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

Arsenal close, but not cigar

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Morning all..

Well technically we took it till the whistle of our penultimate game in the Premier League before having nothing else to play for, even tho the title race seemed over weeks ago.

As much as Manchester City’s run in has been relentless, ours has spluttered. Please note im giving zero credit to Man City here and never will until the 115 charges are dealt with.

Its hard to tell what exactly went wrong for us, the injuries, the young squad, the lack of depth, Arteta himself or, indeed as mentioned, the pressure a financially doped up fully fit Man City squad that kept racking up the Ws. The truth is its a big mix of them all and that just makes it harder to solve….

Man City needed “only” 85 points to win the league. Arsenal would potentially have needed 95. That would have been the 5th or 6th highest Premier League points total in history.

This season has been massive steps forwards on the pitch. Not one pundit or journalist predicted us coming 2nd, and very few predicted top 4.

As crazy as it sounds, a good few predicted Tottenham to finish above us. After Tottenham had their best start to a season in 59 years, many pundits were expecting them to fight City for the title.

The mass pile on so they can try and pull some credibility back with a lame “told you so” is baffling. That and of course we create hits now like we sold newspapers before the digital age…We make the headlines like no other club.

A video of Gary Neville back in January predicted what would happen.

He said that Manchester City would jump ahead of Arsenal with a victory at the Etihad. And then once in-front they would keep winning and Arsenal would struggle to keep up. He predicted back then that City would eventually finish 10 points ahead of us.

In the discussion, he made it clear that Arsenal would be powerless. And that City would go on a relentless run. So why does he say we bottled it when what he predicted would happen? And had previously said it would all be down to City.

The rest of the Premier League, the TV companies, the pundits and journalists should actually thank us.

Without us performing so well for 75% of the season, would’ve been over in the middle of April and would have been a complete bore fest (laughing at Tottenham and Chelsea aside).

I am proud of what the team did. We have a very likeable hardworking talented bunch, many of which are nowhere near peaking. Our best 11 will give anyone a game, but lose 2 or 3 and we drop off, massively.

Never has a transfer window been so pivotal.

Arteta and Edu firstly have to get the selling right to boost the transfer kitty and secondly Josh and Stan have to decide if they really want a squad to challange for the next few years in the prem and in the Champions League. Although it probably does not really matter what we spend. Manchester City can always spend more.

This season has been very profitable for the club. Record gate receipts, record numbers of club members, record high attendances, and record kit sales by Adidas, with them renewing and increasing the money for there never ending conveyor belt of merchandise.

For over a decade I’ve been saying if the owners invest in the playing side the income will increase, hopefully they have clocked onto this now.

Lastly Arteta/Edu can’t make any mistakes this summer, we haven’t got unlimited funds.

We dont need any fillers or players who maybe stars in 2 or 3 years time. With Xhaka looking likely to be the only starting 11 player leaving this summer we will need 3-4 players who would be ready to play in the 1st XI on the opening day of next season (note: that does not mean we need to sign 3-4 players that will 100% start. We need a squad of 17-18 players who can all play on any given Saturday without seeing a drop off in the player they are replacing).

I hope everyone looks back fondly on this season, the ground rocking, the away stands bouncing and the hope and expectations in us being back…

And we are back baby, this is just the start….

Up The Arsenal.

Gav

PS: Just wanted to say that it was a disgrace that Nottingham Forsest stewards would not allow Arsenal players to come over and thank the away supporters who travel up and down the country throughout the season – Keenos.