Erdogan would make an interesting choice of manager must be said. Bit dictatorial in his style though?
I'm loving the players we are being linked to this window. Ornstein claiming we are in negotiations to sign Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Jean Seri. Finally signing 'proper' defender now that Wenger has left. This guy is awesome he's aggressive and decent on the ball. (also been Dortmunds captain this Season) Some outlets also claiming we are chasing Koulibali but Barca, United and Chelsea are also interested. A Koulibali / Socratis pairing would be incredible - but I would imagine its one or the other. Also Seri seems like an excellent Carzorla replacement. Again this makes me think Arsenal will be looking for a 'coach' rather than the traditional all encompassing manager role. It seems Minislat is in total control of transfers.
It is ironic that we have two defenders on whoscored premier league team of the season and yet the overwhelming majority of Arsenal fans think defence is the problem. Personally, I think the defence has been asked to do too much this season, and the stats reflect this. They are performing heroics, but just being asked to do too much. https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/2...s/15151/Show/England-Premier-League-2017-2018 (Click the seasonal button) I also don't think the transfer rumors are worth **** though. Except that we are looking for two new CBs to replace Kos and the BFG anyway. Kos is 33 in September and there is a 6 months recovery from a ruptured Achilles, I think he may be done.
We conceded 51 league goals and you dont think defence is the problem?? LOL I dont know what to say. Ask any non Arsenal fan what our side needs and they will reply CB's and DM. Mustafi is a poor defender. Koscielny is past his best.
Well, to answer your points: 1. No, I do not think that defence is automatically the problem, because you let goals in. In fact the modern day high-press was invented because it was discovered that midfield turnovers were the most common root cause of goals. Improving the defence should obviously always reduce goals against, but it may not be the most cost effective way of reducing goals against. 2. We did have a fan from another team on here and he agreed with me. He said that he thought our attacking midfielders and attackers did not contribute nearly as much to defence as other teams' do. 3. Mustafi is a poor defender in what regard? Certainly in any way that can be measured, as we can see from whoscored, he is actually one of the best defenders in England. And these statistics seem to work for other defenders everyone holds in high regard from other teams. You are claiming that the statistics work for everyone else, but have some sort of strange mathematical anomaly for Mustafi and Monreal alone? Or is it only all Arsenal players?
We don't defend as a team, there is no defensive structure whatsoever. There seems to be no plan or system for defending against certain types of teams either. We have basically winged it these past seasons. Whoever comes in will have to be tasked with completely changing our defensive strategy or else we risk more of the same next season.
Ahh statistics, the proof of every man that can't see things for himself. The statistics say that Valencia sacked 3 managers (one who should have known better) who picked Mustafi and ended up nearly getting realegated, the manager that sold him straight away got them back near the top of the league and is still there.
So what you are saying is that although there was no tangible material, or measurable effect that Mustafi had on the game, his very presence influenced the scoreline so that Valencia lost, like some voodoo curse? Ok let's look at that. In 15/16 with Mustafi, Valencia finished 12th with 44 points, letting in 46 goals. In 16/17 the next year without Mustafi, Valencia finished 12th with 46 points, which is bottom half, not near the top, and they let in 65 goals (that is some defensive improvement there) Mustafi must be really ashamed that they let in 19 more goals without him! This year they have done much better - let in a stingy 37 goals, and on whoscored their top 4 ranked players are midfielders, well who would have guessed that? Maybe a team's defensive performance depends as much on their midfield as their defence? Hey, you picked Valencia as an example not me.
1. I'm not gonna argue that we couldn't improve defensively just through tactical adjustments. Drilling correct pressing of the opposition etc.. would for sure reduce the number of goals conceded. I dont dispute that. 2. Put it another way - you think any City, Bayern, Chelsea, Tottenham, United fans would be excited to see their side sign Mustafi from us? (trust me they wouldn't and most Arsenal fans would be happy to see him go) 3. Defensively poor. Like I already said 51 goals conceded is horrendous. I feel Mustafi much like Gabriel/Squillaci and Vermaelen is physically too small to play alongside someone like Koscielny. Coming from a sports science perspective. If I were looking for defenders in this league, I would pay attention to vertical jump and height. Upper and lower body strength, explosive power and body size. (footballing qualities would come first - then physical attributes should be analysed) Koscielny is a lightweight (75kg), relatively short ball playing CB. IMO he should be paired alongside someone bigger and more robust. I dont like the fact people pretend football is a sport where size & athletiscm doesn't play a part. It's a contact sport and size, power, speed and strength are important factors. It's all too often over the last few years we have watched Kos/Mustafi/Squillaci/Gabriel getting pushed aside and bullied on the counter by bigger more athletic centreforwards. (go back and watch the Athletico Madrid game is you want reminding of this) On top of physical attributes there is also playing style. Both Kos and Mustafi are ball playing CB's - In that they naturally come forward with the ball and push high up the pitch. This can leave us open to counter attacks - the way to combat that would be a)signing a more traditional CB to sit alongside either Kos or Mustafi and b) having a DM sit and fall into the spaces created by the defenders coming forward. However we dont have that kind of player in the side. Xhaka's insticts are to go forward, Elneny is all over the place and Ramsey cannot sit still. Personally I would like to see us add a quality true defensive midfielder and also get a Koulibali type CB. Someone to add a little physicality to our back line.
ok ... "Both Kos and Mustafi are ball playing CB's - In that they naturally come forward with the ball and push high up the pitch." But this is how the Pochettino back line plays. So are you saying that no coach can possibly teach Mustafi the discipline to play in such a system ??
Anderwereild is 6'4 and 91 kg. (Kos is 6'1 anf 75kg) Vertonghen is 6'3 and 88 kg. (Mustafi is 6'0 and around 80kg) Those two can play in any defensive setup. They are good on the ball and big enough to just play as old school enforcers. On top of that they are playing with Wanyama (6'3 and 90kg) and Dembele (6'2 and 88kg) in front of them. Mustafi was always shifted around from CB to Fullback (Germany and Valencia) because he doesn't quite fit into either role. I feel like Mustafi would actually be best suited to playing in a back three.
Bear, I think you are a bit prejudiced against the muscularly challenged, with a bit of sizeism to boot. You keep on with that kind of hate speech, you are going to have to go into sensitivity training, maybe some counselling to get past your problem discriminating against people, who you feel are inferior, and don't measure up. We have to realize we are all equal, and yes some people are less fortunate than others in the height and muscle department, but that doesn't make them less human and words can hurt.
Arsenal close to appointing boss, next week likely. Start of continental model: head coach slots into predefined structure, will contribute to recruitment decisions & have veto. Transfer targets were discussed with interviewees, pre-sales budget ~£50m #AFC
If we could raise another 40-50 million through player sales, we can maybe have a decent summer spending.
Ha. I work in film now but used to be a strength and conditioning coach. (Rugby/Judo and some MMA athletes) .. yeah I'm a little prejudiced. Strong people dont put others down.... They lift them up and slam them for maximum damage - Nelson Mandela. #totallylegitquote
Im not sure I believe any of this stuff about a 50m budget. However two of the players we are reportedly in negotiations with Max Meyer (CM) and Sokratis (CB) are both out of contract this Summer and available on a free.
