Eze: Page 12 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Eze

JazzG

I think that guy is reliable for spurs, there is a danger if we leave it too late others will pounce

flobaba

I mean they can pounce all they want. It will end up just like Gyokeres. Ultimately players go where they want to go.

JazzG

flobaba True but it depends on whether we actually make a move or not. A CF was high priority for us this summer, Eze seems to me more a cherry on top signing rather than someone the club may feel is needed?

Klaus Yeah in the past he has been reliable, can't remember if it was last summer or the summer before he got a few things wrong , these ITK do then get into a bit of a huff, get a bit embarrassed and disappear!

He's casting a bit of doubt on the deal as well, saying Glasner wants to keep him and Arsenal value him at £50m + addons, next week will be crucial as to whether this deal happens or not.

Klaus

JazzG he was right about Gyokeres

He was, and not just about the outcome but about details along the way that no one else reported, not even that ridiculous Hand who only seemed to show up once everything was done. I mostly kept it to myself because Dein seemed to fly well under the radar and never got quoted among other ITK:s, but I kept checking in on this guy throughout the summer and he was right about everything. Definitely has connections, and I don't think they're in the PR/agent end which is where most other ITK:s operate.

Either way, I reckon if Spurs show interest in Eze it might get us off the couch.

JazzG

Tam I don't question the need for someone of Eze's attributes in the left midfield/wing area, but I question the squad building that had got us here. In the last two years we've spent £100m on Rice, £30m on Merino, £60m on Zubimendi, £10m on Norgaard, and we're still looking at paying £50-60m on Eze because we don't have the right balance of attributes across the midfield. Of those players Merino looks the odd signing, disregarding his stellar striker phase last season, but we've paid £100m for Rice and we're talking about bringing Eze in a for more than half that again because Rice seemingly doesn't give us what we want/need there. I love Rice as a player and I'm not being critical of him or his skillset, but at times I have a hard time reconciling what the midfield is supposed to be, and he's a big part of that.

We have in that time also lost Partey, Xhaka, Jorginho, Elneny just off the top of my head so those players you list are probably replacements for them. We sold ESR last summer and will sell/loan Vieira this summer so there is another slot available for a more central attacking player. Eze has shown he can be really good from the left as well.

The main problem I have with Odegaard is he slows things down, takes these lovely silky touches and turns but we more decisiveness and we need more speed/power. He isn't very quick with the ball either so having someone who can just glide past players in that position would make a difference.

Burnwinter

JazzG I've shared my concerns about Odegaard in the past and my opinion doesn't seem very popular on this forum.

Ødegaard shouldn't be above criticism but his best periods at the club go along with sharing the pitch with Saka, White and a fit and firing Havertz or Jesus. He's spent way too much time rolling back for build-up to help us beat the press, or lacking the space to cook in the past season.

If he can't produce with better fitness and conditions we will get rid, but that'd be to admit he wasn't coming back right from injury. I also think Ødegaard's progress is existential for Arteta's whole project, certainly to date. If Arteta goes Ødegaard's days might be numbered and vice versa.

Qwiss

Burnwinter I also think Ødegaard's progress is existential for Arteta's whole project, certainly to date. If Arteta goes Ødegaard's days might be numbered and vice versa.

Not sure on the vice versa. I'd imagine most managers we'd be bringing in would be delighted to have Odegaard and would probably see ways to get more from him (this is in the event of him having a big flop seasons that sees Arteta go, which I think is highly unlikely).

Rohit

I am not sure about vice versa. I think a coach/ manager like Wenger extracts a lot more out of Odegaard. If I were to assume that Odegaard's right sided bias is inherent, which I don't think it is, having watched him for Sociedad in a couple of games, a manager that encourages expression of flair and freedom of movement across the width of the pitch for a player like Odegaard will simply see more return. I think Odegaard has in his best seasons here sacrificed a bit of himself for the team which is why I love him more.

