Gabriel, Gabi Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus…3 Brazilian starters at AFC, 3 international Brazilian players, 3 exciting players…Edu bringing exciting Brazil to AFC after the early mishaps with Luiz and Willian…

Now let us see what Marquinhos has to offer too…

Yesterday, Gabriel Jesus scored a quick double and could have had a hat trick. Promising start by our new Nr. 9 – I liked his ability to get to the ball (crosses/passes) and to finish the chances provided to him.

Whenever El Neny scores, he scores wonder goals…what a strike yesterday!

We conceded goals but we fought back but let us remember that we need to shore things up…When we started playing exciting football last year, sometimes we lost our defensive shape and this cannot happen this year. We need to improve our game without the ball. For the rest, we have the players to create chances and hopefully score them now.

COYG!

Ramsdale, TURNER

RB: Tomy, Cedric

CB: White, Gabs, Saliba, Holding

LB: Tierney, Tavares

Seems that our two weaker points are our back-up RB and LB…Tierney has been injured a lot so we need a player that can fill in regularly…There is a lot of chat about L. Martinez but he has been mostly used as a LCB and then as a LB so let us see. He is a quality player know as the “Argentian/Ajax butcher” because of his rough tackles. As for the RB, I don’t hear much rumours but shall we start the year with the above-mentioned players, would you feel confident?

In his latest interview, our sporting Director Edu has indicated that as a club, we are definitely focusing on young, hungry and talented players. He has emphasized that the plan is to have this group of young players to play together at the club for a couple of years (he said 4 to 6 years). The strategy is definitely one that is aiming for a medium to long-term gains, which is fine…BUT:

1. We need to do well already now as other clubs are also strengthening and next thing you know, clubs like Brentford, Brighton…also get bought by rich Emiratis…
2. It is unlikely that all our exciting young players stay with us for sure for more than 3 years…

So although, I like the strategy and the goals. We also need to ensure that we do purchase “EPL-ready to perform at a high standard players” and that we also mitigate our expectations with regards to long-term commitment to our clubs from all the players, especially the young ones that want to get playing time…

Besides that, it is a very exciting plan and if the players develop as Edu-Arteta expect them to, we are in for a fun couple of years…

Ramsdale -24

Tomy – 23

White – 24

Gabs – 24

Tierney – 25

Partey – 29

Fabio – 22

Saka – 20

Ode – 23

Gabi – 21

Eddie 23

That is young and talented and we still have Turner (28), Saliba (21), Holding (26), Lokonga (22), ESR (21) and that’s not including AMN, Tavares, Marquinhos, RN, Balogun,

I would have liked to see Raphinha join us but many are correct, he plays on the right and we already have Saka…so maybe this one is a fake one…In terms of Nr.9, we are still linked with G. Jesus (25), T. Abraham (24), Scamaca (23) and Richarlison (25) so still very young…

Out of the bunch, I am more and more inclined to make a push for Abraham or Richarlison because of their presence in the box…they also try to support defensively and both contribute with some assists…

Ramsdale – Tomy, White, Gabs, LISANDRO – Partey, FABIO – Saka, Ode, Martinelli – RICHARLISON

Turner – Cash?, Saliba, Holding, Tierney – El Neny, Xhaka – Pepe?, ESR, Barnes? – Eddie

…

So the fixtures are out and we can already start getting excited about the new season 🙂

August 05th – Crystal Palace – AWAY

August 13th – Leiceister – HOME

August 20th – Bournemouth – AWAY

August 27th – Fulham – Home

August 30th – Villa – HOME

Key dates:

Sept 3rd – Man Utd – Away

October 1st – Tottenham – Home

October 8th – Liverpool – Home

October 18th – Man City – Home

November 5th – Chelsea – Away

January 14th – Tottenham – Away

January 21st – Man Utd – Away

April 8th – Liverpool – Away

April 26th – Man City – Away

April 29th – Chelsea – Home

Summary analysis:

• Our first 5 games are not against the “big” teams.
• The first half of the season sees us host all the big teams except Chelsea.
• The second half of the season sees us play away to all big teams except Chelsea.
• The months of October, January and April will be tough and critical.

We need to be ready from Day 1 as our first half of the season will see us host the big teams so we cannot lost points then. If we do not do well in the first half of the season, I think our season will be totally compromised so Arteta-Edu, get your business done early and make sure our team is ready and roaring to go as of 5th of August!

COYG!

As our competitors are slowly but surely adding firepower to their strike force, let us do a little recap:

Man City: Mahrez, HAALAND, Foden (or Grealish or Sterling)

Liverpool: Diaz, NUNEZ, Salah

Chelsea: Mount, Lukaku, Havertz

Tottenham: Kulusevski, Kane, Son

AFC: Saka, Eddie, Martinelli

Utd: Rashford, CR7, Sancho

Now if you read into the rumours regarding our competitors, it seems that Conte wants to add a new element to his front three (basically get a better player than Kulu) and that Tuchel wants to bring in Dembele from Barcelona..

