✍️ OFFICIAL Joe Willock (Out)

[GoonerJeeves]

I just posted something similar and agree this looks good but the issue will be getting enough minutes for all the people we need to be starting matches

I would imagine ESR could play out on either of the wings. He played LW for Town a bit. Not an ideal use of his talents though.

 

[Dutch D]

If we want to keep Willock, I would suggest using him and foregoing a marquee signing. We can't keep him and not use him. That would just tank his value.

In that case I'd rather buy a defensive midfielder. Use Willock and Smith-Rowe as central midfielders, Willock as the runner/scorer and Smith-Rowe as the creator. Use Partey as the main defensive midfielder and slowly integrate the new signing. Let's say hypothetically that's Neves. We could play two variations depending on match-up.

Against weaker teams:
Partey
Willock - Smith-Rowe

Against stronger teams:
Neves
Partey - Willock/Smith-Rowe

Lokonga as the fifth option, Azeez as the sixth. Sell the rest.

I was going by the assumption that Willock would be sold, which to me means you buy another creative CM to rotate with Smith-Rowe.

I could get behind the wait a year and use our talents strategy, but we'd have to get a class RB and CB (now that we've loaned Saliba).

 

[Token Yank]

Hopefully this is a negotiation tactic. Need to sell while value is high. We've gotten burned so many times holding on to these academy guys for too long.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

If we want to keep Willock, I would suggest using him and foregoing a marquee signing. We can't keep him and not use him. That would just tank his value.

In that case I'd rather buy a defensive midfielder. Use Willock and Smith-Rowe as central midfielders, Willock as the runner/scorer and Smith-Rowe as the creator. Use Partey as the main defensive midfielder and slowly integrate the new signing. Let's say hypothetically that's Neves. We could play two variations depending on match-up.

Against weaker teams:
Partey
Willock - Smith-Rowe

Against stronger teams:
Neves
Partey - Willock/Smith-Rowe

Lokonga as the fifth option, Azeez as the sixth. Sell the rest.

I was going by the assumption that Willock would be sold, which to me means you buy another creative CM to rotate with Smith-Rowe.

I could get behind the wait a year and use our talents strategy, but we'd have to get a class RB and CB (now that we've loaned Saliba).

Where's the creative signing??? Not one of those players is a pure creator or goalscorer from midfield. We need something different, simply just adding Neves is nowhere near enough.

 

[Dutch D]

Where's the creative signing??? Not one of those players is a pure creator or goalscorer from midfield. We need something different, simply just adding Neves is nowhere near enough.

If you read the post, you see that I would advocate either sell Willock and sign a creative CM or keep Willock and use him. I don't think we can get Aouar in a rotation role.

Willock is a goalscorer from midfield. Smith-Rowe isn't a pure creator, but he's a good passer and he has very high xA statistics. He's also quite good at carrying the ball forward. With Saka at LW I think that is plenty of creativity to allow Auba and Pepe to stay close to the goal.

Now, I'm not saying it's my prefered approach, but it's ahead of signing Maddison for 60m+ and it's how I would move forward if we decide to keep Willock.

I would use the money saved to go for Philips or my prefered DM signing (Caqueret).

 

[HairSprayGooners]

If you read the post, you see that I would advocate either sell Willock and sign a creative CM or keep Willock and use him. I don't think we can get Aouar in a rotation role.

Willock is a goalscorer from midfield. Smith-Rowe isn't a pure creator, but he's a good passer and he has very high xA statistics. He's also quite good at carrying the ball forward. With Saka at LW I think that is plenty of creativity to allow Auba and Pepe to stay close to the goal.

Now, I'm not saying it's my prefered approach, but it's ahead of signing Maddison for 60m+ and it's how I would move forward if we decide to keep Willock.

I would use the money saved to go for Philips or my prefered DM signing (Caqueret).

Regardless of keeping Willock we need to sign another CM and a creative CM is just way more important and a bigger priority.

