2019/20 Rivals - Arsenal

AkaAkuma

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Another thread to assess top 6 competitors to see how there squads are shaping up for next season.
  • What will be their starting lineup?
  • Who are they being linked to in the transfer market?
  • Whats their squad depth like, Who will fill the squad roles?
  • Where do you predict them to finish?
 

charlenefan

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Like I said in the Chelsea thread all they (Chelsea) need to do is be less shit than the rest and that's relatively easy to do when you need to be less shit than Arsenal. Arsenal will basically have a transfer ban of their own as their owners don't free up funds so yes man Emery will have to work on a shoestring budget again and try and improve on what he has. I expect at the very least they sign one underwhelming CB who'll end up being more or less as bad as Sokratis, Koscielny and Mustafi are

Their best bet may actually be keeping players like Holding fit given his reputation among Arsenal fans grows larger the longer he's injured
 

FootballHQ

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Losing Ramsey is huge blow aswell. He'll need to be somehow replaced on this 40m budget.
 

roonster09

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They really are in shit situation isn't it, unless they sign unknown players who can become instant hit like Kante did with Leicester. Their best midfielder/player is leaving on free transfer, Bellerin is out for start of the season and they don't have much money to replace the players.
 

RedDevilRoshi

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Kroenke isn’t the sort of guy that’s going to open the purse strings and give Emery the financial backing in the window he needs.
 

paulscholes18

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Need a very good CB and a creative midfielder minimum if they’re going to get top 4 next season, but they will be way to tight to sign two of Ake, Akanji, Maguire, Maddison, Brooks, Lo Celso.
Except them to finish 5th or 6th
 

VorZakone

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I actually don't think Arsenal's situation is as bad as it's made out to be. Losing Bellerin & Holding clearly hurt them so if those 2 are back and they sign a couple of players, I wouldn't be surprised if they reach top 4.
 

Irwin99

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Hard to see how they move forward as a club with what’s around them. Top 4 contenders as usual. Need to get their signings right and get rid of some deadwood
 

Bastian

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I think they've got the right manager in place to oversee some major transformation period. Shift out as many of the below par high wage first team players and promote youth, given they have the budget to sign maybe 2 decent players. He's got a good track record in developing players in Spain and it's not like there's the same pressure on them as there is on us. But like us, they need to shift crap.
 

NoPace

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I actually don't think Arsenal's situation is as bad as it's made out to be. Losing Bellerin & Holding clearly hurt them so if those 2 are back and they sign a couple of players, I wouldn't be surprised if they reach top 4.
I agree. They have 2 great strikers and I don't think they got a contribution anywhere else this year that they can't replace or improve upon in house or with a couple of 20-25M transfers (supposedly their budgets and plan).

Defensively their fans seem to rate Holding as their best defender and he only played 800 minutes. Lichsteiner's 900 minutes also will automatically be upgraded.

Could see Guendouzi and Torreira both having much better years considering their talent and age and Ramsey/Iwobi's 7 goals and 13 assists in a season worth of attacking midfield minutes seems replaceable.

You'd have to back Emery over Ole and probably whoever Chelsea hire to get an extra 3-5 points out of his team with good tactics.

My current favorite for 3rd with Eriksen seemingly leaving and Chelsea having a ban and us being, uh...
 

NoPace

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Need a very good CB and a creative midfielder minimum if they’re going to get top 4 next season, but they will be way to tight to sign two of Ake, Akanji, Maguire, Maddison, Brooks, Lo Celso.
Except them to finish 5th or 6th
Because they play a 10 and they're out of fashion, they should be able to find a quality player on loan or undervalued if they're clever. James Rodriguez or Fekir or even Odegaard make little sense for us, for example, but could have good seasons as the Arsenal 10.

Ziyech seems like the guy they should probably go for, even if it takes 2/3rds of their budget. Genuine upgrade. Works hard, can play either wing when they want to go 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, he'd have 2 guys looking to get on the end of passes in Aubameyang and Lacazette in most setups and when Ziyech gives the ball away as a 10 trying overambitious stuff as he's wont to do, he'd have an extra player in behind to deal with counters.

They do badly need upgrades at LB and a CB too though, and have apparently not enough money. Might need to go for a cheap option they believe in at one of those, feels like LWB would be easier to find one of those guys.

