Mikel Arteta: Page 7 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One more in the Tolly

Mikel Arteta

Gunner89

samthegooner I think the madueke maths is wrong his book value would be less than 40m

samthegooner

Gunner89 I thought so too- I found it on a site that was stating the first year amortization was lower but probably safe to assume its just evenly divided amongst the 5 years so it would be 38.8m now.

Gunner89

USArsenal

Nah norgaard is definite imo, he barely played at all

white, jesus, nelson, vieira too

and possibly leo

Mirth

Gunner89 Nah norgaard is definite imo, he barely played at all

Seems like Norgaard is a bigger influence in the dressing room though - almost like a player-coach. I doubt he's on significant wages and he certainly won't command a transfer fee so I reckon Arsenal won't sell him unless Norgaard pushes for it or they get a good fee (unlikely)

Burnwinter

We shouldn't thin our squad depth out much, we will benefit from it all the more in the league after a World Cup summer. With players like Ødegaard and Saka whose fitness struggles feed problems of form we should be planning how to protect them with alternates.

That's what Nwaneri and Dowman are lined up to be, so we should decide on loans or much more demanding first team rotations for those two early on. The question becomes "Can we start these guys instead of Ødegaard and Saka in league matches against the bottom half and win just as much?" If we can, we should. If we can't, loan them.

awooga83

Burnwinter yeah and in a similar vein one is the area I think we need to step up is to build a better attacking side to deconstruct lesser teams. At the moment we okay the same style and make even games against wolves, Burnley and West ham marginal at times which is exhausting as the team had to be focused the full 90 and risks what should be a big gulf in terms of quality in the balance where you can easily lose it drop points in games to those lower sides you should never really be allowing. So finding the players and having the confidence to be a bit more aggressive as an attacking side in those games is important and then allow you to rotate more.

Tam

If 49 49 Lewis-Skelly is genuinely considered as primarily a midfield option now, then Norgaard is a perfect squad option. He’s the 2026 El-Neny.

With that, I’d say the midfield depth is fine. Whether we have the perfect balance of attributes for how we want to play with the roles and responsibilities for the midfield 3 in an Arteta team is another question though.

Big questions for me over Odegaard’s future. Without him at his best, do we have anyone good enough that can knit the team together creatively and make it tick? I’m not sure. It all feels a bit functional rather than technical/creative in open play. Maybe that works better if we get elite technical attackers.

Claudius

Agree with those saying keep the core of the squad. The first two months of next season will be a disjointed mess due to World Cup injuries and fatigue. And this World Cup will have lots of injuries given many of the stadia are typically astroturf.
Also why guys like MLS, Dowman and Nwaneri are going nowhere. They will be vital early season when we are resting others

Gunner89

Good that even with a large WC contingent a fair few will be on the benches

Burnwinter

Gunner89 Feel pleased every time I remember Italy aren't going again. Calafiori ought to spend the summer getting his bones replaced with something stronger.

Panda

Gunner89 Yeah we thinking Trossard, Martinelli, Eze, Madueke, Raya, Merino? Zubi?

Would still leave Gabriel, Saliba, Rice, Saka, Hincapie, Odegaard, Gyokeres, Havertz, Timber playing majority of their countries minutes which is a goalie and a LW away from a full 11. Worrying.

JazzG

Burnwinter Adamantium?

Burnwinter

JazzG I'll take whatever's good if adamantium affects our transfer budget too much 😆

Meatwad

saliba, rice and saka are the real worries. the rest will be on vacation soon enough. after france's world cup win saliba will probably have a leah williamson type season.

JazzG

Hopefully Madueke can stay fit and let us ease Saka in and likewise Mosquera could hopefully cover some Saliba minutes. We have no replacement for Rice though.

awooga83

JazzG Madueke it's not really good enough though we will need better then that if we want to be able to rest Saka.

JazzG

awooga83 He covered for Saka at the start of this season and was fine. I don't think you will find better players who sit on the bench behind Saka.

awooga83

JazzG he did cover but he doesn't really add anything still an attacking side so it doesn't really help rest Saka as if he's fit you'll need to play him to win games. There are going to be players with better end protect and so far Saka himself hasn't looked nailed in with his own form.

Meatwad

the sad thing is the difference between 2025-26 saka and madueke isn't even that great.

Qwiss

Meatwad its huge.

JazzG

Sicario2 Agree with Madueke getting better, I think he will surprise a lot of people. Don't agree with Saka, I think Saka needs a proper rest and he'll be back. Hopefully the injuries haven't left a permanent mark against his physical abilities but that will only come clear once he is fully rested. Unfortunately the world cup has come at a bad time for him because ideally after the couple of seasons he has had he needed a proper rest but it is what it is.

awooga83 He did alright for us at the start of the season, his problem is he gets the decision making wrong but does a lot of things right up to that point. Of course the decision making part is the most important part so that is problematic but I think he'll improve. The fact that Arteta and England coach both rely on him speaks to his qualities.

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