Klaus

Rohit I think a coach/ manager like Wenger extracts a lot more out of Odegaard.

I think Wenger would have made him much more direct above anything else. There have been so many opportunities in preseason where Martin could have just put an early ball to a forward and it would have been a goal chance, but instead he holds it in until the opportunity is gone and then puts it on the left flank for Martinelli. Every single time. That's obviously an instruction and not an instinct, and I think it hampers him.

est

Klaus That's obviously an instruction and not an instinct, and I think it hampers him.

I agree.

From the evidence of last few seasons, I think Arteta's style of football has these priorities:

Team shape to be in best position to win the ball back when attack fails
Press to win the ball back
Fall back into a deep block and re-organize shape when press fails
When in possession keep it safe & force opposition deep
Wide player attacking full-back one vs one is the safest option for attack- it failing can still result in a corner or opportunity to press and win the ball back

I don't disagree that most of these are sound tactics and have helped us become a good team again, but there needs to be a cost-benefit analysis applied to these to see whether we would be better off at times actually dumping some of these priorities for better attacking fluidity and improved chances of scoring from open play.

For example #1 can make us static and predictable. It also stops us from creating overloads on the regular. Wenger's teams were the opposite, really fluid with players changing positions and moving all around.

#4 in combination with #1 is the reason we aren't as good on the counter these days. Of course there are occasions when we counter with intent, but there are a lot more instances when players are not busting the gut to make sure there are options for a forward pass and to keep the counter going. They clearly take the time in possession as time for recovering from pressing or hard work done off the ball when defending. Whereas true attack-minded teams light up once they get the ball.

I think Odegaard as the captain is the perfect embodiment of Tet-ball's strengths and flaws. He works super hard, presses like madman, keeps it tidy in possession and works it wide to mostly Saka or Martinelli when he's more central. What we could do with him doing more is taking it forward more aggressively by either passing or driving. Making more runs in behind/popping up in those half-spaces with the intent of creating a shooting/passing chance.

Burnwinter

est Great analysis, agreed on all of 1–5 as tactical constants for us. Players from other clubs have remarked regularly on the very fast collective defensive reformation we do when we miss the press. It shocks them. Only problem with your post is I think you've done a bit too good a job making Arteta's case for him.

est

Burnwinter Only problem with your post is I think you've done a bit too good a job making Arteta's case for him.

Hehe, more Haramball™ this season then. 🤤

Today's game against Athletic showed some really positive trends though:

Zubimendi speeds up our attacking play and finds quick and accurate vertical passes into our forwards/Martin and is able to play it over the top
Gyokeres makes great runs into channels and even Odegaard tried to force it through to him at times
Saka was taking up positions more central and making runs from inside to outside
Martinelli ditto positionally
Timber, Calafiori and White(who is the only one doing it regularly) had some nice overlapping runs and took up great positions that disturbed Athletics defensive shape
Havertz 2.0 is a beast and where the old version would have stopped, turned back and passed it wide, this absolute unit just bullied his way all the way to the goal and smashed it in

Arteta isn't a stupid man. I'm sure he doesn't want to produce Haramball™, he just wants to win. I really hope that with the added quality, he can finally unlock the final form of this team which is as good offensively as it has been defensively over the last few seasons.

banduan

JazzG Teamnewsandtix has been wrong on most things this window.

I don't trust that as coming from Teamnewsandtix

lorddulaarsenal

Yeah look after our Berta guys.

tazmania

Watching Eze in the community shield against LiVARpool. I forgot how tidy he was on the ball, almost never loses it

flobaba

tazmania and even more importantly, almost always does something positive and creative with it.

tazmania

Then he missed his penalty 🤣

flobaba

tazmania that's okay, he won't take them here - that's Odegaard's job!

lorddulaarsenal

Reading an article that Tet intends to use Eze as one of the three in a 4–2-3-1

#karmakarmachameleon

CPM

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