Since the Summer 2018 window is officially closed, I figured it was time to close out the other thread and start looking towards the Jan window. What rumors are you hearing? Where are we lacking? What kind of budget will we have? Who needs to be moved on?
Most consistent claims I've heard since the window closed are LB and winger. Can't argue with those per se but I honestly think the coaches need to sit back and assess what we have vs where Emery wants to be. Is he determined to stick with the 4-2-3-1? If so, I think there are a number of other changes that need to be looked at (both in and out). GK - Cech just looks bad. It's like when a player hits his peak in a video game and then just falls off a cliff. Leno or Martinez needs to step up. LB - Nacho looks solid but he is getting old. Need some youth to take his spot. Had high hopes for Kola but it's not looking good. Need to either sell him or try him out in another position (CB or DM?) and see if it can stick. RB - Bellerin looks like crap. Decent engine and contributes to the offense but has regressed on D the last couple of years. Looks like a guy who should be playing RWB or RM rather than RB. Licht looks solid but like Nacho is old. Wishing we would have sold Nacho when Barca or Juventus was offering 40-50M but for now we likely have to work with him and see if we can fix the problem rather than replace him. Personally, I would be giving Licht more starts to send Bellerin a message. CB - Sokratis has been solid. Mustafi has looked better than last year but still has his issues. Can't help but wonder how much of our CB issues can be attributed to poor RB and DM play. Kos coming back could make a huge impact but he is coming off a significant injury at 32. He may never be quite the same and there is quite a bit popping up the last few days about him wanting to go back to Ligue 1 to finish his career. CM (Middle 3) - This is where I think decisions need to be made. Is Ramsey gonna sign? You want Ozil on the wing or #10? Personally I don't think our current players are ideal for a 2 back 1 high MF. Torreira & Duzzy are probably the best pair for that setup but both are currently better in a little different role. Given our current MF, I think we would be best in a 3-man (6 with flanking 8s) with Torreira in the 6 with Ramsey & Xhaka/Duzzy flanking him. If Ramsey leaves and/or you simply want to improve the setup, I think it would be beneficial to get a true #6 and allow Torreira to move up into a ball winning #8 role (new DM flanked by Torreira & Ramsey/Xhaka/Duzzy). If you think Ramsey is gone and/or Ozil is best at the #10, then I think you most certainly need a true #6 to run next to one of Torreira/Xhaka/Duzzy or you are destined for continued defensive issues. W - Wing depth is an issue. Miki is one of the better fits for the system but is starting to show his age. Iwobi has responded pretty well but needs more time and doesn't necessarily have ideal speed. Ozil is good technically but has less than ideal speed, doesn't press and tends to drift inside a good bit. PAE has great speed and does what is asked of him but I honestly hate seeing him on the wing. Feel like he is wasted out there. ST - Overall on paper, we have amazing depth. I like seeing Laca & PAE play together but honestly don't like PAE on the wing. Gotta wonder if Emery could adjust his tactics to a 2 ST system. My assessment... Option 1 - Emery insists on sticking with the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 system. If we go this route I honestly don't think Ramsey & Ozil can coexist. Both are best suited to the #10 role in the 4-2-3-1. Both can technically play the wing but their less than ideal defensive effort (Ozil more than Ramsey) and tendency to drift inside makes them liabilities on the wing for Emery. If you stick with Ramsey, I think you are better off with a 4-3-3 with a MF consisting of 1 #6 and 2 #8s. Ideally we would buy a true #6 to go with 2 of Ramsey/Torreira/Xhaka/Duzzy/AMN flaking him. If you stick with Ozil, he is moved to the #10 in the 4-2-3-1 and you buy a #6 to run with Torreira/Xhaka/Duzzy. Option 2 - Make the best of the guys you have by adjusting the formation. In my opinion that would be a 4-3-1-2. You play the 3 man MF from the 4-3-3 with Ozil as a high #10 and PAE/Laca as dual ST. To me that puts the best players on the field in a position that makes sense. Problem I see with those players is a potential lack of width which could hurt Emery's system.
