Tag Archives: Premier League

Replacing Gabriel? Ben White of the left? Inverted fullbacks? Where does Riccardo Calafiori fit in?

When we were first linked with Riccardo Calafiori, I was left scratching my head. I had never heard of the Bolonga defender, and it felt like we were being used to force through his move to Juventus; a tactic we had seen previously with Manuel Locatelli.

Whilst I have faith in both Mikel Arteta and Edu, I was unsure if a left sided centre back come left back was what we needed – afterall we had Gabriel and Jakub Kiwior as central defensive options and Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jurrien Timber at left back. Add in Kieran Tierney (who I expect to leave) and we are well stocked on the left hand side of the defence.

So just why are we looking to spend £35m on what some have described “a Paolo Maldini regen”?

To start with, this will not be a technical analysis. I do not know enough about him and, unlike others, I do not get AI to write my blogs. This is about where he fits into the squad.

Gabriel replacement

My first thought as the links strengthened was that he could be a replacement for our Brazilian beast.

Last summer Gabriel got tempted by a move to Saudi Arabia. He ended up being dropped by Mikel Arteta, not starting any of our 3 games. Some would argue his flirting with the Middle East cost us the title – we drew 2-2 at home to Fulham in those opening games. A victory might have changed everything.

It would be surprising if a Brazilian international, entering his peak years playing for a Premier League title chasing club would just up sticks and go to Saudi Arabia. But then you have to factor in the money they are offering.

Aston Villa’s Moussa Diaby is about to make the move after just once season in England. He would rather earn loads money then play in a Champions League side.

You also have Ederson.

At just 30-years-old, the Brazil number 2 could make the move despite being at Manchester City. It is all about the money.

Can you really blame a player for having their head turned by a £30m a year tax free contract?

I do not think Gabriel will go, but once you flirt once can you fully be trusted to not consider cheating again?

Jakub Kiwior replacement

The signing of the Polish central defender came from nowhere 18-months ago.

Kiwior has been solid cover for Gabriel, but has never really pushed on to be a genuine challenger in that position.

Arsenal are likely more than happy with him as Gabriel’s cover, but maybe Kiwior has ambitions to play week in week out elsewhere?

Last summer he was heavily linked wit Napoli, this summer it is Inter Milan. There is certainly plenty of interest from top teams who would be able to provide him a starting berth.

But would we be spending £35m on a back up central defender when we have other positions that require more immediate attention.

The Ben White role

Zinchenko has shown he is a bit of a liability defensively at times, and I have long held view that his future in this team lies in that left handed 8 position, replacing Grant Xhaka.

Timber and Tomiyasu are excellent options, but neither are natural left backs nor played there for long parts of their career. Could Arteta be looking to replicate what he did with Ben White on the other flank?

Calafiori is predominantly a left side central defender – it is where he played for Bolonga last season and Italy in the Euro’s. But a quick scouting report will show you that he has played nearly half of his senior appearances at left back. And this is where the “Maldini regen” comments come in.

A lot of fans would have Maldini down as one of the greatest central defenders to play the game when infact he spent most of his career at left back. Just because you are 6′ 2″ and like defending more than attacking does not automatically mean you are a centreback.

We have seen Pep Guadiola move Josko Gvardiol to left back. He has also played Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji at left back. In fact, I can not remember the last “proper” left back they had – and by proper I mean someone who stays wide, gets chalk on their boots and gets up and down the line.

We know Arteta is a pupil of the Pep-way, and maybe a big part of that way is having technically gifted central defenders playing in those wide positions. thus creating a more narrow, compact defence and reducing how many goals you concede. You sacrifice a bit of a full backs forward play for clean sheets.

Ben White does this superbly at right back, whilst also being cover for William Saliba in central defence. Could Arteta be looking to replicate this with Calafiori at left back?

The Italian would then become your first choice left back, whilst also providing cover for Gabriel if Kiwior leaves.

Risky business

The big concern with having Calafiori and White as your first choice full backs, whilst also being your first choice cover at centre back is that the defence can be very thin of options very quickly. It would be a bit of a risk.

But Arteta has potentially offset this risk by signing versatile defenders:

Both Timber and Tomiyasu can play right back, left back and centre back. If either Ben White (why do we always say his full name?) or Calafiori are needed at centreback, one of these will fill in at full back. And if both are needed, we just end up with Timber White Calafiori Tomiyasu as our back 4. And we would still have Zinchenko as an option.