Ozil only has 2 years left on his deal, so not an insane risk for a team in Italy to take, shifting his wages would cover a decent (10-15M) punt on a foreign fullback or Champo option if there's one out there better than Kolasinac.
 

Kag

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For all of the (largely pathetic) dramatic conjecture surrounding United on this forum, it really could be worse.

Arsenal have about three quid to spend and Chelsea have just sold the only attacking player anybody gives a shit about. They could well replace Sarri (who would likely have improved them with more time) with Lampard, who is even more untested than Ole, too.

Arsenal’s defence is poor and they have also lost one of their best midfielders. Kind of like us, albeit we can spend money on better players.

I’d be shocked if Arsenal finish any higher than fifth.
 

Mogget

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I can't see us finishing lower than 6th. Can't see us finishing higher than 6th either tbf.
 

izec

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Similar to us and Chelsea, question marks. We are all 3 not at the best and are behind Pool, City and Spurs. It will be another top 4 fight IMO. Need to worry that not one of Everton, Leicester or Wolves overtakes them (same for us and Chelsea). A lot can go wrong at these uncertain times when a club is badly run.
 

Casanova85

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For all of the (largely pathetic) dramatic conjecture surrounding United on this forum, it really could be worse.

Arsenal have about three quid to spend and Chelsea have just sold the only attacking player anybody gives a shit about. They could well replace Sarri (who would likely have improved them with more time) with Lampard, who is even more untested than Ole, too.

Arsenal’s defence is poor and they have also lost one of their best midfielders. Kind of like us, albeit we can spend money on better players.

I’d be shocked if Arsenal finish any higher than fifth.
That's what worries me. Can we? Can we offer the highest bid/wage for De Ligt, for example?
 

Sandikan

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They'll be 5th or 6th unless a wolves or someone have an incredible summer
 

CHKBC

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With their skinflint of an owner, Arsenal should really focus on unearthing hidden gems since they won't pay the money needed even for a highly ranked Championship player.
 

Dirty Schwein

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They'll finish outside the top 4 and struggle every season until Robbie buys them out.
 

Lash

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If they get some good cheapo signings, I see them challenging for 4th again. About it really with the supposed budget.
 

Ooh2B

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My expectations don’t go higher than 4th. I’m hoping for a decent cup run as well.

The big battle for 3rd & 4th is obviously ourselves, Utd, Chelsea and Spurs.

We’ll see how the summer signings go, but at the moment, 4th is as good as Arsenal can hope for.
 

Bearded One

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Once Bellerin comes back they will be fine provided they have a good transfer window. 3-5-2 will suit their better players best. Kolasinac on the other flank, Torreira, an Aouar and one of Guendouzi and Iwobi should give them a better midfield.

They more than anything else need a commmding center back like Koulibaly. They should then play Aubaumeyang off Lacazette and they will do very well.
 

Mastadon

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We are by far in the worst position of all the teams in the top 6 and it’s hard to see how we are going to improve. We have a poor starting 11 we need a new defense, wingers and midfielders. Only 2 positions are sorted in keeper and striker with Torreira hopefully coming good. Bellerin also hopefully returns from injury and continue his improvement.

The rest of the team is brutal. Ozil was never a good fit and now with no output and 350k/week he’s useless. These are dark days for Arsenal and we don’t have the money to sort it out. The jury is out on Emery but he’s no Pochettino or Klopp. Like every other club we have some promising youngsters coming up who are more likely to turn out to be overrated rubbish. We are 6th pending some minor miracle or massive United level screw up by a couple of the other top 6 teams.
 

Bearded One

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We are by far in the worst position of all the teams in the top 6 and it’s hard to see how we are going to improve. We have a poor starting 11 we need a new defense, wingers and midfielders. Only 2 positions are sorted in keeper and striker with Torreira hopefully coming good. Bellerin also hopefully returns from injury and continue his improvement.

The rest of the team is brutal. Ozil was never a good fit and now with no output and 350k/week he’s useless. These are dark days for Arsenal and we don’t have the money to sort it out. The jury is out on Emery but he’s no Pochettino or Klopp. Like every other club we have some promising youngsters coming up who are more likely to turn out to be overrated rubbish. We are 6th pending some minor miracle or massive United level screw up by a couple of the other top 6 teams.
Its not so bad as you make out. Recall that Arsenal had a good chance to finish 3rd at some point. Back to the subject, maybe you can take a punt on Zaha if you need a winger. Otherwise why not build on your strenghts? Getting 2 wingers would be really expensive so a 3-5-2 would be apt. A commanding CB and an Ndombele should make things right.

