So Willock went to Newcastle in January, started tentatively there and then ended the season in fine form especially in fine scoring form…His good performances led to him winning the Player of the Month Award – well done to him!
As Willock left us for Newcastle, Odegaard joined us on loan from Real Madrid. He has shown courage and good ability as well both in keeping and passing the ball. Arteta seems to enjoy his work rate and attitude too.
On one hand, we have an academy product who has done exceptionally well on loan at Newcastle and on the other hand, we have another young player with great ability. What to do?
Willock is our player but it seems that Arteta had a hard time getting the most out of him. He clearly showed that he can do well in the EPL but maybe he needs a different system and coach to flourish OR maybe he is now ready to flourish with us too. What to do with him? Shall we keep him or sell him to the highest bidder?
Odegaard is poised to return to Madrid and with Zidane gone and apparently Ancelotti coming, it could be that Odegaard would be keen to take his chance and try to play for the Casa Blanca or he may be keen to stay with us in the EPL. If he wants to stay, I think Arteta would like to keep him but he ll cost a minimum of 30-35 Mln EUR, which may be a big chunk of our transfer budget…So what to do wit him? Shall we keep him or not?
And I did not talk about them but we also have Torreira and Guendouzi on our payroll but it seems we will listen to offers for both these players so no post on them..yet
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Easy play willock next to partey as our b2b
Odegard is another ceballos we ent have time for that
Do you think Willock has the engine to be our B2B?
I think he will be best forward up the pitch or in a midfield trio
Sell Willock, let Ödegård return to Spain. Buy Sterling, Lukaku, Buendia and Aarons. It’s showtime, folks!
R u related to Elk, Hans?
If we do a pure statistics comparison:
Willock – 980 minutes, 8 goals, 0 assist, 1.4 shots per game, 1.9 tackles, 1.2 interception per game, 1.6 dribble per game, 0.6 key pass per game
Odegaard – 866 minutes, 1 goal, 2 assists, 1.1 shot per game, 0.6 tackes per game, 0.1 interception per game, 0.9 drb per game, 1.4 key pass per game
So we have Odegaard who may be a better passer but Willock a more decisive player in terms of end products both offensively and defensively.
I think we should let Odegaard go and then we could keep Willock and Willock and ESR can fight it off for the CAM/10 position behind the striker in a 4231 set up
Ødegaard is a machine for Arsenal’s offensive play, look statistics for 2. passes which opens defends not only last pass. He is also very good in pressing intelligent in the midfield. He is a baller Arsenal need – Willock does not have the same skill and talent as a footballer
But we have ESR already…
Ancelloti tends to favour seasoned midfielders so I’d expect him to sanction Odegaard’s sale so long as the price is right. Arsenal will do what they did last season and try to haggle the price down though – risky strategy given Edu’s back up option, Buendia, will likely be sold within a few weeks.
Odegaard is also very clearly Arteta’s ideal signing given his vision, technical ability, intelligent pressing and versatile suitability to a 433 (either RCM or RW) in addition to his comfort as a 10. Plus he’s already acclimatised to the League and the Club.
The smart move would be to get his signing over the line now.
As for Willock, I think it’s a similar-ish situation. Arsenal will sell if they believe they’re getting good value, especially because it looks as if they’re prepared to sanction many player sales at below fair (or even book) value in this summer order to move players on, bring in cash and reshape the squad. They won’t do that with Willock given his form.
There’s also a chance that Willock may be more suitable to Arteta’s plans next season than last. Last season, Arteta played either a 343 or a 4231 – Willock did not succeed as either a central midfielder in a 2-man midfield or in the 10 role, in either formation. If Arteta gets the personnel he needs to move to a 433 then I can see Willock getting better success as a RCM or LCM in the 3. He impressed for Newcastle in that role ans not just in terms of goal scoring. His mobility, strength, progressive runs were all notable.
As it happens, I can also envisage Saka and AMN in those positions too but given the lack of natural wide players, Saka will likely remain a wide forward and since AMN doesn’t score, I can’t see Arteta playing him in midfield ahead of Willock.
Good question RC
As Ben points out, we know that Arteta would ideally like a 4-3-3 but has felt he has not had the right personnel so far.
If we move to a 4-3-3 it could suit Ode and Willock, with a team like this:
Leno
RB – Holding – Gabriel – Tierney
Willock – Partey – Odegaard
Saka – (Auba/Martinelli) – ESR
Perhaps it would be more of a 4-1-2-3 but it could work.
Not sure…I think Arteta was initially keen on a 433 but not sure this is still the case.
Considering the rules about English/homegrown players, I seriously doubt Arsenal can/will let Willock go, the more so that he is proving a real talent. If Arsenal want to make a run for home trophies, they’ll need a full squad to keep competition for places alive and to be ready if and when some injury strikes. getting a player like Willock, and english as well is going to be d…. expensive, so why go to the trouble of selling him ? To me it makes no sense.
