Squad Analysis 2018/19

[FluffyDoozi]

It's genuinely worrying that we have no Director of Football or no transfer vision aside from Raul's little black book. There is so much to do this summer in streamlining this squad let alone bringing in newer players.
Welbeck, Nacho,Lich, Jenko,El Neny, Cech,Ramsey are definitely leaving. Koscielny will be left with one year.

There are also a couple players who will be left with 2 years on their contracts. Keep in mind that Raul said that no player is going to go to their final year so we'll probably have to either sell or renew their contracts. That's Auba, Özil,Mustafi, Sokratis and Mhki.

It's going to be such an important make or break summer for the club and am not sure the guys running things are up to the task.

Personally hope we get 2/3 really top players at CB, AM and wide forward. No need to get 6 good 15-20 m players because they are not going to take us to the next level. The academy kids like ESR, Willock, Saka, Nelson can be squad players. Willock surely can't be worse than El Neny right?

 

[teamsoutheast]

We conceded 46 this season so far we have to do something about this it's embarrassing and getting worse only manutd are worse than us yes holding bellerin and kosh injured were major factor but still you can't expect making top 4 conceding 50 goals a game that close that's nearly 2 goals conceded a gane . Either buy better player or change the system defensively

I don't think the actual defenders we have are the problem. They are good individual defenders and stats wise Mustafi tops clearances, headers won, interceptions etc. We need to control midfields better and win the ball early. Tooooo many occasions our defence are left open from the lack of aggression and closing down from the midfield.

 

[Makingtrax]

We actually are so far off challenging. We can't get there in one summer. I'm hoping we replace the olayrrs who have started many games and underperformed

Mustafi
Mhiki
Iwobi

And internally or cheaply replace

Jenkinson
Lichsteiner
El-Neny

Then there's the need for a Ramsey reolacement, be that with a shift of focus in a wide player or an attacking/centre mid

Seen that kind of post on here for years.

The thing is when you’re spending 5th it’s the worst position to be in. Fans don’t expect much from less well off clubs, but because we’re within striking distance of the top 4 financially, fans expect the world.

And if you buy some expensive £50million type stars to rival City, United etc the rest of your squad is going to be Elneny type filler players. And if the youth coming through are not game changers, when injuries strike, you’re stuffed. We’ve been doing this years and we’ve always had injuries and always had holes.

We need a revolution in the way we spend money more evenly with good scouting, and the way we bring through young players. For us to improve we need to learn from teams Liverpool and Ajax who have got things right.

It’s not all about coaches.

 

[Tourbillion]

GK : Leno
RB : Bellerin
CB : X
CB : X
LB : X
CM : Xhaka
CM : X
AMC : X
AMR : X
AML : X
CF : Lacazette

Dreadful. Just beyond dreadful. We need to split our transfer fund between the 3 absolutely best players we can get in the market for 3 positions. Ideally CB, LB and either wide-forward position.

Internal solutions for the rest of the positions. Then we just have to go through another season and hope it will be decent enough we can keep all the players in my line-up + 3 signings we make. And make another 3 top signings.

If we keep on going signing dross the problem will just become difficult and bigger to solve with each window. We need to put the foot down and stop signing mediocre.

Mate I wouldn't even include Lacazette or Xhaka there.

 

[Sniper Mik]

Can't deny that he was a genuine match winner, no matter how whiny he was in the dressing room

 

[teamsoutheast]

Seen that kind of post on here for years.

The thing is when you’re spending 5th it’s the worst position to be in. Fans don’t expect much from less well off clubs, but because we’re within striking distance of the top 4 financially, fans expect the world.

And if you buy some expensive £50million type stars to rival City, United etc the rest of your squad is going to be Elneny type filler players. And if the youth coming through are not game changers, when injuries strike, you’re stuffed. We’ve been doing this years and we’ve always had injuries and always had holes.

We need a revolution in the way we spend money more evenly with good scouting, and the way we bring through young players. For us to improve we need to learn from teams Liverpool and Ajax who have got things right.

It’s not all about coaches.

Very good post. Fans get ridiculous with their expectations by the day. The Premier league over the years has strengthened significantly. Scouting networks across most teams are vast and in general very good. Look at the likes of Leicester and Wolves who have proven this with their shrewd signings over recent years. We can't be expected to just spend 250m each year to get us back into the higher echelons of European competition. It's just not sustainable. We need to be shrewd in the market and also mix this with utilising the excellent youth players we have in our ranks.

 

[Jasard]

Lovely. Sums up this team

This is the same site that says Mustafi has made zero errors leading to a goal so it's a bit of a strange stat. Does mean it should probably be like 20 though.

 

[Sanchez11]

I have said many times on here this season we need upto 8 players this summer, But it wont happen for multiple reasons. Some people mention expectations, fans have lowered them but how far do we need to go??

 

[FinnGooner]

For next year, in the best case scenario, meaning either Torreira or Douzi take the required steps, we have 7 (somewhat) competent starters:

Leno, Bellerin, Torreira/Douzi, Xhaka, Özil, Laca, Auba

In additions we have some useful depth players in: Sokratis, Holding, Nacho, Torreira/Douzi (maybe Iwobi as a "super-sub" type)

That still leaves 4 quality starting XI players and 2 to 3 useful depth players to be brought in. So 6-7 players in total

And pretty soon Auba, Özil, Sokratis and Nacho drop off from those lists meaning we'll have to add 6 starters and 4 squaddies, total of 10 players in the next couple of years.

