I can’t remember which pundit but one of them said that if ESR wants to grow and improve, he has to leave AFC…I wholeheartedly disagree with him and actually the guy should just stop sharing his advice in the public space…

AFC is the perfect place for ESR for many reasons:

1. It is his club – he is a Gooner
2. There is a sense that Arteta trusts him and wants to make him a key player in our squad
3. He is the new and fresh face of AFC with Saka and Tierney since X-Mas and has enjoyed a good second half and we hopefull could add Martinelli to that list very soon
4. Why would he leave AFC for a team like Villa?

Villa can try all they want, AFC will just offer a good contract to ESR and keep him so everyone should just back off. AFC needs his quality and also needs him as one of our Home-Grown players so there is very little chance to let him go, let us just tie him up to a good contract similar to Saka’s and Tierney’s and end of speculation about his future.

Leno – Holding, White, Gabriel – Chambers, Partey, ESR, Tierney – Saka, Martinelli, Pepe

Not super balanced but appetizing line-up 🙂

As the England-Germany game looms ahead at the Euro, it is fair to say that this game comes with a lot of history and almost emotional baggage for England. Tough losses and on a few occasion amazing wins but when it came to tournament games, England usually ends up on the losing side against Germany…BUT this year, Southgate seems to have a very pragmatic approach to the game and Germany has yet to find its rhythm. I think Germany is super talented especially from midfielder onwards but is a bit weaker defensively and England is just solid all around so I think we will be in for a good game and on my side, I d like to see a winner before PKs and I would like England to win but I am wary of Gnabry, Havertz, Muller, Werner, Kimmich, Goretzka, Musiala…It is not going to be easy but England can do it and if not, well it would be disappointing but England will get over it as always…

So if we take the last 20 years at AFC, we had amazing English talent and quality German players too so who makes your Ultimate XI of English-German team. Here is the trick, you must select at least 3 German players…choose wisely!

For me, I will definitely consider including the following German players:

Lehmann, BFG, Ozil, Poldi…I can’t include Gnabry because he hardly played for us…but feel free to add him

For the English ones, I am struggling in midfield: Wilshere, Oxlade…and up front, I suppose Walcott, Wellbeck will have to be considered…

Good luck everyone

Bakayo Saka started for England last night and if the Press are to be believed he will be a solid fixture in Gareth Southgate’s England team for the rest of the tournament.

It is becoming apparent to the rest of the football world that Arsenal have a major talent here. This past season he was head and shoulders Our best player. At age 19 that is quite a statement. I don’t think We’ve had a standout talent from the Arsenal academy at such a young age since Tony Adams (Cesc Fabregas & Nicholas Anelka were lifted from other academies in my opinion). If he measures up to Big Tone he will be some player.

Unai Emery clearly saw something in Bukayo and gave him his first senior appearance. For all the things Unai got wrong at Arsenal he clearly got that one right.

What makes Saka stand out in England is his talent with both his left and right feet. He can use both equally well, which can be a nightmare to defend against. He may not be the fastest player, but he has a turn of pace and can dribble well. His crossing is also decent. Maybe where he is lacking at the moment is his finishing, but he has time to improve on that.

Despite his ability to play in many positions I see him as destined to play off a striker as an inside right or inside left (George Best?). He has too much talent to be stuck on the wing and his attacking ability would be wasted in midfield or defence.

Now the problem: Showcasing his talents on the International stage at Euro2020 (21 surely?) will attract interest from other teams. He is tied down to a 3 year contract, but as seen with Harry Kane this is no guarantee that a player will stay put. In the coming years we will need to match his ambition to keep him at the Club.

The best comparison in the England set up is Phil Foden (nice shiny gnashers). He is 2 years older than Saka and worth about £80 million according to Transfermarkt. He’s a good player, but very left footed, so what would that make Saka worth? If Man City with their Abu Dhabi vanity project money offer £150 million could we hold out? I hope so.

