Tag Archives: Arsenal

Tielemans not the central man Arsenal need

Leave a reply

Arsenal need midfield reinforcements, and we should be making a move in January.

We need to improve on Mohamed Elneny as Thomas Partey’s cover.

The Egyptian is a solid player, and the one-year extension was the right move.

That decision has allowed Edu and his team to clear their heads as to what exactly we need.

Last summer we might have considered the incoming man being a Partey replacement, co side ring his injury record. But with the Ghanaian’s form (and fitness) this year, replacing him is not on the agenda.

That means we should now be looking for someone who can cover him in the short term, and replace him in the long.

Partey is the best in the world plying as that single pivot defensive midfielder, so it does not make sense for us to get in another big name in this area (no Declan Rice).

Likewise, get the likes of Youri Tielemans and Sergej Milinković-Savić out of your mouths. Neither are defensive midfielders or can play that Partey role.

Tielemans has played deeper this season, but he is not a defensive midfielder.

For Leicester, he plays as the slightly more advanced of a two-man midfield; with either Boubakary Soumaré or Wilfred Ndidi as the deeper defensive cover.

Tielemans on his own as that single defensive midfielder would be a disaster. He neither has the awareness or stamina to do that job.

As for Milinkovic-Savic, he always comes across as a player that everyone raves about but have never seen.

People look at his size, stature and nationality and immediately think “midfield enforcer”. Paul Pogba is similar – the Frenchman often mislabelled as a defensive midfielder due to being big and black, when he has almost always played further forward. The Serbian has never played defensive midfield for Lazio.

If we were talking about replacing Granit Xhaka, then Tielemans and Milinkovic-Savic would be names to mention. But we are talking about getting in cover for Partey. Neither are suitable.

What we need to be looking for is a young, talented defensive midfielder who we can develop over the next 2-3 season to eventually replace Partey full-time. Basically succession management.

We should be looking at players aged 20-22. Players that would see joining Arsenal to be understudy to Partey as a step up from playing regular football at their current clubs.

They would understand that they would see plenty of game time as they continue their development, and as long as they work hard and keep improving, they will be in pole position to replace the Ghanaian in 2-years time.

The two obvious candidates are Palmeiras’ Danilo and Moises Caciedo of Brighton.

Danilo would be the cheapest of the pair – fee rumoured to be around £20-25m. Caciedo, with his Premier League experience, would cost double that.

The Brazilian would be available in January, the current Brasileiro Série A season finished in November. Brighton, meanwhile, would unlikely want to see Caciedo leave until the summer.

With the above considered, Danilo is a realistic January transfer target.

Whether he (or Caciedo) develop into Partey’s replacement is still to be seen.

They will have 2-3 years to prove they can do that job. And if they fail to progress, expect Arsenal to sign an off-the-shelf replacement for him in around 2025 or 2026.

For now, we can take the risk on a young, exciting talent.

We don’t need to replace Partey yet. Just sign some better cover and competition.

Keenos

Two lined up to replace Gabriel Jesus

11 Replies

Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli.

If anyone thinks we are about to go out into the transfer market to buy a short term replacement for Gabriel Jesus, then they clearly don’t understand the changes Edu and his team have made at the club.

Gone are the days where we sign someone like a Lucas Perez because we are desperate. Gone are the days we loan in a Denis Suarez or Kim Kallstrom in the hope they will settle and do a job for the club in the short term.

The club will no longer waste money on short term solutions, or on players that the scouts do not believe have a long term future.8

The pursuit of Dusan Vlahovic last January shows how much we have changed.

When Juventus beat us to the signature of the Serbian, we did not panic. We kept our powder dry and secured our primary target the next summer – Gabriel Jesus.

Some might blame our lack of striker signing in January as the reason we failed to hit top 4.

Last season the target was always top 6. Failing to strengthen in January did not result in us missing that target.

And by not buying, it ensured we had the finances to complete the best transfer window for some time. And as a result we are top of the league.

If the right player is available in January, we will move for them. But they have to be the right player.

Someone that we were already looking at. Someone who we were considering making a move for in January. If that target does not exist, then we will not waste money on someone who we do not really want.

And the reality is, that target probably does not exist.

Top striker, performing week in week out for his team, will not make a move in January.

That leaves you targeting 2nd tier players, or those whose clubs want rid.

Ivan Toney is a name I see banded about a lot, but he is facing a 6-month ban for his gambling. The Portuguese lad that scored a hat trick the other day, no one had heard of him 7-days ago. And Dominic Calvert-Lewin is more likely to find himself alongside Jesus in the medical room rather than scoring goals in front of the North Bank.

