Can you be more specific about where these rumors are coming from? I've seen Özil being linked with a move to Turkey, but not anything reputable about the others yet.Rumors are that with Arteta signing there's gonna be a big veteran exodus this transfer window of Lacazette, Ozil, Xhaka, Luiz, Mustafi and Aubamayeng.
Real Madrid and Inter have hovered into view and are ready to swoop for red-hot Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. His 10 Premier League goals this season have caught the eye of Zinedine Zidane and Antonio Conte but the Gunners are likely to slap a £70m price tag on the 30-year-old in an attempt to keep hold of their leading marksman.
According to a report in German publication Bild, Granit Xhaka has informed his Arsenal teammates that he’ll be leaving the club in January.
They claim that Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin are willing to smash their transfer record to sign the Switzerland international by offering the Gunners €45 million.
As Arseblog columnist Lewis Ambrose says, it seems unlikely, but not impossible.
“Hertha got a new ambitious investor in the summer, so it’s not impossible. It seems a weird one though – their transfer record (set in the summer) is €20m and that’s the only time they’ve ever spent more than €10m on someone.”
According to Turkish publication Fotomac, Mesut Ozil is close to agreeing a January move to Fenerbahce.
Before we go any further, we’ll add our usual disclaimer that most reports out of Istanbul turn out to be nonsense.
Via Sport Witness come reports from Greece linking Dinos Mavropanos with a move to Championship side Nottingham Forest.
There’s also interest from Olympiacos apparently, and while the Greek side are prepared to take the 22 year old loan, there’s no specific information on whether Forest are prepared to do likewise.
According to this morning’s Gazzetta dello Sport, Napoli have submitted an offer to Arsenal for Lucas Torreira.
The Italian side are looking to rebuild following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti, and have identified a defensive midfielder as a key recruit for new boss Gennaro Gattuso.
However, they don’t appear to be that serious about it, as their offer consists of a €3m down-payment for an 18 month loan, with an obligatory €27m final payment at the end of that term.
Mikel, a former club captain, played for us for five seasons from 2011 to 2016 and has signed a three-and-a-half year contract.
Mikel said: “This is a huge honour. Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We need to be competing for the top trophies in the game and that’s been made very clear to me in my discussions with Stan and Josh Kroenke, and the senior people from the club.
“We all know there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that but I am confident we’ll do it. I’m realistic enough to know it won’t happen overnight but the current squad has plenty of talent and there is a great pipeline of young players coming through from the academy.”
Mikel’s coaching team will be announced as soon as possible.
Tuff Ghost got a bunch of them.Can you be more specific about where these rumors are coming from? I've seen Özil being linked with a move to Turkey, but not anything reputable about the others yet.
Yeah, Auba and Lacazette being played together has never made sense or really worked properly. One of them is leaving, at the least. The other 4 players are guys that everybody can see are not good enough or not working out here. But there is no way they're moving out 6 players from this squad, the logistics for that would be incredibly hard over the winter window, and would leave the team very short-handed. Xhaka has value and I think there is mutual interest there in him going, so that seems likely to happen. I don't know that anyone would be interested in Luiz or Mustafi, but you never know. Ozil still has a big name, and would put up good numbers in a lesser league or slower paced one, so maybe he will move one, even with his big salary.Auba should and almost certainly will stay until summer. He wants out, but they should tell him to keep quiet, play hard for the rest of the season, and they will move him in the summer. They need him to try to make a run in the Europa league. He'll almost certainly leave in the summer. It's a shame, but he is 30 already and has one year left on his contract, so moving him this summer makes sense.
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/arsenal-news-mikel-arteta-manager-aubameyang-transfer-latest-a9253511.html
Lacazette surely wants out, as he hasn't been starting lately for a team that is having a disastrous season. I doubt he would be sold in January.
Maybe Lacazette will stay if he gets more playing time under Arteta and Aubameyang leaves in the summer.
