Squad Analysis 2021/22

[Garrincha]

you could make a decent argument Bent is needed more

 

[UnitedBeard]

Lacazette gets injured, and we pray one of Nketiah/Martinelli/Pepe can perform well as a striker.

Partey/Xhaka gets injured/banned, and we pray Sambi can perform well as a midfielder. We all know Elneny starting is not nearly enough to get top 6.

Tomiyasu injured, and White will cover, and Holding starts. Same if Gabriel or White gets injured. This is not as big issue as the situations above.

It's still blatantly obvious, especially after Xhaka has taken two stupid reds this season, that our midfield lacks too much depth. Sambi is a rotational player this season, he is not experienced at top level, his performances will fluctuate.

We would have needed a Xhaka-level or more, midfielder to be sure of enough quality depth. If we use Ødegaard as midfielder, then we lack depth in attack. And he hasn't been very good there anyway and neither has ESR as AMF.

You argued with me passionately on the other thread by telling me that you have no issue with your squad depth after losing your players but you posted this.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

you could make a decent argument Bent is needed more

I actually think it's pretty brave by Wilshere to show up at a show like that. He must know those questions will be coming, and he gives honest answers. Arteta isn't going to sign him, and I think he's probably told Wilshere that.

I hope he gets a club, but it wont be here. He knows that.

 

[Goonger]

I actually think it's pretty brave by Wilshere to show up at a show like that. He must know those questions will be coming, and he gives honest answers. Arteta isn't going to sign him, and I think he's probably told Wilshere that.

I hope he gets a club, but it wont be here. He knows that.

Not sure if you know but he's a regular guest on that show, those 3 usually do the Thursday drive time slot but I think they changed to Friday as he was coming back from Dubai.

Goldstein does put him on the spot quite a lot of times though.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

Not sure if you know but he's a regular guest on that show, those 3 usually do the Thursday drive time slot but I think they changed to Friday as he was coming back from Dubai.

Goldstein does put him on the spot quite a lot of times though.

That I didn't know! That explains why he showed up. Could he be thinking that his future lies in the media?

 

[Goonger]

He's talks about wanting to do coaching more I think. I love Jack but he's not the most charismatic shall we say for media.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

He's talks about wanting to do coaching more I think. I love Jack but he's not the most charismatic shall we say for media.

Somehow Alan Smith has been deemed worthy, there must be hope for anyone.

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

He could’ve saved us against Boro and we’d still be in the FA Cup. Should’ve gave him a pay as you play deal last summer.

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

Somehow Alan Smith has been deemed worthy, there must be hope for anyone.

Owen Hargreaves is another one. Has the charisma of a Geography teacher.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Martinelli-Laca-Saka
Ødegaard
Xhaka-Partey
Tierney-Gabriel-White-Tomiyasu
Ramsdale

Bench: Leno, Cedric, Tavares, Sambi, Elneny, ESR, Pepe, Nketiah, Holding.

Assuming everyone is fit, this will be our match day squad. It doesn’t take too many absentees and the likes of Patino, Azeez, Hutchinson and Biereth start filling up squad positions.

 

[Dutch D]

Martinelli-Laca-Saka
Ødegaard
Xhaka-Partey
Tierney-Gabriel-White-Tomiyasu
Ramsdale

Bench: Leno, Cedric, Tavares, Sambi, Elneny, ESR, Pepe, Nketiah, Holding.

Assuming everyone is fit, this will be our match day squad. It doesn’t take too many absentees and the likes of Patino, Azeez, Hutchinson and Biereth start filling up squad positions.

Assuming everyone's fit or we have 1-2 injuries, to be honest that should be enough.

Honestly, I think a squad should have about 20 first team players of high quality and behind that should be the most promising youth prospects, how else are they going to get a look in?

Problem is Elneny, Cedric, Nketiah and Holding are not up to scratch. Jury is out on Sambi, but he's alright for now. Really should've allowed Nketiah to go and get a striker in this January and the situation would've looked incredibly different. Same with a CM to replace Elneny and we'd be in pole position for next season.

The frustrating thing is that CM and ST are necessary in the summer whatever happens, so might as well have given them time to get adjusted to the team/PL while strengthening the squad. If no good options were available, though, it is is what is and we go in hard in summer (let me be clear that I don't rate our management to adequately recruit, though).

 

[Tom Mix]

Given how good he is on the ball I can foresee a situation where Ramsdale is forced to play up front with leno in goal.

 

[drippin]

@Barry

Question marks are players who might be replaced or leave, and transfers that are only speculated if we need them. All of those bring us pretty good money, apart from Laca.

