Martin Zubimendi: Zubiquity

[Big Nate]

What exactly is MLS's weakness? Cause it kind of blows my mind to see fans that keep asking us to spend big money on midfielders like Wharton with blatantly more shortcomings than MLS without any obvious upsides and stuff they can do way better.

He can get caught on the ball, so needs to improve his scanning. But nevertheless very exciting to see how he does next season.

His style will always get caught on the ball, it comes with the territory . He just needs to offer enough on it make it worth it.

 

[outlawz]

What exactly is MLS's weakness? Cause it kind of blows my mind to see fans that keep asking us to spend big money on midfielders like Wharton with blatantly more shortcomings than MLS without any obvious upsides and stuff they can do way better.

He's a bit sluggish defensively and needs to not get caught on the ball - but largely agree that we don't need a new midfielder since he stepped up at the back end of last seasons.

 

[DUFFMAN]

Where does this guy fit into the equation if we’re looking at Bruno G?

 

[Batman]

Where does this guy fit into the equation if we’re looking at Bruno G?

Quality rotation/back up that Arteta will actually use in order to keep everyone fresh.

 

[Big Nate]

Quality rotation/back up that Arteta will actually use in order to keep everyone fresh.

If wenring in Bruno then I dont see how we keep all of Zubi, MLS and Merino. One will have to leave

 

[Riou]

Amazing how he fell off lol, was our best midfielder in the first half of the season.

 

[Batman]

If wenring in Bruno then I dont see how we keep all of Zubi, MLS and Merino. One will have to leave

It's a World Cup year and Rice has been playing injured for months. We'll need the deepest squad possible. There will be more than enough minutes for everyone just as there were enough minutes for everyone last season but Arteta chose to run Zubi and Rice into the ground rather than spread them out a bit more.

 

[HollandGooner]

Amazing how he fell off lol, was our best midfielder in the first half of the season.

Getting overplayed did not helped tbf.

 

[Legend14]

I feel as if he’ll have a better season. His minutes were outrageous to be fair, and every match was full speed. No possible way he could play all that coming from the polite La Liga.

Next season, just don’t play him as the lone 6 expecting him to defend it. It will not work in the PL.

 

[Rasmi]

The tiredness is just excuse. He showed very suspect mentality and just folded. He’s just an ok player. Nothing more

 

[Iwobeast]

The tiredness is just excuse. He showed very suspect mentality and just folded. He’s just an ok player. Nothing more

He’ll probably leave this or next summer. Doesn’t seem to enjoy the league and the pressure of playing for a big club

 

[Uncle Macho]

The tiredness is just excuse. He showed very suspect mentality and just folded. He’s just an ok player. Nothing more

I’m tempted to come to this conclusion as his second half was very suss, but I think we just need patience.

I feel like the prem adaptation is a real thing and I’m happy to go with that for now. It took Partey and Xhaka a couple years to become the well oiled machine we saw.

 

[Vinci]

He'll be just fine. Was great for most of the season, scored some important goals too. It's just an accumulation of a different league, culture, no winter break that made him fall off.

With Rice being out I think he'll be very important for the start of the season.

 

[Big Nate]

He'll be just fine. Was great for most of the season, scored some important goals too. It's just an accumulation of a different league, culture, no winter break that made him fall off.

With Rice being out I think he'll be very important for the start of the season.

I dont think this is a guarantee. His mentality not being right is the most concerning thing, rather than the mistakes. He'd actively hide in matches which is a rare thing to see for any Arsenal player.

He absolutely could turn it around though. For me I've never thought he was an elite player, just a good player that can get some important goals. Im also not sure his style of play is optimal for us. We need a controller or ball carrier alongside Rice and he isnt that

 

[grange]

Say hello to Win's new poop bag minder. Congrats, Zube!

 

[Rasmi]

I dont think this is a guarantee. His mentality not being right is the most concerning thing, rather than the mistakes. He'd actively hide in matches which is a rare thing to see for any Arsenal player.

He absolutely could turn it around though. For me I've never thought he was an elite player, just a good player that can get some important goals. Im also not sure his style of play is optimal for us. We need a controller or ball carrier alongside Rice and he isnt that

He’s a middle of the road guy on most things. He’s not physical, not quick, not a real controller, not great evading pressure and not the best passer. Add that to hiding and the collapse we saw. I would be pleasantly surprised if he turns this around.

If anyone said halfway through the season we will reach CL final and Arteta would prefer a fully fit MLS over a fully fit Zubi in midfield. People would think you are crazy

 

[merciarsene]

he has been Artetafied. a cocktail of micromanagent, high workload without rotation, extreme risk averseness and rigid positional roles and being shoehorned into a rigid system (double pivot).

when he came he played with a smile, till Count Mikel sucked out all the joy, fun, flair and creativity out of him.

now he is trapped and you can see the haunted look in his eyes as peers out timidly from the bench

 

[Aubamabludclat94]

He’s a middle of the road guy on most things. He’s not physical, not quick, not a real controller, not great evading pressure and not the best passer. Add that to hiding and the collapse we saw. I would be pleasantly surprised if he turns this around.

If anyone said halfway through the season we will reach CL final and Arteta would prefer a fully fit MLS over a fully fit Zubi in midfield. People would think you are crazy

Agree with most of the things said here but I do think its possible he can turn things around to be a more serviceable player. I think motivating players through confidence issues is probably one of Artetas biggest strengths. He's never gonna be an elite tempo player, but that massive drop in form last season was mostly down to mental frailty and fatigue imo, he's for sure not THAT bad. As usual, he's not as great as most were hyping him to be at the beginning of the season, but he's also not nearly as bad as he seemed by the end of it. He should be a rotational piece with MLS coming into this season

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

Fabulous player who was key in our title win. He'll remind a few why we cashed out on him before long. Looking forward to him getting minutes for Spain later.

 

[alexisfanchez]

When he got in situations in the final third and was able to thread an assist or two last season that I dont see our current 10s doing, bar Ødegaard vs west ham. There were moments I wanted to see him in the 10 or at least in the 8, like the Fabregas role. I believe he can if he's used differently and allowed less responsibility/more freedom. A lot of time we tried accommodating him and Odegarard which is when his effect kind of fizzled and the dip came.

The guy is gifted, and was consistently dependable in the first half of the season. Going from 100 to 0 has got to be a mentality issue. Whether or not he gets up to speed physically we would find out next season. Ultimately not worried about CM especially if we strengthen!