Too many or not enugh players: who will be in the “25” next season

 

 

• How Arsemal can beat AI predictions in terms of football trends
• When the world turns against us, there’s nowhere to go

By Jack Deams

I am sure everyone knows that a Premier League squad cannot consist of more than 25 senior players.   And yet the technicalities of that ruling are somehow forgotten on occasion, especially the fact that clubs can only register 17 players not classed as a ‘homegrown player’.

But clubs can register as many under-21 players as they wish, and this is where Arsenal do well, adding younger players to the 25-man senior squad.  

Interestingly, as of today, Arsenal actually only have 24 players registered as part of their first team, which suggests that without selling anyone, Arsenal could buy one more player and have the entire squad available for each game.

But three of these 24 players are aged under 21, and indeed two of those three are a long way under 21, and thus in effect Arsenal have only 21 over-age registered players – leaving four places available for new players without actually selling anyone.

Now we also know that each summer Arsenal tend to move on one or two established players who quite reasonably recognise that their time at Arsenal as a regular is moving towards its end, and so they start looking elsewhere.  And all this is before another club is willing to pay a very reasonable price for a player because they desperately need to shore up their own defence, or something along those lines.   

If we take this summer to include a couple of departures of this type, that would still leave Arsenal with 19 of the 25 places filled.  In short, we have six places which could be filled.

However, I would be extremely surprised to find six new players aged 21 or over arriving at Arsenal this summer – and that for several reasons.

First, although I might take a job on a professional footballer’s salary while knowing that I wouldn’t get a game, most footballers do have a desire to play rather than take the money just for staying fit, and so I suspect six new signings would, if made, inlcude one or two who were going to be so far down the pecking order they might as well not bother.   I would therefore guess that, at most, Arsenal might sign three new players for the coming season.

The good news, however, is that they could all be counted as foreign and thus Arsenal will have no worries on that score.   Furthermore, Arsenal has a history of helping players change their position on the pitch with considerable success, which means that we are not looking for a backup squad member for each first-team choice.   Better still, it means that if Arteta wants to change the format of the XI on the pitch, he’s probably got a lot of choices from within the squad as who plays where.

Now this level of flexibility and preparedness is not replicated in every Premier League squad, but it has a particular benefit should any squad members either get seriously injured or turn out to be not as ready for the first team as we might have hoped.  

And we haven’t even taken into account the players that the media are very sure that we are going to lose.

The most often mentioned name is Ben White – although Arsenal do have the choice of keeping him for one more year.  Those who like to find immediate problems in a lineup have also picked on Martin Odegaard, who had a difficult year – but I’d be surprised to see him go – everyone seems to hold him in the highest regard.

Obviously Rice stays, and I would keep Zubimendi who I think will enter the new season with a greater knowledge of just how the game is played – and refereed in England.

No one would touch the goalkeeping section, but concerning Norgaard, much depends on how Arteta sees his evolution and how the squad plays in the coming season, so he could lose out.   

Up front Gyokeres became the player the media, and hence some fans, turned on, but he evolved as a player who has got used to the way defences would treat him, and so is extra valuable.  Sell him and buy another centre forward, and we have to go through that process all over again.  Remember, refereeing in the PL is not like refereeing in other leagues, and players have to adjust.  And indeed, if Havertz can stay fit, he will be a major contributor to goals.

Which suggests Jesus’ time will be up,  and I notice that others have been suggesting Martinelli is due for the chop, although I’d opt to keep him.   Mid to low table opposition see their only way to defeat Arsenal is to kick them off the pitch – and he is a player who can dance around the thugs, and pass the ball at the same time.

Which leaves Trossard, who I think might find his time is up, simply because his contract is getting near to an end.    But even with that departure, this could mean Arsenal could still have a remarkable team, without actually buying anyone!  And I am sure there is at least  one more amazing player from the youth squad ready to step forth, who I have missed because I don’t go to those games.