 

[MikelHadADream]

This is going to end badly. Thomas-Willock-Maddison for instance is a midfield that's really going to struggle mightily in the construction and chance creation phases, if we decide not to sign a Xhaka replacement. If the plan is to not sign Maddison at all and go with Willock as the 3rd CM in a 4-3-3 we'll have serious issues in chance creation and construction against decent opponents. If the plan is to have Willock as a back-up to be used occasionally behind Xhaka replacement in a pivot against easier performances where construction and playing out from the back is simpler and play him for Maddison when Maddison is unavailable or Saka is not preferable as a 10, there aren't going to be enough minutes for Willock to maintain value and for Lokonga to develop a bit.

Basically if we keep him I can see this ending one of two ways: the performance of the team suffering (via deciding not to fill holes either at 6/8 and third 8 / 10) and Willock's value decreasing, or the team's form not suffering and Willock not playing enough or barely at all and his value still decreasing.

There needs to be a lack of sentimentalism and a certain pragmatism when developing a project like this, if you want to make up ground on your opponents...you don't make up ground just by paying over the odds consistently without much real planning or forward thinking. I am worried with this case and with Maitland-Niles case last summer there is a real weakness here with Edu and Arteta and the directives of the club.

This is dependent on how the team plays. Playing once a week, we have the time to prepare the players physically so they can press teams off the park, especially in a 433. Klopp made a midfield 3 of Henderson (as DM), Wijnaldum and Milner work for years, and that came about from them having a season out of Europe.

That being said, we've very rarely seen an Arteta team push up the pitch and press, so I am pretty sure we will be signing a "passer" that can play deeper to replace Xhaka.

 

[Dutch D]

Regardless of keeping Willock we need to sign another CM and a creative CM is just way more important and a bigger priority.

Assuming we sign Lokonga I would say we need a starting DM and a creative CM. If we keep Willock we definitely don't need another CM. What are we doing with Willock if we sign a CM and a creative CM?

Can't have Willock, Smith-Rowe, Partey and two new CM signings vie for two spots in a year without Europe. Willock and Smith-Rowe have both performed at a high level in the PL this season, can't put them back to a marginal role if we keep them.

Our squad is bloated but everyone seems to want to sign a lot of players and keep every talent we have. Where is the gametime for everyone? Trim the squad.

That being said, we've very rarely seen an Arteta team push up the pitch and press, so I am pretty sure we will be signing a "passer" that can play deeper to replace Xhaka.

I remember the first few games under Arteta we seemed to transition from the boring Emery play to high-energy pressing. Only lasted a few games and those days are long gone, but it is possible.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

Assuming we sign Lokonga I would say we need a starting DM and a creative CM. If we keep Willock we definitely don't need another CM. What are we doing with Willock if we sign a CM and a creative CM?

Can't have Willock, Smith-Rowe, Partey and two new CM signings vie for two spots in a year without Europe. Willock and Smith-Rowe have both performed at a high level in the PL this season, can't put them back to a marginal role if we keep them.

Our squad is bloated but everyone seems to want to sign a lot of players and keep every talent we have. Where is the gametime for everyone? Trim the squad.


I remember the first few games under Arteta we seemed to transition from the boring Emery play to high-energy pressing. Only lasted a few games and those days are long gone, but it is possible.

If we are going with a 433, which is the only way we would be keeping Willock, then we don't need a deeper CM. Partey and Lokonga would be the deeper players. We'd need a CM higher up the pitch, a creative 8 or a Maddison.

 

[MikeVinna]

I don’t think his stock is going to rise higher after this window. He’s not going to keep scoring for fun. And apart from that he’s not good enough technically and doesn’t have the vision/awareness to start in our midfield. Selling is the smart thing to do.

 

[neimad]

I don’t think his stock is going to rise higher after this window. He’s not going to keep scoring for fun. And apart from that he’s not good enough technically and doesn’t have the vision/awareness to start in our midfield. Selling is the smart thing to do.

We don't do the smart thing with our transfers sonny Jim. Not how we roll.

No we'll keep on to him, not play him then loan him in January and sell next summer for peanuts.

