Riou
In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over
Country: Northern Ireland
Player:Gabriel
This was exactly what the doctor ordered. Bottom-half team with a dodgy away record, with a few gifts thrown in.
Here's to hoping it results in positive momentum into the rest of the season and next year's.
Sorry *home record.Dodgy away record? Why would that have mattered?
In hindsight that picture was so ****ing pretentious
1) Athletic talent. They counter and track back (or recover when they get turned) better.2 questions:
1. How are Chelsea and Man Utd able to play City head to head and Arsenal almost totally collapse when we play City. Whether it's Wenger or Emery and now Arteta?
2. Can we afford to give Auba 90 minutes in every game for rest of season?
The quantum mechanic-like calculations are the best part. I think it must be an attempt to break into a dimension where the tactics actually work.Who would have thought the answer to all those equations is a Kolasinac cutback.
I need to know the answer to number one too.2 questions:
1. How are Chelsea and Man Utd able to play City head to head and Arsenal almost totally collapse when we play City. Whether it's Wenger or Emery and now Arteta?
2. Can we afford to give Auba 90 minutes in every game for rest of season?
I'm with you, Mislintat seemed to have a strategy of gradual improvement matched with buying young players. I'm very worried that Sannelhi wants us to buy a star each summer, which seems like West Hams strategy which is going really well...Mislintat is not without fault and even though it did go well for him at Stuttgart by a small margin, he's also shown he is new to the job of DoF. It was a risky approach he took but with promotion it looks like it will pay off and the roster is moving into a clear direction; without promotion it would've been a failure, though.
You gotta keep in mind though that teams are built over multiple windows/seasons, especially when you're in a re-build phase like Arsenal. The verdict in such cases should only come after a few windows. I think Mislintat did well for the two windows he had, most importantly there was the impression there was a plan - even if that plan was mostly about starting with filling holes and being opportunistic.
The Mkhi - Sanchez swap wasn't so much due to him, as Arsenal backing themselves into a corner by not selling Alexis in the summer. Getting Mkhi in maybe wasn't the best idea, but it's not a completely disastruous idea to begin with.
He saw the team lacked goals and he brought in the only guaranteed top goalscorer available - Auba.
The team needed a RB backup with almost no demand for a starting spot; Lichtsteiner was a good fit and had a solid season for Juventus, nobody could see he'd regress so much instantly.
He brought in the needed DM in Torreira. The team needed a solid, experienced CB and he got in Sokratis. Leno the much needed successor to Cech for a good price. Brought in two talents in Mavropanos and Guendouzi.
And remember the club was on a rather tight budget that summer after much had been spent on a proper goalscorer the winter before.
I thought it was a very reasonable window addressing a lot of wholes in the roster. Would've been interesting to see where he would've gone in following windows after having to plaster the cracks in his first two and to really start building a team. But he was driven out by Raul in Jan 2019 already and Arsenal got Denis Suarez on loan.
Raul hasn't had too many windows at Arsenal, neither, but I don't see that much plan behind his signings to build an overall team as I see with Mislintat, even if the German didn't do a perfect job either.
Anyway, behind all this lies a bigger problem. The team seems completely randomly assembled due to it consisting of remnants of the Wenger era, then Mislintat started working on it, Emery had his ideas and wishes, now it's Sanllehi. And that's exactly how this team looks: Anyone gets a free hand to add something for two windows and the results is a horrible stir pot. Thing is I don't trust Sanllehi to make the right decisions, guy doesn't know how to run a self sustaining models coming from a club where he could splash hookers and cash as he pleased.
One simple tweak is dropping Ceballos IMO. I'd even bring back Guendouzi even though I hate him and Xhaka together as a pairing. Bellerin is the less simple tweak. The right side of the pitch really suffered a lot today because Bellerin and Ceballos were terrible and Pepe was completely invisible as a result. Ideally, you'd drop all 3 and bring in Cedric (time for him to show he deserved that contract), Nelson and one of AMN/Willock in the middle.
I need to know the answer to number one too.
Better players in defence. Better players in midfield. Fast, Athletic and disciplined players also.
I think it said tonight that Chelsea havent had a red card in the league this season. Not sure if that's 100% but that's what they said.
I would guess they havent given away penalties like us either.
Both teams player for player are superior to us. And that's the big reason.
Better players in defence. Better players in midfield. Fast, Athletic and disciplined players also.
I think it said tonight that Chelsea havent had a red card in the league this season. Not sure if that's 100% but that's what they said.
I would guess they havent given away penalties like us either.
Both teams player for player are superior to us. And that's the big reason.
I'm with you, Mislintat seemed to have a strategy of gradual improvement matched with buying young players. I'm very worried that Sannelhi wants us to buy a star each summer, which seems like West Hams strategy which is going really well...
(I think you liked my Campos, Mislintat post. AFC are really frustrating right now)
That's nonsense
Plagiarising myself, but think it's because Chelsea and especially Man Utd are noticeably more athletic. Makes it easier to both recover from mistakes and hit back on the counter when they (like us) inevitably are forced to play on the back foot against City's technical and tactical superiority.I need to know the answer to number one too.
We've seen a lot of false dawns at United in the past decade. Chelsea, however, seem to me to be building something special.What's nonsense that both Chelsea and United have better teams than us. Its 100% fact. Build a team of us and them and be lucky if a couple of our players get in it.
I'm interested in what your opinion is on Partey? I've seen him play a few times and he's a good player but at 50m for a 27 year old to plug 1 hole when we have 4 or 5 holes seems silly.Yeah, it's what he's doing right now at Stuttgart. Although the cut was a lot more clean due to relegation (20 players out, 19 in).
He had a lot of old and high earning remnants in Badstuber, Castro, Gomez, Didavi who couldn't be moved on and blocked wage budget, so he had to work around that; at the same time the club took in a lot of money by selling Kabak, pavard, Baumgartl, etc.
But the overall plan is pretty clear: In the matter of 3 to 4 years, the complete roster should be exchanged and the growth and development of a new team initiated.
He brought in a few solid options in their mids twenties to work on age structure and performance, but then took a huge gamble on bringing in a **** ton of expensive talents who should grow along together to first form a new team and then turn a profit later on. Hamburg did the complete opposite to get promoted: They almost only recruited solid 2. Bundesliga players with experience. Mislintat's way was a short term gamble and if the club did't get promoted things would've looked a bit dire, but as it worked out it's been a pretty brilliant gamble of course. A gamble nonetheless.
Now for next season most of the aged high earners will be gone, there'll be a core made up of solid mid twenties aged players along a group of highly talented youngsters who have already grown during this season. A few outgoings and a few new additions and he's practically build a completely new team from that which got relegated in 2019, which has a solid core and massive potential for growth.