In Martinelli and Nketiah, the club has two good options.

Eddie is hungry and chomping at the but to show he belongs.

As for Martinelli, he is a generational talent and already proved he can play down the middle. 10 goals in his debut Arsenal season as a striker.

The list of potential strikers is short, but the list of new wingers is long.

A wide forward was always our primary target this winter. We will continue that pursuit which will enable Martinelli to be used upfront.

Eddie and Gabi. The two men ready to replace Jesus.

Back the boys!

Keenos

Did Arsenal make a mistake replacing former prodigy with Albert Sambi Lokonga

3 Replies

His has a tough old time of it since joining Arsenal has Albert Sambi Lokonga.

Is he a 6? Is he an 8? What we do know for sure is he has not exactly sparkled when playing in either position.

And he has come under further pressure due to the form of the man he replaced.

No, not Matteo Guendouzi but Joe Willock.

Willock was one of our own. A Hale End graduate and someone that played 78 games for us before leaving to Newcastle.

The majority of those 78 games were off the bench as he struggled to nail down a position at Arsenal.

A loan deal to Newcastle saw him find his feet, scoring 8 goals in 14 games as he was key to their survival. That led the Geordies to spend £25million on him in 2021.

At the time, every agreed it was a good deal for everyone.

Arsenal got a huge chunk of cash for a bit-part player who many questioned if he had the ability to consistently ply for us. Newcastle got a player who immediately became one of their top 2 or 3 performers. And Willock, then aged 22, would be able to kick on his career with regular football.

In Willock’s place, we signed Albert Sambi Lokonga for £17.2m

Both players born in 1999, Willock just 2 months older. It looked great business for Arsenal.

Lokonga was seemingly more advanced in his career compared to Willock, and Arsenal made around £8m profit across the two deals.

Ironically, Lokonga had played the same amount of games for Anderlecht as Willock did Arsenal (78). But unlike Willock, many of those came from the start rather than off the bench.

Lokonga captained Anderlecht for most of his final season, and his form saw him get a call up to the Belgium national team prior to joining us. Shortly after signing for Arsenal he would win his first (and only) international cap.

He came with the glowing endorsement of former manager Vincent Kompany, who said he reminded him of Yaya Toure.

In the 18 months since, he has stagnated and certainly not got close to being the “new Yaya Toure”.

But is it his fault?

We have seen it often with young players. In and out of the team, continually playing in different positions, it is tough to progress.

And this was infact why Willock left us.

Willock would play defensive midfield one week, then not be seen for 2 or 3 weeks, and then return in attacking midfield. The next game he would be on the bench and come in with 5 minutes to go in an attempt to run down the clock.

It was only with regular football at Newcastle that he kicked on. And I do wonder if their positions were reversed – Lokonga playing regularly at Newcastle and Willock a bit-pry player at Arsenal – would their form and progression be reversed?

When Willock left, Arsenal were not really playing a formation that suited him.

In 2020/21, we mainly played 4231, with 2 defensive midfielders and a “10”. Willock was always naturally an 8.

With us now transitioning to 4141 with 2 8s, you have to think that Willock might have excelled had he stayed at Arsenal.

He would’ve seen more consistent game time covering both Xhaka and Odegaard, and his progression would not have been as stunted as previously.

Unlike many, I am not writing off Lokonga.

There is a player in there and if he gets the consistent game time, he could explode.

He has the pace and power to be a top midfielder. He also has an exceptional range of passing. He just needs that game time and I am not sure whether Arsenal can give him it.

Some might call for him to have a loan deal, but at 23 that chance has probably gone.

With Charlie Patino performing well at Blackpool, and a new defensive midfield recruit to join in January, I wouldn’t be surprised if the club cash in on Lokonga. And it would be equally unsurprising if he kicks on following a departure like Willock did.

Final thought on this piece: It was Willock’s decision to go. He wanted to leave us to kick on his career. He didn’t want to be a bit part player despite us being his boyhood club. And we need to respect that.

Whilst some might now think replacing Willock with Lokonga was a bad move, the Englishman leaving was not our choice. And we would have been wrong to force him to stay against his will.

Hopefully in the second half of the season we see Lokonga play more in his natural 8 position. If he does kick on over the next 6 months he could save us a lot of money when it comes to signing a back up (and eventual replacement) for Xhaka.

But Lokonga v Willock. It’s an interesting debate.

Note: all the weird little Arsenal-incels will jump over Willock and Lokonga as examples of Arteta being unable to develop young players.. Ignoring Saka. And Martinelli. And Saliba. And the fact we have the youngest squad in the league.

Keenos