Tag Archives: She Wore

The 4 strikers Arsenal are targeting this summer

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Romelu Lukaku – Rumoured value: £60m

  • 24 years old
  • Career goals: 145 goals in 317 games / 1 in 2.18
  • Last 4 years: 87 goals in 166 games / 1 in 1.90
  • Belgium: 20 goals in 56 games / 1 in 2.80
  • Premier League proven
  • Approaching his peak
  • Can still improve
  • Unproven at highest level
  • Go’s missing in big games
  • Worst goals to games ratio of proven strikers
  • Worst goals to games ratio over last 4 years of proven strikers

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Rumoured value: £60m

  • 28 years old
  • Career goals: 175 goals in 371 games / 1 in 2.12
  • Last 4 years: 120 goals in 189 games / 1 in 1.57
  • Gabon: 23 goals in 55 games / 1 in 2.39
  • Proven at the highest level
  • Well into his peak
  • Best goals to games ratio of proven strikers
  • Best goals to games ratio over last 4 years of proven strikers
  • Will not get any better
  • At 28, he has no sell on value

Alexandre Lacazette – Rumoured value: £40m

  • 26 years old
  • Career goals: 129 goals in 275 games / 1 in 2.14
  • Last 4 years: 113 goals in 183 games / 1 in 1.62
  • France: 1 goal in 10 games
  • At his peak
  • Potentially cheapest
  • Consistent goal scorer for 4 years
  • Only proven in France
  • Why hasn’t anyone taken a punt previously?
  • Why so few caps?

Kylian Mbappe – Rumoured value: £100m

  • 18 years old
  • Career goals: 27 goals in 58 games / 1 in 2.15
  • Last 4 years: 27 goals in 58 games / 1 in 2.15
  • France: 0 goals in 2 games / NA
  • Most naturally gifted of all
  • Most potential of all
  • Most expensive of all
  • Most unproven of all

So the choice in my eyes is:

  1. A proven Premier League goal scorer who has not done it at the top level but will still improve
  2. A proven global scorer who we might only get 3/4 years from
  3. An unproven goal scorer at the highest level who is the cheapest option
  4. Completely unproven, expensive with the most potential

Who do you want leading the line at Arsenal next week?

Keenos

England’s Big 6 – Who had the best season?

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Chelsea

Did Antonio Conte take a team who finished 10th to Champions, or did Jose Mourinho take a team who finished Champions down to 10th? The reality is both statements are true.

Antonio Conte has been given a lot of credit this season for taking the Chelsea side to the league title, having finished 10th the previous season. Whilst he does deserve the credit, it must not be forgotten that the year before Chelsea finished 10th, they won the league.

The core of the team remained the same. It was not a squad that should have finished 10th the previous season. Conte merely returned the side to their former glory.

As well as praising Conte, questions must be asked of the Chelsea players – such as Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa & Eden Hazard – who had such a bad season last year, sandwiched between title winning seasons. Clearly they stopped playing for Jose Mourinho. Poor attitudes all round.

Where Conte deserves immense credit is the change of formation.

When Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-0 back in September, it looked like Chelsea were going to be Top 4 at best. He bought in his favoured 3-4-2-1 formation and the side never looked back. And where he led, other teams since followed.

The FA Cup defeat is a big black stain on their season, the performance and the defeat. Chelsea looked like they had been on holiday for 2 weeks and looked unmotivated. A side that struggled last season with motivation after winning the league, could the same happen next season?

Chelsea are deserved Champions this year, but let’s not going OTT with the praise of 10th to 1st. Chelsea never had the 10th best squad in the Premier League.

Manchester United

Much criticised throughout the season, Manchester United still ended up with two trophies.

Yes, they might have been minor ones – the League Cup and the Europa League – but they all count. Whilst other teams that finished above them – like Liverpool and Spurs – talk about progression and putting the pressure on, Manchester United had trips to Sweden and Wembley and got their hands on actual silverware.

After signing Paul Pogba for a world record fee, and spending around £150m last year and getting in Jose Mourinho, they did under perform in the Premier League. But we need to remember the Premier League is not the be all and end all.

