In other news, Fulham are officially relegated after losing to Watford 4-1 today. What happens to Callum Chambers now?
Probably for sale. His best position appears to be defensive midfielder. Parker switched him back to defense the last few games and he was far less convincing there than he was at the base of the midfield. Unfortunately, Arsenal are flush with defensive/holding midfielders. As home grown he may bring in a nice fee.
Definitely. We were fortunate to get the draw when we played them at home back in November. Hopefully, we've improved since then.
Are we though? Torreira, Guendouzi, Xhaka. Elneny's gone, Ramsey's gone, Suarez is gone. It feels like there's room in the squad for Chambers, unless I'm forgetting someone.
Everyone's been hyping up our fixture list compared to other teams (like Tottenham), but disregarding the fact that we've sucked away from home for two years in a row and we're playing a lot of fixtures that Arsenal classically fcuk up horrendously.
Ramsey and Suarez aren't holding/defensive mids and Elneny has hardly played, that's the role Chambers would likely play at Arsenal next season, if not sold.
Point taken, some of the pundits have been pointing to that issue to conclude that Tottenham and United will finish above Arsenal. One of the pundits pointed out that 5 of Arsenal's last 7 games are away, while 5 of Tottenham's last 7 games are at home and noted that Arsenal has already lost 5 away games this season, while failing to mention that Tottenham has already lost 4 home games. In fact, the problem with Arsenal's away form is actually the number of draws, their 5 losses are only bettered by the Liverpool with 1 away loss and City with 3 away losses.
I've NOT been a fan of Chambers, especially in the back line. But I did take note of how he played pretty well in midfield for Fulham this year, even scoring a few goals. That's said, I'd try to sell him if he's only got +1yr left on on his contract. But if he's got more than that, I might hedge and bring him back... but only as a DM squaddie. As for Saurez, he's been completely underwhelming. But I have a sneaking suspicion that Emery's willing to make him a pet project. I want to be wrong about that, but if I'm right then I pray pray pray that Emery knows something that we just have not been able to see, or at least that we don't waste any significant money on him.
I've heard quite a few commentators/pundits/analysts point out our poor away form, and project that into a less than easy run in for us. But me, I'm optimistic. At least at the beginning of these 7 matches (5 away). I'm feeling like we're only goin to drop points at 1 or 2 of the 5, and we'll win the rest. Assuming that is we don't get any major injury woes in this period. At this moment I've got a decent amount of faith in Senor Emery. Generally he's had my full support this season, and I see no reason to take that away.
One of the points lost in this discussion of Arsenal's form is that since Kos returned Arsenal's defense has improved significantly. He came back in mid December, out of necessity, and ran into a couple of road bumps getting back into into playing shape, but since the turn of the year Arsenal have allowed just 8 goals in the 9 league games Kos has played, When you look the league games in which both Kos and Sokratis have played the numbers are even better, they have allowed 4 goals in the 7 games they have both been on the field. So let's hope Kos returns quickly.
Yup. And it's not lost on ME. If Kos figures in our run-in, playing as well as he has recently then I'll make him our man of the season. Some might argue that's not possible because he didn't play a full season. But his comeback has been a huge surprise if not near miraculous. (Pray we didn't just jinx him!) BUT in addition to that, even when he's out of the lineup, like yesterday, and Mustafi is playing in a 3, our defense seems to still play pretty well lately. I think we may have finally achieved some kind of collective defensive quality in our system that's allowing for this. And if so Hallelujah!
I think we tend to overlook how good the Kos/BFG defensive pairing was. Based on his return to form Kos was clearly struggling with his bad Achilles last year, and Per missed most of the last two years, but before that, when averaged over a three or four year period Arsenal's goals against numbers were as good as any team in the league. It looks like Kos is starting to form a similar relationship with Sokratis. Unfortunately, because Kos is approaching his mid 30s, I don't expect this pairing to last as long.
Knowing our injury history, keeping Chambers is a decent idea. I like that he has experience in a few areas. That said, I could see us needing the cash he would bring if we are really going to overhaul our defense.
Oh, had those ridiculous Walcott-for-Sterling-swap rumors panned out. He really has matured in to not only a great player but one with a thoughtful head on his shoulders.
Can you even imagine someone posting this 4 years ago? Let alone someone on this board. Raheem and, dare I say, Pep deserve kudos in charting this amazing evolution
From today: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/sports/tottenham-hotspur-stadium.html The bits that stood out for me were:
I guess but it's hard to forget the fizzling and frustration of his final years at Pool before he was traded. Today he's like night and day compared to then.
After that slightly over the top opening ceremony, the football team damn well better get 3pts. But maybe just maybe they'll manage to spurs it up!