This lad is potentially world class. He needs to be the beating heart of the Arsenal team over the coming years with support from Smith Rowe, Tierney and Partey. Keep these players together and we might be back in the big time…

A piece from Pete the Thirst – thank you from RC78 and RockyLives and LBG

I am very puzzled why our club is being linked with Ben White…At this stage, we have the following Centre Backs:

• Holding, Gabriel
• Mavropanos, Mari
• Saliba, pbbly will be loaned out again

Knowing that we can also use Chambers and Tierney as central defenders, I am not quite sure why we would pursue Ben White. Sure, he is a good defender but if we are to buy a defender, why not aim for a very top defender? Someone that could transform our team like Dias did at City…

If Ben White joins then it would surely be the end of Mavro and/or Saliba at AFC and then if we pay 50 Mln for him, does that mean that Holding or Gabriel drop to the bench?

A real weird rumour that one…

The coach: Southgate

The goalkeeper: Pickford

A defender: Walker, Maguire/Mings, Stones, Trippier/Chilwell

A defensive midfielder: Rice,

A central midfielder: Henderson, Philipps, Mount

An attacking midfielder/winger: Foden, Sterling, Grealish, Sancho, Bellingham

A striker: Kane, Rashford

I think if we strengthened at DM, our team would look more solid so I would opt for Rice.

As we are in the transfer period, we are supposed to strengthen our squad but a few questions remain:

1. Are we to stick in our 4231 system or will Arteta move back to his 433?
2. Who do we build our team around?

I want to focus on the second one although one could argue that it is dependent on the first one and the argument wold be valid 😛

We have a few talented players in Holding, Tierney, Partey, Saka, ESR, Pepe (?), Martinelli…and then there is also the perennial question related to Aubameyang…so how do we put our best players in the best conditions to perform and who would you build your team around?

Do you build it around Auba and then maybe a 433 or 442 (4312) may be more adapted and who would play upfront with Auba?

Do you build the team around Saka and then is the 4231 system better suited and does that mean that Pepe has to play on the left side?

Do you build the team around Tierney and then do we need a CF that can be a target for his beautiful crosses?

Do you build the team around ESR and then do we need to play Saka, Pepe (or Martinelli) next to him and Laca up front, meaning leaving out Auba?

…We could go on and on…so who do you think we should build our team around and why?

I am not sure many of you follow other sports than football but if you do, welcome to the club! Besides my AFC and PSG passion, I am an avid tennis fan and am devouring the French open at the moment and it is quite an interesting one so far…

In the women’s side, the highest ranked player left is last year’s winner Swiatek. I really like the way she plays and her attitude. She is playing solid tennis with the necessary hints of risk but tomorrow, she may lose to the Greek sensation, Sakkari. She is very solid, extremely consistent and also physically ready for a grueling battle. I think that the winner of the F.O will be the winner of this encounter. Today, Zidansek and Pavluchenkova qualifed but neither will prevail in the final and I am not sure Coco Gauff is ready yet…so if all goes according to plan, we should see Zwiatek land her second Roland-Garros. The talk of the tournament was of course Osaka and what she has done by pulling out citing mental health issues was not only brave but pioneering. She is really a trail blazer and the leader of woman’s tennis. This French Open also showed that Serena probably will never lift the F.O trophy again but that she can still compete so I wouldn’t put it past her to win another 2 slams especially at Wimbledon and the US Open. On another note, Rybankina and Badosa have the weapons to be top 10 players but will they have the mental fortitude on court to realize their potential?

