Are you a season ticket holder unable to make tonight? Use the TX so your seat is not empty

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Happy Thursday. And Happy Europa League Day.

Tonight is a sell-out at the Emirates, which considering the competition and opponents is fantastic.

If you are a season ticket holder and planning on not going, please ensure you post your ticket on the TX.

Yes, you might not need the £13.58 you will get for the ticket, but by selling it allows another fan to go.

The most expensive ticket for tonights game is £18. Junior Gunners is £4.50 for the family enclosure.

A lot if said about how expensive football is these days. And the media manipulate those tables to bash Arsenal’s season ticket prices. Little is said when Arsenal massively discount tickets for the League Cup and Europa League.

So to repeat, if you are not going, SELL YOUR TICKET. It will probably be bought by a student, someone studying locally. Maybe even going to their first game. By you selling, it gives the next generation a chance to go.

Moving in, I think we will see a much changed team tonight with Liverpool on the horizon Sunday afternoon.

Expect Matt Turner to be in goal, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney in defence. Cedric Soares is also back to full fitness and Rob Holding will be given a run out.

I would not be surprised if Mikel Arteta rests Ben White, William Saliba and Gabirel; playing Tomiyasu at centre back.

Albert Sambi Lokonga and Fabio Vieira will both get a start in the place of Thomas Partey and Martin Odergaard.

With Emile Smith Rowe out injured, and the likes of Charlie Patino, Miguel Azeez, Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand and Marcelo Flores out on loan, Arteta has a bit of conundrum for the last midfield spot.

Does he look towards the academy – Matt Smith, Cătălin Cîrjan or even Ethan Nwaneri. Or does he go for Mr Reliable Granit Xhaka?

There is also the option of going 343- playing a back 3 of Tomiyasu, Holding, Tierney. Cedric and Lino Sousa as wing backs and just Sambi and Vieira in the middle. This might be too much change though.

I think we will go for Xhaka for that bit of experience, and get him to play a bit deeper than normal alongside Sambi rather than his new advanced position – with him getting further forward if we begin dominiating play comfortably.

Marquinhos and Eddie Nketiah will be two of the front line, with Reiss Nelson potentially making up the XI. If Artets opts for 3 at the back, the front 3 stay the same.

Predicted XI:

Turner
Soares Tomiyasu Holding Tierney
Sambi Xhaka
Nelson Vieira Marquinhos
Nketiah

Final couple of thoughts: Just heard on the radio that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored last night for Chelsea. I had actually forgotten he played for them.

And I wonder if Omari Hutchinson is watching on tonight wondering “what if?”.

Whilst he is yet to get a minute of senior time with Chelsea (I still find it odd / egotistical that he was holding a shirt with 7 on the back, then got given the number 56), his repalcement at Arsenal – Marquinhos – looks set to make his 3rd appearance of the season for the table topping Arsenal.

Enjoy the game tonight. And remember to sell your ticket on the TX if you are not going.

Keenos

How do Arsenal compete with Manchester City long term?

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Morning Arsenal.

October and top of the league. It feels good. Although I don’t expect us to stay there as we haven’t really played a top team yet.

We might be above Man City right now but I think even the most optimistic of fan would still expect them to win the league.

They don’t even look like they are out of second gear yet and are brushing opponents aside with ease.

The WhatasApp chatter over night was “what do we need to do to beat them to the title?”

My answer was simple – increase our wage bill by 50%.

Long time followers of the blog will know that I am a big believer of that, on average, the more you spend on wages the higher you finish up the table.

Manchester City reportedly spend around £355m a year on wages. We spend “just” £244m

If you go through Manchester City’s starting XI, almost every player is “a level above” Arsenal’s:

  • Ederson > Ramsdale
  • Walker > Tomiyasu
  • Dias > Saliba
  • Laporte > Gabriel
  • Cancelo > KT
  • Partey = Rodri
  • Gundogan > Xhaka
  • KdB > Odergaard
  • Saka = Silva
  • Foden > Martinelli
  • Haaland > Jesus

And this is replicated in the key replacements:

  • Ortega = Turner
  • Stones > White
  • Ake > Holding
  • Phillips > Elneny
  • Grealish > ESR
  • Mahrez > Vieira
  • Alvarez = Nketiah

Now this blog isn’t a debate of who is better individually, but who is better as a whole. And no one can deny that Manchester City have a better starting XI and better squad then us.

To compete with them we need to improve our starting XI. And with that comes spending more wages.

Now improving the XI is not just about signing better players, but developing our players to be better.

