By Chayasai
Unai Emery has not only brought a load of confidence back to the squad after their poor finish – by their own lofty standards – last season , he has also instilled in them a sense of pride in playing in Arsenal Shirts , a heightened sense of discipline and that you create your own luck by working as hard as you can on their core values.
The next great step for this fine Coach is to arrive at finalising his squad and not letting the focus drift elsewhere.
There are hard decisions to be taken.At the macro level they must address the sale and purchase of players; and they have only 10 to 12 days left!
The most important single position for Arsenal to fill would involve a versatile player capable of playing as a holding midfielder , an emergency player in the deep defence and also a very handy forward ! There is one and he comes as a free agent!! And to cap it all , he is a world class player!
Max Mayer paired with Lucas Terreira is a dream combination. They can act as an Iron Curtain in front of the back three.This will give the defense a very strong foundation.This apart these two are like terriers snapping at the heels of the attackers.
Apart from this , they are very good in making short passes to those in front of them: like Mkithariyan and Ozil. Both these stalwarts also have a keen eye for long ball that breaks the defence line of the opponents.Max Mayer is only 21 and under Emery, he can become a legend at Arsenal.
Max Mayer will cost only his wages and that too a very reasonable €80,000 .
When you factor in the the number of players Arsenal will sell, and the wages that get saved, this out go for Mayer is almost like a gift! And , there is no need to sell any one to get Mayer on-board!!
Two other players to be signed up will be Hirving Lozano from PSV Eindhoven as LW and Cristian Pavon as RW, playing on either side of the world class, fleet footed striker Aubemeyang. Both these wingers have scorching pace and have the litheness to dribble at pace and swiftly cut in from wide areas and stun the opposition defence. They are both very young and Arsenal will do well to look after them with considerable care.This front three can rival any attack not just in EPL but also anywhere in the world; and add to this the fact they will be playing in front of one of the greatest attacking midfield wizards in Ozil and the indefatigable Mkithariyan. Perhaps , this will be the best attacking force on the planet.
Lozano and Pavon, very young and hugely talented, could cost about €50 million and €37.5 million respectively. But they are worth more than that: as Arsenal are aiming very high; this level of quality is needed . Team Arsenal must exert every nerve to sign them up without delay.
Players who are most likely to be sold could be Welbeck, Mustafi , Ramsey [a reluctant suitor is not always very reliable], Jenkinson , Perez, Akpom , Ospina etc
It would be ideal to retain Campbell and Iwobi.
In any case a total of €120 Million will be needed to bolster the side for the addition of Lozano and Pavon. If Yanna Sommer, GK, is drafted in that would significantly sharpen the defensive side of Arsenal. More particularly as he will have Xhaka and Lichsteiner in front of him: they all play for Switzerland and know each others game very well. This will be a great positive.
Their costs would be easily covered in the proposed sales revenues.The wage savings – vis-à-vis those sold, will also lessen the wage burden of Arsenal, to a very large extent.
It will be a long and hectic season: including long travel schedules abroad, for Europa League; and the long return journey will lead to more stress and tiredness. Then they will have to play at times 2 to 3 games in a span of 6 to 7 days. There will be injuries, inevitably, recovery times will not be as needed.etc This means Arsenal must have a quality squad with great depth.
The first choice team,possibly :
Sommer/Cech/Leno in the Goal;
Sokratis, Mavropanos, Lichsteiner / Bellerin
Mkithariyan, Torreira, Ozil, Mayer
H.Lozano , Aubemaeyang and C. Pavon .
Ozil, has quit international soccer, and can now concentrate on Arsenal. Captain’s arm band will spur him further and lift his confidence levels .This can only help Arsenal immensely. Koscielny,2nd Captain , Lichsteiner 3rd, Bellerin and Cech could be the other captains.
All in all , this squad has got it all and could be the favourites for the Europa League cup and also have great chance in gunning for the EPL title.
This must be the least they must achieve.
- How much does it cost in transfer fees to take a club up one place in the PL?
- It looks like being a record year for Arsenal transfer rumours as we reach 115
- Arsenal face conundrum of too many players as media show how to knock a team that won 5-1.