On the men’s side, Roger came to Paris to prepare Wimbledon so let us hope for him that he actually goes far in Wimbledon and ideally wins it. I d like him to leave tennis on a victorious note and ideally at Wimbledon but the Olympics would also do 🙂 Rafa seems destined to win another RG. He is just so good on clay and so hard to beat. Given the current draw and level of play of the other players so far, only Tsitsipas could stop him and that would be in the final. So I am confident of a Rafa – Tsisipas final with a 4 sets victory of Rafa. If you would like to bet an upset, do not understimate the chances of Berretini against Djokovic – the Italian guy is playing very well and our Serb maestro is not his usual clinical and sharp self so I could see Berretini winning in 4 sets tomorrow against Djoko to set-up his semi-final against Rafa. On the other side of the raw, Zverev is looking too timid in his intentions to be able to beat Tsitsipas so that is an easy call…The talk of the tournament has been the emergence of Italian tennis with Berretini, Musetti (I call him Baby Fed because he has the best shot-making ability on tour), Sinner reaching the last 16…Well done to our Italian friends for the production of a golden generation of tennis players.

We are slowly coming to the end of the Fed and Williams era and we are not far away from ending the dominance of Nadal-Djoko with the solidification of the challengers pack (Tsitsi, Medvedev, Zverev, Berretini) and the emergence of huge talents (Musetti, Sinner) so definitely exciting times for the neutral fans

So here are my two cents on tennis and looking forward to your thoughts on Tennis or on whether the abysmal form of French tennis players could be compensated by Les Bleus’ triumph at the Euros?

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

Here are the players that are currently in our squad as CBs:

1. Holding
2. Gabriel
3. Mari
4. Mavropanos
5. Saliba

We also know that Chambers, Tierney and even Xhaka could play there.

So we have five CBs and then three players that can play CB if needed, including two defenders. So technically, we have a lot of CB options.

We should keep 4 CBs as part of our rotation (knowing that Chambers or Tierney could play there if needed) and it seems that Holding, Gabriel and Mari are all staying so who should be our fourth one?

A. Mavropanos who had a good season in Germany.

B. Saliba who had a good run at Nice although nothing stellar either.

C. A new face.

If we decide to keep only 4 CBs (which makes sense tbh), we have a few options:

1. Sell/loan Mavro, sell/loan Saliba and bring in a CB
2. Keep Mavro, loan/sell Saliba
3. Keep Saliba, loan/sell Mavro

My inkiling is that Arteta will want five CBs in the end and may keep either Mavro or Saliba and bring in an experienced CB in the squad.

If we need liquidity, then Mavro will be sold… tough choices regarding Mavro and Saliba. For me, Saliba needs another loan but in the EPL…

What are your thoughts?

RC78

As we approach the final game of a turbulent season and start thinking about planning for the next campaign, it’s time to run the measure over our squad to decide who is worth keeping and who should be disposed of.

GK: Leno – Some see some improvements, some see a recurring liability. What is your take?

RB: Bellerin – Some see a Gunner for life, some see a shadow of the promise he once had. What is your take?

RB: Soares – Some see a versatile squad player, some see an expendable player. What is your take?

RB/DM/CM/AM: Maitland-Niles – Some see a versatile squad player, some see an expendable player. What is your take?

CB: Mavropanos – One to bring back as part of our rotation at CB, or one to cash in?

DM/CM: Elneny – A squad player, a starter or just another one that needs to be shipped out?

DM/CM: Guendouzi, Torreira – A glimmer of hope to be back with us; or out forever?

CM/AM: Willock – A home-grown who deserves a chance? Or a player with unfulfilled promise at AFC?

RW/FW: Nelson – Another one for the future that deserves a chance? Or should he develop elsewhere?

LW/FW: Willian – To pay or not to pay for this once reliable EPL performer?

CF/ST: Lacazette – The glue to our game? Or an older CF who needs to find playing time somewhere else?

CF/ST: Nketiah – With Balogun extended, is that the end of the road for him at AFC?

Saliba will not be sold but may be loaned out again…

The following 13 players are staying for sure and one could argue a place for El Neny too:

Chambers, Holding, Mari, Gabriel, Tierney

Partey, Xhaka

Saka, Pepe, ESR, Martinelli

Auba, Balogun

So what is your take?

RC78