We would have 7 players for 4 positions. With 4 of those players having the capability to play outwide or in the middle. You would also have Declan Rice and Thomas Partey who can play as emergency central defenders or full backs if needed:

Right Back: White, Timber, Tomiyasu, Partey
Left Back: Calafiori, Tomiyasu, Timber, Zinchenko
Right Centreback: Saliba, White, Tomiyasu, Timber, Rice
Left Centreback: Gabriel, Calafiori, Tomiyasu, Timber, Rice

Invert the other side

Playing Olexsander Zinchenko as an inverted full back was a big reason we were title challengers in 2022/23, and it is not a plan that Arteta would have give up on.

In games where we look to dominate possession, the option will still be there to play Zinchenko at left back whilst dropping into midfield for an extra creative option. Gabriel, Saliba and Ben White then push over to make a back 3.

Calafiori incoming means we could invert the right hand side instead – you have Timber coming in for White, whilst Calafiori plays at left back.

You would invert the right side if the opposition were strong offensively on their right (our left), and invert the left side if the opponents left side was their strongest attacking point. More options. More different ways to set up and cause the opposing manager a headache.

Writing this blog, I have become more comfortable with the impending acquisition of Calafiori.

We have seen Josko Gvardiol and Ben White that having big, strong full backs that defend first is the way to win the Premier League right now. Calafiori will give us that option at left back whilst also covering Gabriel in the centre.

I also like the idea of having the choice of either Timber on the right side, or Zinchenko on the left as inverted options. It might not be every game, it might not be the whole game. But it is another option.

In this market, we are getting Italy’s first choice central defender for £35m. That is a great deal. And ultimately, we should not be scared of a bit of competion!

Guardiola is able to keep John Stone, Ruben Dias, Gvardiol, Akanji and Aka happy. Arteta will have to do the same if we want to become champions once more.

UTA.

Keenos

After selling out twice, we have decided to order one more batch of our original Arsenal beer mats! These were designed with @SheWore and @CarlBourkeArt

Over 1,000 sold! #AFC https://t.co/R4ww6cE7Nz pic.twitter.com/Aw5FqI8BIk
— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) July 19, 2024

The GOOD and BAD of Arsenal’s end of season ticketing review

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Morning! Yesterday the club published their end of season ticketing review 2023/24.

Firstly a bit of praise for the club. This sort of transparency is something many have been requesting for some time. Whilst you may or may not agree with the way tickets are distributed, it is a positive that club have outlined exactly how many tickets have been applied for and bought at all levels throughout the season.

Now for some thoughts on the review.

Our goal remains the same: to put tickets in the hands of our supporters, with a focus on our paying Silver and Red members.

Touting is nothing new, and Arsenal are not the only club to have problems with it. If there was an easy solution, someone would have come up with one by now – football, music, festivals and more have all been targets of touts for decades.

I actually do not think ticket touts cause a big a problem as some make out. I would be surprised if there was much more then 1,000 tickets a game touted. Even half of that would surprise me. But touts and a presence on game day and make for a big story on social media when tickets are going for thousands.

My view is that our ticketing issues is more to do with the 75% reduction in silver allocation rather than ticket touts.

During the 2023/24 season, we banned 20,000 members and 54 season ticket holders for attempting to obtain tickets in unauthorised ways

The club needs to continue working against both touts and those that use bots to buy tickets.

Whilst some will claim to be a “victim” of an unfair crackdown, it is likely that either they, or someone buying on their behalf, has used a bot to buy tickets. This season should be a learning curve for fans about lending your membership to someone else to buy on.

At the start of the 2023/24 season, we introduced a ballot system…we believe this is the fairest way to allocate tickets to Silver and Red Members.

Let’s be honest, the ballot has been a shit show.

We have long term silver members who have been to 15+ games regularly every year for a decade now only able to get 1 or 2 tickets a season.

The idea of the ballot was to reduce tickets that went to touting and get rid of the £10m scramble”. All it has done is reduce tickets going to some of the most loyal fans, and create a new scramble for tickets on the Ticket Exchange.