The marketing machine of both the Premier League and Champions League make it appear that no other competitions mater and some fans buy in to that propaganda. A few years ago the media laughed Arsene Wenger out of the room when he spoke about Top 4 being like a trophy. But now the same media are happy writing off a side that has won 2 trophies whilst praising sides who won nothing, just because they finished in the Top 4.

Give me a League Cup and Europa League over finishing Top 4 any day of the week.

Arsenal

What felt like a horrible season as Arsenal finished 5th ended up in a successful one as they won the FA Cup.

Whilst the likes of Spurs, Manchester City and Liverpool finished above The Gunners in the league, the fact they all finished pot less and Arsenal won a trophy means that there is no debate to have. Arsenal had a more successful season.

Chelsea with the league title and Manchester United with their (minor) cup double were the only sides to have better seasons than Arsenal.

A football season is the league, 2 domestic cups and Europe. A chance to win 4 trophies. Arsenal won 1 out of the 4.

Plenty of problems at the club, and maybe some cracks were papered over, but Arsenal have been a club in crisis for 4 years, and have won 3 FA Cups in that time.

Would I take finishing 5th again next year if we have a day out like Saturday again? Of course.

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs have won more trophies this season than any other side:

  • Finishing Above Arsenal Cup
  • Most Points Over Two Seasons Trophy
  • Most Points in 2017 Trophy
  • Most Improved Cup
  • Top 4 Trophy

The reality is whilst they have had a good season for Spurs – finishing 2nd for the first time in over 60 years – they finished the season without a trophy.

It is now no league title since 1961. No FA Cup since 1991. No trophy since 2009. And yet they celebrate finishing 2nd and finishing above Arsenal with a pitch invasion.

They have looked very good this season. Scored goals at will and have had a mean defence. They were the 2nd best side in the league, and finished 2nd. 2nd is first loser.

Their fans will point to a low net spend, low wages in comparison to their opponents, but it is all a little bit Arsenal isn’t it? Justifying failures with excuses.

History will not show Spurs 2016/17 as showing progression with a low spend, it will them as once again not winning a trophy.

I guess when it comes down to it, success is relative. Finishing 2nd for a team like Spurs is a success. Finishing 2nd for the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea is a failure.

Mauricio Pochettino has still won nothing as a manager. Something that will need to change quick otherwise he will be labelled as a fraud.

Manchester City

If you spend £500m over a 3 year period and hire one of the most successful managers this century, you should expect more than a 3rd place finish.

Manchester City were never in the title race – finishing 15 points behind the champions, Chelsea. They struggled once more in Europe, winning just 3 out of 8 games, and saw their cup hopes end by Manchester United and Arsenal respectively.

Little has been written about Manchester City’s failures over the last 3 years. A single League Cup to show for £500m investment over that time is shocking. Add in the wage bill, they have spent £1billion in 3 years for that single League Cup.

They have already spent £80m-ish this summer on a new goal keeper and an attacking midfielder, but they once again show that it is not about what you spend, but who you spend it on.

The fact they have spent over £200m to find a partner for Vincent Kompany highlights how poor they have been in the transfer market. With the money they have backing them, they can afford to make expensive mistake after expensive mistake.

A failure of a season.

Liverpool

Anyone would think Liverpool had a brilliant season this year the way the press have gone on about them. Talk about how much they have progressed. How well they have played. How they are moving forward.

But the fact is they finished 4th, 1 point ahead of crisis hit Arsenal, 17 points behind the leaders, were never in the title race and ultimately, failed to win a single trophy – they now have just a single League Cup in 11 years.

I laughed when one media outlet spoke about ‘a tremendous points haul this season’. Laughable.

We all know why the press will never criticise Liverpool (scared of boycotts) but the fact remains that this has been an unsuccessful season for them.

The great Jurgen Klopp has attempted to deflect any negativity by claiming that Top 4 is as important as a trophy – note the lack of mocking from the media in comparison to when Arsene Wenger said similar.

Liverpool have qualified for the Champions League for the 2nd time in 8 years. If they were a small side, you would praise their efforts, but they are Liverpool, and for a club like them finishing 4th should not be something they celebrate.

The press paint them as having had a successful season, but the reality is, like Spurs, no trophy means no success.

Keenos

Europa League good for Arsenal’s future?

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Sometimes to take a step forward you need to take a step back. And in a weird quirk, Arsenal failing to qualify for the Champions League could be turned into a positive for the future.

