Yea, ok..i'll rephrase, the squad doesn't need an overhaul. Won't deny a player here or there in certain positions would be useful but it's not like the whole spine needs replacing.
Cech, Kos, Bellerin, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez. 6 top players that the first XI can be built around
Goalkeeping / Defence / Forward is poor.
I am not sure I agree about the best midfielders in the league (there are some distinctly average players) however, the midfield is also phenomenally talented.
Disagree. I just mentioned; Defence - could do with upgrades, Forward - need a first choice forward and a better back up, Goalkeeper - long term replacement for Cech.
Yep just need a few additions, well 2 to be exact ie a CB and a striker.
Overhaul might be a bit harsh, but there were definitely players that should have been trimmed from the squad.
I'm ready to write off Walcott and Oxlade Chamberlain - sell these two and it would have given us a decent chunk of cash to put towards a top RW.
We also have an abundance of CMs - Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey, Wilshire, Elneny, Xhaka, Le Coq - I'd have probably let Wilshire and Le Coq go if were me. Coquellin would probably fetch a reasonable fee, but he doesn't do anything that in my opinion Elneney doesn't do better, and his playing time most likely going to be limited now that we've brought Xhaka in.
I'm ready to write off Walcott and Oxlade Chamberlain - sell these two and it would have given us a decent chunk of cash to put towards a top RW.
We also have an abundance of CMs - Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey, Wilshire, Elneny, Xhaka, Le Coq - I'd have probably let Wilshire and Le Coq go if were me. Coquellin would probably fetch a reasonable fee, but he doesn't do anything that in my opinion Elneney doesn't do better, and his playing time most likely going to be limited now that we've brought Xhaka in.
Cech is still excellent, won't deny a replacement will need to be lined up, not for a few seasons hopefully though, plenty of time to find someone, Ospina is also a excellent back up.
Monreal is also an excellent defender, took a season to get up to speed but he's excellent on the ground, very hardly gets beaten in a ground duel.
We need an Aguero/Suarez up top though, for sure..
s
How are they ageing?
Cech and Kos are the only one over 30, it's not like they are 35..jeez
Edit, apart from Cech, that's alright though, as long as his reflexes stay sharp, he's got a few more seasons in him
How are they ageing?
Cech and Kos are the only one over 30, it's not like they are 35..jeez
Edit, apart from Cech, that's alright though, as long as his reflexes stay sharp, he's got a few more seasons in him
In the sense that we all ageing second by second, I would agree with you.
In any other sense, not really
Ozil: 27
Sanchez: 27
Bellerin (LOL): 21
Ramsey: 25
Cech: 34 (not ancient for a keeper)
Kos: 31
Ok the last two are cracking on a bit, you'd hardly call the others dinosaurs though.
Yea, and everyone was saying we should sign Williams who'll be 32 in a few weeks. Looks we have Mustafi though, who is 24
I'd hold onto Coq, really defensive minded, quite helpful actually. He's the type of defensive midfielder Pep would stick in defence. Think Wenger has been playing him in the CB position as well.
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Of those six players five are over 25, while I wouldn't call them 'old' per say, they are bucking the trend of Arsenal bringing through young players.
The Arsenal squad is bloated and has far too many average players; Wenger's problem is his loyalty to these players take the defence for example.
Defence: Debuchy, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Holding, Chambers, Bellerín, Jenkinson, Bielik. (Bielik and Holding are young and just signed iirc)
A good chunk of that defence can be improved upon; moved on because they're not good enough, imo.
This might be better suited to the Arsenal sub thread though as it's off topic.
It's no more bloated than City, Utd, Chelsea, take the wage bill for example, 4th highest wage bill. Problem you have with selling players is youre left with youth, if you have to play those youth players that aren't good enough yet, it'll cost you games, it's risky. Big clubs always have players on the fringe that might not get a lot of game time but can be very useful. I'd harldy call Chambers, Gibbs, Debuchy rubbish, plenty of international caps between them..you can't have 11 world class players starting the game, not really anyway.
I have said similar of Manchester City, Chelsea, and Manchester United (and expected Liverpool to have more transfer activity), this is not anti Arsenal at all.
Arsenal used to bring through youth, and combine that with experienced, excellent, footballers. Arsenal have stagnated over the last few years.
Anyway; transfer news!
rumour has it that Sheffield Wednesday rejected the (insulting) bid of ~£7,000,000~ for Forestieri. He was never going to leave regardless, however this might mean he can push for a new contract.
Still desperate for some strength in midfield, another centre back and a winger/wide midfielder.
Arsenal used to bring through youth, and combine that with experienced, excellent, footballers. Arsenal have stagnated over the last few years.
Anyway; transfer news!
rumour has it that Sheffield Wednesday rejected the (insulting) bid of ~£7,000,000~ for Forestieri. He was never going to leave regardless, however this might mean he can push for a new contract.
Still desperate for some strength in midfield, another centre back and a winger/wide midfielder.
I don't agree. Even if we kept Stones we would still needed to sign another CB. So might end up with 25-30m left from selling Stones to be left with a 31 year old and still need to sign someone. I think considering he's 31 that's a more than fair sum of money. Better defenders than him rapidly declined at that age. Our whole defence is running out of legs, I don't feel confident a 31 year old will last long. Hopefully I'm wrong.
I also don't believe we have a rich owner about to put cash in. Most of that 47m (minus whatever agent fees or sell on fees we had when we got him) might get spent, but I highly doubt Everton will spend more money than they take in from transfers.
Soldato
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I think you are expecting a bit much if you expect to sell either of those two
Why do we need to sell anyone, we have plenty in the back. I wouldn't get rid of either. They just need to stay fit and they will be strong squad players.
Yea, Ox is 23 in a few days, it's nothing, both can be very strong squad players. I still think Walcott has a huge amount of potential, i think he could score 15/20 goals no problem if things started to click for him.
Mustafi next week hopefully
I've never seen anything from either of them that would indicate a) that that can stay fit and b) that they'll ever be anything other than awful. Money in the bank is fine, but there is £130k a week (ish) that could be spent on a single, better, player. Selling those two would also net a good £25m to put towards the cost of a replacement player.
We have too many squad players, and not enough stars.