That's not going to happen in one summer. Not even two. And this is the best case scenario in which our latest buys step up after getting over the adaptation period. That's pretty massive overhaul. And let's not forget, I'm being kind to some of those starting XI guys here. Ideally, we should improve on a few of those guys as well.

Anyway, it's pretty clear we can't purely buy our way out of this situation. We'll need to improve our scouting and youth development massively in addition to a few big money buys. Lots of question marks around. We could be in this rut for a few years, I'm afraid. And I'm only focusing on the players here. Emery and the coaching staff have a lot to prove as well. With a manager change we could easily add two years in to the rebuilding schedule.

 

[PoleInGoal]

In addition to the clear personnel issues, Emery really has to improve the squad's mentality. In our games vs Sp**s, United and Napoli, both home and away, the players showed so much determination and drive. Then against Palace, Everton and Wolves, it looked like no one was bothered to even be there.

It's unrealistic to expect the players to go at that same intensity for all our games, but the difference in performance is absolutely staggering. I hope Emery can make some improvements in this area

 

[asukru]

Can't deny that he was a genuine match winner, no matter how whiny he was in the dressing room

If you look at our current team, who do you see showing passion or urgency when we are losing? Look at yesterday's performance, not one player looked like they even cared to play for the badge (bar Laca maybe - who was trying to make a few runs but no one was looking for him). Honestly, Alexis had the hunger to push for it at least.

 

[Tourbillion]

Is there a Torreira-shaped elephant in the room yet?

 

[Sanchez11]

Is there a Torreira-shaped elephant in the room yet?

Why? hes there to break up the play!

 

[Jury]

GK : Leno
RB : Bellerin
CB : X
CB : X
LB : X
CM : Xhaka
CM : X
AMC : X
AMR : X
AML : X
CF : Lacazette

Dreadful. Just beyond dreadful. We need to split our transfer fund between the 3 absolutely best players we can get in the market for 3 positions. Ideally CB, LB and either wide-forward position.

Internal solutions for the rest of the positions. Then we just have to go through another season and hope it will be decent enough we can keep all the players in my line-up + 3 signings we make. And make another 3 top signings.

If we keep on going signing dross the problem will just become difficult and bigger to solve with each window. We need to put the foot down and stop signing mediocre.

Im a Laca fan, but he isn't starting over Kane or Son. You're dreaming. Forget Xhaka as well; he's a poor mans Eric Dier. He's not displacing anyone. Bellerin over Trippier?

To be honest, I forgot about Torreira. He gets a game imo.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

I wonder if you asked Pochettino how many of our lot he'd take. I'd guess Torreira because he definitely seems like someone Poch would like, he could possibly mold Guendouzi into something. Leno is obviously ahead of Lloris. After that there's nothing else. Ramsey obviously but again he's leaving anyways.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Im a Laca fan, but he isn't starting over Kane or Son. You're dreaming. Forget Xhaka as well; he's a poor mans Eric Dier. He's not displacing anyone. Bellerin over Trippier?

To be honest, I forgot about Torreira. He gets a game imo.

Hmmm.. I wasn't comparing the squad with Tottenham one. These are just the players I would realistically keep in massive overhaul I would like to see us go through in next 2-3 years. Given our money situation we would have to keep some and these are the one I see surviving. Not a huge fan of Xhaka or Lacazette but think they can play their part in a better team, that is if we find 7 players that are better than them!

 

[Jury]

Hmmm.. I wasn't comparing the squad with Tottenham one. These are just the players I would realistically keep in massive overhaul I would like to see us go through in next 2-3 years. Given our money situation we would have to keep some and these are the one I see surviving. Not a huge fan of Xhaka or Lacazette but think they can play their part in a better team, that is if we find 7 players that are better than them!

Oh ****, sorry ops: I wish you posted a cat now...

 

[Jury]

I wonder if you asked Pochettino how many of our lot he'd take. I'd guess Torreira because he definitely seems like someone Poch would like, he could possibly mold Guendouzi into something. Leno is obviously ahead of Lloris. After that there's nothing else. Ramsey obviously but again he's leaving anyways.

Leno and Lloris is an interesting one. Lloris's body of work in the prem is better, but it's also bigger. I think I'd take Lloris at this point, but it's close. Both are just short of convincing, but very capable.

 

[progman07]

GK : Leno
RB : Bellerin
CB : X
CB : X
LB : X
CM : Xhaka
CM : X
AMC : X
AMR : X
AML : X
CF : Lacazette

Dreadful. Just beyond dreadful. We need to split our transfer fund between the 3 absolutely best players we can get in the market for 3 positions. Ideally CB, LB and either wide-forward position.

Internal solutions for the rest of the positions. Then we just have to go through another season and hope it will be decent enough we can keep all the players in my line-up + 3 signings we make. And make another 3 top signings.

If we keep on going signing dross the problem will just become difficult and bigger to solve with each window. We need to put the foot down and stop signing mediocre.

Xhaka is as mediocre as it gets in my opinion, he is too sluggish to play under pressure, which is also an issue especially in away games where we usually get outrun. I love him as a character as he looks like a winner, he can obviously circulate the ball well enough when we have time on the ball, but he is let down by the lack of physical abilities required for a midfield of 2.

Whenever the opposition presses us he panics, and I swear have never seen him run with or without the ball. I'd say he is not in the first 4 players we should replace, but should definitely be benched or sold in the next 2 seasons.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Oh ****, sorry ops: I wish you posted a cat now...

On other note, really don't want to say it, but would give our entire attack for Son.