Claims Merino is getting closer to an Arsenal move. Cada vez más cerca del #Arsenal Mikel Arteta y Mikel Merino. https://t.co/uK6dGcWz0V— Kike Marin** (@Kike_Marin_) July 22, 2024
If the price is as low as previously reported, that's fine. Not overwhelmed by him but not underwhelmed either. I guess I'm must whelmed.
Merino brings some things to the table that we dont have in MF but he brings some questions as well. Its a bit like the Havertz signing but half (or less) the price and better defense. There is a hypothetical situation though that really makes this an interesting signing..... Zubimendi (whom Arteta really wants) is rumored to perfer a move to Barca or Real. Real's MF is overloaded and he likely doesnt beat out Tchou & Cama for minutes at 6. He could likely start for Barca but they cant afford him unless they can offload de Jong. But if Arsenal has 2 former MF teammates (Merino & MO) and a clear path to CL football, would he reconsider? A 3 man rotation at 6 & L8 with Zubi, Rice & Merino would look really good. Would likely need to offload Partey but he could have some incentive to leave if it becomes apparent that he isnt gonna play.
🚨 @charles_watts: “In an ideal world, Mikel Arteta would keep Emile Smith Rowe. This time last year, he made it clear that he would not be sold & I think his stance would be the same this time around if it was just down to a footballing decision.”“Smith Rowe has a strong… pic.twitter.com/xrhTPWCeJw— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 23, 2024
Marseille in talks with Arsenal over Eddie Nketiah, who they are looking to take on loan. Key aspect of negotiations will be whether it includes buy option or obligation.However the Ligue 1 side are expecting late interest from rivals for Nketiah, long linked to London clubs.— James Benge (@jamesbenge) July 23, 2024
🚨 Arsenal have sent their proposal to Mikel Merino & are now preparing an offer to Real Sociedad for the player. Although Merino is ‘getting closer & closer’ to Arsenal, the agreement between the two clubs is still missing. [@mundodeportivo] #afc pic.twitter.com/cIWPoZKuX8— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 23, 2024
There will probably be an Orn-bomb five minutes after I post this, but Merino feels like an agent using rumors of Arsenal interest to try to get a move elsewhere, probably Atletico. I just don't see him as a priority target for Arsenal.
Cannon Stat's newsletter had some good things to say about Merino, though I haven't watched the embedded videos. This might be a situation where Sociedad's stats make no sense: Zubimendi looked underwhelming on the stat sheet, but when you see him play you realize within 2.5 seconds why Arteta wants him.
U cannot always go off stats without watching a player arteta has the chops to mould players to suit his system. Zuba shows the ability imo also so does Wharton
He's been at Sociedad for 6 seasons and only now, at 28 with one year left when he's announced he intends to leave, suddenly he is the perfect target? Arteta doesn't typically shop for bargains. I think he could be a backup plan, like Trossard was to Mudryk, but I don't think he's first choice.
Will stats ever be accepted do you think? Half of Germany is convinced Fullkrug is a much better striker than Havertz despite their data for last season over 2000+ mins being mostly a wash and Havertz played 70% of those mins in midfield bUt sTatZ dOnT mEasuRe tHe pOweRz
At this point, stats are accepted by all the smart teams and most of the meh teams. Even the truly stupid teams (e.g., pre-Ashworth Man United) use them. The differences are in how teams use stats.
Maybe, but Arsenal under Edu have been super noisy in the transfer market, and we haven't seen anyone that could feasibly be similar to Merino (i.e., some huge friggin' guy).
i also think international football is hard because of small sample size. like in 5 games fullkrug scored er … 2 goals. so he did his job well but hardly elite. havertz did have a shitty tourney with goal scoring though his all round game was awse. rich man’s jesus?
I thought I said it up here but this was me after the Liverpool win: the only Gabriel Jesus has over Kai is dribbling, but we haven’t seen much of that in the last 18 months.
I absolutely do, because no one has time to watch every player and youtube scouting suffers from severe selection bias. But I've never suggested that stats are a replacement for watching players. They're a supplement, and an incredibly useful one.
Stats are useful if the player is in a similar system or role they will be bought for often they are miss leading without context
I agree with what you are saying, but you have written players off because of those radars and not watching. Stats and watching go together, like you’re saying.
I think the stats are quite good to check your priors Like when someone says a striker is more clinical - it's quite interesting to look at XG and conversion percentage There is really very little difference in shot conversion between players e.g in range 15-20 As we know, what is really important is your volume from good locations - if you take a whole extra shot per game - you'll score a lot more