It’s that time of year again. Club football has disappeared as quickly as it came back. Two weeks of International friendlies, two weeks into the start of the new season.
A portion of the squad have jetted out to their respective national sides, with Mikel Arteta and co crossing their fingers for no major injuries to deal with once said teammates return. The remaining players left at London Colney would have continued to work away in a reduced group.
Mikel himself is no stranger to this feeling even as a player. It’s well documented how despite his classy, composed style of play he never received a call up for the Spanish National Team – but that’s life competing against Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Alonso, Fabregas, Cazorla and co unfortunately!
Still, a lack of national team caps does not make a bad player. After all, John Lukic, Nigel Winterburn, Steve Bould, Rocky Rocastle, Alan Sunderland, Michael Thomas, Paul Davis, George Armstrong, Ray Parlour and Kevin Campbell – all players with thousands of Arsenal matches and memories under their belts combined, only accumulated a total of 31 England caps between all 10 of them.
So what I am curious about is which Arsenal players you personally believe should have collected many more international callups? Which players did you see excel at club level or thought had that type of potential but were always shunned for whatever reason at national team level?
One player staying in London during this interval is Gabriel Martinelli.
His most standout season in 2022/23 which saw him contribute to a combined 21 goals and assists helped secure him a consistent place in the Brazilian National Team squad. But as time has ticked by and his end product numbers have dropped, so has Gabi been from the most recent Brazil squad named by Dorival Júnior.
We really are now reaching that point of a crossroads for Martinelli’s Arsenal career.
With patchy returns on the pitch and Trossard and Sterling providing stronger competition than he’s ever had for a starting berth, will the Brazilian end up outlasting the older Trossard and the on-loan Sterling and push on at 23 years old, or will his game time dry up as the season goes on and leave him in the wilderness? Questions to be asked and questions for Gabi to answer in the next 8 months that could well shape his future at the club in general.
Aside from the aforementioned topics, the days are ticking down until the next installment of us against them. So would you give Raheem a first start away in a north London derby? What’s been your personal favourite NLD memory? And what would be your celebration if you bagged a 90th minute winner against them lot? Creative ideas for the celebs are most encouraged.
Nick
A selection of 4 ceramic beer mats with a bottle opener makes a fantastic gift set! #Arsenal
By the time I get round to writing tomorrow’s bog, our first pre-season game of the season would have happened.
I will not pretend that I have watched it. Like many of you I will not be getting up at 3:30am to watch a friendly. Instead I will rely on videos posted on Twitter to inform me how we played.
It is of course just pre-season, so results do not really matter. And this is even more prevalent when you consider just how many key players have not travelled to our little cousins over the pond.
A quick glace shows no David Raya, Aaron Ramsdale, William Saliba, Gabriel, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz or Gabriel Martinelli. that is pretty much the core of our starting XI and I have probably missed others!
Another notable absentee is Charlie Patino.
Once labelled as the next big thing expected to come through Hale End, Patino highlights just how big the step up is from a academy football to senior. The youngster turns 21 in October and has had two middle-of-the-road loan spells in the Championship.
With a year left on his contract, he has clearly been left at home to focus on finding a permanent move away from us – which will likely see a a low transfer fee but a large sell on clause.
Some will point to Patino as “another youngster who Arteta has failed to develop”, but where we are a club that needs better than him. To be good enough to get your chance at Arsenal, you need to be showing the ability of Patino’s former England youth teammate Jude Bellingham.
Anyone that breaks through from the academy to Arsenal’s first team squad need to be players who have the talent to be pushing for senior international caps within 12 months. Patino is quite clearly a long way off this and his game and physicality has not enough since 2021.
And whilst some will blame is lack of progress on the club, we have to understand that players have different ceilings. It is more than just the clubs investment. You have the players own mentality, whether they want to put in the work, and also their talent ceiling. Being a top youth prospect does not automatically mean you will become a superstar. U18 level might have been the players peak!
Other Arsenal news is talk about Eddie Nketiah’s departure.
The details of the deal to Marseille feel like they have been leaked by us to generate interest elsewhere. Like with many of those we are looking to sell this summer, we are in no rush to be bullied into letting Nketiah go on the cheap.
We are not short of cash, have no PSR concerns, and Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, Aaron Ramsdale and Reiss Nelson all have decent length contracts. If clubs do not want to pay our fee, we are more than happy to loan them out, enabling them to prove what we are demanding, with an eye on a permanent move in 2025.
Ultimately, it is better to loan a player out, and have 100% of their wages paid, then sell a player for less than their value just for some short term gratification.
Enjoy your Wednesday. The sun is finally showing through the clouds here in Essex!
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
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
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 