When either or both leaves, their value needs to be maximized and they need to be replaced with younger strikers.
Hopefully Arteta will play Torreira as a defensive midfielder, his actual position. If so, he is much more likely to stay.
Ozil, Xhaka, Luiz and Mustafi leaving would be basically addition by subtraction. Probably can't move them all in January. Won't get much for any of them, but again, addition by subtraction. They also will need to be replaced by younger players.
Would be really nice to see Arsenal finally value things like mental toughness, winning mentality, aggressiveness, physicality and composure under pressure in the players they bring in. But they haven't seemed to for a really long time.
It’s Lego hair.. he just clips it on every morning.There is one thing that confuses me about Arteta. Underneath that hair, is there just more hair? There seems to be no scalp anywhere, no matter how much he sweats.
The two of them playing together has stopped working.. Martinelli is showing more hustle than both of them combined.Yeah, Auba and Lacazette being played together has never made sense or really worked properly. One of them is leaving, at the least. The other 4 players are guys that everybody can see are not good enough or not working out here. But there is no way they're moving out 6 players from this squad, the logistics for that would be incredibly hard over the winter window, and would leave the team very short-handed. Xhaka has value and I think there is mutual interest there in him going, so that seems likely to happen. I don't know that anyone would be interested in Luiz or Mustafi, but you never know. Ozil still has a big name, and would put up good numbers in a lesser league or slower paced one, so maybe he will move one, even with his big salary.
how DARE you.It’s Lego hair.. he just clips it on every morning.
-via Arseblog News“It was completely different to other games, but you can see only with intensity, with mentality, we didn’t concede a goal,” he said.
“We didn’t let them have chances, like Freddie said and the new manager. I think the lineup was very good because everybody was fighting for the team and we showed great mentality. Unfortunately, we didn’t score, but I think at the end of the day we can be happy with our performance and especially with our mentality.
“We didn’t let them have any transitions like in the other games. The distances [between our defenders and their attackers] were much closer and I think this is the only way you can play, because the Premier League is too strong to have one, two or three players that don’t defend. This is the only way we can play and we can be successful.”
That is good news. Freddie can certainly help with information about the players, especially the younger ones, and it's not like he was an "Emery guy" when he was brought on the staff, so that usual issue isn't there.Arteta announced that Freddie is staying at Arsenal, though they have not announced his new role yet. I think this is very good news, but think he will be getting his own shot in the next two years. Steve Round will also be joining the staff.
I don't see them recalling Saliba with his injury issues this year. Coming back from injury while adapting to the EPL would be a lot to ask from an 18 year old.I would love to see a Saliba - Upamecano partnership. I don’t think recalling Saliba would help much this year as he has missed two months with a broken metatarsal and only recently started training again, but maybe getting acclimated with the team would help for next year. Things are getting pretty desperate with all of the injuries to the back 4, so it is worth exploring.
Upamecano would be expensive and may not want to leave the Champions League for Arsenal, so I am not holding out too much hope there.
It sounds as if Ceballos is a possibility for today. It would be nice to see him back out there and get a feel for what he is capable of in Arteta’s system.
If Arsenal lose today, it would be the first time in club history that they’ve lost 5 consecutive home games (in all competitions). Three points would be amazing to lift morale.
This approach seems to be the polar opposite of Emery's focus on covering up weaknesses.Without the ball, they line up in something akin to the 4-2-3-1 the pre-match television graphics suggest. With it, they are transformed: Xhaka drops deep, Kolasinac pushes on, Ozil is freed to join up with the strikers.
In doing so, Arsenal’s strengths are emphasised, their weaknesses disguised. Arteta doesn’t fixate on his team’s problems — he focuses instead on the problems he can create for the opponent.
Kolasinac is not a particularly good defender, but release him in attacking areas and he’s transformed from liability to threat. Xhaka struggles in the melee of the midfield, so Arteta has allowed him to drop deep enough to avoid it, covering Kolasinac in the process.
