balthazar
Well-Known Member
20m for this kind of talent in this market is peanuts, to be honest. If he was english, even with an underwhelming season, he would 40-50 mil probably.
He's on loan here, so we can't sell him. We're talking about buying him on a permanent deal from Real.We're selling him? Why?
He's almost as good as Lacazette
Wrong thread. My badHe's on loan here, so we can't sell him. We're talking about buying him on a permanent deal from Real.
There's obviously a big difference between playing like that for 45 mins and playing like that consistently throughout the season. But we can look at that performance as an example of what he's capable of.
He's capable of being a very good two-way central midfielder, a no. 8 who can contribute in both defence and attack. If he could play like that regularly I'd be happy to have him in the team.
So let's get ahead of ourselves shall we. Say that we do keep him on loan or whatever, and say he can replicate that performance consistently, how do you set up the midfield?
Cos you'd think you'd want a really good defensive midfielder behind him, and a more attacking midfielder next to him. And Xhaka isn't either of those. So does Xhaka get in the team?
First of all, he needs to become stronger, because he keeps slipping all over the place when he is turning.There's obviously a big difference between playing like that for 45 mins and playing like that consistently throughout the season. But we can look at that performance as an example of what he's capable of.
He's capable of being a very good two-way central midfielder, a no. 8 who can contribute in both defence and attack. If he could play like that regularly I'd be happy to have him in the team.
So let's get ahead of ourselves shall we. Say that we do keep him on loan or whatever, and say he can replicate that performance consistently, how do you set up the midfield?
Cos you'd think you'd want a really good defensive midfielder behind him, and a more attacking midfielder next to him. And Xhaka isn't either of those. So does Xhaka get in the team?
I think if you had a midfield of Xhaka, Partey and Ceballos you’d have enough defensive cover that you can play a 4-3-3 with your fullbacks pushed high up and have your wingers operating as inside forwards to provide creativity from central positions. Still might not have enough creativity but it’s a very strong midfield.
I guess so yeah, but it's not what I'd think of as an ideal or complete midfield, which is what we should be aiming for after all.
I feel like Xhaka is in that midfield just because we all sense he's in Arteta's plans, and Partey is in it just because we're linked to him.
Imagine if we didn't have to play Xhaka no matter what, and imagine we weren't linked to Partey, how would you build a midfield with Ceballos in it?
Well ideally you’d have either one of Xhaka/Ceballos partnering Partey with a more attack minded midfielder playing a bit further forward but do we think that way because we had a decade of Wenger setting us up that way and now we’re programmed to think we need an attacking midfielder? Liverpool play a similar way to the way I mentioned with a strong midfield 3. Madrid play with Kroos/Casemiro/Modri. Henderson/Fabinho/Winjaldum is not too dissimilar to Ceballos/Xhaka/Partey.
Well it's true that Liverpool's midfield do very little creating, but they have quite a unique system. Their fullbacks are basically their playmakers, and I wouldn't want to recreate that. Most successful teams have creativity from midfield, KDB at City or Modric at Madrid for example.
I mean Arteta himself was an attacking midfielder originally, so I can't believe that he wouldn't want to play with at least one, if not two, creative midfielders. But it's hard to tell whether Arteta genuinely rates Xhaka and Ceballos or if they're just the best of what he has available to him.
To be honest, I would be very surprised if he was really happy with his midfield and rated both of them. They both have good qualities, but it just isn't enough if he wants to compete and be as flexible as he wants tactically. I think he 3ants to move to 4 3 3, but he realises he doesn't have the players to do it.
Think about how much tinkering and tactical input he has to have just to make us more solid. We dont have any centre backs that are consistently good enough to be in a 2. They either make a mistake or get sent off once every 5 games. So he has moved us to a back 3 to make Luiz, Mustafi and Kola feel comfortable.
We have creativity in Saka when he is on the left. Him and Tierney in tandom can run riot if Saka plays as a left 8 with the freedom to float.
The right 8 needs to offset Saka and Partry would be perfect for that role as it allows the right back to move forward and Pepe to drift inside. Partey isn't a Dm he is a cm.
The most important signing he may make other than Partey is finding a technically gifted, athletic holding midfielder. Someone who can play the ball in between the lines and step away from trouble. Someone who is brave and can also cover large distances. Someone with a good passing range. We need a midfielder who isn't just happy keeping the ball. We need someone who wants to effect the game.
I wonder whether Arteta worked with Douglas Luiz at City as he fits the dm profile. Pair him with Saka and Partey and you have a nice blend of hard working/ technical/ physical capabilities.
I could've sworn he's a DM.Partey is b2b