Lacazette Aubaumeyang
Kolasinac Guendouzi Ndombele Bellerin
Torreira
Monreal Koulibaly Koscielny
Leno​
 

FootballHQ

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Ndombele and Koulibaly would cost about 120m between them. Also have to factor they're at CL teams and want to continue playing in that competition.

Arsenal are shopping a tier below which is what they were doing last season.

I think given the way Leicester and Everton finished last season and some also mid table teams also improving they'll be more of a challenge to 5th and 6th from teams below. I certainly don't think they'll be 10-15 point gap built up by xmas as was the case last season so Arsenal imo in danger of falling down the table.
 

dove

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Its not so bad as you make out. Recall that Arsenal had a good chance to finish 3rd at some point. Back to the subject, maybe you can take a punt on Zaha if you need a winger. Otherwise why not build on your strenghts? Getting 2 wingers would be really expensive so a 3-5-2 would be apt. A commanding CB and an Ndombele should make things right.

Lacazette Aubaumeyang
Kolasinac Guendouzi Ndombele Bellerin
Torreira
Monreal Koulibaly Koscielny
Leno​
Absolutely no way they are getting Koulibaly with their £50m transfer budget.
 

FootballHQ

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If they get some good cheapo signings, I see them challenging for 4th again. About it really with the supposed budget.
Cue more "they haven't improved since Wenger" posts. Even though Wenger left them in a very awkward position with the squad (his love for Ozil and him being very difficult to shift now) so Emery has to pick up his pieces and do his best which he did in the league.
 

BergkamptoOvermars

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I think they've got the right manager in place to oversee some major transformation period. Shift out as many of the below par high wage first team players and promote youth, given they have the budget to sign maybe 2 decent players. He's got a good track record in developing players in Spain and it's not like there's the same pressure on them as there is on us. But like us, they need to shift crap.
As much if not more pressure on Arsenal than United who won the league like 5 years ago.

Arsenal's last title was 2004!
 

Lash

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Cue more "they haven't improved since Wenger" posts. Even though Wenger left them in a very awkward position with the squad (his love for Ozil and him being very difficult to shift now) so Emery has to pick up his pieces and do his best which he did in the league.
Some of the signings being touted, I think emery could give it a really good go (praet and Andersen). Problem is what about those around them? Everton will outspend them this summer, I bet. It’s a shame as Emery is a top quality manager.
 

RooneyLegend

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They are in real trouble. An incompetent manager, a poor squad outside of two striker and a non existent transfer budget. No point expecting anything better next season if you're an Arsenal fan.
 

Bastian

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As much if not more pressure on Arsenal than United who won the league like 5 years ago.

Arsenal's last title was 2004!
I don't think so. I think there's more of an acceptance that it will take time over there and they won't try out 3 or 4 radically different managers in a short space of time getting there. If they see the manager is making progress, I'd suspect that would ease the pressure quite a lot. But they need to clear out loads, like us.
 

Mastadon

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Its not so bad as you make out. Recall that Arsenal had a good chance to finish 3rd at some point. Back to the subject, maybe you can take a punt on Zaha if you need a winger. Otherwise why not build on your strenghts? Getting 2 wingers would be really expensive so a 3-5-2 would be apt. A commanding CB and an Ndombele should make things right.

Lacazette Aubaumeyang
Kolasinac Guendouzi Ndombele Bellerin
Torreira
Monreal Koulibaly Koscielny
Leno​
Our no 1 problem is we don’t have the money to sign these type of players. We can’t rebuild by signing big names and top class players we have to go for cheaper signings and hope to hit something. Worst of all Spurs have replaced us in the top 4 by making excellent transfers and with a top class manager.
 

RooneyLegend

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I don't think so. I think there's more of an acceptance that it will take time over there and they won't try out 3 or 4 radically different managers in a short space of time getting there. If they see the manager is making progress, I'd suspect that would ease the pressure quite a lot. But they need to clear out loads, like us.
Having an incompetent manager for a long period of time does more damage than chopping and changing managers. Imagine if Pool still had Hodgson in charge.
Emery deserves a 2nd year.
For what exactly?