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Squad Analysis 2017/18

Aevi

Hale End FC
Moderator
First-team squad going in to the summer...

Goalkeeper
Cech
Ospina
Martinez

Defenders
Bellerin
Mustafi
Koscielny
Chambers
Mavropanos
Holding
Monreal
Kolasinac

Midfielders
Ramsey
Xhaka
Elneny
Özil
Mkhitaryan
Iwobi
Maitland-Niles
Reine-Adelaide

Forwards
Aubameyang
Lacazette
Welbeck
Perez​
 

truth_hurts

but Holding’s hair transplant was painless
Started from the bottom of the page (Arsenal talk) posted in the squad analysis 2015/16 topic, now i'm here! Repost:

Debuchy looks likely to leave as do Ospina and Gibbs. We need 2 defenders - I love the Rodriguez rumour and maybe an older CB who can play RB as well (not Chambers! loan him).

Our CM area is stacked with quality and balance now so nothing more needed there.

Our attack lacks something. It's not creativity, to be fair all 3 of Theo Giroud and Sanchez are good for 15 league goals when fit but I feel we need a star in attack.

Chelsea - Hazard, Costa
City - KDB, Aguero
Barca - MSN
Real - HIM and Bale
Bayern - Lewa, Muller, Robben and Ribery
PSG - ADM, Cavani and Zlatan replacement
Us - Just Sanchez
Dortmud - Reus and PEA

We meed another match winner upfront as we're too reliant on Alexis.
 

Iddi

Active Member
I am nervous for next season with Pep, Mourinho, Klopp, Poch, and Conte all fighting it out for those Top 4 place.

I still think we are very unbalanced in midfield, the final 3rd is a joke as we only have Sanchez whom you can somewhat trust to get you a goal.

My biggest fear is always been us out of possession, we are a complete joke and embarrassment, why can't we press the opposition? We lack intensity when we are out of possession, we are the easiest team to play againt because our player seem clueless and ain't got a scooby doo what to do when it comes to winning the ball back. This makes me nervous because we always look vulnerable when attacked.

I hope wenger can improve this glaring deficiency in our team and make sure every single player is prepared to graft, if not then i can sense the old 6-0, 6-3, 5-1, 3-0 spankings next season.
 

Jazz

Active Member
I’d be interested to know what people would consider the bare necessities for this transfer window. In other words, what’s the minimum we’d need to bring in for you to consider us realistic title challengers next season?

For me even if we upgraded every position except striker I still wouldn’t consider us realistic challengers. Striker is one of the most important roles in the team and it is also the weakest position we have. At the minimum I would take an upgrade on Giroud. If that’s all we did this window I’d be pretty content. I know it’s early but all the serious links being for other positions is worrying me. I don’t really care either way if we do or do not get Riccardo Rodriguez, I do however care very much if we do or do not get a better starting striker.

I really have 0 ****s to give if Wenger doesn’t think there are enough top top quality strikers out there right now. It’s completely and utterly his fault that we didn’t get them when they were available and needed a striker for god knows how many windows. I don’t care if you have to pay inflated prices now for the likes of PEA or Lukakku. That’s just the position you’ve put yourself in if you don’t think the other strikers out there are good enough. It’s the one think we definitely need to take the next step so we have to do whatever it takes now IMO.
 

4R5Emaniac

Always fresh from Bangladesh
First of all, last season was a unique occurrence and its unlikely that it'd be repeated while there have been many changes already at other clubs. Big managerial changes and unlimited resources compared to other leagues while there is a high probability of lots of player movement. So personally I'll not get sucked in to expectations too early- as should Wenger and he absolutely has to manage expectations instead of inviting unnecessary pressure by talking out of his ass.

As for the squad, I feel its crucial we strengthen at CB and striker after having signed Xhaka already. I'd be content with that given our history regarding transfers unless a prominent member moves on and needs replacing. If there are more additions to the first team, great. Apart from that I'd like for us to give chances to some of our kids or players out on loan-cut losses if we aren't sure.

