Do we not have a player in the whole squad, youth and all, that has a job title of 'Striker'. From what I can see Jesus is our only striker. Havertz has been playing there, but he's not a striker by trade. Surely there is someone within our club that can make the step up. Nwaneri & MLS have been able to do it and Saka before them. We can't simply shoe horn a midfielder into that role, we need a guy that knows a strikers role. Age is but a number, look at the players down the years, for all teams, that were able to deliver at a young age. I fear we may now sit back in games instead of forcing it. The Bear is right, these next few weeks are our chance to close the gap and we still have to play Liverpool. Time to be brave and go for it.
I think Sterling is going to come to the fore now and smash **** up. He's going to hit double figures before end of season.... heard it here first.... :S
Well thats not an issue really. We play a false 9 and no matter how the British press fail to get their little minds around the Concept. The system works as many teams have proved.. I would like an upgrade on Havertz though - Sesko or Isak would be ideal. (probably take un upgrade on Martinelli as well) Liverpool do the same Jota and Gakpo are preferred even though they have Nunes in the squad - I bet he gets sold in the Summer.
Well we know Havertz and Jesus are out until next Season but any chance we will see this as a front three in the next few weeks? I feel like Nwaneri is the most obvious choice to play as a false 9. Martinelli--------------Nwaneri------------------Saka
If both come back, yes this would fit well. I would also like to see Martinelli given a go up top. Think he can break through the lines.
Nwaneri can go both ways quite confidently so I think he could work on the left. COuld down the line or cut inside onto his right foot. Those three could interchange quite well. Arteta has got to find a way to Nwaneri and Saka in the same team as there's no way one can be understudy to the other. Nwaneri is too good.
Weird Season this. Whereas the last 22/23 and 23/24 Arteta seemingly got most things right. He's certainly made more mistakes this Season. Firstly Odegaard injury took us down a path of experimentation where Arteta went more defensive - in truth it worked OK but we did drop some unnecessary points and lost some ground to Liverpool. I also think this transition from a low back BACK into our normal style cost us points as the team lacked attacking fluidity when we reverted back. Not reinforcing in January - clearly a mistake. Ok the market was **** and we didn't have a sporting Director.. but still bring in a striker. Im still very much in the ARTETA IN camp but I do think he's basically responsible for some of our biggest issues this Season. The major factor though has been injuries and I cant blame him for that.
I have to say Arteta is somewhat responsible for all the hamstring injuries we are getting. Gabriel, Saliba, Rice, Odegaard, Havertz and Saka never get rested and usually play 90 mins. Take yesterday as an example - we're 2-0, 70 odd minutes on the clock - Rice has just played 180 mins for England.. maybe bring on Jorginho? More rotation is needed to rest players.
Agreed 100%. It's always been a gripe of mine with him. He doesn't trust the wider squad enough, overplays first team players and then bemoans injuries when we get them. He needs to break this cycle because we can't always rely on our first 11 every single week, other players need to do their part too and they can only do this if they feel motivated/trusted by the manager.
THREE hamstring injuries in the same season that have been grade 3? Nah, this is insane - the club need to investigate this and figure out how this has happened so much. There's a 3% chance of a hamstring injury being a grade 3 and we've had 3 of those in one season. Not normal at all. And certainly not a coincidence. The club and management deserve a lot of criticism for this.
our squad is too thin and we've over relied on certain players. Gabriel had played 49 games already this season before his injury
Which would mean, max, 62 games if we got to CL final. Which for a CL final campaign is perfectly normal and what a top pro should expect and be able to cope with.
Interesting if this is true. Whoever would have predicted this being the case at the start of the season
Do we give Martinelli a new contract? I'm kinda on the fence. His form the last two seasons hasn't been the best, but then his role in the team has also changed since 2022/23 and it doesn't play to his strengths. Will we really see the best of him at Arsenal or does he need a move away? He's still young and has some great qualities though...I'm unsure.
