For those that speak a bit of Spanish, Cebolla means onion. Onions are quite an interesting thing:
- Onions are vegetables, not fruits. Onions are often mistaken as fruits because onion bulbs can be used to grow new onion plants asexually. It is a bit like Ceballos: maybe he is a central midfielder after all who was mistakenly taken for an attacking midfielder until he joined Arsenal?
- Onions, you either love them or hate them but in any case, you cannot be indifferent to them. Some say, they do not like it because when you cut them, they make you cry. Some say, they don’t like them because of its taste or because they can’t digest them. Some say, that life without onion is a sin because they add so much flavour and fragrance to food and that they also love onion rings. It is a bit like Ceballos: He does not leave anyone indifferent: he can make you cry like the Benfica game or he can make you happy like his first game with us BUT we all recognize his game has flair.
- Onions have many layers and so does Ceballos’ game. Ceballos is now a more rounded player, he has definitely added defensive ability to his game, he is tackling more, intercepting more but this has come to the detriment of his attacking outputs. I think that everything will tick this season or next season for him. His passing is still on the high-end of the spectrum and he can definitely drive the ball forward.
So, the question is: what do we do with him at the end of the season? We have nurtured him since last season and I feel like he is developing well as a player. He is still only 24 and I think that at 25 Mln EUR, we should try to secure him. It seems that Arteta wants him to play as an 8 so let us do that. I think he is more important than Odegaard and between the 2, I d keep Ceba without any disrespect to Odegaard.
How do you feel about onions and how do you feel about Dani? I am not a fan of onions but I d like to keep Ceballos!
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So four our double pivot options for next year, we could have:
Partey, Xhaka
Ceba, El Neny
I suppose we could eventually get rid of El Neny if we want an even better enforcer? This is getting tough now…but if Kante is available, shouldn’t we just try to secure him?
Thanks RC. Ideally I’d like both Danni and Odegaard but I would go the opposite way if I had to choose 1 and plump for Odegaard.
I just think Odegaard has that rare x factor on the ball and he has been pretty impressive for someone new to the league and club.
I think there is way more to come and would like to see him and ESR eventually playing centrally together.
Danni is a fine player but I actually think that there are many players out there that could replicate his position at the same level whereas I feel there are not many out there with the technical level of Odegaard.
Also the Norwegian players normally suit the EPL with their game based on ours so they are normally schooled in a game with pace and physicality. To get one that can handle that with his technical ability ought to be a priority.
Hi GoonerB – but do you like or dislike onions? ;-P
If we could keep both, why not? I am still not sure about Odegaard. I need to see more of him in our league.
Well done, RC,
I am not altogether sure how you made the link between a rooted onion bulb and Ceballos, unless you were associating his occasional immobility with the restraining onion roots.
Personally, I am not particularly enamoured with Dani, but neither am I too critical of him either.
Comparing him to Oneregard would probably result in a flawed choice, as I know little about the latter, and yet Dani has not set the team on fire when he plays.
If Dani could get rid of those roots, he could traipse effortlessly around the pitch, and make all the other onion bulbs jealous — leading to the next question: ‘who are these other onions in the Arsenal team’, and can they be identified by type?
There are many onions grouped by the genus Alium, and many of them are frequently eaten — so to start is Dani a simple Spanish Onion?
Some other types of onion, are called;
Sweet onions: – Bermuda Onions, Chives, Vidalia Onions
Red onions: Red Wing,
Others Spanish Onions, Welsh Onions, Button Onions, Baby Onions.
And of course, the CB of Onion types – Leeks.
Clearly, Ceb is a Spanish Onion, and I am quite partial to them – but I would hesitate to nibble Ceb in a cheese and onion sandwich — so, like the wise Camel Herder, I would possibly choose Oneguard over Dani. 😳
RC
Thanks for you vegetable post.
Love onions in all their various guises, especially red ( of course) ones, and shallots for their sweetness. An essential ingredient to most curries of all kinds, additionally.
Couldn’t build a midfield around Dani, IMO. A little too slow and inclined to forget positional discipline when ball lost. Solid squad player but unsure if I would keep him next year.
Want to see more of BOdegaard but believe he may have more of the Alonso in him and with a minder/ ball winner alongside him, as stated recently, could play the No 8 role with the explosive ES-R in front of him.
“Couldn’t build a midfield around Dani, IMO. A little too slow and inclined to forget positional discipline when ball lost. Solid squad player but unsure if I would keep him next year.” (LBG)
Pretty much says it all for me, although, I would go slightly further and say we shouldn’t sign him, maybe extend the loan but it is all about Partey next season and who can best compliment him and I am not convinced that Cebolla is the exact flavour required.
Well RC, you certainly know your onions.
But what about your footballers?
My problem with Dani is that he falls into that category of players who are quite good at lots of different things but not obviously outstanding at any.
He works hard and will put in a tackle, but there are better midfield destroyers out there.
He can play a nice pass and is fairly forward minded, but looks slow of thought and deed when compared with, say, ESR.
He can dribble, but not as well (nor with as much speed) as for example Saka or Pepe.
So… as a general utility squad player – yes, he’s fine. But he’s not a starter and, therefore, I see no need to keep him next season.
As for Odegaard, he’s shown some encouraging signs but the jury is still out.
Sacked Schalke boss says ” signing Mustafi and Kolasinac was a mistake”. But this is Christian Gross, who is simply…a mistake!
Why are we continually thinking about signing other teams rejects and has-beens?
If Cellabos is not good enough for Real, then he is not good enough for us.
The same applies to Odegard.
If the only reason why we take them is that they are cheap, then that is even worse.
