So we have seen a lot of players leaving AFC during this transfer window: Chambers, Mari, Kolasinac, AMN, Auba, Balogun amongst others…

We have seen one player join us in A. Tracy, a 23 years old American centre-back who has been loaned to the Colorado Rapids where he currently plays until June 2022. Rumour has is that he will be then loaned out to a European Club before linking up with us. He is tall, left-footed and apparently rather promising. Does that mean that he is seen as a Saliba/Mavro replacement?

Anyways, this window (barring any incoming loans) leaves us with the following squad 22-players squad:

GK: Ramsdale, Leno, Okonkwo

RB: Tomy, Cedric

CB: White, Gabriel, Holding

LB: Tierney, Tavares

DM/CM: Partey, Xhaka, Lokonga, El Neny, Patino

AM: ESR, Ode

FW: Saka, Pepe, Martinelli

CF: Laca, Nketiah

Laca is considering going back to Lyon at the end of the season and Nketiah is looking to move away from the club too, meaning we could lose both our remaining CFs this summer…As for our gaps in midfield and up front, we did not bridge them during this transfer window so it does not seem that we are stronger now than we were on December 31st.

As for our direct competition for the 4th spot, Tottenham, Villa and others did some business and retained key players so…based on the above, where do you think we will finish this season? Man Utd seems to slowly get the Rangnick way…

4th?

5th or 6th?

7th or 8th?

Below the 8th place?

Some websites foresees a 5th place finish but I think we will be 7th or 8th…I hope I am wrong..

So far, no movement but here is a recap of our transfer window…

1. Outgoing: Chambers (permanent), Kolasinac (permanent), Mari (loan), AMN (loan), Balogun (loan)
2. Incoming: Waiting…

Most likely outgoing: Auba and potentially Nketiah and/or Laca

Most likely incoming: Tough to say…Now, rumours include Morata as a loan deal…

The club wanted Artur Melo and Vlahovic…

Meanwhile: Leeds rejected a 60 Mln EUR bid for Philips from Villa and West Ham are closing on D. Nunez while Tottenham are expecting Betancur, Kulsevsky and…Bissouma…

Anyways…let us see…the clock is ticking

DM-CM: It seems Tchouameni is destined for a bigger team like Real or (sadly) Chelsea…So let us aim for a player that could improve us and would be willing to joining us…Are there many options? Maybe not…but I like Kalvin Philipps and I think he is a better option than Douglas Luiz. Declan Rice would also be great but he is also probably going to go somewhere else like Man City or Man Utd. Brozovic and Milinko-Savic likely to stay in Italy. Some of you mention Bissouma but why don’t we instead go for Ndidi? ANYWAYS: Edu, just get us Philipps 😛

As for forwards: Vlahovic out, Izaak out…I think Darwin Nunez is a good target and then we could also look at I. Toney and C. Lewin

Ramsdale – Tomy, White, Gabriel, Tierney – Partey, PHILIPPS – Saka, ESR, Martinelli – D.NUNEZ

Leno – Cedric, Holding, Xhaka, Nuno – El Neny, Lokonga – Pepe, Ode, Nketiah – Laca

Auba will be moved on…Barcelona pbbly or PSG…or Atletico…he has good choices

Some players have left us on loan (Balogun…) or forever (Kola) but so far we have failed to bring in some players to AFC. The winter transfer window is tough but we could still get something out of it…The point is not to get a player to get a player…we want talent and quality!

In the last few games, we had only two stand out performances which were (i) against City but ended in a sour loss and (ii) against Liverpool in the first leg playing 10 vs 11…For the rest of the games, we were decent but nothing great. Against Burnley, we were just toothless and unimaginative….

Xhaka, Partey and others are not helping our cause and again, it seems that our achilles’ heels remain our double-pivot and then our forward position. We cannot fault our wingers (Saka, Martinelli) or our central attacking midfielders (ESR, Ode) when they play their position…

Lokonga has not been bad but he is better going forward rather than shielding the back four…Xhaka gets red carded for fun and Partey has now decided to follow suit…

Laca is back to his average form, which seems try but not succeed in front of goal.

Let us try to get a very good DM-CM: Tchouameni, Rice, Brozovic, Ruiz…

and a promising forward…: D.Nunez, Toney, Schick, Vlahovic, David…

Ramsdale – Tomy, White, Gabriel, Tierney – Partey, TCHOUAMENI – Saka, ESR, Martinelli – NUNEZ

Tchouameni would be a hard get….but so worth it…As for Nunez, he is 22, strong and good at link up play too and may come cheaper than Vlahovic…

The gaps in our team are clear…let us bridge them and make a push for Top 4. Otherwise, the season is again a failed one.

In the last few seasons, it is fair to say that we have done poorly against Liverpool away at Anfield and at home at the Emirates…This is a two-legs game and it is important to approach this semi-final as such. We have to make sure that we do not blow all our chances to reach the final already tonight. If we lose 3-0 or 4-1 or by any large margins, it is basically game over and we might as well play the academy boys in the return leg…

I am expecting Arteta to field a decent line up tonight to try to keep keep things tight and keep our hopes for a trophy alive this season but we do not know about Chambers, Xhaka….so in doubt, here is a potential line up

Ramsdale – White, Holding, Gabriel – Saka, Lokonga, Patino, Odegaard, Tierney – Laca, Nketiah

Let us see…

COYG! Let us get a trophy this season…It be amazing to beat Liverpool in the semi-finals and then Chelsea in the final…a big statement from our club and squad!

Arteta and Edu have backed the Partey-Xhaka partnership as our double-pivot in our 4231 set-up.

Some of us have our doubts about Xhaka and also about Partey but oh well, if the coach and the technical director are trusting them…what can we do?