What I would say is we all moaned that the existing system of logging on at 10am on sale day did not work, we all demanded change, so I am reluctant to criticize the change too much.

I still do not see many other options other than a return to the 10m scramble or a continuation of the ballot. what needs to happen is some tweeks to the system. And again, I do not think the issues are the ballot. It is the reduction of allocation to silver members.

You can present statistics however you wish, and the above does make interesting reading.

What it highlights to me is the importance of the Ticket Exchange. The encouragement for season ticket holders to “use it or lose it” will lead to more tickets flowing down to members.

Mid-way through the season, we limited Ticket Exchange to members who were unsuccessful in the ballot.

Arsenal showed that they were learning as they went along with the ballot. The change to limit Ticket Exchange to those who were unsuccessful in the ballot should be seen as a good thing.

The downside is it potentially alienates those that do not know if they can make a game until close to it (such as shift workers, or those that work overseas). They now struggle to pick up a last minute ticket when they realise they are available. But like with any change in system, there will always be winners and losers.

I was surprised to see that 6 fans applied for all 25 ballots and failed to get a ticket. I feel for those fans and the club risk losing their support. Can the club introduce a weighting system where the more ballots you are unsuccessful for, the more chance you have winning? I am sure there are very clever computer boffins that could create an algorithm…

I imagine the club will be celebrating 93,000 member obtained tickets as their aim is for “every fan to go once” rather than 10,000 fans going 9 games. and this creates an issue of fairness.

You now have fellas who have been to most games on their silver, now only able to go 4 or 5 times a season. Whilst others who were never quick enough to grab a ticket are now getting to 2 or 3 games.

Those fans that want to go to a lot of games are punished, with those who only want to go to a handful are rewarded. Everyone will have a different opinion as to which is the correct target audience.

We have implemented a functionality for members to be able to choose their top two price band preferences that they wish to purchase as part of a successful ballot application.

Another issue with the ballot was you did not get a choice of where you sat or what you paid. You just got assigned a seat.

Not everyone can afford the top tier prices – Cat A can be as expensive as £141. The mid-season change at least allows fans to protect their pocket and only apply for the banding that they can afford.

We can confirm that 24 season tickets were cancelled last season due to lack of use. During the 2023/24 season, supporters had to use their season ticket (attend themselves or make their season ticket available on Ticket Exchange or Ticket Transfer) for 17 out of 22 matches. For the 2024/25 season, this will change to 20 out of 23.

This is a positive.

Put simply, if you can not attend the majority of games (and are too lazy to put your ticket on Ticket Exchange) then you should not have a season ticket.

The club have always made it clear that they will consider re-instate your season ticket under exceptional circumstances. My advice is be pro-active. if something helps, drop the club an email early doors explaining why you (or a loved one) can not go and is unable to use the Ticket Exchange. Do not wait until you are informed you are losing your season ticket and then take to social media to complain.

The ballot will continue next season. Members who applied to 20 or more ballots and were not successful once [during 2023/24] will be invited to purchase a ticket from a select number of fixtures before Christmas.

Around 300 members applied for 20 or more ballots and were not successful last season. The fact they are being prioritised for a ticket before Christmas is a positive, but it does not make the system fairer.

“Sorry you missed out 20 times last season, here is one ticket for this”. It would be good to hear from the 300 fans whether they are happy with this?

Final thoughts

The issue remains that pre-Covid, 7,200 seats were allocated to silver members. since football returned, that number has declined every season and now sits at just 1,800.

Whilst the club will point to an average of 5,800 silver members getting tickets for games, it is still lower than previous. The difference is also more than 1,400 as the 7.2k does not include those who bought on the TX back in 2018.

Their have been some rumours that the club are not issuing new season tickets this summer (or at least reduced the percentage of non-renewals that go for re-purchase).

After Covid, those that jumped the queue and purchased a temporary season ticket were allowed to keep it. This came out of the silver allocation. I am hopeful that the above is true and that the aim is to return season ticket levels back to pre-Covid numbers, with the silver allocation getting boosted.

There are still too many tickets that do not go to the ballots (sponsors, holiday packages, an increase to players and staff families). If the club wants their putting tickets in the hands of our supporters philosophy (which is correct), they need to look at how many tickets they give out to non-supporters.

Enjoy your Tuesdsay!

Keenos