After a summer of being heavy linked with Thomas Partey and Houssem Aouar, Arsenal eventually signed one of them.
Arsenal triggered the Partey’s release clause mid-afternoon yesterday. And then the deal dragged on as he took his medical in Spain, before flying out to Ghana for international duty.
It is not only the biggest transfer of deadline day, but the biggest of the summer.
Partey is something Arsenal have missed for a while. A beast in the middle of the park. Someone who can dominate physically on his own.
A fantastic signing, he gives Mikel Arteta options.
In a midfield 3, Partey plays on the right hand side as one of the 8s. Able to drive forward with the ball, he naturally drifts out wide for Atletico Madrid to help out defensively.
Expect Hector Bellerin and Nicolas Pepe to benefit as they are freed up to attack knowing they have the big man inside them.
Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos will make up the rest of the midfield.
If Arteta sticks to 343, then it will be Xhaka and Partey starting, with Ceballos a more progressive options to bring off the bench – likely for Xhaka.
With Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi leaving, Partey is an upgrade on both.
He provides the power that Torreira was unable to, and the maturity and experience that Guendouzi did not have.
Arsenal still look a little light in midfield, especially when it comes to creative. But it is basically Torreira and Guendouzi out, Elneny and Partey in.
On Guendouzi, Arsenal moving him on loan is a smart move.
He is a talented land who perhaps started to believe his own hype. He developed an ego that his performances did not back up.
This time last year he was a £40m player following a fantastic debut season. Arsenal would have been lucky to get £20m this summer.
By moving him out on loan, Guendouzi has a chance to rebuild his career. To mature.
The fact he is off to Hertha Berlin rather than PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Juventus would have come as a shock for the lad.
If he gets his head down at Hertha and performs well, there will be plenty of interest in Guendouzi next summer.
He is France U21 captain and an outside bet to make France’s Euro 2021 squad.
A good season might see the likes of Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Marseille, Inter Milan, etc after him. Arsenal could easily command £40m for him again. Even though he would only have a year left on his contract.
It has been a frustrating window at times, and we did not really resolve the lack of creativity.
Hopefully and improving defence with Gabriel in the middle, and Partey in the middle of the park will allow the likes of Ceballos, Saka, Willian and Pepe to play more expressively. To create more.
A strong defence frees up your attacking to players to do what they are paid to do in the final third.
The squad still needs work, but the business we have done this summer is positive:
Arsenal’s transfer policy should be built around the formation Mikel Arteta chooses to play.
Currently we play 343 but there has always been the though that Arteta will switch to 433.
Perhaps the thinking behind him switching has always been misguided and that Arteta will actually stick to 343 for the season?
Aouar is a fantastic player, but he has excelled for Lyon in a midfield 3 or on the wing, where he is able to drive forward.
343 with 2 in the middle does not suit Auoar.
What is suits is Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka. And Arsenal target Jorginho.
A midfield containing Xhaka and Jorginho would be a worry due to a lack of mobility. However in a 343 this is not exposed as much.
Playing a midfield 4 means that your central midfielders rarely get pulled out wide. They will cover less ground than in a midfield 3. You can play more static midfielders in a 2 man central midfield than a 3 man as the wing backs cover the wide areas alongside your wider central defenders.
In a 343, spending big on Aouar does not make sense.
Relying on who we have
If Arteta is planning to go 433, maybe the club have decided that there are internal options who could be as good as Aouar?
Aouar is a small-ish, technical midfield who has an eye for a pass and is good at driving the ball forward at his feet.
In Bukayo Saka and Willian Arsenal have two players with similar attributes, both at different ends of their career.
Our friends at Gunners Town make a fantastic case as to why Saka could play central midfield in a 3.
Utilising Saka or Willian as part of the 3 would see us line up something like:
Ceballos Xhaka Saka
Willian Xhaka Ceballos
Willian Xhaka Saka
Saka might not be the big money signing that Aouar is, but that does not automatically mean that he is a worse option than Aouar.
Arteta and Edu will also know that fans would back the decision to play Saka more centrally, and would not get on the academy products back as he settles into position.
Thomas Partey
The final option would be a deadline day push for Thomas Partey.
Whilst he would not be the attacking dynamo we crave, he would provide further solidity in central midfield.
Partey on the right hand side of a 3 would allow Arsenal to play Nicolas Pepe on the right, free from defensive duties.
Hector Bellerin would also have the freedom to push forward with Partey dropping into a right hand defensive position in the same way Jordan Henderson and Fabinho do to cover Trent Alexander-Arnold when he attacks.
Arsenal would then have the options of Ceballos, Saka and Willian on the other side to provide the creativity.
