teamsoutheast
Well-Known Member
Currently on loan at vitesse Arnhem.And speaking of Chelsea, I do wonder what Charly Musonda is up to these days? He'd work as an inside winger for us.....
Currently on loan at vitesse Arnhem.And speaking of Chelsea, I do wonder what Charly Musonda is up to these days? He'd work as an inside winger for us.....
True. We should maybe sell some surplus and make money for LB.My thought process is spending 40-50m on a CB makes a much bigger difference to us than spending 40-50m on a LB.
I think we're coming at it from different angles?
Maddison already is class, he was absolutely brilliant yesterday. If we're selling Özil then Maddison is a perfect replacement. Still fuming that we wasted the whole of January to get Suarez on loan when Tielemans was available, we should pay what's needed in the summer for the two of them.@MutableEarth
I think Maddison’s going to be top class. You look at the players we’ve been linked to in Fraser, Barella and Fornals and JM is way ahead in terms of chances created from open play. He’s almost in the same bracket as the likes of Pogba, Bilva and Eriksen and per 90 is better than Özil in that regard.
He has great stats and more importantly passes the eye test. I don’t think we have anyone on our books right now who can come close to him now Özil’s tailed off.
Maddison already is class, he was absolutely brilliant yesterday. If we're selling Özil then Maddison is a perfect replacement. Still fuming that we wasted the whole of January to get Suarez on loan when Tielemans was available, we should pay what's needed in the summer for the two of them.
I actually think Brooks is a better player but him and Maddison look like very good players now and will only get better. Sadly not sure we could tempt a young player to leave Leicester
The club need to act like a big club for once and try and get Maddison before another big club moves for him. Imagine Maddison behind Liverpools front 3? I'd be happy to see the club sell whoever they needed to sell to bring in Maddison and Tielemans. Think Tielemans has been bloody brilliant since he arrived at Leicester.Yeah totally agree I just think in a better team than Leicester’s he’s going to up another level. Ridiculous talent.
I reckon 100M for the two, clearing out a load of wages and cashing in on nearly but not quite players like Iwobi and Xhaka and the club has no excuse not to get them in.
My thought process is spending 40-50m on a CB makes a much bigger difference to us than spending 40-50m on a LB.
I think we're coming at it from different angles?
Def like the look of tielemens has everything can pass, score , good engine and tracks back
The truth is, Arsenal desperately needs both.
Mustafi needs to go. Koscielny will be 34 shortly after the new season starts and hasn't played more than 25 league games since 2016-17. Old and injury prone isn't a good combination. It's like depending on hitting on a slot machine in Las Vegas to pay your rent. Holding will be coming off a long-term injury and won't even be ready for the start of the season. He was playing great prior to the injury, but will he regain that form? And if so, how quickly? Mavrapanos is too inexperienced. Chambers isn't even a center back anymore. He was a bright spot for a poor Fulham team, but playing as a defensive midfielder. If he can't play CB for a team so desperate for a CB as Fulham, how can Arsenal depend on him? Sokratis is the only center back Arsenal can depend on and he's a risk to be suspended for yellow card accumulations.
At left back, Nacho will also turn 34 during the season. He's slowing down. Hell, he may not even be here. He'll be entering the final year of his contract (only because Arsenal picked up his option) and could choose to go back to Spain. Kolascinac simply isn't a left back. You can play him in a 3-4 setup, but he's a defensive liability in Emery's preferred 4-2-3-1/4-3-3. There just isn't anybody else.
People have gone on and on in this thread about attacking midfielders and wingers, but honestly I don't really give a crap about that if Arsenal doesn't do something to fix the defense. They have young guys like Nelson and Smith Rowe who could be worked into the squad in those positions. But they have nobody who might step in on the back line. This team is about to give up 50 goals for the 2nd straight season. Liverpool has given up 20, City 22. Arsenal has guys who can score goals. They're one of the top goalscoring teams. But as long as they're giving up 50 goals,, they're not competing for titles or much of anything else.
I think Maddison should be starting for England already personally, he's been in excellent form all season and is the type of player who should reach an extremely high level. He'd be the perfect modern AM for us - but an issue would be whether Arsenal have the budget to get him and forgo our poor defensive personnel. It's a risk I would take, but the brass certainly won't - or maybe they will!@MutableEarth
I think Maddison’s going to be top class. You look at the players we’ve been linked to in Fraser, Barella and Fornals and JM is way ahead in terms of chances created from open play. He’s almost in the same bracket as the likes of Pogba, Bilva and Eriksen and per 90 is better than Özil in that regard.
He has great stats and more importantly passes the eye test. I don’t think we have anyone on our books right now who can come close to him now Özil’s tailed off.
I think Maddison should be starting for England already personally, he's been in excellent form all season and is the type of player who should reach an extremely high level. He'd be the perfect modern AM for us - but an issue would be whether Arsenal have the budget to get him and forgo our poor defensive personnel. It's a risk I would take, but the brass certainly won't - or maybe they will!
Admittedly I would really not like to go into next season with the defenders we have currently. A LB and a CB are huge priorities IMO. I agree however that the midfield could use a revamp. I even posted in the Xhaka transfer thread that I would take money for him to bring in a more press-resistant midfielder, so the idea definitely appeals to me. It's a difficult one - but ultimately, we're an attacking team and we should really be bolstering that rather than trying to reinvent ourselves as a defensive team.
We could always use some of our younger defenders I guess. Mavropanos is an unknown who could turn out good; Bielik has EFL experience and good technique; Danny Ballard is arguably the best academy defender; Sheaf and Medley are good, composed ball-playing defenders; Mark McGuinness is the main CB for a title-winning U18 defense......we don't have any young LBs though, so we should look to buy one. Jamal Lewis, Rico Henry etc......
CB, CM and a couple of wingers are all critically needed.
Yeah agreed - and honestly, I think the younger defenders can probably be coached better than a Mustafi who is 27 and has gotten worse. Ljungberg's work becomes crucial here (other than in the case of Bielik), as he's been doing good work with Ballard, Sheaf and Medley of late. Medley gets the plaudits because he can pass and he's been blooded first (and he's really tall) but Ballard is preferred by Ljungberg and is the better defender. Could make the argument for keeping Sheaf as a CB aswell - I think he'll leave but I like him at CB and he's good full-back cover too. It widens our options.Yeah agree and said as much in some of my other posts in this topic, particularly Jamal Lewis.
I just think an upgraded midfield is more urgent than defenders because you can avoid a lot of the issues we faced yesterday by being able to counterpress effectively and have players who are capable of breaking lines as well as maintain threatening possession.
We’d still suffer from individual errors but if we gave young players the chance there’d be an end goal to it as we’d see what the likes of Ballard or Medley could contribute long term.