But even if do the unthinkable and strengthen to the maximum, I'll be cautious given our performance last season.
 

truth_hurts

but Holding’s hair transplant was painless
We need to play with more energy. Mertesacker is to slow for our system, maybe Monreal (although I rate him highly) and Giroud definitely is. We struggle to press and as said above off the ball is where we get caught out.

It's no coincidence that we've looked better with Theo or Danny upfront, not because they are better than Giroud but because they suit the intensity of the league better. No coincidence we look lost without Coquellin either.

Arteta has gone, Mert should be replaced by Gabriel or new cb, a bit of pace and movement up front and I think we'll be dynamic enough.

I'd be content with Xhaka and an elite forward to be honest. Our back up is good enough, more than good enough - we desperately needed a bit more bite in Cm and still need a match winner upfront other than Sanchez.
 

BobP

Memri Fan
Few question marks in our squad.

Bellerin is obviously fine, but what about his backup? Debuchy has proven to be useless and is not exactly young, and Jenkinson was exposed at West Ham.

Monreal has had a great season, but he's not getting any younger. Gibbs is mediocre and is now almost 27.

Mertesackers contract comes to an end at the end of the coming season, Koscielny is also getting on. There's been talk of Chambers going out on loan.

We also lack a proper goalscorer.

In my eyes, thats 4 more players we'll need

CB
RB
LB
ST
 

cloista

Active Member
With regular game time I think Chambers could develop into a very good centre back and a decent right back, he showed a lot of potential in his first season here. If he's not going to play regularly for us he needs a loan this season though. A replacement for Merts is needed though, Gabriel is 3rd choice at best and Merts really should be 4th choice now. Stones would be an expensive but ideal signing, with Stones and Chambers that's a potential club and country pairing if they can develop well. Jenks is similar enough to Bellerin in style to be cover. If Gibbo goes, I'd like to see Cresswell from West Ham, been solid for a good few seasons now.

The biggest issue is ofcourse up front. While I have faith in Welbeck to be a good frontman for us eventually, his injury has set him back a lot. I'd want someone with a very good goal record, I'd actually like to see if we could pick up someone like Griezmann, I think he could do a passable impression of Henry the way his game is developing. Theo can stay as cover until Welbeck regains fitness. Giroud would be fine as a plan B, it's having him as Plan A-F that's the problem.

If we can move on the likes of Ox, Campbell and Gnabry, I'd like to see a cheeky bid for Nathan Redmond. He stood out in a desperately poor Norwich side even when being used sparingly, and I think he could be a great player given the chance to learn from the likes of Alexis.
 
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Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
Looking like Wenger is attempting to build a serious counter attacking side. I think signing Rodriguez will confirm it.
 

carlitobrigante

Active Member
If the Vardy and Rodriguez deals go through, and we get a CB, then i think we will have the best squad in the league no matter what the other teams do.

Just think, we have last seasons team, with Arteta and Flamini, and possibly Gibbs removed. Then add to that we have Elneny, a fit Wilshere, an improved Iwobi, Campbell, and maybe a couple more youth prospects making the break through.

Then add Vardy, Xhaka, and Rodriguez.

Then imagine one of Kante, Mkhitaryan or Mahrez as a cherry on top. Unlikely i know but we can but dream! :)

It does seem like Wenger is going all out to really compete for the season or two he has left. I'm optimistic, and looking forward to seeing how Wenger wraps up his time here.
 

Coolin

Doesn't appreciate the mighty Nacho
No one mentions it, but I think we need another winger around the same level as Sanchez. Our current wide options are horrible, a bunch of players that can do a job, but no real quality there.

I'd even put it before a centre back. Özil, Sanchez, Vardy and a bonafide winger ... let's get back to wrecking teams 3-0 before half-time.
 

