Transfer Window report card: top 6

With the transfer window closing tomorrow, what are your thoughts on how we are shaping up ahead of the new season?

City 7/10 didn't really need anyone, bought Mahrez who is a top addition. Got some great new young players coming through.

Liverpool 8/10 really strengthened in midfield and finally have a competent 'keeper

Chelsea 6/10 new goalkeeper, a few midfield arrivals. Remains to be seen how they'll adjust to the league.

Man United 4/10 desperately poor window for them at a time when they should have by rights, been taking it by storm. Not much to speak of.

Tottenham 3/10 in terms of transfers, zip. Not sure what game Levy is playing at.

Arsenal 6.5/10 Started well, good early signings and addressed key areas but we lack a competent winger and are still light in a few defensive positions. Not challenging for the league this season, I fear, but this is going to be a slow rebuilding process so knuckle down and prepare for the ride.

 

Liverpool did well, although they spent a ****ing fortune.
City didn't really need anybody, Mahrez is quality though
Chelsea, not convinced at all. £71m for a keeper nobody has heard of, really ?
Utd, utter ****. Silly money on Fred who will flop in the PL. Maureen moaning and probably with good reason tbh
Spurs

As for us. I think we've done well with the budget given. Would still like to see another CB and a winger. But we might have to wait for that. Overall, pretty happy though.

 

I think we've done okay - better than expected - but not enough to challenge for the title. Although I'm guessing that given we've dropped out of the top 4 in the last couple of years, the title wasn't our primary objective.

Stephan Leichsteiner - a good option to have. Even at 34, he's no slouch, he's intelligent, a serial winner and Bellerin can learn a lot from him. He is also good enough to provide cover if needed.

Bernd Leno - I'm still on the fence about him. It was good to see management identify that the goalkeeping position was an area which needed to be strengthened. But I'm less certain over the player they've chosen to bolster us. Leno made the second most goalkeeper errors last season and he appears to be a bit flappy at crosses. Over the last couple of years, Bundesliga fans say he's stagnated, so that's not encouraging. That being said, he's young enough to still improve and by all means, I trust Emery to get him to a good level again.

Lucas Torreira - probably the best signing we've made. An aggressive, tough and energetic central midfielder who will screen the back four and break up play. Very similar style to Kante. I think we've got a real player on our hands here.

Sokratis - again, I'm not convinced by this one. Didn't impress me in pre-season when he was getting turned and outmaneuvered by Boreham Wood players. He wasn't great last season at Dortmund either (although not many players were, so I will cut him some slack). I've seen enough of him to know that he has the attributes to be an important defender for us, but I am concerned about him being partnered with Mustafi given that they both adopt a similar style of defending. His lack of pace may be an issue too.

Matteo Guendouzi - For a mere £8m, I think this could be a real coup. Not expecting a lot to begin with as he's only 19, but he looks comfortable in possession, has a great passing range, isn't afraid to make challenges and covers ground well. Impressed with the kid.

What I will say is our squad looks in better shape than it did last season and I can't envisage Emery doing any worse than Wenger last year.

I still think we need 4 more players - a left-back, a centre-back, a winger and a deep-lying midfielder - to be able to challenge for the league, but it doesn't seem like we have the funds for these positions.

I'm not writing off our chances before the season starts, and I'm hoping Emery can drastically improve some of our existing players from last season, but if we go into the league season with this exact squad, and factoring in how far we may go in the Europa League, I expect us to finish 5th.

 

Guendouzi looks like the real deal. If Emery can get them playing well together then I think him and Torreira could be a brilliant MF pairing. Might take a while to gel though.

What I really like about Guendouzi is that when we don't have the ball he drops right back between the CB's to form a 3 man line in the middle, then when we get the ball back in DF he's available from the CB position. He'll then turn and accelerate bringing the ball into MF in one swift move. I much prefer that, than seeing our CB's passing sideways to the fullbacks who are then pressed into giving the ball away. Or the CB's coming forward and looking for a pass out.

 

Definitely been the standout player of preseason. Rough around the edges, but give him time and he could be world class.

 

I agree, I'd prefer to see him starting with Torreira in a midfield pivot - but then that more or less spells the end of Elneny at Arsenal, who had just signed a new contract a few months back. And what would happen to Xhaka? As he too signed a new contract a month or two ago (which, for the record, wasn't the right decision in my opinion). I'm not sure how he'd take being a regular starter for two seasons to then being dropped for a 19-year-old midfielder from the French second division.

Which is why I think Guendouzi may not be given a starting berth straight away...

Who knows though?

 

I don't think he'll go straight into the starting XI (although on his pre season from he probably should) I think he'll be in the squad though and he'll get games. He'll probably start in Carabo Cup and FA cup games and I'd imagine he'd get games in the group stages on the EL. If he does well (which I think he will) then Emery might not be able to leave him out.

As for Elneny and Xhaka. Both decent enough without being great. They are good players to have in the squad. But I wouldn't have been upset to see either or both of them go (as long as we signed a replacement)

Also wouldn't mind seeing Elneny play at CB. He's played there before and done okay. He's quick, defensive minded and pretty good positionally.

 

It'll be interesting to see how they improve under Emery. Elneny wasn't doing too well under Wenger and neither was Xhaka, so maybe we will see one of them come good. But overall our midfield has improved with the new new additions.

 

I have to be honest, I think we have done very well.

It really depends whether you thing the defence at Arsenal has been crap for 12 years, and we haven't signed a single decent player in that time, or if you think Wenger's tactics were too attacking, and put too much strain on the defence. In my view it was the latter. Too many crosses were put in un-opposed, too many wingers and full-backs got around the back and too many midfielders were able to play passes over the top without pressure. We know that many defenders we sold with a reputation of being crap during those times went on to solid careers abroad.

