WBA Throstles vs Arsenal (EPL) 02Jan2021

Discussion in 'Arsenal' started by And_ROOS, Dec 30, 2020.

  1. thebigman

    thebigman Member+

    May 25, 2006
    Birmingham
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Problem is martinelli looks beastly as a lw
     
  2. CarlosKaiser

    CarlosKaiser Member+

    Arsenal
    United States
    Jul 30, 2018
    Kansas City
    Lacazette is in the final 18 mos of his contract. Given that he turns 29 soon, a new contract seems like a mistake. He might be playing well enough that he could be sold in summer for something. Or does he play it out and leave on a free?

    Nketiah doesn't seem good enough, Balogun seems likely to leave. PEA is the club captain and on his wages wouldn't generate much of a transfer fee. I'd be okay with selling, but don't see it happening. I don't know enough about Patson Daka or Odsonne Edouard to know if they have the hold-up play to replicate what Lacazette is doing.
     
  3. chjoak

    chjoak Member+

    Jun 17, 2009
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #228 chjoak, Jan 3, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2021
    I dont think you are gonna get much of a fee for anyone right now. Best bet is making a good trade that adds to the current moment. Im thinking maybe Real for Vinicius Jr plus cash (or another young player) or to Barca for Puig plus cash (or another young player). Both scenarios get us young talent that can help further our current efforts.

    RE Laca, given the current results id give him as much playing time as possible to raise his value for a sale/swap in the summer. Should be several young options that can provide some holdup play, assuming we stick with that scheme. The guy most recently linked to us is Maxi Gomez from Valencia. He is a strong target man / poacher who can provide similar play to Laca but with a better aerial play.

    Agree on Eddie but i think a switch of tactics when he is in the field can make him a better asset. He always seems to perform better when we press. With the younger guys (ESR, Saka, Martinelli, AMN, Nelson) on the roster we have a good group of high energy, speedy guys that could be very effective pressing.

    RE Balogun... I wonder if selling PEA and running a 4-2-2-2 press when Laca needs rest would convince him he has a place in the 1st team going forward.
     
  4. chjoak

    chjoak Member+

    Jun 17, 2009
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes but he doesnt really fit as a true winger and he still needs service that he isnt getting right now. Im suggesting we may be better off going younger as the high energy guys are getting results right now.
     
  5. Silva 5

    Silva 5 Member+

    Mar 10, 2006
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd say Pepe should be moved. His age offers the opportunity for significant return in the transfer market. I like the combination of youth and experience on both wings. Martinelli/Auba and Saka/Willian.

    It's important to bring in another #10 to add depth behind ESR who can also move to either wing in a pinch if need be. Of my limited knowledge of who's available Brandt would probably be my first choice.

    The ability to have interchangeable pieces all along the LW/AM/RW should be the ultimate goal.
     
  6. mebeSajid

    mebeSajid Member+

    Feb 16, 2009
    Atlanta, GA
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Team needs to do work to get Balogun to stay. Give him PT and give him his money.
     
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  7. daedalus

    daedalus Member+

    Apr 24, 2004
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    i actually think we're in decent position to manage their minutes. martinelli's minute can be managed with aubameyang - with, yeah, aubameyang getting the bulk of the minute because martinelli is still someone coming back from a long layoff - where saka's natural replacement is pepe - different players but both still left-footer cutting inside so right-back can keep doing the same thing.

    the only one that might be tough is smith-rowe but MAYBE willian there? him being a possession manager out wide is poor but maybe semi-acceptable in the middle? won't be any darting run but could be less damaging than out wide.
     
  8. daedalus

    daedalus Member+

    Apr 24, 2004
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    that decision needs to be made on both lacazette and xhaka. by end of season, lacazette will be on 12 months and we have little leverage. xhaka will be 28 and on 2 years which is the right time to sell if you are not committing long term.
    nketiah is . . . what he is. he is far from an all-around striker like we are used to and want. but, as a poacher and scorer of trash/ugly goal, he is reasonable.

    i really don't see why balogun would stay when he has so many options. we have made no indication that we would bother playing him. heck, in a throwaway EU group game, he got minimal game time. he can see what is happening with ozil and saliba and has to wonder what is going on.

    don't know much about daka but he could properly replace laca in the saka-partnership!
     
  9. Tonerl

    Tonerl Member+

    Arsenal
    May 10, 2006
    Cincinnati, OH
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We should sell Nketiah now and give his time to Balogun.
     
  10. mebeSajid

    mebeSajid Member+

    Feb 16, 2009
    Atlanta, GA
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I don't know that I'd sell Eddie, because he's homegrown and he's a fine backup striker who could get a lot better. But we need to make whatever promises we need to make to get Balogun to stay.