I really dont think we will buy any big money signing, and i am quite happy with that. I think Aaron will sign a new contract, but if he is not we might cash in 30m on him and maybe then we will sign a new player. I would not use any more money on a goalkeeper now that we already have at least one too many in that position already. And i think u are forgetting at least 3 players in contention for a starting place. Xhaka was one of our most improved players last year, getting more composed with the ball and eliminating his disipline issues. And from what i have seen in our two friendlies Guendouzi has been our best player!!! I would be dissapointed if he couldnt get any PL games this year, i really think we have found a gem there. If we set up a team without any new players coming in it could look like this :
Czech(Leno)
Monreal – Sokratis – Koscielny – Lichsteiner (Bellerin)
Torreira (Xhaka)- Guendouzi (Elneny) – Ozil (Ramsey)
Mkithariyan (Iwobi) Lacazette – Aubemaeyang
Players who could get a problem even getting on the bench is :
Mustafi – Holding – Chambers – Ainsley – Welbeck
I really think we have the players here already, we just need to get the tactics right and get a good start to get some confidence 🙂
thanks for the passion, chayasai, but …
i think you should take a look at some/all of the articles tony published about the 25-man-squad rules
having said that, let’s not get carried away; for all the changes/improvements unai might bring, on more than one matchday, we may have to support the team below:
cech
bellerin-mustafi-koscielny (when fit, of course)-monreal
ramsey-xhaka
mkhitaryan-özil-aubameyang
lacazette
no new man in there … which wouldn’t bother me, at all … to me, the only thing such an XI has to fear is … fear itself
Difficult to say we become more disciplined on the basis of a few friendlies, especially when the indiscipline in giving away the pen against PSG
Also a players cost does not indicate their a availability, then are many factors in this
It’s Meyer, not Mayer
Not a great article at all I’m afraid.
Way too many conclusions drawn on very little evidence.
I like what I’ve seen going forward, but I liked that last season as well. I don’t see any more confidence in that department than I saw a majority of last year.
I think defensively we’ve been okay, no more, no less. But we have to be honest here, teams we’ve played have been depleted of some very very good players.
And I’m sorry but I don’t know how you can draw the conclusion they are playing with more pride. Why would playing for another manager make them more proud?
What I would say is that I think they look as if they are playing with a bigger smile, and THAT could well be to do with the change of the manager, because thanks to the media and some of our fans the animosity towards Wenger had become all consuming, and I have no doubt at all that that must of had at least some detrimental effect on the players.
They must feel better simply because they know, for now at least, they will be cut a little slack and not be jumped on at the least opportunity, at least I would of thought not.
Only time will tell, whether Emery will improve us or not, we can only hope so.
But as Tony has pointed out, he only really has one big issue to sort out, and that is our defending, especially away from home.
Our home record is very good going forward, and ok defensively. It was second only to Man City’s remember.
If he sorts that out, and he looks like he’s made signings to address that, then we will climb back up the table.
But where you get the following from on the evidence of 2 friendlies I don’t know:
“All in all, this squad has got it all and could be the favourites for the Europa League cup and also have great chance in gunning for the EPL title.
This must be the least they must achieve.”
Don’t get me wrong, I think we’ve seen a few things to get really excited about and I’m looking forward to the new season as much as the next guy, I just think such an article based on what we’ve seen so far is a bit over the top.
Sorry, just my opinion.
For what it’s worth I think the table will finish like this:
Man City
Liverpool
Arsenal
Man Utd
Spurs
Chelsea
We are perfectly capable of winning a cup of any sort, but that’s nothing new as we have shown over the last 6 seasons with 3 wins, a losing final, and a European semi-final, but as always it is a lot about the luck of the draw.
By the way, what are Lichtsteiner, Monreal, Xhaka, Welbeck and Torreira still waiting for to not return for Arsenal pre-season training and friendly matches by now to a tune to match fitness and be in form before Arsenal host Man City in the PL at the Ems on the opening weekend of the new season?
If these five Arsenal senior team players want to exhaust all the post World Cup holidays given to them before returning to pre-season training and friendly games for Arsenal, I am afraid they will all miss all Arsenal pre-season training and 7 friendly matches the club would’ve played before they come back to Arsenal. And that means they will all be behind the rest of their colleagues who started pre-season training from the onset and have had 5 friendly games under their belts already.
I think Ozil, Iwobi and Elneny have realised this and have decided to join the ongoing Arsenal pre-season training in Singapore. And they have played one friendly game already at the ICC tourney. And could play two more friendly games against Chelsea and Lazio to further enhance their match fitness and readiness before Arsenal play against Man City and Chelsea in the PL.
If I were Lichtsteiner, Monreal, Xhaka, Welbeck and Torreira I’ll cut short the WC holidays jamboree they are having and return for Arsenal pre-season training at Dublin immediately to cut short the serious catch up training work they’ll have to undergo before they can attain full match fitness and readiness before any of them can be played in games for Arsenal. But time is of the essence, Arsenal could start need to play any of them immediately the new season begins.
