Defense is better but now the offense sucks - 2021 Jan Transfer Thread

Disagree Holding is good, and very cheap. He looks bad when he has been asked to do the defending for 2 or 3 players. Our only good defencive periods have included Holding playing regularly.

 

It didn't expire until 2023 anyway.

 

Because there will be a glut of clubs after him... I don't rate him, you do. We'll see.

 

Why are we jonesing after Zaha? The measure of forwards/wings is goal contributions and in a 1000 fewer minutes last season Pepe had one more goal and three more assists than Zaha. This season Zaha has a big advantage but he has has about 1000 more minutes than Pepe just short of midway through the season. Zaha was/is not the answer and I believe Palace were asking for more for Zaha than Arsenal paid for Pepe.

 

I agree with this argument, but then my mind goes back to a ~decade ago when the majority of players Arsenal bought were younger to develop and sell off to richer clubs for significant profit. Most of us on this board at the time were begging for bigger investment to buy more developed players to address specific needs in the team right away, especially once the club was going through those tough years of financing our new Stadium.

IOW, Arsenal has already deployed this model, and I think most of us didn't like it at the time. I'm not open to it returning.

Where I think we all agree is that the club just has to do better with player development and management. Period.

 

You need squad players too and Holding has shown himself to be more than adequate in that role. If they pay him van Dijk money then I will question Arteta and Edu’s sanity, but if they pay him money commensurate with a defender that can play in cup games and start 15 to 20 league games, if needed, I have no problem with this.

When was the last Mustafi/Luiz moment you remember from Holding. I don’t recall one recently. He is steady, but not spectacular. An example of this quality is his long passing, a quality I assume Arteta admires. Holding (47%) has completed a higher percentage of his long passes this season, than Luiz (44%), Gabriel (37%).or Mari (34%). Last season Holding completed almost 60% of his long passes. It’s also worth noting that the primary defensive pairing in Emery’s unbeaten run, two seasons ago, was Holding and Mustafi.

I don’t envision Holding as a starter in a team challenging for a title, I’d prefer a more athletic defender, but he is a good player to have in your team.

 

The Premier League rules regarding squad size are the following (for players 21 and over): 17 non-homegrown players, and 8 homegrown players. The 17 non-hg players usually select themselves, and the slots are hard to find - the players for those slots need to be really good. This is why the Cedric Soares, Willian, Pablo Mari, and Runarrson deals were so stupid.

The HG slots are harder to fill - it's the players that are hard to find. Quality backups are an excellent use of homegrown slots. And while Holding might not be good enough to be a nailed on starter, he's certainly good enough to be a backup. Plus, he's probably good enough to start for the likes of Palace and West Ham, so he'll be easy enough to move if we want to.

Extending his deal is a no brainer.

 

Wow that would be quick! But from what I've seen so far, perhaps wise. Since Macey is going/gone, it seems an imperative to bring in a competent/experienced #2, regardless of whether Runarsson stays or goes. If they don't I will be even more wary of the quality of our management.

 

We have to bring in a legit backup goalkeeper this window. Knowing our luck with injuries, we will be f****** if Leno gets injured.

 

Raya came immediately to my mind as well, especially since he is HG.

 

I just finished listening to Arsecast and there was some discussion about a #2 GK, summarized as follows (with my parenthetical take):

• Raya is a huge asset for Brentford this season and the chances are slim they'll let him go in January. (But I would add that money talks, so if we want to "overpay a bit" on his xfer fee, then maybe?)
• Runarsson was brought in largely on the word of our GK coach, and since that worked out so poorly, Andrew wants that GK coach to have zero role in the next target (that's slightly harsh I think, because maybe Runsarsson was a bit at fault here as well, but I get what prompted that comment)

 

they apparently discussed him - at a cookout! - and moved on after finding out what palace wanted. and, for all that zaha keeps saying he wanted out, he signed a new contract in 18 that would run to 23. that means palace had every little bit of leverage to demand whatever they choose and, considering he is their best player who gives them the best chance to stay in the premier league, they were not going to accept ANYTHING cheap.

same issue we would be having with trying to pry buendia from norwich's grasp.

1) grass. over there. SO green!
2) unlike ozil, he does a LOT of hustle AND bustle. that means he cares. BODY LANGUAGE, DAMN YOU!

 

especially with the new rules making qualification for permit much more convoluted and out of the country U18 no longer being allowed.

especially considering, if we decide to move on from him later, he would be, what, 28? still young enough to return a good yield. especially considering what we paid out for him.

 

TBH, I rather us kept Iwobi than spend big on Zaha or Pepe. This is with hindsight of course!

 

To borrow from McBeth, a lot of hustle and bustle is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

 

TBH I don't much care for any of those three. Seriously.

 

I would have preferred we kept Iwobi and tried to sign Pulisic.