Link to the article (behind paywall):As Arteta put it during his time at Manchester City: “Football is about habit and angles. It’s much more simple for a player if you can process the image of where your team-mate will be before receiving the ball.” Those images were drummed into this Arsenal team in the moments before kick-off.
Upamecano has started every match in every competition for RBL since returning from injury and they are still contending in three competitions. We may buy him in the summer but there is zero chance they sell him in January. This is the football press just taking known names and throwing shit at the wall for clicks.I would love to see a Saliba - Upamecano partnership. I don’t think recalling Saliba would help much this year as he has missed two months with a broken metatarsal and only recently started training again, but maybe getting acclimated with the team would help for next year. Things are getting pretty desperate with all of the injuries to the back 4, so it is worth exploring.
Upamecano would be expensive and may not want to leave the Champions League for Arsenal, so I am not holding out too much hope there.
It sounds as if Ceballos is a possibility for today. It would be nice to see him back out there and get a feel for what he is capable of in Arteta’s system.
If Arsenal lose today, it would be the first time in club history that they’ve lost 5 consecutive home games (in all competitions). Three points would be amazing to lift morale.
Good post. This 2-3-3-2 shape in possession also makes more efficient use of AMN's skillset, slotting him in as the right sided defensive midfielder rather than forcing him high up the pitch as a traditional RB/winger. As a player that was developed as a central midfielder, AMN's two main issues as a RB have been that (a) he isn't really a dynamic dribbler or particularly accomplished crosser of the ball and (b) he has trouble with defensive positioning, especially getting caught too high up the pitch. This usage helps him with both because now his responsibilities in possession - move the ball from deep, rather than serve as a winger - are much more familiar and its a lot easier for him to get back into position defensively during transitions because he doesn't push so high when we have the ball.The Athletic had a nice article about some of the changes that Arteta has already made with the team. One example is how on the attack, they are more of a 5-man attack with Kolasinac focused on pushing up and Xhaka dropping deep to cover him. A nice quote:
I agree completely. But in the near term I expect him to be in the side.I would not 100% buy in on Ozil. He's done this before.
If he keeps performing, he keeps playing. They can always work in somebody else like Ceballos in his position if he drops off. He also doesn't need to be vintage Ozil to be effective.I agree completely. But in the near term I expect him to be in the side.
That link is to a June 2018 story. Is there something newer?Xhaka and Arsenal have the most confusing relationship I have seen in footy.
Luiz has the requisite technique and intelligence to engage in this game of cat and mouse. He has made more than 1,000 passes this season, the highest of any player at Arsenal. Intriguingly, he is making over 20 more passes per game under Arteta (72) than he did under Emery (49). His ball retention skills are, by and large, outstanding. There is, however, another valuable weapon in his armoury: the capacity to penetrate.
The ultimate aim of those sideways passes and shuffling movement is to create a channel to advance the ball up the field. This is where the Brazilian excels. Only three centre-backs in the Premier League have managed more passes into the final third than Luiz’s 148: Virgil van Dijk (151), Toby Alderweireld (171) and Lewis Dunk (178).
We all know the counter-points about his defensive short-comings, but since Arsenal have built a more compact unit under Arteta, he has looked better there, too. I hope he heads in the winner today.Luiz finished Arsenal’s recent match against Crystal Palace with 13 passes into the final third — not even Mesut Ozil could match that tally. The goal Arsenal scored was a perfect example of what Luiz’s central role in Arteta’s plan: an incisive pass from the halfway line into the feet of Ozil, creating an overload in an attacking area from which Arsenal profited.
It has quickly become a cornerstone of Arsenal’s play. Luiz is averaging 15 long passes per game under Arteta, a significantly higher number than under any other of his 10 Premier League managers. It takes a certain type of player to shoulder that kind of playmaking responsibility. The ability is only part of it — it has to be married with vision and confidence, and Luiz has both in spades.
