Summa 26 TW: Page 24 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Summa 26 TW

Phil

Not sure if he'd work hard enough off the ball to fit in for Arteta.

TambourineMan

Phil but that's gonna be true of most game winners and we need to be able to accommodate at least one in our XI. you could argue Palmer is not good enough to make those accommodations for and that's fair but we could do with one guy in the XI who is 'free' from those duties like Haaland is at City, Salah at Liverpool etc.

RowJimmy

The bigger issue with Palmer is that his best position is Saka's position and Saka is better than he is. We don't need a 120M£ left-footed RW/ right-sided 10. We already have 2, maybe 3 excellent to great players of that description. For the money he would cost we need to be getting someone who is indisputably better than anyone we have at their position.

CPM

I definitely think we need another CM, we have played Zubi and Rice into the ground this season and they will both be prominent in the World Cup. Yes I'm thrilled that MLS looks like he can play there, but we also need a fourth option. Merino isn't it – he is best in a more advanced position, too slow to play CM but arguably the most clinical player on the team.

I'd be excited about Kroupi or Alvarez, but I just don't think we're buying a center forward. And don't think that's our big weakness – Gyökeres, Havertz, Merino is a pretty good rotation if you ask me, assuming the club trusts the fitness of the latter two. It's really 'magic men' at AM and on the wing that we're missing – the likes of Cherki, Doku, Semenyo. We have Saka and a mercurial Eze who floats in and out of games, and that's really it.

The elephant in the room is Ødegaard. Obviously appreciate his contributions from 22-24 so much, but he has looked miles off it for two seasons now. He cannot be the most advanced midfielder in a three, final third creativity just isn't his instinct. Can he reinvent himself as a deeper-lying player, a la Modric? Might he actually be sold?

MistaT

Claudius my concern with Alvarez is less to do with him or his output. More so, I’m worried that Arteta has clearly over away from playing in Zone 14 which seems to be Alvarez’s sweet spot. Further, he’s not much involved in challenging CBs or running channels, so we may see ahead even more into the Horseshoe of Meaningless Possession with him as our CF.

I would kill for Luis Suarez (of old) as our CF. We need someone of his profile, 6 foot ish, thick and equal parts tricky, aggressive, and clinical.

Alvarez is two of the three but lacks the size to provide aggression. He’d be fun in a 3-5-2, and would live that formation with our team, except it would lessen Saka’s impact.

Claudius

MistaT my concern with Alvarez is less to do with him or his output. More so, I’m worried that Arteta has clearly over away from playing in Zone 14 which seems to be Alvarez’s sweet spot

Disagree with this. When we look good, we are progressing the ball on both wings and getting players rotating into the center. Look at the data from Fulham. We had 38 zone 14 touches. I think a lot of this was driven by just having an effective left wing from Calafiori and Trossard but also Eze and Gyokeres running vertically and horizontally to pull players central. We don’t have an aversion to Zone 14. We just need our best players on the field moving the ball well

Panda

LW and CF and whoever they fancy in defence as they can't help themselves there.

I'm in the no midfield upgrades. Arteta needs to work with what he's got there which is plenty.

Instead they will sell our prized academy talents to fund a CM which would make me very sad.

lorddulaarsenal

Not convinced by Alvarez

tazmania

Forgot he was playing today

CPM

He was pretty seriously hurt.

Mirth

Tbf as soon as he went off At Madrid had no attack

TambourineMan

Still he's the guy to get, think he'd excel in the role Trossard played yesterday.

banduan

he was barely running

lorddulaarsenal

Hmm maybe. Don’t think he’d give us much more than we have between Gyokeres, Havertz and Merino.

samthegooner

He definitely was not fit. There's no way they take him off when chasing a game if he's right. I disagree completely with lorddulaarsenal on him not giving us more than we have between those three though. What Alvarez gives us is something we still desperately need - a world class ball striker who can break a game open at any point with his shooting ability. He's also a very good connector who would thrive in a partnership with Gyokeres or Havertz IMO. I would agree that he's probably not the best option as a pure 9 but if we bring him in to replace Jesus and play across the frontline (LW at times, false 9 against certain setups, second striker with VG/KH), I am of the opinion that our attack would go up levels and look much more like we did in the beginning of 22/23 with Gabi Jesus before he got hurt.

Bernard Woolley

samthegooner Agree. I'd like to see a front four of Alvarez / VG, Havertz / Merino, Saka / Nwaneri, Eze / new player (OR Trossard) - something along those lines. More fluidity around the one central point of KH / MM.

lorddulaarsenal

Linked with Enzo Fernandez today. Probs houseboat but I’d take him

Meatwad

lorddulaarsenal
i just think it's outlets looking for clicks because chelsea need money and arsenal can't help themselves, so it just makes sense. the only positive is unlike havertz and madueke he isn't shit. but he is a racist shit, so why not.

tazmania

lorddulaarsenal where's the dislike button

Qwiss

lorddulaarsenal dirty little racists so no thanks.

TambourineMan whenever I've watched Chelsea he's been one of their best players. When he goes they'll be worse. Just don't want him here because of his personality.

TambourineMan

He's been shit this season and most Chelsea fans would be happy to get rid - so basically, he fits the profile of player we've been signing from Chelsea.

samthegooner

No thanks. He’s such an immature person and a brat on the field - always yelling at ex Chelsea players like a fake tough guy. He also lacks PL level athleticism. If we wanted a central midfielder with great passing range but subpar athleticism and defending, we should just get Wharton.

I would take Acheampong from Chelsea if they were forced to sell for profit (depending on price of course). He has such great potential as a right back with size.

Cannon

samthegooner Getting linked with Acheampong online. Apparently a lot of youth at Cobham want to leave and Acheampong is one of them.

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