Linson

Well-Known Member
Linson Low-down -

Italics mean the player should probably be moved on, either in the form of a loan or a transfer.

Goalkeepers

Cech (33)
Ospina (13)
Szczesny (1)
Martinez (-)

I think we probably have the best goalkeepers in the league with these 3, sadly that probably means one of the big three will probably want to leave, if not 2. Cech is clearly Wengers favourite, Ospina has done very little wrong in his defence and I think Szczesny genuinely loves Arsenal... Difficult choices!

RB
Bellerin (24)
Debuchy (2)
Jenkinson (-)

Jenkinson has clearly made massive strides this year and realising some of his potential, whether he is Arsenal quality is yet to be seen. Bellerin clearly deserves his place and I still think Debuchy is useful to have around due to his versatility. I think he'd make a good CB as he ages.

LB
Monreal (18)
Gibbs (3)

Monreal has been huge this season and Gibbs is an adequate replacement if he gets injured.

CB
Koscielny (6)
Mertesacker (4)
Gabriel (5)
Chambers (21)

I think there are some real questions over our current CB's. Mertesackers age, Gabriels competence and Chambers potential. I personally think Gabriel is not good enough and needs to be moved on, though I know a lot of people would disagree with that. Chambers needs game time as he was very good in his first season here. A lot of people on here dislike Mertesacker but the fact for me is that he is a perfect example of synergy, everyone tends to play when he is around.

Conclusion
Out - Gabriel transfer, ?Chambers loan
In - At least one CB

Defensive Midfielders

Xhaka (29)
Coquelin (34)
Elneny (35)

Enough

Box-to-Box Midfielders
Ramsey (8)
Wilshere (10)
Cazorla (19)

Enough

Attacking Midfielders
Özil (11)

Although he is the only true AM, there are others that can fill in, namely Cazorla but I also think Ramsey, Wilshere and the Ox would do a good job.

RW
Walcott (14)
Oxlade-Chamberlain (15)
Gnabry (27)
Iwobi (17)

Gnabry hasn't improved sufficiently and although Walcott almost guarantees goals I'm just fed up with his complete inconsistency. He is not Arsenal quality and never has been. He has been riding on the back of his potential and pace with flashes of brilliance but has never built on that foundation. He is in the prime of his footballing life now and still can't control a ball or convincingly kick one.

Conclusion
Out - Walcott, Gnabry
In - x1

LW
Alexis (7)
Campbell (28)

Probably enough

ST

Giroud (12)
Welbeck (23)
Sanogo (-)

Sanogo just hasn't got enough to compete with the current crop of strikers, which is hardly a stellar cast. He won't be able to compete with any incoming strikers.

Conclusion
Need at least one more stiker

Transfers

In

Xhaka
ST
CB
RW

Out

Arteta
Rosicky
Flamini
Martinez
Gabriel
Chambers (loan)
Gnabry
Walcott
Sanogo
 

Dutch D

Well-Known Member & FPL Champion 19/20
No one mentions it, but I think we need another winger around the same level as Sanchez. Our current wide options are horrible, a bunch of players that can do a job, but no real quality there.

I'd even put it before a centre back. Özil, Sanchez, Vardy and a bonafide winger ... let's get back to wrecking teams 3-0 before half-time.

I've been saying the same in several topics. I think it's absolutely crazy that for a few years now we have very poor wide options and always have to improvise with midfielders or Walcott. I'd always prioritize it over a CB this year.
 

Kanonier

Active Member
What do you guys think of Marc Bartra from Barcelona B? He's supposedly the "next Gerard Pique" and is available for only €8 Million. I'm surprised we are not all over him.
 

Lancelot

Established Member
What do you guys think of Marc Bartra from Barcelona B? He's supposedly the "next Gerard Pique" and is available for only €8 Million. I'm surprised we are not all over him.
He went for Dortmund just a couple of days ago, mate.

 

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