Right you are, my mistake.
Arsenal 2026/27
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Question 1. Agreed, very important for us that those 2, Havertz and Odegaard stay fit and return to form
Question 2. No-one seems to think that if there's less wrestling in the penalty area, Arsenal might actually benefit because they still have really good delivery from Saka / Rice, and now Tzolis and Bruno as well, and still have 1 of the best at attacking a football in Gabriel.
Question 3. This feeds into question 1 a bit. I too are a bit concerned, but what gives me most hope is that some of our main players, like Odegaard, Saka, Havertz, and even Merino, all feel as if they weren't involved enough last season because of injury, all felt as if they were a bit on the periphery and ended the season with some questions marks, and in the case of most of them all seemed to go into the World Cup with a point to prove and look like they want to start the season extra fit and hungry. I believe our drive will come from them wanting to prove they are the main men in their positions and want to feel any potential league win belongs to them more.
I can't be the only one who thinks he's spectacularly average?
He's certainly no Saliba, and I think it's a record fee for a defender of that age, but when you consider we were looking for a plug and play, experienced, robust, preferably homegrown central defender that can cover right back in an emergency then that limits your options.
Exactly.
This is a floor raiser, who is needed to alleviate the pressure off Saliba, and allowing him to come back ready for the business end of the season with fresh legs and good fitness.
I think similar can be said for Zubimendi (Rice), Skelly (Bruno G), Hincapie (Gabriel), Mosquera (Timber/White), Eze (Odegaard), Gyokeres (Havertz/Merino), Madueke (Saka), Meslier (Raya).
The key now is for Arteta to evolve accordingly, and have the best version of the squad fit and firing from January onward.
Understatement!
He's fine, and can play right back so ticks all the boxes - and his reputation (which has been really elevated due to him being an England started) + this crazy summer spending means the fee is probably right, just yeah, feels like a lot.
He'll probably be a Lescott type signing. Not spectacularly but fine enough to play 20/30 games in a league winning side.
I’ve mentioned this a couple times. My hot take is that we score more goals from set pieces this season.
And even fewer from open play?
Arsenal scored 121 goals last season. We scored more goals from open play than most teams (present company included) scored in total.
Was trying to figure it out. Despite it saying you support Arsenal the only other thing I could think of is that you're really a Bayern fan referencing Kane.
Even then I'd have thought a very short loan spell to Norwich wasn't enough to say he failed there and they never owned him outright.Edit: Not a knock on Tzolis by the way saying he failed at Norwich, just very intriguing career path and he's done well to come back.
Not really doing it at Norwich, farmed out to Twente in the Netherlands who cut his loan short because he wasn't doing it there either. Loaned to the German 2nd tier with Dusseldorf with an option to buy. He smashes it, Norwich probably having regrets about that clause around that time.
Dusseldorf buy him in the summer of 2024 (so still officially Norwich as recently as that) taking up the option then immediately sell him without playing a game after they own him, doubling their money. Great stint in Belgium and now he's back in England with the Champions and looks like he'll be starting the season. Really well done from him to turn his career around.
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Think he is a decent man-on-man defender. I dont think he is meant to displace Gabriel or Saliba. Ironically, he cost more than both of them together i think.
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Skelly for me is a potential world class player in the making. Srill has a way to go but I wouldn't trade him anything out there. He has virtually all the tools to make him one of the world's best at his position. Id be annoyed if he ends up leaving next summer to be honest. Hincapie is also a very good player in his own right. The others, i dont think are starters for us long term, but all have their place within the squad.
A little question mark regarding Madoueke. Nwaneri is probably prefered in the middle, but I think he could easily replace him on the right.
I agree with you, I've read/heard him described in several places as one of the best CBs in the league and so on, but I just don't get it. He's never really stood out at Villa beyond being a reliable CB, and I thought he was poor at the WC.
Supporters tend to overhype their own players while undermining players from other clubs. I had high hopes for Emile Smith Rowe and thought he would be an Arsenal player for years to come. However, Arteta deemed him not good enough and sold him to Fulham. Same for Martinelli after 22/23 season when he scored 15 EPL goals. Skelly for now is a talented young player at Arsenal who brings strong depth to the squad. His potential has earned him a place in the team.
His ground duel success rate has been the best in the league for a while now. Very hard player to beat 1on1. I agree however he wasn’t great at the WC but he should be good cover for Saliba really.
Dont think we care.
In about a year or so Dowman is going to knock him off anyway.
We can sell noni in summer 27 or summer 28.
I think next time we buy a player from Chelsea we should have a profit sharing agreement with them say they can own 80% of the profit so they help us sell the player. Even then we would end up with more then we would otherwise.
Better give them 100% as we anyway sell at a loss this way atleast we will get our money back.
Konsa adds good bench strength and cover for Timber/Saliba for now. Don't think Mik trusts Mosq too much in that RB position and White's defensively average 1v1.