LB cover is key (since Kola seems to be a dud... such a head-scratcher that). But I still rate Nacho. And barring injury, I still see him as our guy this year. He's BOTH a good defender and winger, something you sadly can't say about Hector... until he improves his defensive skills. I'd have to say I'm more worried about CB. But having just bought 2 greek guys recently, and since the club may be hoping Kos can make some miraculous comeback, I don't see them buying anything (better) in this area this year. I'm not sure how much more leash we should give Mustafi before giving some thought to Mavropanos, who I presume they're going to bed in via the cups. I'm also a little worried about GK. I'm still not jumping off Cech's ship. I just wish they wouldn't set him up for failure, i.e. due to his foot-passing skills. I'm eager to see what Leno can do, but from what I've heard I'm not bettin the ranch on him. For me, this position is clearly a wait-and-see. Forward of the back 5, I think we've got enough talent, experience & depth to make something pretty good happen. The big variable of course, as always, is long-term injuries. If we get a string of those in one key area, all bets are off.
Didn't Maitland-Niles start the season at left back? As I recall he looked lively before his unfortunate leg break. Was that just a stop-gap or did he earn his way into the starting role? If he's legitimately a consideration there, he's listed to be back in October (so let's call it November). Either way, he should get an opportunity to prove himself once again before January.
Good point, but AFAIK the word was that he's more natural midfielder than defender. But you're right he was playing quite well right before his injury. So realistically he could be back into our squad before the busy festive period. But even then, the question remains whether he's stop-gap or has a real future at fullback?
Hopefully we can get Ozi....er....Alexi....er....Ramsey's contract situation resolved in Jan. Be it re sign or sell.
My impression was that the staff considers him a MF but was played at LB when Kola got injured because he has played there before and Nacho was not ready yet. Whether that changes moving forward is entirely up to Emery.
He could end up suffering the same fate as David Alaba. If he's in the same class as Alaba, that wouldn't be a bad thing.
Just listened to the Liam Brady interview done by Andrew at Arseblog/Arsecast. (It was done sometime in June, but now's available to non-paying listeners) Liam thinks that Emery's going to need one more summer transfer window to turn this team back into contenders. He thinks that, with the exception of Petr Cech, we don't have any real winners on our team. (I guess this implies he's not a big fan of Ozil?)
He needs at least as many as Pep did. And he probably won't be able to spend as much money. So add another window or 2. Our problem is the modern game doesn't have that kind of patience anymore.
Well ******** Liam Brady then. He was in charge of the academy, which didn't develop anybody who's worth a damn. If there are no "real winners" on the team then he's partially to blame for it.
Fair point. Liam was a fantastic player (i was lucky to witness that) but as a coach/administrator I think he's been kinda meh.
Rumors that Gazidis is staying. Claims that he was being indecisive and Milan got tired of waiting on him to decide.
Or that this was never a thing and we now create a narrative to explain why the rumor of a move on Sept 1 didn’t happen.
Yeah, I could totally imagine a new rumor to undo the previous rumor(s). And I've pretty much assumed that if it didn't happen by now, it wasn't going to happen mid-season.
Somewhat related... Emery came out in his presser this week to praise Monreal, and even though he's 32, the desire to sign him to a renewed contract. I like Nacho, so I liked hearing that. Let's just hope they have a good LB backup plan, that might entail purchasing someone new from outside (given the earlier discussions about Kola & AMN).
There have been rumors the last few days about Barca wanting Nacho to backup Jordi Alba. I'd wager the new contract is to keep him from wanting to leave. As much as I liked the Kola signing, he isn't working at LB. He either needs to be sold or tried at another position. I kind of wonder how he might do as a #6 in a 3 man MF with two #8s flanking him? I have no problem keeping Nacho around but I'd really like to get a young guy to rotate with him.
Rumors over the weekend about Jose sniffing around Ozil. Also claims that Bailly wants out of ManU and we are linked along with Spurs