Here I assume that Laca stays as rotational striker and Pepe stays too. But if we get Gakpo, it's might be that Laca leaves when we buy also as starting striker.

Cedric might stay as the 3rd cover for RB & LB. Gakpo is just LW speculation.

This squad would have 25 players, even with Cedric & LB both there. Do people think that's a proper amount if we have UCL? What about the positions of players here?

I think 165 million spent without sales is realistic if we get UCL. Also the 580k per week in wages should be doable.

Squad plans next season:

GK: Ramsdale, Turner, Okonkwo

LB: Tierney, Tavares, LB (?)

RB: Tomiyasu, RB, Cedric

CB: Gabriel, White, Saliba (?), Holding

DMF: Partey, Sambi

CMF: CMF, Xhaka

AMF: Ødegaard, ESR

LW: Gakpo, Martinelli

RW: Saka, Pepe (?)

ST: ST, Laca (?)

New players:

RB 15 million, 80k

CMF 40 million, 180k

Gakpo 40 million, 120k

ST 70 million, 200k

Total 165 million 580k

 

[Barry]

@Barry

Question marks are players who might be replaced or leave, and transfers that are only speculated if we need them. All of those bring us pretty good money, apart from Laca.

Here I assume that Laca stays as rotational striker and Pepe stays too. But if we get Gakpo, it's might be that Laca leaves when we buy also as starting striker.

Cedric might stay as the 3rd cover for RB & LB. Gakpo is just LW speculation.

This squad would have 25 players, even with Cedric & LB both there. Do people think that's a proper amount if we have UCL? What about the positions of players here?

I think 165 million spent without sales is realistic if we get UCL. Also the 580k per week in wages should be doable.

Squad plans next season:

GK: Ramsdale, Turner, Okonkwo

LB: Tierney, Tavares, LB (?)

RB: Tomiyasu, RB, Cedric

CB: Gabriel, White, Saliba (?), Holding

DMF: Partey, Sambi

CMF: CMF, Xhaka

AMF: Ødegaard, ESR

LW: Gakpo, Martinelli

RW: Saka, Pepe (?)

ST: ST, Laca (?)

New players:

RB 15 million, 80k

CMF 40 million, 180k

Gakpo 40 million, 120k

ST 70 million, 200k

Total 165 million 580k

Yeah I think one of the interesting questions will be how big a squad Arteta wants after what has been a pretty brutal culling.

I'm not sure that we need or want 3 players for each LB & RB position - two should do it (with youth or utility players as backups).

I expect we'll see Pepe exit and Saliba, Xhaka and Laca stay (maybe...)

So the incoming players will include Saliba back from loan, Turner, then a new Winger, Striker & CM. I expect that Cedric stays as backup RB for another season.

Outgoings include Elneny, Mari, Guendouzi, Bellerin, Pepe, Leno, Nelson, Mavro, Nketiah & Kolasinac.

That's how I see it, but who knows

 

[drippin]

Yeah I think one of the interesting questions will be how big a squad Arteta wants after what has been a pretty brutal culling.

I'm not sure that we need or want 3 players for each LB & RB position - two should do it (with youth or utility players as backups).

I expect we'll see Pepe exit and Saliba, Xhaka and Laca stay (maybe...)

So the incoming players will include Saliba back from loan, Turner, then a new Winger, Striker & CM. I expect that Cedric stays as backup RB for another season.

Outgoings include Elneny, Mari, Guendouzi, Bellerin, Pepe, Leno, Nelson, Mavro, Nketiah & Kolasinac.

That's how I see it, but who knows

I really hope Cedric isn't our 2nd RB after injury-prone Tomiyasu next season. That's a recipe for disaster if we want to compete better than this season. He can be our 3rd backup in my opinion for both sides, if we can't sell him.

I'm not so much interested who leaves in this thread apart from those question mark players. That is pretty clear anyway. I'm interested in the squad size, and what amount of attackers etc. we need for a season with UCL or UEL. If there is no new LB and Cedric stays, that squad size is now 24 players.

You suggested we might pay over 100 million for Bellingham for example as the CMF, but I just can't see how we can afford that even if we keep Laca and Xhaka.

Only way I see that happening is that we buy only one striker and no winger, or just Gakpo and keep Laca as the 1st striker.

But is that enough to have towards a similar quality in depth as City? (not saying we should have similar, but strive towards having enough quality like they do for every position)

 

[Sanchez11]

Need a rb, 1-2 cms, rw and 2 cfs. Bring William back too job done. Easily doable regarding wage bill.

 

[MikelHadADream]

Need a rb, 1-2 cms, rw and 2 cfs. Bring William back too job done. Easily doable regarding wage bill.