What we had to do is sign more combative midfielders. Playing a front 4 of Aubamayang, Ozil, Mihkitarian, and Ramsey, is going to give you a lot different look away from home, when you can't go balls to the wall. Put 2 of Torreira, Xhaka, Guendouzi, or Elneny behind them and you have the makings of a very stingy defence, whoever they are.

Cech was also a weak link and Leno is a quality upgrade on him.

If Emery is doing what we all hope he is doing, then the defence has to start with a clean slate. Upgrading the midfield and goalkeeping was the priority.

 

I think our transfer window was successful simply because we got our business done early - can’t remember last time we did that.

One thing that is starting to worry me, is there are more and more clubs outspending us. (And these arnt just top 6 clubs mind you). Mix that with the fact kroenke is now going to take arsenal private and I am more than slightly concerned about our future...

 

I think the management brought in specialist scouting guy Minislat and transfer guru Sanllehi to help us keep costs down. We will see more and more rough diamonds being found rather than big money transfers like Ozil or Abamayang. Kroenke isn't a stupid dude, he's in for the money and will look to maximise his Arsenal investment.

 

I really don't get the hate on Kronke. I would much rather he was in charge than a Russian Billionaire. We may not be able to compete with massive private wealth, but there is a lot to be said for stability. He runs Arsenal like a business and that is fine by me. The trouble with being a billionaire's toy is when they get tired of you they just throw you away.

 

Kronke is a billionaire. What does Nationality have to do with anything?

 

If we go back to the model of rough diamonds and no big-name signings, we are in serious trouble.

Football is moving on and clearly it’s just more and more money being pumped into the game with no end in sight.

The fact Fulham have spent £100m says it all. United matches our entire net spend with just one player.

I will remind everyone that we are a top 10 club in world football in both income and support. Drifting into mid table obscurity is not good enough for this club. I know mislintat made Dortmund competitive in a similar situation, but the premier league is just a much more competitive league.

I really do think it’s spend or get left behind...

 

Nationality has little to do with it, but oil does. Kronke doesn't have money lying around to just plough into his clubs like the Saudis or the Russians do. All his money is tied up in investments. Which means he runs them as businesses. The problem with Abramovich or the Saudis is that they can lose interest and just not invest in the club if they get bored.

 

Not a big fan of Abramovich but he's done the business for Chelsea. He has invested heavily in them and brought a lot of success on the pitch. He's also stuck with them for many years, making them one of the best run clubs.

Same with City, they have been taken over and been invested in heavily, giving the fans something they would never have seen.

As for Kroneke, what exactly has he brought to the club other than riding on Wengers success and reputation. He took over an already successful club with one of the best managers in the business. You could have put a statue in charge and we would still be in the same situation. All credit goes to Wenger.

 

I get what you are saying but Kronke has previous history of doing exactly what you are talking about to other sports Clubs he has invested in.

Meanwhile Abramovic seems to have done a decent job at Chelsea and look at City. They have Guardiola managing them!..

I'm not convinced Kronke has our interest at heart - I think he will try to keep us in the Champios League for the next few years without heavily investing - then sell the Club when he can make a decent profit as I expect EPL teams net worth will continue to rise.

 

I think you are having trouble fitting Kronke into your already formed opinion. If he is only in it for the money, then he is motivated to succeed, just like the fans are. For a different reason perhaps, but I don't see how you think he only wants to make a bit of money keeping us in the CL, but doesn't want to make loads of money by winning things. It just doesn't fit the paradigm you are trying to slot him into. Either he is a greedy money grabbing investor or he isn't.

He is careful with his money and wants to see a return on his investments, and I accept that there are billionaires that don't care if they lose a billion dollars on their club, but I don't see how that makes him want to win less. I would think it would make him want to win more. You can argue that it makes him more risk averse, and I buy that, which is probably why he stuck with Wenger so long.

There are a lot of big clubs that are not run by billionaires even if they have billionaires as majority shareholders, and they can be successful, without large donations of private money. I think it sucks that FFP doesn't work and small clubs with small support can buy their way to success. However, I don't want a draft or a franchise system like the USA either. And if Leicester can win the league, any club can. I don't think Kronke is deliberately limiting our success, because I just don't see how that aligns with his goals, even if you have the most negative opinion of him.

 

Trust me, you aint the only one who raised an eyebrow at this.
£71m for a goalkeeper full stop is a ****ing pisstake.
Unless maybe it was De Gea or Neuer, but one I had never heard of?

By all accounts he is good. Madrid were in for him before they decided on Courtois so he must be decent, but still......

Jorginho however, looks to be an awesome signing. Great in pre-season and against Huddersfield.
He needs to be tested against better opposition though, before we can really judge, so his game against you guys will be interesting.
That loanee Kovacic is supposedly awesome aswell, but we will see.

 

Yeah Jorginho looks like the real deal. Looks like he's going to slot straight into PL football. Do not know where that deal for your keeper came from though ? At £71m you want him to be ****ing outstanding guaranteed, it's a big risk that might pay off, but it's an eye watering amount of money.

I'm expecting us to be better next week against your lot. Yesterday was very much an untested team, thrown in right at the deep end. And whilst we were comfortably beaten, we didn't fold like we did against them under Wenger and I saw enough to understand what Emery wants from this team. I'd expect our forwards to be a bit sharper and our overall play to be a bit more incisive, but let's be honest here, this is a long term project for us.

Arsenal fans need to be realistic, this season is just the start of something new and we shouldn't have massive expectations. I just want to see us apply ourselves and get the new philosophy and tactics ingrained in the players. Top 6 and no worse than last season will be a decent season for us this year.