Tzolis has looked great every time he's touched the pitch for Arsenal. He looks like the type of player Brighton or Bournemouth would sign then sell on for £100m in 2 years.
Well done he's 13 a newly promoted side
It’s so weird- he was on my radar for years as he was at Norwich from quite a young age. He did nothing there; I remember the attitude amongst them when he left was that he had tried, and failed, to be good enough for the Championship. Bit of a meteoric rise to now be playing well for the Prem champions.
I'll be honest I was pretty underwhelmed when we were linked to him, and even when we signed him, he's not an exciting name for a team trying to push on to the win the champions league. But, and it's still very early days, but he looks really really promising.
Agree. Dortmund were after him at the time of us signing him, which generally bodes well.
He looks really promising. Granted it was a relegation battler and pre-season games, but his technique, two-footedness and quickness of thought stands out - which are transferable skills.
Hopefully teams mark him tighter then Coventry, which will open up more space for others.
Apparently this was the first game since December 2024 where all three of Saka, Havertz and Ødegaard all started together.
And he's an excellent passer too. Unsurprising that noted Arsenal haterz are trying to sh*t on the transfer.
We need a CB that will slot into the side and help us win now. He's expensive, but is EPL and CL proven. Plus he's at an age where he's probably happy being a squad option, and will also likely not impact Salmon's development (if that was even a consideration).
It does go to show that the route to the top isn’t the same for everyone.
Is he aye
Signed Scanlon from us
Is he any good?
He’s nice tidy footballer. Had a bit of a disastrous loan recently and whilst he’s done well for Gibraltar (he plays regularly for them senior level) it hasn’t translated as much at club level.
Coming to end of his deal and no obvious pathway for him at United I don’t think.
Will be interested to see if he kicks on any at Arsenal or if he’s just been signed for your u21s. United have got a high sell on I think.
Interesting. If there’s no pathway at United then I can’t see him faring much better at Arsenal.
Maybe it’s like the Heaven deal. I said at the time that the most likely scenario is that he’s not quite good enough to become a regular at United and you end up selling him for £15m and 10x the £1.5m you paid us for him, while having a rotation option on relatively low wages for a few years.
Chelsea and City have been doing that for years (though they would probably somehow get £40m) and it’s offset a fair bit of their spending.
I think the hope here is Heaven can take the opportunity at United. There’s pathways for both him and Yoro at CB to become the starting pairing. Obviously still much to do though.
That's definitely a possibility, he's got all of the raw talent to make it.
Who will they bring in then?
Surely a wide forward type. Martinelli, Jesus and Trossard all gone. You feel they need another to come in beyond Tzolis?
Surely a wide forward type. Martinelli, Jesus and Trossard all gone. You feel they need another to come in beyond Tzolis?
We obviously do need more creativity. As dominant as we looked against Coventry, I am not seeing the number of chances created that makes me confident over a whole season. I dont think we have had a match with an xg over 3 this calendar year so far. We are for me kinda at the reverse point of Pool, where we are defense focused. Defense wins titles though...but id like to see a bit more balance.
We had five games over 3 XG in the second half of the year per the understat model and were second in the league in XG in that second half, despite completely running out of gas and getting very little out of Saka, Havertz, and Odegaard.
I think we need more in attack to hit a higher level but let’s keep it in perspective. Our football looked poor in the second half of the year yet still created more chances than any team bar City.
I didnt see any on my search. Last one was against Villa in 2025. That stat of creating more chances is a little normal though since we won the league. We came up short in the last rounds of the CL as well.
Agree with getting very little out of Havertz, Saka and Odegaard last year. They didnt do great overall the year before that either which for me starts to look like a trend. That's the big hope for me, that they get back on track this year. We win the league easier than last year if that happens, and there are some signs of it. Otherwise, it will be a struggle, especially later on in the season.
Definitely need a left winger to compete with Tzolis. Tier A options in the market are all gone. So no idea who Berta can bring in for rotation.
It could go either way. We still don't really lack for numbers unless we also loan Nwaneri (which we're looking at).
LW - Tzolis, Eze (Madueke)
CF - Havertz, Gyokeres (Merino)
RW - Saka, Madueke, Dowman
AM - Odegaard, Nwaneri, Merino (Eze)
That's 10 players for four positions and at least three guys that can play every position. From a depth perspective, its fine. The issue is really an ongoing lack of top quality but that doesn't necessarily improve by bringing in somebody mediocre just to be another body.
Can't see anyone now, not got even any half strong links to anyone.
So yeah, depth chart will be as @Powderfinger posted above, depending if Nwaneri stays or goes (now heavily linked to a load to Dortmund).
Not sure it's enough for a team hoping to take 'the next step' in terms of Champions League. Hopefully be enough in terms of Premier League.
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It's just a bunch of half links...seeing a brief mention of Matias Fernandez....Alvarez, nothing concrete....but maybe there is a rabbit pulled out of the hat at the last munute.