Take William Saliba.

He could us quickly becoming one of the best central defenders in the league. He would not be out of place in Manchester City’s XI. He is reportedly on just £40k a week.

Compare that to John Stones (£250k) and Ruben Dias (£180k).

If we want to keep Saliba, eventually we will need to pay him those sort of wages.

Bukayo Saka is another example.

He is already one of Arsenal’s highest earners on £120k a week – Jack Grealish earns £300k and Bernardo Silva earns £150k.

Whilst I think Saka will sign a new deal, we will not keep him more than a couple of years longer if we do not pay him what he would command at Manchester City.

We also need to improve the XI by continuing to sign better players.

Martin Odergaard is brilliant, but is not Kevin de Bruyne. Gabriel Jesus is no Erling Haaland, Gabriel no Amyeric Laporte and Granit Xhaka that level below Ilkau Gundagon.

I am not saying they are bad players. They are just not as good as their City counterparts. And it is why City spend 50% more on wages than us.

And then this is represented through the “2nd XI” as well.

Stones, Nathan Ake, Kalvin Phillips, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez are all better than Ben White, Rob Holding, Mo Elneny, Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira.

Now shit your eyes and imagine for a bit.

Imagine we bought a central defender better than Gabriel, and then White and Gabriel were our 2nd choice CB pairing. You’d argue they are on par to Stones and Ake.

Or imagine we went out and signed Rafael Leao – in turn relegating Martinelli to the bench. Martinelli v Grealish. That’s par.

Or we went and found a better attacking midfielder than Martin Odergaard. Someone who is as good as de Bruyne (easier said then done). We’d then be talking about Odergaard v Mahrez.

Now this isn’t to say Arsenal are a bad team. We are not.

This is all about how we compete longer term with Manchester City – and the only way we do that is by improving the players in the 1st XI, which in turn improves the squad. But that costs money.

On 2019 (pre-Covid) we generated around £340m. We made a £32.2m loss. So it is clear that if we want to match Manchester City’s wage bill (£355m) we need to begin increasing revenues.

A return to Champions League football and the new Adidas deal will be small steps towards that. But we have a long way to go.

We might compete with City this year. We might be “best of the rest”. But to be long term competitors, we need to be increase that wage bill.

Have a good Wednesday.

Keenos

ESR Future, Klopp the Flopp and Xhaka Redemption

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Emile Smith Rowe Future

It has now been confirmed that Emile Smith Rowe will be out untill Christmas with the same muscle injury that has plagued his young career.

I got heavily criticised a few weeks ago for daring to question his future at the club.

Whilst I get that he is a Hale End boy, one of our own, we have to get better at selling players at the right time. And next summer could be the right time to cash in on the Englishman.

He will still be just 23 and not yet have the “sicknote” label that will see his transfer value plummet.

Smith Rowe will still command a huge transfer fee, and that money can go into funding a replacement who does not have his questionable injury record.

Klopp the Flop

When do the Liverpool owners begin to get itchy feet with Jurgen Klopp?

Yes, he has worked wonders with Liverpool in his 7 seasons at the club – winning 4 trophies in that time – but with 10 points from the opening 7 games, surely the axe can not be far away?

12 months ago, after losing our first 3 games, we also had 10 points from the opening 7. All the press were on Mikel Arteta’s back. He was favourite to “wein” the sack race.

The “Klopp-era” will be talked about by the Scouse loving Liverpool as one of the greatest era’s in Premier League history. But ultimatley they have won 1 more trophy than Chelsea and Manchester United, 2 more than Arsenal and Leicester City and 6 less than Manchester City.

Is Klopp becoming more well known for finishing second (to Bayern & Man City) than being a winner?

Granit Xhaka Redemption

For the second game in a row the Arsenal faithful were cheering Granit Xhaka’s name at the final whistle.

Tomorrow I will write something a little deeper on his redemption, but as someone who has always backed him I feel vindicated.

Xhaka was never the bad player some made him out to be. He just became the punching bag for an unhappy fanbase.

It is easy to forget sometimes that footballers are still human and young men. At 30-years-old, Xhaka is younger than most of those that hurled abuse at him.

I am glad he is now in a better head space, and playing with a smile on his face.

His partnership with Thomas Partey and Martin Odergaard is probably the second best midfield trio in the league behind Rodri, Gundagon and de Buryne.

He is the leader of this team. The managers voice on the pitch.

Xhaka is already taking his coaching badges and working with our youth teams. Future Arsenal manager?

Keenos