At times we do get a bit obsessed by new signings, ignoring what we already have at the club.
If Bukayo Saka played for West Ham and had the season he did last year, and Arsenal signed him for £40million with the plan to move him inside, we would be excited.
(3-4-3) Bernd Leno; Gabriel Magalhães, David Luiz, Kieran Tierney; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Dani Ceballos, Bukayo Saka; Willian Borges da Silva, Eddie Nketiah, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Substitutes: Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Rúnarsson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Nicolas Pépé, Joe Willock, Granit Xhaka.
Scorers: Bukayo Saka (61 mins), Nicolas Pépé (64 mins)
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 65%
Referee: Lee Mason
Assistant Referees: Mark Scholes, Timothy Wood
Fourth Official: Robert Jones
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Andre Marriner; AVAR Peter Kirkup
Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restructions
Great to get back home for today’s match, especially after the victory over Liverpool at Anfield in the Carabao Cup three days ago. The match here this afternoon will be the last game the chaps will play for a fortnight, due to the international break next weekend, so it will be important to pick up three points in order to go into the hiatus with our tails up. The omens are in our favour, as the last time the Blades defeated us at home in the league (pre-Premiership days) was back on 24th August 1971, when a Stewart Scullion goal gave them victory in front of 45,395 spectators (including the writer of this review) at The Old Place. Back to the present day; we welcome back to the first-team line-up a rejuvenated Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who will of course be more than keen to get on the scoresheet today, as will be our young guns Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah. Let’s go!
Straight from the off, we pressed the visitors with intent firmly back into their own half, and within three minutes, Eddie Nketiah had the ball taken from his toes by the Blades’ goalie, who pushed the ball away for a corner. We played with confidence in the opening quarter of an hour, with superb passing that led to penetrating balls into the visitors’ penalty area, which gave our forwards many opportunities to score. Although the visitors started to bring the match us, which led to some interesting defensive challenges, we were not unduly worried by their attacks on our goal. Patiently, we slowly started to break down the Sheffield United defence, applying pressure on them; strangely, the Blades started to look oddly comfortable with the situation, whilst we were trying to find more and more new ways to score the opening goal. On the half hour, Kieran Tierney crossed the ball for Eddie Nketiah to head the ball down towards the United goal, but it was easily parried by the goalkeeper. Again, Eddie Nketiah turned and got a shot towards the goal, but it was blocked by a defender, and despite some really good efforts from our forwards, especially a right-footed shot from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the left side of the penalty area which was saved arobatically by the visitors’ goalkeeper. And so we went into the break high on the possession percentage, but honours even, and frustratingly so, it has to be said.
And so, the second half started, with no changes from Mikel Arteta, which came as some surprise under the circumstances. Both sides started to play with far more urgency in the opening minutes of the second half than they did in the last quarter of an hour of the first; however, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came extremely close to opening the scoring seven minutes after the restart, and we appeared to be trying to take the match by the scruff of the neck at last. Eddie Nketiah was replaced by Nicolas Pépé after fifty-eight minutes, and within a couple of minutes we took the lead with a superbly taken goal by Bukayo Saka. Some sharp, incisive link play in the visitors’ penalty area, which saw Hector Bellerin take the ball to the byline, cross the ball over the head of the Blades’ defenders, for young Bukayo Saka to finish the job with an accurate header into the net. Just over three minutes later, we scored again, when Nicolas Pépé collected a pass from Hector Bellerin and ran through the visitors’ defence to slot a beautiful left-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net, for our second goal of the day. Of course, two goals in such quick succession lifted our spirits, and our control of the game was there for all to see, wth more spring in our step and another level of confidence as well. Sheffield United were resorted to trying long-range shots, which Bernd Leno managed to save with ease, and with ten minutes remaining, Dani Ceballos was substituted by Granit Xhaka in order to add another man to the defensive plan. However, unbelievably, with seven minutes left on the clock, David McGoldrick got one back for the Blades with a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area that went past an outstretched Bernd Leno into the left-hand corner of the net. Almost immediately, Mikel Arteta replaced Bukayo Saka with Ainsley Maitland-Niles, just to get some fresh legs out there to try and ensure our victory. It certainly did that, and the win meant that we were fourth in the Premiership table.
Let’s be honest, it was not one of the great performances of the season, not was it thrilling either. We could have easily been down to ten men quite early on when David Luiz pulled back Oliver Burke, with Bernd Leno coming out of his box to clear the threat, but both the referee and the Stockley Park gang did not pursue the incident further, which was a blessing. Our inability to shut down David McGoldrick as he took the shot that became the visitors’ goal was a concern, but in the end we picked up three points, something that we can all be extremly thankful for.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 17th October at 3.00pm (Premier League). Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 