Should get some action in the upcoming preseason games. Hopefully he puts in some performances that are too good to ignore. That's my hope. Force Arteta's hand and stake a claim for a First team run.

 

[neimad]

S o n n y is a swear word

 

[Dutch D]

If we are going with a 433, which is the only way we would be keeping Willock, then we don't need a deeper CM. Partey and Lokonga would be the deeper players. We'd need a CM higher up the pitch, a creative 8 or a Maddison.

Hmm, okay fair enough. I reckon we got Partey to play more in the B2B role, but I can get behind using him as our 6 as well. In that case we could use one more option for the two CM roles (going by 4-3-3 with an anchor). Difficulty is to get them all enough playing time, though. We don't need to rotate much without Europe. Willock, Smith-Rowe, Aouar would be a three good options for two positions. Maddison too expensive to put in a rotation though.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

Hmm, okay fair enough. I reckon we got Partey to play more in the B2B role, but I can get behind using him as our 6 as well. In that case we could use one more option for the two CM roles (going by 4-3-3 with an anchor). Difficulty is to get them all enough playing time, though. We don't need to rotate much without Europe. Willock, Smith-Rowe, Aouar would be a three good options for two positions. Maddison too expensive to put in a rotation though.

I just don't think we have many players of top 4 quality right now, all well and good playing all the kids purely because they're from the academy. But I want quality as well. ESR is quality we know that, we also know Willock can be good in the right formation. But we definitely need more. Lokonga is cool, play 433, keep Willock and then go out and buy someone special in midfield.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

Is Maddison really that creative as a midfielder though...?

 

[GunnerShy]

Selling Iwobi was 100% the correct call. For an advanced player, he would almost always look for a pass when in striking distance. We fleeced Everton good and proper. Willock on the other hand, is a lot more effective when through on goal, as evidenced by his Europa games for us and Newcastle loan.

They are not at all similar in that respect.

Selling Iwobi was 100% the correct call. For an advanced player, he would almost always look for a pass when in striking distance. We fleeced Everton good and proper. Willock on the other hand, is a lot more effective when through on goal, as evidenced by his Europa games for us and Newcastle loan.

They are not at all similar in that respect.

I think they're different players but similar prospects. Similar level too. Willock has an eye for goal, but is limited in a lot of other areas. He also well outperformed his xG at Newcastle. I wouldn't go extrapolating.

His stock is high and I would sell.

 

[Barry]

I really hope this news is true and Willock features in Arteta's plans for next season. We can figure out the plans for incomings and formations, from what everyone has posted here it seems that there are a few that could work.

It will be exciting to watch a midfield that with some true box to box, goal scoring potential in it that Willock brings; also exciting to see a core of quality Hale Enders develop together

 

[Alexs]

We sold Iwobi when his ceiling was known. He got no better, probably worse, at Everton. AMN is a tricky one since he thinks he's a CM. Willock we keep until he reaches his ceiling. If that's not good enough we lose money, hardly a first.

Maddison I'm unexcited about. All the more for all that money and with a dodgy hip that could break him at any time. He's not in the Overmars league where you gamble on the dodgy knee.

 

[TornadoTed]

I agree with what a few others have said, if we are going 433 then we should keep Willock. Otherwise I'm not so sure where he fits in in a 4231, not creative enough to play at 10, not really defensively sound enough or a good enough passer to play in a double pivot.

New DM (Bissouma?)/Lokonga

Partey/Willock ESR

Looks enough bodies without European football. Saka could easily drop into the 8 role with Martinelli or Auba replacing him on the wing in case of injuries.

I think that we need a specialist DM to make that work though. It's just a hunch backed up by how overrun Partey was as the DM against Villareal when we played 433.

 

[2Smokeyy]

I'm happy he might be staying but I was happy about AMN staying last year. Let us see what Arteta actually does with him. I think he will do well in a pivot actually. He needs to play.

Exactly how I feel.

Got a feeling that Arteta will play him once then lose patience in him if he doesn’t perform. Don’t trust Arteta with Willock on the pitch and I don’t trust Eduteta if we sell him and reinvest his fee in a better player.