Good stuff Re: Luiz’s passing. Have to think that opponents will adjust and those numbers will roughly fall in half, similar to VVD, Alderwiereld, Dunk. The interesting part will be to see how Arteta adapts. City’s semi-automated passing sequences can be a thing of beauty, passes pinging around at headspinning pace. Liverpool’s sequences are very different and include a lot of those fullback-to-fullback passes that defenses can’t shift fast enough to cover. But having Ozil there to quarterback things is an enticing proposition..
The Athletic had a nice piece about him today, obviously with the minor intrigue of going back to Stamford Bridge.
We all know the counter-points about his defensive short-comings, but since Arsenal have built a more compact unit under Arteta, he has looked better there, too. I hope he heads in the winner today.
Only if you want to convert his 6 fouls a game into PKs.Is it possible that Xhaka was always supposed to be a center back?
I'm not 100% sure Ceballos has been fully healthy. They're definitely missing a creative spark in the middle of the field. The majority of the offense seems to be coming off the wings.Good post Tuff Ghost.
I think process is more important than results at this point, especially since Top 4 hasn't been in the cards since Arteta took over anyway. With Emery I never felt like there was an underlying system being developed - he was just cycling through tactics and formations, but no foundation was ever being laid and eventually the players just got tired of it and stopped buying in. With Arteta not only is the energy and commitment much better, but you can pretty clearly see the style of play that he is trying to implement. And you can see the benefits as well: We are much more secure defensively and we don't lose control of matches to the same shocking degree we did under Emery. The biggest issue is that we just don't quite have the combination of quality and cohesion in our buildup and final third play to make the system pay off consistently in terms of offensive output. But you can imagine it clicking in the future.
I think we really need a bit more quality and creativity in central areas. We end up playing this 2-3-5 style in possession but between the three in midfield (Xhaka, Torreira, and either AMN/Bellerin) and the attacking players who most typically drop between the lines (Ozil, Pepe, and Lacazette) just aren't quite good enough in terms of combination play. Some of that is getting used to this style but we really need a couple better players as well, at least one CM who can give us more creativity and forward thrust than Xkaka or Torreira and one attacking midfielder who can take Ozil's place. For whatever reason, Arteta clearly doesn't seem to think Dani Ceballos is the answer to either problem.
Agree with this. Definitely seems to me as though Arsenal needs to focus on the FA Cup and (especially) the Europa League and use the Premiership as the laboratory for developing the squad, rather than the other way around. Best case, they win a trophy (and maybe sneak into the Champions League); worst case, they clear the decks for next year and get out of the Thursday-Sunday cycle which does nobody any favors.I think process is more important than results at this point, especially since Top 4 hasn't been in the cards since Arteta took over anyway.
I thought this was the case as well, but apparently he's back from his hamstring injury and still not seeing any playing time. He has reportedly told Real Madrid he wants them to terminate his Arsenal loan(Nketiah style) and loan him to another team. Specifically he's trying to make Spain's 2020 Eurocup team, so he wants to get enough playing time to show off his talent before that.I'm not 100% sure Ceballos has been fully healthy. They're definitely missing a creative spark in the middle of the field. The majority of the offense seems to be coming off the wings.
Yeah, I saw those stories about half an hour after I posted that. Not sure if that is going to happen or not, but it would be a shame to never get a look at him under Arteta. He hasn't been in full training for more than a few weeks though, so it's possible he's only really been an option for the last few games.I thought this was the case as well, but apparently he's back from his hamstring injury and still not seeing any playing time. He has reportedly told Real Madrid he wants them to terminate his Arsenal loan(Nketiah style) and loan him to another team. Specifically he's trying to make Spain's 2020 Eurocup team, so he wants to get enough playing time to show off his talent before that.
I was impressed by him with his play early in the season and thought he might have a chance to be a young Ozil or perhaps move back within the midfield for a Santi Cazorla type role. His form went to shit, but so did everyone else's under Emery, so it's hard to determine what to make of that.