Tag Archives: Arsenal

Sokratis to be only incoming centreback at Arsenal

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With the signing of Sokratis (I can’t be bothered to Google his surname) imminent – or completed if he signs before this blog goes live, the talk now is “who is next”.

A goal keeper, defensive midfielder, back up right back and winger are a must, but plenty of fans are also calling for a second centre back to sign.

I can not see Arsenal signing a second centre back.

Firstly we have budget constraints.

Whilst we will bring in a lot more than the £50m worth of players the press are claiming, we still have to be sensible.

Having all but secured Sokratis and right back Stephan Lichtsteiner set to join on a free, our financial strength should be chucked behind signing a goalkeeper, defensive midfielder and wideman. A 2nd centre back will not be top of the list.

There is a lack of decent centre backs around in world football at the moment. It is why Liverpool spent so much on Virgil van Dijk (who is average). And look how much Manchester City have spent on a partner for Vincent Kompany (Mangala, Otamendi, Stone, Laporte and more!).

To secure one decent centre back in transfer window is sufficient. To secure a second is fairly unrealistic, and it would feel like whoever we got in next (such as Johnny Evans) would not be a player we actually want.

Arsenal will sign a new goal keeper and defensive midfielder this summer. Were we to also add a another first choice centre back alongside Sokratis, that will mean complete new personnel in the heart of our defensive shape. A new keeper, 2 new centre backs and a new defensive midfielder, it just is not feasible.

By partnering Sokratis with Shkdoran Mustafi, and playing Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal either side, it will see us keep at least 50% continuity at the back once the new goal keeper and defeisnvie midfielder have joined. That is important.

More likely will be to bring Sokratis in this season, and then sign him a partner next season if Mustafi does not perform.

Sokratis looks a leader. Strong and commanding. The type of player that is needed to get the best out of Mustafi. It would be sensible to give Mustafi another 12 months before dumping him. Let’s see how he performs alongside a consistent defender next to him.

With neither Sokratis or Mustafi going to the World Cup, it will give them a full two month pre-season to develop a partnership. Add in Bellerin and Saed Kolasinac, Unai Emery will have plenty of time to drill an organised back four before the season starts.

There is a (valid) opinion that Mustafi is not good enough and a new centre back coming in will replace him. But again this is unlikely – especially with Laurent Koscielny out until 2019.

Picture the scene if we get rid of Mustafi. It leaves us with:

2 new centre backs
Calum Chambers
Rob Holding
Konstantinos Mavropanos

It just looks weak.

Chambers and Holding have so far shown themselves to be inconsistent, and Mavropanos is already being overhyped after just a handful of games.

Mustafi might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but we know what we are getting. With Sokratis we don’t entirely know what we are in for. Losing Mustafi and having 2 unknown quantities could leave us high and dry.

All of this would be OK if Koscielny was not injured, as we could go into the new season with Sokratis, Koscielny and another new centre back. But with the Frenchman out, Mustafi becomes key.

The worry would be that if Sokratis or an additional new centre back came in, the risk of both flopping is huge. Without someone who we know backing them up, it could leave us in a situation where we are relying on Chambers, Holding or Mavropanos for the season.

Partnering Mustafi with Sokratis protects us. If Sokratis does struggle, we can then flip one of the others in and it leaves us in a similar situation defensively as we were at the back end of last season.

With a new manager and new coaching staff at London Colney, it is important that we do not let too many players leave.

With Santi Cazorla, Per Mertesacker and (likely) Jack Wilshere gone, we need to keep what we had at the end of last season and build.

Anyone on loan can obviously go, but Arsenal need to keep the likes of Mustafi, Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi. Get the key first team players sorted this summer, then we can look next year at improving on the quality of the squad.

Next season, with Sokratis settled, and the youngsters with another year under the belt, we can then make the switch. Koscielny gone, and Mustafi sold if he does not improve and we can then go and buy a partner for Sokratis.

This summer, Sokratis will be the only centre back coming in.

Keenos

A Wife and Two Break-Ups

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Every relationship, whether hellish or hospitable, has a leading-on period.

Firstly your wild side wants to charge in, Theo Walcott-esque, with little idea for the end product. I imagine the train of thought goes something likes this, “Do it. Do it. Kick it. Run. Run faster. Fetched!” But when the time comes to commit to the final ball, the doubts can be consuming. “But how could she possibly control the cross with those prison toothbrush toenails?” The drawbacks defer you and, in Walcott’s case, a blind get-out punt into the away stand follows.

Two men fell victim to such romantic hesitations this week.