With Petr Cech unlikely to leave this summer, qualifying for the Europa League could create a situation where we could now purchase a top young keeper – such as Jordan Pickford – and have enough games for both to keep them satisfied.

Someone like Pickford is clearly a talented young keeper, but there is a big difference between making 10 saves in a game and conceding 3 goals, and being man of the match for keeping the score down, and doing nothing all game, and having to make a 90th minute save to keep the team ahead.

With the Europa League, we could sign Jordan Pickford and play him as understudy to Petr Cech. He would learn off the goalkeeping legend on the training ground, and he would get plenty of game time over the next year in the cups.

You would play Pickford in all 3 cup competitions – a potential of 14 Europa League games, 6 in the FA Cup and 6 more in the League Cup. That would be 26 in total if we make every final.

Now realistically, we will not make every final, but you would still expect there to be enough games in all 3 competitions to have Pickford play a dozen or more games.

By the time the 2017/18 season is over, Pickford would have grown as a keeper, be settled at the club, and have been fully analysed by the club staff to establish he has the mental strength to play for Arsenal. Qualifying for the Europa League will give him the game time needed to develop.

Game time will also be very important next year for the likes of Calum Chambers and Rob Holding.

Chambers looked good whilst on loan at Middlesbrough, playing in his preferred position of centre back. If Arsenal continue with 3 at the back, long term Chambers would be an excellent option for the right if that 3, but he needs to keep playing games.

Last season he stagnated due to lack of game time. Europa League (and the League Cup) would give him nearly 10 up until Christmas. It will keep him sharp and continue his develop. It would also allow him to build up a relationship with Rob Holding inside him.

Rob Holding has been given a lot of praise since breaking through due at the back end of the season, and he deserves that hype. But he is still young, he is still raw, and he still has mistakes in him. He was caught twice by Diego Costa in the FA Cup Final, one of which led to Chelsea’s equaliser.

He needs to be given time to develop, and whilst he has been excellent, he is probably not ready to start week in, week out in a title chasing side. But the flip side is he needs games to continue his development.

3 months ago I would have written a blog about how Rob Holding could do with going on loan next season. Like Chambers, he desperately needed games and with Arsenal playing 2 at the back, there were too many ahead of him. A move to 3 at the back, coupled with his own performances, means he has now had some more game time, and is too valuable to the squad to send on loan for 38 games.

The happy medium will be for him to start in the middle of a back 3 in the Europa League and League Cup, whilst being the first change if Laurent Koscileny or Shkodran Mustafi pick up an injury in the Premier League.

There will some now criticising this blog saying that Rob Holding should start every game next season. Let’s lay off him and give him the chance to develop. Mustafi Koscileny Monreal is our strongest defence, but Holding is knocking on the door. And the Europa League could help him knock that door down.

Other youngsters will also benefit from being in the Europa League.

Alex Iwobi has dropped out of contention in the Arsenal starting XI this season. In my opinion, he was played too much when clearly out of form in the first half of the season. He is barely 21 and should be handed a staring role behind the striker in the Europa League.

The extra games, and confidence, he would get from playing in the lesser competition will keep him sharp and ready if the top boys are out injured. He could be the star of the Europa League.

Alongside Iwobi, the Europa League will give a big chance to the likes of Reine-Adelaide, Chris Willock and forgotten man Gedion Zelalem to show they are good enough for the long term at Arsenal. It would also be good to see Ainsley Maitland-Niles got more of a run out.

Finally, the early rounds of the Europa League at least would be good for any potential young striker in the squad. Whether it be a chance for Chuba Akpom finally, or if Arsenal make a move for Henry Onyekuru, 10-or so games in the Europa League and League Cup will do wonders. Remember it is the competition Harry Kane used as his break through a few years ago.

Arsenal should take the Europa League seriously. But especially in the first half of the season, and potentially up until the quarter-finals, Arsenal could play a seriously rotated squad, meaning the regular starting XI get mid weeks off, and some of our most talented youngsters get game time.

Every cloud has a silver lining, and if the Europa League means we end up with Jordan Pickford, and see Chambers and Holding turn into the England internationals they are destined to be, than taking a step back into the competition could be great for Arsenal’s future.

Keenos