XI and 2nd XI. They have a squad of 16-17 players who are all considered as being the first team.

If I asked 5 people to write down Manchester City’s “1st XI”, they would probably come up with 5 different answers.

Some would have Kyle Walker at right back, others John Stones. Some would have Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden, others would put Jack Grealish in. then there is Stones, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte as the central defender options.

Most would probably leave Akanji out, but he has played more minutes than any other Manchester City defender this season.

Meanwhile, those 5 will probably name the same Arsenal XI. And it goes a little something like this:

Ramsdale
White Saliba Gabriel Zinchenko
Partey
Saka Odegaard Xhaka Martinelli
Jesus

Manchester City only really have 3 players who fall under the “if they are fit, they start” category – Ederson, Rodri and Erling Haaland. The rest tend to rotate in and out.

Even the great Kevin de Bruyne is not immune from Guardiola’s rotation policy. The Belgium has been left on the bench for many a big game in the past.

Arsenal are the opposite.

If any of the above XI are fully fit, they will almost always play. And that is why we have run out of steam this season.

This season, Guardiola has made 88 different changes to his starting XI from one Premier League game to the next. Mikel Arteta just 38.

As Arsenal tired, Manchester City got stronger. And that is due to how Guardiola managed his squad throughout the season.

Of course, it is easy to manage a squad that cost £1bn, and earns twice as much as your rivals. There squad is filled to the brim with quality. There has probably never been a squad with as much depth in the history of the game.

A squad of 17-18 players with now “1st XI / 2nd XI”. Just a first team squad.

Whilst we can not compete financially, it does not mean that should not be looking to follow Guardiola’s route to success. Build a single squad of 17-18 first team players, all capable of rotating in and out without dropping the quality of the team. Or having to change tactics to accomodate.

Recently, She Wore contributor boss Gav mentioned about how we need “3-4 new first team players“. And he is correct.

However, what he is not saying is that those players must be bought to come in and replace current 1st team players. They must come in alongside the current 1st XI, giving Mikel Arteta more options as to who starts regularly.

And what is important is that those players bought in offer Arteta similar attributes to those within the squad.

I get fed up when I see people say “we need a Plan B”. No we do not.

Often this is said with the striker. People call for a “big one” to be a Plan B option when Gabriel Jesus is not working.

But say Jesus picks up a long term injury, like he did this summer, and that Plan B then has to play regularly. The Plan B is the opposite of Jesus – Big, physical,slow, static (lets call him Olivier) – and the result is we have to change the way we play just because a player is injured.

“Well lets buy Jesus a like for like back up and a Plan B” some will probably say. Ignoring that will mean we then have a surplus of strikers. Jesus’s replacement only coming in when Gabriel needs a rest, and the Plan B only coming on when we need a goal. It would be poor squad management.

In Takehiro Tomiyasu / Ben White we have full back covered. Likewise the Martinelli / Trossard axis on the left covers off there. Jakub Kiwior shares a skill set with Gabriel. But elsewhere across

This summer when we are looking to get someone to compete with Bukayo Saka, the first requisite must be that they are left footed. That they replicate Saka’s skill set.

That way, they can come in for Saka without us having to change the structure of the side. We do not need a right footed winger who can “offer something different”; like I have seen some people describe Reiss Nelson as.

If we want to change it up a little, then we already have Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli who provide a right footed option on the right.

Kieran Tierney is a fantastic left back. But he does not share a skillset with Olexsandr Zinchenko.

When the Scotsman comes in for the Ukranian, it sees us either having to change the structure of the team, or KT playing in a position he is uncomfortable in.

Finally, there are probably not two central defenders with such differing skills sets as William Saliba and Rob Holding. We need to look at getting an understudy in for Saliba who has similar attributes. So that we do not have to defend deeper or narrower because the Frenchman is out injured.

We build a squad of 17-18 players of similar skills sets, who can all come in at any time without the side changing its pattern of play.

Edu is looking at both Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo this summer. But that does not mean both will immediatly come into the 1st XI. More they would share the duties alongside Thomas Partey and Jorginho. And hopefully you can now see the “starting 18” take place?

We would be going from: Xhaka, Partey, Lokonga, Elneny to Rice, Caicedo, Partey and Jorginho.

You can play any of those 4 in either the 6 or 8 and not see a drop off in quality of the team. That will allow Arteta to make more changes in central midfield, keeping players fresher for longer.

You recruit Caicedo and Rice, and no longer will the 5 people questioned earlier all put out the same starting XI.

