If Partey is injured, are we playing Xhaka-Jorginho in a 4-2-3-1? That would probably be the slowest midfield in the game.
I think the context matters for a deal like this. The Willian deal was dumb because Arsenal were in a top four scrap, Arsenal had other players that could play in that position, Willian was going to block young players, and he wasn't going to materially alter Arsenal's chances of winning a title. That's not the case now: I don't think Arsenal make this deal if the team was on 35 points at the halfway mark and were 50/50 for the Champions League. This is a risk worth taking because Arsenal have a real shot at the title. Don't think the overall squad construction approach changes all that much, but squad construction isn't dogma: at some point, you have to take risks to win a title, especially when the team is ahead of schedule. The more I think about it, the more I like this deal. No way Chelsea sell Jorginho if they're sitting in 3rd and are 8 points back. Is the fee higher than I would have liked? Yes. But it's not a Pepe level overpay.
Which is arguably the thing that makes this difficult to embrace. For me, I can be okay with simply swapping Jorginho for Elneny or Sambi if the club just needs bodies, but that begs the question about management of Sambi and why they weren't more aggressive in addressing this position earlier. It also suggests the need for which they were chasing Caicedo remains, which is to have an impactful midfield player available off the bench or in spot starts. To wit, we're back to the "Are you or are you not addressing points of need to secure a trophy?" If this move isn't about that, yet a need remains, then we're left once again hoping Arsenal's frugality doesn't cost them later in the season. That's the perception, anyway.
Arsenal under Arteta aren't really a 4-2-3-1. More of a 4-3-3 with five attackers and five defenders. Jorginho is slower than Partey, but the current system doesn't ask Partey to cover that much ground as long as his positioning is ok, and Jorginho is a better passer.
The 4-3-3 does leave Partey with a bit more ground to cover on his own, and I don't recall Jorginho ever playing as a single pivot at Chelsea. I don't think we can play the 4-3-3, and take up that 2-3-5 shape in attack with Jorginho in for Partey.
We aren't going to have starting quality depth at every position. I'd imagine that Arteta was hoping that El Neny and Lokonga could provide cover if Partey/Xhaka got hurt. But it became clear that wasn't an option. Getting a player that won't demand to be a starter and could provide cover for both Xhaka and Partey is pretty good work. And he won't block getting Rice or Caciedo or whomever else in the summer, assuming we don't get Caciedo today.
Must be an indication that Arteta views Zinchenko and White as emergency midfield options. Also, Sambi is done at Arsenal. Hopefully he plays a lot at Palace and it helps us offload him in the summer.
Not seen anything concreate but I have seen a little smoke about us adding another CM/DM before the day is over (Bamba maybe?) and possibly still trying to get Fresneda finalized. Also seeing some claims that Caicedo is in London trying to push a deal through.
There’s a few of those but the vast majority know far more about football , what goes on behind the scenes , transfers than any of us though ..
Shouldn't be an issue - move the fbs a yard closer to Jorginho and have either Odegaard or Xhaka drop deeper when their fullback overlaps.
This is the conclusion I started to come to a few weeks back. But it worries me in that it could destabilize our shape, by taking OZ further away from the role he's been playing so well so far? And the same thinking applies to Xhaka moving from 8 to 6... what we'd be losing. White to 6 is an interesting theoretical construct, but AFAIK it's never been tried at AFC so... Edit: Since I wrote the above (a little behind the news cycles!) the Jorginho deal has finalized it appears. So happily we probably won't need to see either Olex or Granit play at 6 spot. Phew.
I'm not surprised in the least. It's been clear to most people (and probably his boss as well) that he isn't ready for our first team. In hindsight we shoulda loaned him a while back. One more (last?) chance for him to prove he's worthy for us? Will be interesting to see if he gets much time in Paddy's midfield and if he can cut the level of the EPL in general. Hey, maybe he'll pick up a few pointers from the master while there.
I think and hope so. Makes sense to me. I often find myself thinking of SAF and Henrik Larsson in the mid-2000's... masterstroke by a football manager, brought him in for 3 months or so (not even until the end of season) but still he significantly contributed to a title-winning season. At least that's how I remember it.
🚨 Understand Moisés Caicedo deal with Arsenal is now completely off. No further talks will follow. #DeadlineDayBrighton never changed their stance: no intention to accept £60m or £70m proposals. Plan has always been to keep Caicedo.Arsenal will announce Jorginho soon. pic.twitter.com/uagUr2wypl— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 31, 2023 Well ok then.
I've talked myself into Jorginho. Short-term deal, not very expensive, is better than Elneny and Lokonga by a pretty serious distance. More importantly, he won't prevent us from going after Rice in the summer. I know they said Caicedo wouldn't either, but I never really believed that.
Well let's pray that 1) GJ and ESR come back soon 2) Xhaka and Partey don't miss many games and 3) That Jorginho is not a double agent.
The WSL window shut 15 mins ago. Yanited rejected Arsenal's bid for Russo... no big surprise, it was wishful thinking unless they were desperate for cash. We were also looking at a Lyon forward at the 11th hour, but it seems that perhaps that was also impossible to conclude. But since there is so so so much less attention on women's transfers, maybe there are some last-minute transfers that actually completed but just haven't been publicized yet?