We also had a chance to see Sambi play for us and he had done relatively well when called upon. He is quite brave with the ball, has a decent pass in him and a good engine. Clearly, he will be featuring in our squad on a regular basis…

Now Partey, who had his best game with us vs City, is on his way to the AFCON…A real shame to lose him but again, what can we do? On top of that, El Neny will also be playing the AFCON, meaning that we were left with Xhaka, Lokonga and AMN as players that have actually played decently as DM/CM for us in the last few months…

But here is another twist in the story…We are allowing AMN to join Smalling, Mikhy, Abraham and Mourinho in Rome until the end of the season on loan without an option-to-buy…

So we are technically left only with Xhaka and Lokonga as DM/CM…Some will argue that Chambers and White could play there but Arteta never used Chambers there and while White could feature there, why rock the defensive CB partnership of White-Gabs? We need one player to join us during the current transfer window at DM/CM…There is no way around it. With Covid and other potential injuries, it would be hard to rely only on Xhaka-Lokonga…

JM mentioned that he would be pleased to see Tielemans join us and I agree, he is a quality player but I doubt that Leicester will allow him to join us this winter. From other leagues, he has mentionned Nunes, Zubimendi as well – good players too but less proven at the higher level. The press is linking us with Guimares (disaster!) and Douglas Luiz and at one point the names of R. Neves, K. Phillips, D. Rice and M. Merino were also mentionned…Out of them all, I would love for AFC to push for K. Phillips as he wants to leave Leeds and also has a strained relationship with Bielsa – he is young, he is good, knows the EPL and is an English international…

Wishing good luck to AMN!

According to multiple media reports in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, Arsenal has contacted European clubs (not EPL) to inform them that Auba could be transferred if a mutually acceptable offer was formulated…

In the same time, AFC has offered 55 Mln + L. Torreira to Fiorentina for the services of D. Vlahovic…

Another rumor has indicated that Arsenal is close to reaching an agreement with A. Isak from R. Sociedad for a transfer this summer.

So Vlahovic in for Auba and A. Isak in for A. Lacazette or E. Nketiah?

It is a loss that (i) feels unfair and (ii) comes with a lot of positives…The poor refereeing clearly influenced the game big time even if Xhaka and Gabriel should know better…However, we matched and even outplayed Man City for 88 minutes of this game and it was an overall outstanding performance especially from Tomy, Saka, Odegaard, Tierney and Martinelli…We were all over Man CITY, the best team in the EPL and arguably in Europe at the moment. We were a joy to watch – we were convincing, we were threatening and we were able to smother and nullify City. Make no mistake, this is a game that has defined this team, its potential and the Arteta era…If we are able to play at this level days-in and days-out, we will certainly be challenging for domestic honours in the near future…

COYG!

Aaron’s post:

Saka with exceptional moments, a precise shot by Tierney, and well, ESR, what can you can say…

Not playing Wolves is a serious bummer as they are out with a large number or players with covid or injuries, it would have been better to play them on short notice now than later if their team has those players back and ready for game day.

Ode had some very nice passes, our defense had no trouble at the office today, but when ESR came on you can see how much faster he progresses the ball forward than Ode.

Ode actually held up a few counters with a drag backs and missed runners.

Martinelli with his directness is a joy to behold. Thank goodness Arteta is finally playing the kid!

$h*tTy will be a true measure of where we are with regards to our top 4 aspirations as we play them at home, and we have been playing quite well, which is be expected with any top squad!

RC78’s grades:

Ramsdale – 6

White – 6

Holding – 6

Gabs – 7

Tierney – 8

Partey – 7

Xhaka – 6

Saka – 9

Ode – 8

Martinelli – 8

Laca – 8

Super sub: ESR – 7

MOTM: Saka, an amazing display.

Special mention to: Ode who was particularly good yesterday, Tierney who is finding his good form again, Laca who is leading the line well up front and is being a good captain so far and to ESR who is decisive everytime he comes on…

Stats:

AFC EPL: Top scorers: ESR (8), Saka (5) / Top assists: Saka (4), Laca and Ode (3)

Heya my dear fellow bloggers – allow me to first of all wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas! The past 12 months have not been the easiest for many of us around the globe with Covid-19, economic stress…But here we are about to celebrate another Christmas with our favourite team currently in the Top 4 and qualified for the semi-final in the Carling Cup!

Since the abysmal start of the season, our team has been having some very positive results but also disappointing ones (Everton, Man Utd especially) but overall, it seems that:

• Arteta has finally opted for a system with his 4-2-3-1
• Arteta knows his best XI: Ramsdale – Tomy, Gabs, White, Tierney – Partey, Xhaka – Saka, Ode, ESR – Martinelli (or something close to that)
• AFC finally has a defense that fans do not have to be ashamed of despite the early heavy losses to the big teams
• AFC has some young hungry talented young players that are exciting to watch
• Fans are back to the stadium but also for the most part they back to team and the “Edu-Arteta” project
• Our summer transfer window was one of the best in the last 20 years and somehow, our team topped the budget spent on players…

So for all the disappointment of last season finishing 8 and the lack of silverware, it seems that the last quarter of 2021 under the new 2021-2022 season has offered the fans something nice…a glimmer of hope that we are finally on the right track and that the team assembled could credibly challenge for Top 4 and domestic trophies….

So here it is guys and I know it is not Thanksgiving but for one, I am grateful to finally see an Arsenal team that seems to be on the right path and full of young exciting players. Now if somehow: Auba, Partey, Pepe could have a fantastic second half of the season, I d be very happy too 😛

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Keep safe, keep healthy and enjoy the festive week-end!