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Football News: Team Review - Arsenal

Team Review - Arsenal
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Team Review - Arsenal

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League Position: 5th

 

Ins And Outs

Ins:
Ben White from Brighton & Hove Albion £52.65m
Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid £31.5m
Aaron Ramsdale from Sheffield United £25.2m
Takehiro Tomiyasu from Bologna £16.74m
Albert Sambi Lokonga from RSC Anderlecht £15.75m
Nuno Tavares from Benfica £7.2m
Auston Trusty from Colorado Rapids £1.64m
Matt Turner from New England Revolution £5.73m

Outs:
Joe Willock to Newcastle United £26.46m
Lucas Torreira to Fiorentina (loan) £1.35m loan fee
Ainsley Maitland-Niles to AS Roma (loan) £450,000 loan fee
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Barcelona free
Calum Chambers to Aston Villa free
Willian to Corinthians free
Sead Kolasinac to Olympique Marseille free
Dejan Iliev to AS Trencin free
Hector Bellerin to Real Betis loan
Matteo Guendouzi to Olympique Marseille loan
William Saliba to Olympique Marseille loan
Reiss Nelson to Feyenoord loan
Pablo Mari to Udinese loan
Auston Trusty to Colorado Rapids loan
Runar Alex Runarsson to OH Leuven loan
David Luiz released

 


Goalkeepers:

Aaron Ramsdale
Bernd Leno
Arthur Okonkwo
Matt Turner
Runar Alex Runarsson

I know that most Arsenal fans love Ramsdale, because he is demonstrative and flashy, making even the simplest most routine save into a carnival, but to me he is not a good keeper. Great keepers make the job look easy and even world class saves are just made, without any ceremony around them. Ramsdale is the opposite, he makes easy saves look like he has pulled out a worldie, flying across the goal to pull out a stop that if he had just been positioned correctly would have been a simple catch. Instead he is full stretch to just about push it back out into danger. That is not a good piece of goalkeeping but he then celebrates like he is lifting the World Cup and the fans lap up that passion, never questioning whether he is any good because they love the way he acts. For me it leaves goalkeeping as a weak area of the team, as none of the options are better and it means the defence is always lacking in confidence as they cannot rely on their keeper.

 


Defenders:

Ben White
Gabriel
Rob Holding
Kieran Tierney
Nuno Tavares
Takehiro Tomiyasu
Cedric Soares
William Saliba
Pablo Mari
Auston Trusty
Hector Bellerin

There are so many question marks surrounding the defensive group at Arsenal, but most have to be directed at Arteta's bizarre treatment of the standout player, Saliba. Will he finally be given his chance this forthcoming season or will he once again be sent out on loan to star elsewhere? Not one of the rest is even close to his ability as a player, except the always-injured biscuit-hipped Tierney, who cannot be relied upon to finish a full week, let alone a season. Tomiyasu is the only one of the rest who could be considered as having a long-term future at the Gunners if they intend to compete at Champions League level. The rest are in desperate need of an overhaul, which is worrying when you consider how much has been spent on defender, seemingly mostly to replace Saliba so he can be sent out on loan! It is a mess and all of Arteta's making, with so many players alienated by the way he treats them, it makes it difficult to work on improving the squad when it is constantly being decimated by those who are desperate to get out.

 


Midfielders:

Thomas Partey
Granit Xhaka
Mohamed Elneny
Albert Sambi Lokonga
Bukayo Saka
Martin Odegaard
Emile Smith Rowe
Ainsley Maitland-Niles

The strongest section of the Arsenal squad, but still not ideal as it lacks in balance, particularly on the right side, which lacks any real option. There is a lot of workrate amongst the central options, which can make up, to a degree, for its lack of genuine top class quality, other than Partey. Saka in wide areas is a real bright spot for the team, hanging on to him and bringing in quality additions is going to be the key to the Gunners' progression in the next few years. The main need is someone to play out wide to help Saka.

 


Forwards:

Gabriel Martinelli
Nicolas Pepe
Reiss Nelson
Eddie Nketiah

A forward line that looks like that of a relegation battling team, with a real lack of genuine goalscorers. That needs to be addressed quickly, as there are absolutely no signs of Martinelli being the striker fans seem to hope he will be. Plenty of style but very little substance, though that is a step up from Nelson who seems to have neither. Can Nketiah step up and score the goals? It is doubtful, but he is young and at least tries to be a finisher. Maybe in time he can be the answer, maybe, but they still need someone to put the ball in the back of the net while he comes good.

 


Manager: Mikel Arteta

There are so many issues with his management that it is beyond amazing that Arteta still has a job. In large part he is helped by his friendships in the media, who have always championed his cause, even though he has never shown anything to deserve the adoration he gets. Even putting aside that fact that he is unable to manage a squad and has driven away a huge number of players, there is a complete lack of discipline amongst those left. What he does have on his side though is luck. One thing Arsenal have done time and time again under Arteta is get results without performing ever like they are a team. They are very reliant on individual moments to pick up those results and that luck will surely run out if he continues to drive away the better quality players at the club.

 


Conclusion:

Nothing has changed for me since the last time I did an Arsenal team review. They are still being badly mismanaged by a terrible manager who is showing no signs of learning his lessons and continues to alienate players. How can Arsenal attempt to build a team when they are constantly in turmoil through discontent? Nothing else they do is anything other than papering over the cracks. Though at least they do seem to be escaping from Kia Joorabchian's influence to a degree on recruitment. That is a big step forward for the club as a whole and bodes well for a future once they finally end the Arteta experiment and they bring in a coach who works with the team, rather than against it.

 

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Written by Tris Burke June 08 2022 02:40:30

 

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