Is summer finally here?

After the “hottest May on record” (really?), the sun is finally shining. I think a walk through Epping Forest and then a pub lunch is needed today. The walk much needed to work off the weekend excess.

Yesterday is was a little walk around Farringdon and Islington having a few beers. Found a boozer called the The Marian Anderson where it was only £4 a pint!

Everywhere we went people were engrossed with the Champions League final. I did not watch a minute.

Whilst I do The Arsenal home and away, I struggle to watch other football unless the result influences what we might achieve. Dortmund v Madrid in the final had little interest for me.

A debate was had in one of my WhatsApp groups over Jude Bellingham v Declan Rice. For me there is only one winner and that is Rice.

Declan Rice is vastly superior in defensive midfield than Bellingham. Jude has not really played deep in his career and tends to float around in an old school 10 position. Were he to play as the deepest midfielder, he would be exposed.

As for playing in the 10, Rice has shown his ability in more advanced positions this season and I am sure if he did play in behind a striker, or even as a “false 9”, he would excel.

He certainly has the ball striking to be an influence in the opposing box, and his barnstorming powerful runs would be hard to stop. I will concede Bellingham is a better attacking midfielder, but the drop off from Bellingham to Rice in the 10 is a lot less than Rice to Bellingham in defensive positions.

I would also say Rice is a better traditional central midfielder (the cool kids call it the “8”). And again that is down to his defensive work rate. Rice is just the better all round midfielder.

What I would also say is Bellingham is just 20-years-old. He is a tremendous footballer and his game awareness will only improve as he plays more. I can certainly see him transitioning to playing deeper as his career progresses.

This summer, I really want to see a midfield 3 of Rice, Bellingham and Foden for England. Rice being that defensive lynchpin and then Bellingham and Foden playing ahead in a similar style to what both Arsenal and Manchester City play. You could then have Bukayo Saka and Ollie Watkins either side of Harry Kane.

For those that say “what about Cole Palmer?”, you do not need to try and shoe horn all your good players into a team. Palmer will be a great asset coming off the bench for Saka, Foden or Watkins depending on who is having the underwhelming game.

My final thought on this is who you believe is better might also be influenced by who you think your team needs more.

Real Madrid have a hole host of defensive minded midfielders, so would not need a Declan Rice. Bellingham is more suited to them. Meanwhile, in the more physical, higher paced Premier League, having a world class DM is a difference maker. Rice is more suited to The Arsenal.

Anyway, I am off into the forest. Been a while since I have just aimlessly wondered through it. Not sure which pub I will aim at for lunch. Any suggestion?

Keenos

Yesterday we touched a little bit on Mikel Arteta’s desire to have a core squad of 20 outfield players, plus goal keepers.

A few have raised their eyebrows considering you can register up to 25 players. I am not surprised by Arteta’s position.

Last season, just 16 players played more than 1000 minutes of Premier League football for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. It is clear Pep favours quality over quantity and backs he can keep his players fit.

Likewise, Liverpool competed with City for so long by having a smaller squad of higher quality.

A smaller squad means you can pay players more, and have a better quality of players. You only need to look at the “players used” table from last year to see that usually, the better you do the less players you use.

In a few days, I will publish my annual blog on the state of our squad, highlighting who is home grown, non-home grown and U21. This blog has become a key resource for many to help understand the sort of players we can go for.

For now we will do a shortened down exercise, and answer the question “who makes Mikel Arteta’s 23 man squad. This is my view:

In the squad

David Raya
Aaron Ramsdale / Replacement
Karl Hein / Replacement

Ben White
Takehiro Tomiyasu
William Saliba
New central defender
Gabriel Magalhães
Jakub Kiwior
Juirrien Timber
Oleksandr Zinchenko

Declan Rice
New central midfielder
Jorginho
Martin Odegaard
Fabio Vieira

Bukayo Saka
New striker
Kai Havertz
Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Martinelli
Leandro Trossard

That is your list of 22 out of the 23 players. And if we get the recruitment right it looks like a high quality, strong squad.

The midfield does look a little lightweight, just 5 players for 3 positions. But then Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard can both play in that 8. I also would not be surprised to see Oleksandr Zinchenko utilised there next season.

So who does that mean misses out (beyond Ramsdale) from our first team squad last season?

Cedric Soares
Thomas Partey
Mohamed Elneny
Emile Smith Rowe
Reiss Nelson
Eddie Nketiah

Cedric and Elneny hardly played last season, so do not need replacing. Meanwhile Partey will be replaced for a new recruit.

As for the Halen End boys, they played very little between them, and in my eyes they are replaced by a single player – Benjamin Sesko.

Sesko replaces Nketiah, and that frees up for Jesus to be used on the wings, replacing Smith Rowe and Nelson (the pair played just 604 Premier League minutes combined last season).

I also expect none of those senior players on-loan last season to be with us next term: Marquinho, Runarsson, Tierney, Lokonga, Tavares.

When I lay it out as above, suddenly the 20 outfield players does not look as crazy as some will claim.

And by starting the season with just 23 registered players (if all require registering), it leaves us with space to make a January acquisition or two if needed!

Enjoy your Saturday.

Keenos

https://twitter.com/KOMerchants/status/1791106335754641806