Agreed when you consider Laca and Pepe are probably on their way out. We won't do all of that in one window, think it would actually be counter productive; but we need those players to finish the squad.

 

[Barry]

I really hope Cedric isn't our 2nd RB after injury-prone Tomiyasu next season. That's a recipe for disaster if we want to compete better than this season. He can be our 3rd backup in my opinion for both sides, if we can't sell him.

I'm not so much interested who leaves in this thread apart from those question mark players. That is pretty clear anyway. I'm interested in the squad size, and what amount of attackers etc. we need for a season with UCL or UEL. If there is no new LB and Cedric stays, that squad size is now 24 players.

You suggested we might pay over 100 million for Bellingham for example as the CMF, but I just can't see how we can afford that even if we keep Laca and Xhaka.

Only way I see that happening is that we buy only one striker and no winger, or just Gakpo and keep Laca as the 1st striker.

But is that enough to have towards a similar quality in depth as City? (not saying we should have similar, but strive towards having enough quality like they do for every position)

I think the reality is that we still have a lot of catching up to do on Liverpool and Chelsea, let alone City. So if we can get absolute superstar players - the ones like FDJ, Rice, Bellingham etc where the quality is clear then I'd prioritise a couple of those signings in key areas over a higher number of lower tier talents.

Appreciate that it's not as simple as that though. There are some bargains around as well - possibly Tielemans for example - that might be seen as better value.

I think after last summer I'm more relaxed about it and have a bit more trust in the scouting and squad building. Gakpo for example, last year he would look like a bit of a square peg, but this season I'd be quite excited.

 

[drippin]

I think the reality is that we still have a lot of catching up to do on Liverpool and Chelsea, let alone City. So if we can get absolute superstar players - the ones like FDJ, Rice, Bellingham etc where the quality is clear then I'd prioritise a couple of those signings in key areas over a higher number of lower tier talents.

Appreciate that it's not as simple as that though. There are some bargains around as well - possibly Tielemans for example - that might be seen as better value.

I think after last summer I'm more relaxed about it and have a bit more trust in the scouting and squad building. Gakpo for example, last year he would look like a bit of a square peg, but this season I'd be quite excited.

Yeah I agree a super star like that to the midfield would be important. But we also need a super star kind of striker.

The midfield market is so good in the summer, that I rather buy even Tielemans for cheap (as I hope he has lost focus for Leicester), and maybe another one to replace Xhaka. Although I'm fine with Xhaka as a rotational player.

I can't see us getting any of those 3 you mention. It's a pipe dream even with UCL, we're not at that level yet.

Buying a 2nd RB is very crucial for me though. Tomiyasu is clearly injury-prone, and Cedric is like midtable starting RB at most. Spending that ~20 million there can have a huge impact on our season.

 

[drippin]

@Barry

Question marks are players who might be replaced or leave, and transfers that are only speculated if we need them. All of those bring us pretty good money, apart from Laca.

Here I assume that Laca stays as rotational striker and Pepe stays too. But if we get Gakpo, it's might be that Laca leaves when we buy also as starting striker.

Cedric might stay as the 3rd cover for RB & LB. Gakpo is just LW speculation.

This squad would have 25 players, even with Cedric & LB both there. Do people think that's a proper amount if we have UCL? What about the positions of players here?

I think 165 million spent without sales is realistic if we get UCL. Also the 580k per week in wages should be doable.

Squad plans next season:

GK: Ramsdale, Turner, Okonkwo

LB: Tierney, Tavares, LB (?)

RB: Tomiyasu, RB, Cedric

CB: Gabriel, White, Saliba (?), Holding

DMF: Partey, Sambi

CMF: CMF, Xhaka

AMF: Ødegaard, ESR

LW: Gakpo, Martinelli

RW: Saka, Pepe (?)

ST: ST, Laca (?)

New players:

RB 15 million, 80k

CMF 40 million, 180k

Gakpo 40 million, 120k

ST 70 million, 200k

Total 165 million 580k

Still waiting for in-depth opinions on this.

Do I have my HG players right for next season?

I think 17 non-HG players are the maximum, and 25 players total not including U21 players.

HG: Ramsdale, Okonkwo, White, Saliba, Holding, ESR, Martinelli, Saka (8)

NON-HG: Turner, Tierney, Tavares, Tomiyasu, Cedric, Gabriel, Partey, Sambi, Xhaka, Ødegaard, Gakpo, Pepe, Laca (13)

New players: RB, CMF, ST (3) (but like I have speculated in the Saliba thread, we might not need an RB after all if Saliba comes back.

That would be 23 players in total without the RB. It looks like we don't have any problems with the HG rule for our summer transfers.