On our side, we have been linked with Scamacca, Morata… (not bad but not great) type of players…

We still need to improve our midfield and defensive displays but we also desperately need to bring in someone who could finish off the moves instigates by the Saka, Ode, Gabi of our team…without this goal scoring reliability, we won’t be able to compete…for Top 4 even…

So Arteta-Edu decided to keep El Neny and Nketiah but to part ways with our captain Laca…

Laca has been a good player for us and a very good influence on the group and especially the young players. He cannot be faulted for his captaincy nor for his attitude on and off the pitch. He scored some goals and delivered some assists but this year, he did miss a lot of chances and ultimately, this has cost him a new contract at AFC.

I think the team will be sad to him leave and Arteta as well. Laca was always praised for his personality and efforts and he was well appreciated by the group.

So it seems that our very enticing attack Pepe, Laca, Auba is close to its demise, not having fullfilled its promise. Our last 2 captains and main strikers have now left the club on a free.

Our current centre-forward options for the first team are Nketiah and Balogun. I am not counting ESR or Martinelli there for now nor Biereth for various reasons.

We need now more than ever a reliable goal scorer that can make the most of the chances created by Ode, Saka, Martinelli, ESR…We need a finisher that can still link-up with his partners nicely and be a hard working player when it comes to pressing and defending. I think Toney, Watkins, Richarlison, Jesus, Nunez could be decent options but let us see who comes to us but there is definitely room for one player to be our starting CF next year.

In the meantime, let us say thank you to Laca for his 54 goals and 25 assits in the EPL in 158 games, 4 goals and 1 assist in the EFL Cup in 11 games, 15 goals in 27 games in the European League and good luck in Lyon!

The first round of consultation on the starting XI led to interesting suggestions. In a nutshell, it seems that Jesus has been rubber stamped by the AA bloggers as a viable option as CF but for the DM/CM position, there is a debate still especially (i) regarding whether or not Arteta would drop Xhaka to the bench and (ii) regarding whether Tielemans or Neves are good targets…All and all, it seems that Bissouma may be more welcome…my preference goes to Philips there but based on the previous post, the strating XI line-up would be:

Ramsey – Tomy, White, Gabs, Tierney – Partey, BISSOUMA – Saka, Ode, Martinelli – JESUS

Now, there was also some discussion related to whether we needed to actually bring in a LFW to compete with Martinelli. Fair point as well but would it slow down Martinelli’s growth?

So off to the rest of the squad…In an ideal world, you have a squad of 23 players (3 goalkeepers) that should be supplemented by 5 youth players that would train with the senior team and be given playing in Cups or even at the end of games when games are under control…

So,

• for our back-up GK: Turner has been recruited and Leno is off (Benfica pbbly). The 3rd GK would remain Okwonko.
• for our back-up RB: Bellerin wants to stay at Betis, Cedric wants to stay with us and we do not know about AMN yet. Cedric is a decent squad player but we need a better back-up than him. As for AMN, let us bring this discussion later on. We re playing European football and domestic cups, Tomy cannot handle all the games. We do not have a stellar RB in our youth set up as far as I know so we have to go in the markey. Lamptey and Aarons could be option, no?
• for our back-up CB: Holding has been ok except vs Spurs and Arteta wants Saliba back so we are nicely covered in this position. We have to see what we do with Mari and also Ballard…
• for our back-up LB: Tavares has been more a miss than a hit but he shouldn’t necessarily be totally discarded – maybe we could loan him out? We do need a player there for sure – the press mentions Hickey.
• For our back up DM/CM: We have El Neny, Lokonga and if we recruit a starting DM/CM, we will also have Xhaka as part of the rotation in this position. Will it be enough? Depends on who we recruit in the DM/CM? In terms of youth in this CM position, we have Patino, Azeez and maybe even M’Hand. Torreira, we don’t know but seems he will go. Douzi already sold to OM .
• For our RFW position back-up: We currently have Pepe who has been really frustrated and frustrating. A clearly talented player who seems to have lost his way at AFC, a real shame…Might be time to cut the losses and to sell him to the highest bidder. This is clearly a position that requires strengthening, players like Harrison and Bowen could be nice additions. The press speaks about Marquinhos from Sao Paolo too.
• For our ACM position back-up, we have the wonderful ESR who is decisive when he comes on. He is key to our success and definitely pushing Ode for the starting spot. There is no real need to recruit at this position.
• For our LFW position, Martinelli has been wonderful but for all his hard work and energy, the final outputs (goals, assists) can still be improved. It would be good to push him to reach the next level. Of course, someone like Leao, St-Maximin or Raphinha or even Kostic would be fantastic but would be hard to get them at AFC…but what about someone like Barnes or A. Traore? What do we do with R. Nelson? Any kid from the academy good enough to play winder (Taylor Hart, John Jules, Akinola?)
• For our CF position, it seems that Nketiah will stay and Balogun will come back. They are good squad players but we may need another player that brings in either more experience, depth in the game (running behind defenses) or aerial threat depending on who we recruit as our starting CF. What do we do with Biereth?