Some will have Rice and Partey, others Caicedo and Rice and some even Partey and Caicedo.

Likewise, the return of Tomiyasu would potentially create a debate between him and White on the right, and Tomi and Zinchenko on the left

You add the Caicedo and Rice to: Ramsdale, White, Tomiyasu, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Saka, Odegaard, Vieira, Martinelli, Trossard & Jesus, and you are then beginning to build a more balanced squad. Less first XI and more First Team.

Throw in the new Saliba cover and another attacker and you are beginning to get the squad of 17-18 (it would actually make 19!), then a clear 1st XI and 2nd XI.

Next season, we have more higher level games to play. As said a few times on the blog, we do not need more players. We need more better players.

And that might see the likes of Tierney, Holding, Balogun, Smith Rowe, Nketiah and Nelson leave. The drop off from the regular starters to them is just too great – in both ability and skill sets.

They then need to be replaced with players who are the equivalent, or better, than those who have served Arteta so well this season.

We should be buying players as good (or better) as Jesus, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard and Saliba. Not keeping players who will only play if someone is not fit.

We need to move towards having a strong 17-18. Not a strong 1st XI with a weaker 2nd XI.

Enjoy your Wednesday.

Keenos

Balogun shows he “does not have the heart for a challenge”

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Last week a little bit of news completely missed me by.

Folarin Balogun changed his international allegiances from English to American.

Now on the face of it, New York born Balogun has merely opted to play for the country of his birth. But it also follows a trend of Balogun looking for change rather than rising to a challenge.

Firstly, is he really American?

Just because you a born in a stable, it does not make you a horse. Balogun was born in America to Nigerian parents and moved to the UK at just 2-years old. He is no more American than Erling Haaland is English.

Faced with Harry Kane, Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins, Calum Wilson and others, Balogun would have had to battle to play for England. Instead, he has bottled the challenge.

Opting to play for America was the easy option. He walks into their first team. Gauranteed game time without having to continue pushing himself, continue improving. And it follows a trend for the on-loan Arsenal striker.

In April, Balogun reportedly made it clear that he was not willing to return to Arsenal to fight for a first team place. That he wanted regular first team football or be allowed to leave.

At the time, I praised the decision. He could have easily just sat out his contract, gone on loan across Europe, and have an easy career. It highlighted that he wanted to play regular football – something which Chelsea’s army of loanees show no ambition for.

But with the US news, it perhaps shows a sign that Balogun is a player that wants to take the easy option to the first team.

He would rather play for a lesser team (and country), then compete to start for a top team (and country). And that is a worrying sign.

What sets top players apart is their drive, their ambition. Even when at the time, they strive to be better. They do not reach a level, believe that they have made it, and take their foot off the pedal.

By choosing America, and looking for a move away from Arsenal, Balogun seems to think that first team football should be given rather than earned. He does not want to work hard to play for Arsenal and England. He would prefer to not put as much effort in and start regularly for America and (for example) West Ham.

It is also interesting to see that he has chosen the USA rather than Nigeria.

With Nigerian-born parents, you would think he would be proud of his motherland. Many British-born Nigerians (and British-born Africans in general) are very proud of their heritigate. Where they came from.

But not Balogun.

Balogun has opted for a country that he probably can not remember living in rather than the country of his parents. Why could that be?

Was it because Nigeria have the likes of Victor Osimhen and Kelechi Iheanacho upfront. As well as lesser players such as Emmanuel Dennis.

Meanwhile, the options for the US Men’s National Team are Jordan Morris, Jesús Ferreira, Cade Cowell and Brandon Vazquez. “Who?” would be the right question.

It is very clear that Balogun’s decision to play for a country that he has very little association with is based on him thinking he would get the more caps for them, rather than his affinity to them.

To take Arsenal to the next level, Mikel Arteta and Edu need to be buying players that want to challenge themselves. That think they can make the step up. Similar mentality to Aaron Ramsdale. To Ben White. And so on.

Balogun is not like Gabriel Jesus or Olexsandr Zinchenko. Mid-20s players who played at a top club and then becamse frustrated at the lack of game time. He is just 21-years-old, having his first full season in senior football.

What we do not need is a 21-year-old who has opted twice in his young career to take the easy option. A player who has shy’d away from the challenge of competing with top players for game time.

We now need to maximise the sale value of Balogun. Move him on. And then sign someone who has the ambition and drive to compete with Gabriel Jesus as a regular starter for Arsenal.

Balogun is showing he does not have the heart to rise to a challenge.

Keenos