    I mean, Brentford (who are rather smart) offered 5m for an 18 year old Balogun.
     
  11. Tonerl

    Tonerl Member+

    Arsenal
    May 10, 2006
    Cincinnati, OH
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    One of them has to go. Nketiah’s homegrown status and England age group track record makes him overvalued.
    That’s a deal we could’ve done and inserted a £15m buyback.
     
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  12. super gooner

    super gooner Member

    Arsenal
    England
    Sep 20, 2020
    It's all doom and gloom here with the virus, what is it lilke everywhere else in the world, are sports events being called off too?
     
  13. casoccerdad47

    casoccerdad47 Member+

    Mar 31, 2006
    The best way to convince Balogun he has a future at Arsenal is to sell Nketiah.

    edit: I see @Tonerl beat me to it.
     
  14. NorthBank

    NorthBank Member+

    Arsenal; NYRB
    United States
    Mar 29, 2006
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Arseblog quoted one of his listeners/readers today, regarding Kieran Tierney's wonder goal:

    "The question is can he do it on a warm sunny day in London?"

    :D
     
  15. NorthBank

    NorthBank Member+

    Arsenal; NYRB
    United States
    Mar 29, 2006
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    One thought I had this morning is about ESR (and an original one at that?!) was ...

    What's going on with him right now reminds me of another Arsenal player who burst on the scene as a young CAM, made some amazing performances, transforming our attack, etc. But who ultimately never could reach, or sustain, his huge potential, as he was dogged by recurring injuries. Know who I mean???

    Yup, another one of our promising TLA's... JFW.

    With his early injury track record, we can only hope/pray that ESR doesn't follow that path too closely.
     
  16. casoccerdad47

    casoccerdad47 Member+

    Mar 31, 2006
    Balogun will be homegrown too and one of them will almost certainly leave.
     
  17. MisplacedSpainard

    Apr 5, 2007
    Silver Spring, MD
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    I'm all for keeping Balogun over Eddie. I just feel that Eddie is not dynamic enough for Arteta and the upside for Balogun seems more realistic than Eddie based on what has been shown of late.
     
  18. CarlosKaiser

    CarlosKaiser Member+

    Arsenal
    United States
    Jul 30, 2018
    Kansas City
    Balogun is older than Saka and only slightly younger than Martinelli. I'm not sold on him being anything at Arsenal, he may be a late bloomer or he may amount to nothing. But allowing him to leave for nothing is a mistake regardless.
     
  19. thebigman

    thebigman Member+

    May 25, 2006
    Birmingham
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Balogan has a much more well rounded game than Eddie

    also @NorthBank wilshere played much deeper which is why he always got injured in cm battles
     
  20. mebeSajid

    mebeSajid Member+

    Feb 16, 2009
    Atlanta, GA
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    The thing is that, in this market, he's probably undervalued. But we haven't seen enough from Eddie to justify keeping him over someone who's highly touted and might leave.

    I was thinking this at the time and wondering why we didn't do it. I figure Brentford wouldn't agree to a buyback quite that low, but that's just haggling over price.
     
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  21. mebeSajid

    mebeSajid Member+

    Feb 16, 2009
    Atlanta, GA
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Someone needs to put highlights of Saturday's game to something like Walking in a Winter Wonderland.
     
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  22. DutchCane

    DutchCane Member+

    Apr 6, 2004
    New York, New York
    Wilshire lacked in-game intelligence and stayed on the ball too much for someone of his stature.

    Balogun should be a mainstay. Again not sure what anyone is doing in N-1 but whatever it is is appears mostly haphazard and not really well thought out.
     
  23. NorthBank

    NorthBank Member+

    Arsenal; NYRB
    United States
    Mar 29, 2006
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, and that second part is what used to bug me so much. I'd be shouting at the TV "get rid of it!" while he'd just keep that ball glued to his feet, inviting all sorts of destructive tackles.

    And for me that ended up being a fatal flaw in his style of play, not just in how he lost possession too much, but also because it contributed to his serial injury record. I cannot prove this from any injury data, so it's basically just a hunch. (which I'm sure Bigman disagrees with)
     
  24. thebigman

    thebigman Member+

    May 25, 2006
    Birmingham
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Let’s not forget wilshere was an elite talent but injury ruined his career

    his intelligence was hampered because he never had consistent runs

    as a deep cm he was brilliant and would still be first team imo if he wasn’t ravaged by ankle injuries
     
  25. daedalus

    daedalus Member+

    Apr 24, 2004
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    he was terrific as deep CM and distributor. had good vision and good touch on those passes he saw.

    he was terrible as a 10 like wenger wanted him to be and what probably led to his end. his close touch was often sketchy which led the ball to be loose so people lunged for it and, inevitably, catches him.
     
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