Tag Archives: soccer

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

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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

Premier League clubs spend over €500m on “bunch of Uber drivers”

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This morning’s blog was initially planned to be a discussion about how the PSR reporting date had become a new influencing factor when it came to transfers being completed.

Summer tournaments such as the Euro’s have always lead to slow starts to the transfer windows. In my mind, the slow start to this transfer window had been exacerbated by PSR.

Deals completed by 30 June 2024 go into the 2023/24 reporting window, whilst deals completed on 1 July 2024 do not need to be reported until 2024/25. If a club was on the brink of breaking the rules in 2023/24, they would be keeping their powder dry until 1 July before completing any deals.

During my research for the blog, I was surprised to read that Premier League clubs had already spent over €500m on new players. That is an incredible when you consider the spending by other leagues in the summer of 2023:

Ligue 1: €910m
Serie A: €878m
Bundesliga: €735m
Premier League: €520m – 2024 to date
La Liga: €443m

With 2 months still left in the transfer window, Premier League sides have already spent more than every La Liga team did in the summer of 2023. And they are over half way to the total expenditure by French teams last summer.

What is even more incredible about this figure is the Big 4 have yet to spend a penny – Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool have seen no new arrivals yet.

Surely I am not alone to think that this transfer window has had a slow start?

It might be that the lack of business by big clubs has influenced my mind, or it might be that I just do not care anymore about transfers and the transfer window – it does drag on!

But my theory is a lot of money has been spent on not very much. A lot of “PSR deals” pushing up the total expenditure. And a lot of average players going for €20m+

Ian Maatsen – €44m
Archie Gray – €41.25m
Elliot Anderson – €41.2m
Yankuba Minteh – €38.8m
Igor Thiago – €33m
Lewis Hall – €33m
Omari Hutchinson – €23.5m
Luis Sinisterra – €23.4m
Luis Guilherme – €23m
Taylor Harwood-Bellis – €23m
Omari Kellyman – €22.5m
Ibrahim Osman – €20m

That is nearly €366m on big money transfers, and I do not know who most of them are! In months down the line, fans will be complaining about PSR and how their club is being punished. When the reality is they have spend millions on average players!

This is not clubs spending sensibly.

I could jump in my cab in the morning and not batter an eye lid if any of them were behind the wheel. It is literally over €500m spent on players who would be no more recognisable than an Uber driver!

It still feels like a slow start to the window, and I think that is because a lot of money has been spent on crap. No marquee signings. No big name incomings. Just cash changing hands to try and circumnavigate PSR.

I am happy that we have not made a signing yet. The big, better signings will come once Euro’s is over. The only players available at this time is the average clowns mentioned above!

Have a good Tuesday!

Keenos

Saka left back for England

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After the dismal bore draw against Slovenia, Ian Wright floated the idea of Bukayo Saka being moved to left back. This idea has been derided by many. But is it really as crazy as it seems?

A lot of (mainly Arsenal fans), gave Wrighty some abuse for his suggestion. They saw his comments as both a slant on Saka’s form and that Wright would be sacrificing the Arsenal man to et Cole Palmer into the team. Neither of these are true.

A major issue for England this tournament is the team has lacked balance.

Take way that Southgate is playing the wrong formation (he should go 4141) and tactics (why play so defensive minded when we have so many great attackers?), the left hand side has been one of England’s biggest problems.

Kieran Trippier was lucky to make the squad.

He had an average season for Newcastle United, which led to many Geordies calling for him to be dropped. At 33-years-old, his decline this season has been rapid. Were it not for Ben White’s falling out and Reece James’ injury, I do not think Trippier would have been in Southgate’s final squad.

The former Spurs and Burnley player is also not a left back. A quick search of Transfermarkt shows that he ha splayed just one game domestically in that position – a League Cup tie against Barnsley back in 2017.

Trippier offers nothing going forward on that left hand side. He does not use his left foot, does not even pretend to go down the outside and does not hug the touchline. It makes England very narrow and predictable.

Ahead of him, you have Phil Foden.

Foden is a fantastic player. You do not win Premier League Player of the Year being average. But he is best suited centrally, either as the sole 10 or on the right hand side of a pair of 8s.

When Foden plays on that left hand side, he always looks to come inside to get more involved. He is just not your typical “chalk on the boots” winger.

Trippier not being able to play on the outside and Foden looking to come inside all the time has made our left wing almost non-existent. we are basically playing in just 70% of the pitch, which in turn allows teams to defend narrower and restrict our space.

Southgate needs to get width into the team.

He could play Saka on the left wing, but like Foden he will probably look to drop inside to be more involved. The solution therefore could be to move Saka to left back.

Often during his youth career, Saka would play at left back. And when he first broke into the first team, he was utilised both at left back and left wing back. I must say that these were emergency cases and the club always saw him as an attacking player.

Whilst you might lose some of Saka’s attacking contributions on the right hand side, you gain by having a natural left footer at left back. Someone that has the discipline and game awareness to provide width, get chalk on his boots, and make those runs in behind Foden.

It might not be a long-term solution as better teams will look to exploit Saka’s defensive weakness, however against Slovakia this has to be an option.

Slovakia are unlikely to attack us much, so doubling up with Foden and Saka on the left hand side could turn it into a strength.

Southgate then has the option of either Cole Palmer or Jarrod Bowen on the right hand side – whilst they might not be at our mans level, they can both certainly do a decent enough job on that wing.

In my view, you gain more upgrading from Trippier to Saka at left back, then you lose from downgrading from Saka to Palmer/Bowen on the right wing.

Wrighty’s (and mine) comments should not be seen as disrespect for Saka. it is not him being pushed back into defence due to his form. It is a compliment to the young mans versatility that he should be a genuine option there. And sometimes as a player you need to make a sacrifice for the betterment of the team.

Over the years I think of Thierry Henry playing left wing for France, Sergio Ramos playing right back for Spain, Javier Mascherano playing centre back for Barcelona and many others who have been pushed out of their natural position to do a job elsewhere.

I would be surprised if Southgate does select Saka at left back. the knock out stages of an international tournament is not really the time or place to be experimenting. But we can also not keep going with Trippier when he offers so little in attacking positions.

Enjoy your Thursday. Cricket starts at 15:30. Hopefully we smash the Indians!

Keenos