Finally, there is the question related to AMN. A very good squad player who wants to be more. He tried at AFC but did not make it. Went to Roma and there again, he did not hold a starting position. Is it time for him to go and for us to let go? He would be a great addition to a mid-table team or even to a squad like Newcastle…At the same time his versatility and physical strength have helped us with our last FA Cup…Shouldn’t we hold on to him?

Here is the back-up team:

Add: Okwonko, Ballard, Lokonga, Patino or Azeez, Balogun

Loan out to an EPL outfit: Tavares, Patino or Azeez, Biereth

Let go of: Leno, Bellerin, Cedric, Mari, AMN, Torreira, Pepe

So which squad players would you like to add to the team? Remember, not starters…

So the Champions League final was won by Real Madrid through their outstanding goalie yesterday. Liverpool was the better team for the first half but then struggled to add intensity and purpose and creativity to their game and when they did, they were denied by a superb Courtois…So a 14th CL for Real, a 30th trophy for Benzema who is now a clear favourite for the Ballon d’Or…For Liverpool, it was a very good season with 2 cup wins and near wins in the EPL and CL – the bad news for them is that they are going to lose Mane, who was a rock for them. He is off to Bayern…

Back to AFC and let us prepare next season. I think our starting line-up is more or less known for every position when key players are fit:

Ramsdale – Tomy, White, Gabs, Tierney – Partey, ? – Saka, Ode, Martinelli – ?

Although Xhaka did have a good season, we definitely need an improvement in the DM/CM position and same goes for our centre-forward. There is a case for LB as well because Tierney has been spending a lot of time in the nursing room…but that’s another debate that could also be applied to Partey…

So who would you like to recruit as our starting DM/CM and CF? Who do you think we can attract? Which criteria will matter the most for you (EPL experience, youth…)?

Keep in mind that we will have approximately 165 Mln EUR and we will need also to buy some squad players…

This part of the review is hard…as we have covered quite some ground in the Bad part…But here is an attempt:

1. Finishing many games without 11 players on the pitch. Our lack of discipline cost us points for sure.
2. Recurring injuries to Tomy, Tierney and Partey – all three players were definite starters last season and have been injured regularly…They were missed…
3. Pepe’s season has been abysmal – he is just a shadow of his best self, which we saw in Lille or even in the AFCON and apparently in training. Time to let go of our most expensive recruit to date?
4. Auba’s end of AFC story. Auba has been one of our most reliable players since he joined us. He was amongst the Top 5 strikers in the league since joining us. He was an integral part of our FA Cup success and he also was our captain for a while. Arteta and him had a fall out and the club decided to let him go. He has excelled since at Barcelona and we will never know if he would have scored goals that would have helped us reach Top 4 in the second half of the season. Sad way to leave for a player that scored 70 goals and provided 16 assists in the EPL for us.

Must be a few other ugly points to mention but can’t think of more right now…

COYG! We need to start bringing some players in now…Aston Villa and other clubs are already adding on to their squad.

Despite all the positives of the season, there are still some areas of improvement…

1. Inability to perform when it matters. We had two dips in form when we shouldn’t have (not counting the start of the season)…Of course, the team is young but we did not have any European Cup or many Domestic Cup games…Seems at times that we just bottled it…
2. Lack of cutting edge up front. We did create chances, especially Odegaard and Saka. Laca provided some assists but we did expect more goals. While our defensive performances still needs to improve, I believe that a more reliable goal scoring performance could have snatched a few points given the fact that we created good chances through our midfield and wingers.
3. Our start of the season was catastrophic and did put us in a tough situation from the on-set with a mountain to climb.
4. Our runs in Domestic Cups was poor. We should have reached, at least, the last 4 in both domestic cups given that we did not play European footie.
5. Our inability to recruit during the Winter transfer window. Tottenham bought 2 players that made an instant contribution to the team and allowed them to have a great second half of the season…What if we had one forward or midfielder that joined us.
6. Our recurring injuries to key players like Tierney and Partey.
7. The lack of playing time for Lokonga and Tavares’ defensive and crossing woes (that will come also in the ugly)
8. Finishing behind Spurs and missing out on Top 4.

I am sure there are others but here are the first ones. What are your thoughts?