Onion is the heart of all the good meat. The more the better. Aand Ceba is a really good player but I must say I can not recall that any of the similar players we had through the years was as prone for defensive mistakes as him. Although Arsenal hadn’t have a like for like player as long as I remember. Fabregas (maybe) was the closest player in terms of capacity and playing position and I don’t remember that we ever received a goal under similar circumstances than the second against Benfica. Others like Grimaldi, Ramsey, Flamini were defensively more astute than Ceba.
Ohhh, I almost forget,
Nice kitchen here, thanks RC!
jjgsol
It’s not as simple as that when it comes to signings though, is it?
If that was our policy we would not have signed AC Milan reject Patrick Vieira, or Inter rejects Dennis Bergkamp and Nwankwo Kanu.
By the same token I doubt Bayern really care that Serge Gnabry was an Arsenal “reject”.
Sometimes a player can be a square peg in a round hole at one club, then find exactly the right fit at a different club.
“Signing Mustafi and Kolasinac was a mistake”.
Tell us about it……..
@jjgsol
Good point. I’m not a fan of loaning players in
I don’t think Ceballos is a regular starter for Us, so what’s the point in having him? He fills a gap I suppose?
To sign him permanently Madrid will want big money and he’s not worth it to sit on the bench.
Odegaard; early days. The jury is still out.
Christian Gross finally speaking some sense.
Schalke got Mustafi & Kolasinac for free too!
It seems we do not have many fans of onions or Ceballos here…
Good one, RC!!
I can’t stand onions, yuk, plus they make me cry… and although Dani was very close to reducing me to tears against Benfica, I wouldn’t mind keeping him! I do really like the guy…
Hi RC, sorry been away for a bit. In answer to your question I love onions but not asexual ones.
As others have suggested we seem to have a few players who are in between roles in midfield and are neither a holding midfielder nor attacking and Dani is one of them.
Xhaka has played himself into a spot in the squad and Partey could become the best if them all. We also have Elneny and with Azeez waiting to break through we have a lot
If he was free or available at a very low fee then maybe but we shouldn’t use a significant amount of our budget on this position. Maybe a purer defensive midfielder is needed but with Chambers on the books and being a versatile utility player we ought to check him out there first.
Conversely those gifted attacking midfielders are harder to come by. Odegaard is actually renowned for his dribbling skills and running with the ball and having an eye for goal.
I actually think he is playing cautiously and letting the more EPL settled ESR operate further forwards. If he is looking decent playing slightly deeper but still has that more forward thinking skill set waiting to be shown then he is a very valuable commodity.
As I say he and ESR can cover each other in that role but I think can play together centrally as an attacking 4 behind a striker flanked by 2 of our wide attacking players.
By the way RC, I don’t think I’ve ever met a Frenchman that doesn’t like his onions. So many of France’s culinary delights are based around them that it feels like running into a vegetarian that is a bit non plussed about vegetables.
I actually do not mind onions but unfortunately for me, my belly does not like them…
Caramelised onions. Yum.
I do not think it is correct to say that either Vierra or Bergkamp were rejects or has-beens at their respective clubs. They were playing regularly but not setting the world alight. They needed the Wenger touch to make them world-beaters The same can be said about Henry.
The Onion and on-guard were not playing for Real, nor were they likely to. Wllian and Luis had reached their sell by date, and it shows.
Arteta is no Wenger and has not shown any aptitude in the last year to turn players into world-beaters.
After 2 years with us the onion remains nothing to write home about and not worth spending good or, indeed, any money on.
Patrick Vieira was plucked from the substitutes bench at Milan by Arsene Wenger. In the last season he played for the Italians 95-96, he made a total of 2 appearances.
Dennis Bergkamp played for Inter for two seasons. In 93-4 he played almost all games. In the following year, before Rioch bought him, his appearances virtually halved.
Why would we keep him? 24 is unfortunately no longer an age where someone can be co side red a hot prospect, they have to be close to the finished article to be worth spending money on.
Ceballios isn’t close. I will say it until I’m blue in the face, we have an academy that can produce plenty of squad players and the rare gem, our transfer money should be reserved for players we can’t produce ourselves.
Thierry Henry moved from Monaco to Juventus in 1999, playing 16 times and scoring 3 goals in that season. Later in that year he joined Arsenal and Wenger made him, after his first season, into one of the greatest strikers in Arsenal and Premier League history.
Keep Odegaard. His second season in the EPL could be brilliant for us. Unfortunately I think he is already earmarked for a swap deal for Haaland.
Ceballos, I like him but not fussed if he goes
RC, great post. Onions are always important in the world of analogies. COYG!
GIE has it spot on with his 8.45 comment. When it comes to bolstering the squad we should look within, and as GIE says, we may actually find the occasional star bursts through. Our budget should be fir 1 or 2 expensive players in positions we need for our 1st 11.
Jjgsol. I know you have a complete downer on Arteta but in his first full season but he has already won silverware, against the odds from what he inherited, and for me it is not correct that he hasn’t improved players. Many people recognise the improvement on many players individually.
He is in a completely different era and under completely different circumstances to AW when he arrived, so I think making comparisons to what AW stepped into and did in the late 90’s and what MA is having to do now to achieve success is not really comparing eggs with eggs
Dortmund is really good at taking young players to the next level so if Haaland goes to Madrid and Odegaard is part of the deal, good for Dortmund.
But apparently, Haaland will join Ole at Man Utd and he may even come with Sancho. Man Utd may then give Dortmund a look at Diallo, James and Van de Beek.
Man Utd could line up as a first squad:
Henderson – Bissaka, Maguire, Koulibaly, Shaw – Fred, Pogba – Rashford, Fernandes, Sancho – Haaland
Knowing that they will have Greenwood, Martial, Cavani still – it is not a bad strike force….
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