Good point CJ…Alternatively, we could also sell him for a very good price too so…it is potaetoe – potatoe 😛
We could keep him but I wouldn’t want us to keep Odegaard
Saka named in the England squad, congrats to him!
England’s 26-man squad for Euro 2020:
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Manchester United), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton).
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Kyle Walker (Manchester City).
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds), Declan Rice (West Ham).
Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Man City).
I think the squad is not really balanced with an overload or defenders and forwards and not enough defensive minded midfielders…I think that may indicate that he will go with a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 system
Pickford – Walker, Maguire, Stones – TAA, Henderson, Rice, Chilwell – Sancho, Kane, Grealish
is his most likely line-up…solid.
Rashford could play ahead of Sancho…
Congrats to our Starboy, Saka!! 👍
And body who suggest we buy Sterling don’t even want hear shit day have to say
Rc78
Think not sure how well willock would do as a CAM think ESR better in that position
I watched most of his games on his loan spell, reminds me of Ramsey alot
A machine for arsenal who only has 2 goals in 4 months damn, imagine if he was crap
Ben wasn’t willock great in group stagees of Europa League, to me he score a hatrick playing in false nine
What I think went wrong was he tried willock on the wing cause pepe and willian was trash and he didn’t really get the best out of him there
Is it a 433 I thought it was more a 4231
Rocky I will appreciated u don’t spell bellerin name as RB thanks
Rc78 I thought you are French, u backing England for euros
Hi Fred – be sure that I am supporting Les Bleus ahead of England 😛
If Willock could be an un-injured Ramsey, then he can be a starter from the on-set 🙂
Well am also a les bleus support
Who u think will get the nood at striker, I hope he continues with my boy giroud
I think the most balanced squad is actually with Giroud
Lloris – Pavard, Varane, Kimpembe, Hernandez – Pogba, Kante – Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe – Giroud
or
Lloris – Pavard, Varane, Kimpembe, Hernandez – Pogba, Kante, Rabiot – Mbappe, Benzema – Giroud
so in any case, my preference would be to have Giroud as a starter and either Benzema or Griezmann need to make way for OG
Talking about Giroud, he has won the WC, Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup, French League, Community Shield and Puskas Award…He always contributed to his team success so even if he is not a Henry or a Zidane, he is still a key player for his team and deserves a place in the Top 30 of French footballers
How is that lining up as a 442?
YeA Ben should start over griezmann
And shall adding euros to it in the next month
In a 442, you would have basically a diamond set-up:
Lloris – Pavard, Varane, Kimpembe, Hernandez – Rabiot, Kante, Pogba, Griezmann (basically Kante at the base and Griezmann (or Benzema) at the top of the diamond) – Giroud, Mbappe
I don’t think France will win the Euros. I feel there are some more solid teams out there and we have a very tough group…
I think Germany will be hard to beat and then, I think that Italy, Belgium, Spain and England will also be very hard to beat…Dark Horses: Portugal (trophy holder) and Poland.
But Germany is UBER strong..
– just their midfield is scary: Kimmich, Goretzka, Gundogan, Kross, Can, Musiala
– then you look at their forwards: Gnabry, Sane, Werner, Mueller, Havertz, Volland…
– then they have Neuer…
– surprisingly, their defense may not be the strongest but it is still very good and if protected by Kimmich-Goreztka and backed up by Neuer, they should be OK
Neuer – Ginter, Rudiger, Sule, Goosens – Kimmich, Goretzka – Sane, Muller, Gnabry – Havertz (or Werner)
Solid…so for me Germany should win this Euro closely followed by Italy, Belgium, France and then the next teams would be England, Spain, Portugal, Poland. I think Holland would have been hard to beat with Van Dijk but without him, they will struggle…
Most fun semis would be:
Germany – England ; France – Italy
Willock deserves a run. 7 goals on the trot is quite a performance. He’s young and hungry. Could save us a fortune in transfer fees.
Can we have Odegaard too? Depends on the price I guess. Maybe another year loan.
I’m with Fred on Sterling. Very fast but no end product.
Does anybody remember Tony Daley?
There’s no doubt that Willock certainly was the flavour of the month with that rash of goals at Newcastle and he’s also got a decent strike rate with us, even if it’s mainly in League Cup and early Europa Cup matches, also you can’t help but wonder if he’s at ‘peak Joe’ and will it last?
I like Joe, he was born in 1999 so he’d have to be included as one of our home grown in the squad of 25 and I’d be happy with that, so there has to be a big decision made on him this summer, does Arteta see him as an important part of his squad or are Arsenal just biding their time waiting for a big enough bid?
Yeah, Odegaard on loan with an agreed price to complete a deal next summer would do the trick.
So many ex Chelski and Arsenal rejects shooting off.
Willian Gallas, having proved how professional you were by “sit down striking”, your opinion can be taken with a pinch!!
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Rc78 you should be comedian saying Germany is strong but then mentioning Werner
Does anyone remember Theo Walcott