I think this is your first article? I love your optimism, don’t feel to down about the negativity, opinions are like belly buttons! Everyone has one.
Media report has suggested that Lichtsteiner, Xhaka and Torreira have all returned to Arsenal to today in Dublin for preseason training. But I’ve not read of Monreal and Welbeck returning to the Gunners to catch up with the remaining Arsenal preseason training as the above trio have reportedly done. Maybe they have and I’ve missed reading about it.
Anyway, its a good news to hear if not all of the 5 Gunners on extended World Cup break, at least 3 of them have been confirmed to have returned to the club for the remainder of the club’s preseason training. Great!
Arsenal to swap Aaron Ramsey for Ousmane Dembele of Barca and not sell him after all to Chelsea? That’s the latest Arsenal transfer rumours running in the media at the moment. We’ll see.
Not true Stephen, I’m afraid.
I had mine removed a couple of years ago as part of a tidy-up after an umbilical hernia op.
I still have an opinion though! 😉
Nicky! I stand corrected! I love the fact untold are giving new people the chance to post! I didn’t agree with everything said however the thing I love the most about football is everyone can for the briefest of moments be a football manager
Stephen, I will disagree with you.
Most people who will try to play football manager; knowing that they they do not have enough knowledge and information to do so, and accept that their mistakes reflect their lack of knowledge and experience. There are some people who play football manager, who ignore their lack of information and knowledge, and still expect to be “correct”. They are a problem, as they are taking a long walk on a short pier, thinking they are walking on an infinite sidewalk.
Cannot wait for the season to start – Go Arsenal ! Go Unai !
Chayasai….well-done for taking this writing shot. And elder Tony, thanks also.
Its a new season and a new manager, so we expect and hope for a better year, since its a fresh slate to write upon. Let’s be all optimistic.
Five additional players, and all in the defensive side of the pitch shows Arsenal is ready to address that poor away form of last season (that’s been repeatedly noted on UA as the real challenge – I totally agree). I hope the team as led by Unai can also maintain that home form.
Your thoughts on additional players (Meyer & Pavon) sounded like the fantasies of transfer story writers – denying the 17,25 rule and jettisoning the current crop of first team and youth players we have coming through.
An addition to that attack will hinder the progress of those young ones.
You suggested keeping Campbell….that looks off…though a good player but his time at Arsenal has not been the best. I’ll prefer keeping Lucas instead – mature, skillful and made good impact when he first came in.
On targets, I think the team only needs to work harder like never before, the sky the limit…one step one inch at a time…let every inch of a second feel your 100% commitment and they’ll do great things.
“The Unai Emery Show” sounded like a delve into the heart of what he’s doing – but I think we’ll need another article to complete that title which you introduced here…maybe at the end of the season or in 2 years time when the team has indeed done something different.
Chayasai
Good article, but we’re hardly likely to be paying out the kind of money being asked for the players you’re promoting (not during this window anyway), but we have the basis of a thoroughly good squad, and there’s no reason to expect anything less than a Champions League qualification.
Wenger will get deserved credit for much of the squad (as did Graham before him), but Emery will push them to improved performances.
I actually checked again to make sure i was on the right website…
Chayasai
Having read some of the comments I feel a bit bad, especially if it was, as it seems, your first stab at writing an article.
On reflection I was wrong to critisise it as an article persay as it was well put together and after all was simply you expressing your opinion.
I still think you’ve made some rather large leaps of faith based on very little, but as others have said, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of optimism.
Personally too believe, as my table above showed, we will get back in to the top 4 this year, but perhaps not for the same reasons you do.
I honestly believe we were the 4th best team last year. I think we were a better team than both Chelsea and Man Utd. How united finished 2nd I will never know.
How we finished behind both of those teams God only knows. Well actually that’s not true, it was our poxy away form, but we were also robbed by the odious agents in black on way too many occasions.
So what with shooting ourselves in the foot on several occasions, and being stabbed in the back on several others, top 4 just wasn’t to be.
But as we all seem to agree, if Emery can sort our away defence out, AND the bandits in Black give us a fairer crack of the whip, top 4 should be well achievable.
As for the title. Sorry cant see it.
As for the Europa League. Well of course it’s on. We were close last year.
Same with the domestic Cups. 4 finals, 3 wins, 3 Community shield wins in the last 6 years suggests we know a thing or 2 about getting to, and winning at, Wembley Stadium already.
Thanks Chayasai……….a wonderfully sincere, if a bit too simplistic article. Keep writing, as there are countless aaa critics on UA that have never offered a positive thing to say or even a short article to defend their pessimistic negativity. Leep up the good work Chayasai and welcome to the UA authors guild:)