Wishlist 2022/2023: Page 59 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Wishlist 2022/2023

RowJimmy

Burnwinter he's been supported by the squad who accepted him on faith

I think that what they see of one another in training is huge. Professional athletes are (as far as I can tell, I'm far away!) super meritocratic.

Burnwinter

RowJimmy I think that what they see of one another in training is huge.

Fully. Always a bit of a tragedy when players comment on how incredible a player is in training and he's not delivering on the pitch due to confidence or injury.

There were players back in the day who said Abou Diaby was the best player in our squad at the time …

Claudius

Burnwinter this wording is also dependent on the players seeing the manager respect meritocracy. Does he pick the best players for the occasion? If they feel like he’s not doing that, they’ll grumble and and stop putting in effort. Some might go to the press. The effort you’re seeing when players step on the field suggests that there is a respect of meritocracy

samthegooner

Nico Williams
Morgan Gibbs-White
Joshua Zirkzee
Ousmane Diomande

———————————————Raya
White (Tomiyasu)——Saliba (Diomande) —-Gabriel (Kiwior) —Timber (Zinchenko)
——————————Rice (Partey/Jorginho)
———Odegaard (Vieira) ——Gibbs-White (Smith-Rowe)
Saka (Jesus)———-Havertz (Zirkzee)——Williams (Martinelli/Trossard)

goon

Zirkee looks sluggish to me. Watching clips of him I feel like I’m watching a poundshop Jesus.

lorddulaarsenal

Jesus’s injury seems to have impacted him negatively - he’s now mostly fart and no poo.

Clrnc

If we spend a big part of our money on a blockbuster CB like Diomande instead of a top CM or striker, I think we should all just give up. CB should be our last priority

samthegooner

I think Saliba's availability and good health this season has masked a very big potential weakness for us this year that popped up last year and that is that we don't have a like-for-like backup for Saliba. Gabriel and Kiwior are both lefties and Arteta likes having a right footer in the RCB spot. Saliba's qualities also allow him to seamlessly transition between RCB out of possession to CCB in possession or RCB in cases when White inverts. The only players that might be able to do similar are White and Tomiyasu but White's already starting at RB and I don't want to have to count on Tomiyasu's health to back up one of our most important positions.

Additionally, I think Diomande IS a great market opportunity this year and someone I would definitely want in our stable of defenders for years to come - he'd be great insurance in case either Saliba or Gabriel left or got hurt, he's extremely talented and has the potential to be a top 5 CB in the world. While he could cost up to 80m, that is going to be the going rate for potentially world class defenders moving forward. My plan doesn't ignore CM or ST, I just feel like the high priced options out there aren't any better than Gibbs-White and Zirkzee. My headliner is Nico Williams who I think is special and will be a revelation in our squad.

QuincyAbeyie

samthegooner I think we've taken steps to alleviate a potential Saliba injury. Last season we had:

Tomiyasu can play there, or Tomiyasu can play RB and White CB.

Then Tomiyasu and Saliba got injured at the same time - which as you say can happen because Tomiyasu's fitness can't be trusted.

However, this summer we signed Timber as well, who can play both LB and RB. So if Tomiyasu and Saliba got injured at the same time, we'd play Zinchenko - Gabriel - White - Timber. Basically, to be in the kind of crisis that happened last year, Saliba, Tomiyasu and Timber or White would all have to be injured at the same time.

Sure, if we get a world class CM and a world class forward and still have 80m to spare, why not, but I couldn't defend using that kind of money if the consequence is that we can't afford excellence in the other positions.

Meatwad

samthegooner
he only has the potential to be a top 5 CB in the world IF he plays games. signing to be a backup at a big club is a sure way to never realize your potential.

samthegooner

QuincyAbeyie Completely agree- I think the crux of my argument is just that I think there's definitely a world this summer where we can both strengthen with a world class CM and FWD, while also reinforcing defensively to keep stacking our depth like City does. We will never have the resources to continually shop at the top of the market so pouncing on opportunities even if they aren't a glaring need currently is how we sustain excellence and avoid what Liverpool has run into over the last 2-3 years where they weren't consistently reinforcing positions with top talent.

lorddulaarsenal

QuincyAbeyie having Dec sit in front of the defence helps an awful lot too

samthegooner

Meatwad We also drive our defenders into the ground with the amount of minutes Saliba (4,232 min), Gabriel (4,092 min) and White (3,835 min) have played in particular. I totally understand the argument that you shouldn't rotate your defense as much but look at City during their best seasons (particularly 2017-18).

Here are the minutes played across their defenders:

Otamendi (4,048 min)
Walker (3,842 min)
Danilo (2,476 min)
Stones (2,234 min)
Kompany (1,756 min)
Laporte (1,167 min)
Zinchenko (1,104 min)
Mangala (1,044 min - lol)

You sign Diomande to backup Saliba in the biggest games, rotate in for Saliba and Gabriel throughout the season to bump those minutes down by 400-500 min each and he all of a sudden is over 1,000 minutes easily and that's without taking into account any injuries or needed rotation elsewhere. You've always got a succession plan in place if Saliba/Gabriel decide to go elsewhere and incredible depth for changing game states. We are a massive club now and we can stock our bench with potential starters at other clubs now.

Meatwad

samthegooner
and 1000 minutes for a young CB is ridiculous. if that's the plan sign a veteran. ben white is the only one that troubles me. CBs should play heavy minutes ... them and goalkeepers should play every league minute if possible.

samthegooner

Meatwad 1000 minutes was the baseline just from rotation. I would imagine he would get almost double that which is good for a young CB in the best league in the world. But totally fair to agree to disagree. I'm a big fan of Diomande and just have visions of an eventual Saliba / Diomande pairing that dominates everyone in a few years.

Clrnc

Yeah no issue with CBs and GKs playing every minute. Their intensity is very low and they don't need to clock as many high intensity sprints as all the other positions.

samthegooner

I definitely wouldn't grab another defender prior to addressing a CM, winger and likely developmental striker first - just want to make that clear. I don't want to spend money on redundancy if we still have real needs.

samthegooner

There are more Isak rumors this morning. I doubt he will be available this summer but it certainly feels like he's our number one priority in terms of seeing if there is any chance of prying him away and then if there isn't, moving on to other targets quickly. I like the approach if that is true because Isak has it all and looks to be the best 9 in the PL at the moment, with really his only weakness being availability.

Qwiss

Isak would be unbelievable for us. Guys so silky.

samthegooner

He's incredible and he's also gotten a lot better over the last two years. His acceleration into space is insane yet he still has the very close dribbling of someone far smaller. I don't think it's realistic as I doubt Newcastle will entertain letting him go unless he pushed for it but he would be the dream.

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