The first was the North Korean leader, whose courtship became all too high-maintenance in its nuclear lustings and the banquet of ‘hostesses’ at an unnamed Singaporean suite was cancelled in lieu of the Donald’s break-up.

The second was none other than our scorned Spaniard.

It is easy to sympathise with Mikel Arteta, who’d practically half-Odemwingied in his desire for the position as journalists touted it as ‘basically a done deal’. But like a cruelly guarded affair, Ivan Gazidis was wooing his mistress before breaking off the marriage.

Many were so infatuated by Arteta’s mystery that there was no other option and it meant enthusiasm towards Unai Emery’s appointment was initially rather muted. However, the truth is, for the board at least, Arteta was too fresh and too unpredictable. It was one of love’s old clichés – ‘the right person at the wrong time’.

However, I have no doubts the Club came to the correct decision. Not necessarily in choosing Emery, but in appointing him over Arteta.

Arsenal are in an unstable period. Our leader and, to an extent, our philosophy has irreversibly changed and it’s essential we’re guided by someone proven in handling such a situation. Even with a heavy heart, it was right to second-guess the Spaniard.

Admittedly, Emery did somewhat lose his allure in France and the recent revelation that it was Neymar who was the boss in Paris is a slight cause for concern. However, his achievements at Sevilla indisputably showed that he’s a serial winner.

Emery’s approach is meticulous, hands-on, and he’ll work within the Club’s temperamental new structure. It may not quite be the new wife we supporters hoped for but it’s still the drastic change we desired.

It’s inevitable that after these years of repeated heartbreak, we’ll enter any new relationship with trepidation. But now the leading-on period is over and we’ve committed so there’s nothing to do but blindly charge in à la Theo.

Tom

Why have Arsenal changed their transfer policy?

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Sokratis Papastathopoulos turns 30 in a couple of weeks. 9th of June to be exact. And is about to join Arsenal.

Alongside the signings of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Henrik Mkhitaryan – both 29 – it shows a clear shift in Arsenal’s transfer policy.

Add in Alexandre Lacazette (26 when signed, now 27) and the incoming 34-year-old Stephan Lichtsteiner on a free transfer, the policy is clear. Arsenal are now buying senior players who are in their peak.

For years, Arsenal had a similar transfer policy to what Tottenham have now. Sign talented players under the age of 25. Players who are cheaper than those in the peak, but will still go on to improve.

After 3 or 4 years, those players move on, for transfer fees well above what they came in for. Think Luca Modric and Gareth Bale. Sign them cheap, sell them high, reinvest and have enough left over to keep the books balanced.

Buying players at their peak means that you are signing them at the top of their transfer value. You are then likely to use them up and release them as they are on the way down – for a loss. You won’t be winning the “net spend” trophy with this policy, but it is likely you will be winning real trophies.

So why have Arsenal shifted their transfer policies from talented young players to established stars.

https://twitter.com/motwocee/status/1001081853187633153?s=21

The first reason is due to where Arsenal currently sit in the pecking order.

We need players who are at the top of their game. Players who can come in straight away and continue their high performance level. Take us from 6th to top 4. Back into the Champions League.

Buying young players is part of a longer term project. You end up having to take a couple of steps back before taking the huge strides forward. Arsenal can not afford to take that couple of steps back.

We could have put Rob Holding, Calum Chambers or Konstantinos Mavropanos onto the first team next year to replace Laurent Koscielny. All 3 will become top players, but Arsenal are not in the position to take the risk.

Instead, in Sokratis, Arsenal are getting a 30-year-old who has nearly 80 caps for his country.

A second reason for the shift in Arsenal’s transfer policy is we no longer require incoming funds to balance the books. We do not need to sell before we can buy.

In the late 00’s and first half of this decade, Arsenal had to sell players to keep the club afloat. Whether it be Cesc or Song. Nasri or Adebayor. The club was making an operating loss, so we had to sell to buy.

Last year, Arsenal made profits over £40m before player transfers. This allows for huge investment in the playing side without needing to sell.

The £50m budget is a myth.

With amortisation of transfer fees, we can increase our expenditure by huge amounts. We can easily buy the 4 or 5 players we need to push on next season without needing to sell.

And then looking to the future, we will no longer need to sell to buy. That means we do not need to think of future transfer value wen signing someone.

Get someone in like Sokratis. Play him for 4 years, and he leaves for free at the end of his contract at 34. We won’t need to bring any cash in to replace him.

It is like a rich man buying a car. He does not need to trade in his old one to free up cash for a new one. He will just scrap the old one and buy new. We are now in that position.

The shift in transfer policy shows a shift in mentality. It is about the here and now. Next season. And success.

Keenos