Ok, it was only West Brom. And not the West Brom that are top of the Championship scoring goals for fun.

Arsenal faced a side which was a mixture of their fringe and youth players; as is the norm for lower league clubs in cup competitions these days. But a 6-0 win is exactly what was needed and there was plenty to be taken out of the game.

Stick with the front 4

Aubameyang down the middle, Pepe right, Saka left and Odegaard in the middle.

That is the front 4 we need to play this season, all being fit and healthy.

I have said countless times, Aubameyang is wasted on the left wing.

His weakest part of his game is his passing. He creates very little from outwide, and this affects our ability to create as a team.

Stick him down the middle where he is devasting.

Yesterday he showed a proper strikers instinct in the box; on his toes ready for a rebound whilst defenders slept.

Pepe, Saka and Odegaard in behind also has a lot of creative and goal scoring balance to hit.

We all know what Saka can do.

He is a busy little bee who likes to buzz outside and inside, looking for pockets of space and to beat a man. He stretches teams.

Odegaard inside is what we have missed. Someone who will link up the play left, right and centre.

When Pepe was on the ball, Odegaard was just inside him. When Saka had it, the Norwegian was close by again. Always available to take the pass and move it on.

And then Pepe.

The Ivorian polarises fans mainly due to his price tag and his tendency to drift in and out of games. But we have seen time and time again that he can be devastating.

He might not have the creativity of the other two, but he is the better goal scorer.

The plan would be easy.

Odegaard and Saka make the play, Aubameyang draws defenders away and Pepe should almost always be open on the right.

We just need them to play more together, in those positions to click.

Granit Xhaka

I blogged recently about how Yves Bissouma was not the right fit for Arsenal at this time.

The blog got some criticism from people who quite frankly, just do not understand football.

The point was a midfield needs balance. A runner and a passer. A defender and an attacker. Someone that sits and someone that presses.

If we played with Bissouma and Partey, we would have 2 runners, 2 players that drive forward and press. Neither would dictate play with the ball at their feet.

Yesterday against West Brom it showed why someone like Xhaka is so important.

He dictated play from the middle of the park. 75 passes in 90 minutes; completing 93.3% of them.

Like with the front 4, Odegaard becomes so important to Xhaka. He was always an option.

Odegaard buzzing around means it is not as easy for teams to press or double up on Xhaka. Make him rush his play or force him into a mistake.

This allows Xhaka to get his head up and pick out a pass. Those wide long balls to Pepe and Saka could be devastating for us this season.

And if it gets on top, Odgaard has likely dropped deeper and is capable of picking up the ball under pressure and playing quickly to a player in space.

If we ever replace Xhaka; it needs to be someone whose strength is passing. Who can disctate play from the middle of the park.

Against WBA the Swiss man showed why that skill set is so important.

Aaron Ramsdale

Looked calm and assured. Some good saves and looked comfortable with the ball at his feet.

One cracking pass along the ground which desiccated WBA’s press and got our attacking facing their defenders was lovely.

A good debut.

The Defence

Only real negative was the defence.

Despite winning 6-0 we did give WBA some chances. Had they taken them when at 0-0 or 1-0 the game might have had a different complexion.

However it was a make shift defence with no Hector Bellerin (we will see him again?), Ben White, Gabriel, Pablo Mari or Kieran Tierney.

White and Gabriel might not be fight for the Man City game but with the international break coming up hopefully neither get selected for their respective nations.

2 weeks training together, learning each others game and hopefully we start building a solid foundation for the next half a decade.

Yes, it was just WBA and Man City will be a completely different prospect. But if you are unhappy with a 6-0 win you will never be happy.

AFC Wimbledon up next…

Keenos

So today’s big football news is Harry Kane announcing he had decided to remain at Tottenham next season.

Well when he says it was his decision, it was not really. If it was up to him he would have left but:

• Man City did not want to pay what Daniel Levy was demanding
• PSG had signed Lionel Messi
• Real Madrid are chasing Kylian Mbappe
• Chelsea had signed Romelu Lukaku
• Manchester United are waiting for Erling Haaland next summer
• Barcelona are broke

So it was not really that Kane wants to stay, more than all doors have shut on them.

But with Manchester City still needing a replacement for Sergio Aguero, what could the repercussions of the Kane deal falling through?

Aubameyang to Manchester City

Could Arsenal’s captain find himself playing up front for the Premier League champions?

It is a deal that could certainly happen in the closing days…

Man City need a striker

With Aguero’s departure, it left Man City with Gabriel Jesus.

Chelsea have signed Lukaku and the Belgium has transformed them.

The feeling is that with Lukaku upfront, Chelsea are favourites for the title. But if Man City signed Kane the pendulum would swing back to them.

No Kane leaves Man City still n the hunt for a front man. And it could end up costing them the title.

The club will remember when in 2012/13 Manchester United pipped them to Robin van Persie.

It was van Persie’s goals that drove United to the title. The 66 goals scored by Man City that season is their lowest in the last decade.

Man City would have learned their lesson and will know to harbour hopes of the title, the need a striker.

Arsenal are open to selling

Speculation has increased in recent days about Arsenal being open to selling Aubameyang.

The striker was hopelessly out of form last season having just signed a new £350,000 a week deal.

In the last 12 months he has appeared moody, disinterested and disruptive. There have been reports of disagreements between himself Mikel Arteta. There has also been a couple of discipline problems.

There is a feeling Arsenal could have another Mesut Oil on their hands – you most highly paid player, the clubs talisman, underperforming to the point that he does not even command a first team start.

You do feel that if an offer comes in for Aubameyang, he could be off.

Wages

The big issue for most clubs is Aubameyang’s wages – £350,000 a week. But this would not be a problem for Manchester City.

This was similar to what Aguero was on, and what they were reportedly willing to offer Harry Kane.

Man City have a bottomless pit of money so offering Aubameyang a 3 year deal (so a 1-year extension on his current Arsenal deal) would not be an issue.

It would be a deal just like that which took van Persie to Man U.

The club would know they are getting him for one, maybe two seasons, and would just have to absorb those wages for another year or two. But if his goals fired them to the league title next season the move would be a success.

No one talks about van Persie’s two average years at Man U; they only speak about the year he won them the title.

Transfer fee

I would imagine an offer in the region of £20million would be enough for Arsenal to part ways with Aubameyang.

That would be money instantly available to help Arsenal finance a replacement – whether it be another striker of a winger.

Getting his salary off the wage bill is the most important thing.

At £350,000 a week, Aubameyang costs the club £18.2million a year. We are already committed to spend that over the next 2 years.

We could go out into the market and spend £50million on a left winger and pay them £150,000 a week on a 5-year-deal.

That would cost us £7.8m a year in wages and £10million a year in amortised salary.

The total deal would cost Arsenal £17.8m a year – £400k less than Aubameyang currently costs.

Who would replace Aubameyang at Arsenal

The headache for Arsenal would be who to replace Aubameyang with.

An argument could be made that Arsenal could play Alex Lacazette upfront with Gabriel and Folarin Balogun backing him up. But then Lacazette has just 1-year left on his contract.

In this scenario, we would therefore need Lacazette to sign a new deal – but how of the Aubameyang saving would then need to go to keeping Lacazette?

On a side note, Willian expected to leave us as well, that is another huge chunk of wages gone. Lacazette’s new deal could come from the savings made from the Brazilian leaving.

So instead of replacing Aubameyang the striker, we could look at replacing Aubameyang the winger and strengthening the left hand side.

Long term target Houssem Auoar could play out there with the freddom to cut inside ala Robert Pires. Alternatively the club have been looking at Marcus Thuram if they want to go down the pace and power route.

Both of these players would cost Arsenal significantly less than the £50million mentioned above, and certainly would not break the bank in wages.

You could even bring in Raheem Sterling in a Alexis Sanchez / Henrikh Mkhitaryan style swap.

Summary

It is a deal that I can see happening, but has a lot of factors:

1) Man City need to be in a position where they have no other options

2) Arsenal need to secure Lacazette to a new contract

3) Arsenal need to have a replacement lined up

Keenos