Jesus injury just a bitter sting in the tail now! by Shenel
Things were really going swimmingly for Arsenal so far this pre-season, with the way we have been in the transfer window and the preparation we have done for the new season there is no doubt it’s hopefully going to be another exciting one. .
The team looks good, content and they all seem like they are gelling so quickly, but as always with Arsenal, with so many positives has to come a negative.
And so news on Gabriel Jesus’ new injury and him having had a small procedure, as confirmed by manager Mikel Arteta, has rocked the boat a little as he will now be out for “a few weeks” which in Arsenal terms can be expected to be a few months.
All along I have said we need a new striker this transfer window.
Forget Eddie Nketiah and the rest, regardless of the injury and the players we have already, we should be in the market for a new striker.
This team is good, but it is not good enough to challenge without a top and well experienced striker.
I know we won’t get an Erling Haaland but we need something around that level and at this point I would say age doesn’t matter!
So why can’t we go in for Dusan Vlahovic? He is available and clearly wants to leave Juventus and I think he would be a good addition to our squad.
If we don’t get a striker before the window closes I don’t think we will have enough to go all the way and win the league this season as I don’t see any prolific goal-scorers in the side although the goals can be shared I doubt it will be enough.
But as I always say I like to be proved wrong and if we don’t get a new striker and we do manage to go all the way, then I will eat my words!
Shenel Osman
@sh3n3l_
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Or just rely on Nketiah, Balogun, Trossard and Havertz to lead our front-line, although this plan could lower Balogun’s value if he doesn’t get enough minutes or if he doesn’t perform well
I’m not sure about Vlahovic wanting to leave Juventus. He’d likely cost more than £70m, because of his contract length
Gai, If Arteta gets his formation right, not having a target CF makes Arsenal unpredictable. We are going to miss GJesus because he has improved his holdup play in pre-season and he has a good work ethic as a team player. My fear is the trio of Matinelli+ Odegard+ Saka and including Trossard are all dimunitive to challenge physical defensive backline in epl.
Arteta would most likely stick to 3-2-4-1 formation when we have the ball
Buy! Buy! Or bye-bye!
Happy to see you Shenel, appreciate the light you had shed on the “new world cup style injury time added procedures” that will feature next season.
The case you have argued for a new striker is a very valid one, despite Jesus becoming an immediate hit, scoring within seconds of his first performance in a friendly in Germany, his exploits in the league were restricted due to a serious knee injury.
Jesus gets into the correct positions but just needs that ruthless touch, what he has brought is a serious boost to the collaboration in the front line.
The Brazilian has never been and never will be a 20 goal per season striker. Vlohovic and Cancelo Romas are now is the time to make that move for that attacking bully and complete the jig saw puzzle.
My opinion? MA doesn’t like No.9’s similar to Pep a couple of years ago until Haaland arrived at a ridiculously low fee of £51m. His scoring rate was so phenomenal he literally forced Pep to play him, and now he alongside Dias, de Bruynne and Rodri are the first names on the teamsheet. There are no Haalands around at the moment and if there were, the fee would be £150m+. I think MA will persevere with similar tactics to last season but we do need an upgrade on Nketiah in my view. Now with Jesus out again with a knee problem, our chances of winning the EPL have reduced because our closest rivals are all strengthening their teams. It’s going to be tougher than last season.
I wonder now if this will be an ongoing problem with his knee, and just like Zinchenko it will be a stop, start season for the two. Not convinced about Eddie as I feel he doesn’t suit our style and would probably thrive elsewhere. The season starts soon and I would expect from our first five games we should get maximum points as we need to do what we did last season and hit the ground running. I am looking forward to the season and for me Trossard will be the outstanding player this season for me with Timber and Rice
Funny how fans are so ready to criticise Nketiah, who along with Partey was our best player last night.The solution to the injury to Jesus is simple in that we retain Balogun to support EN, and Trossard who is very similar to the Brazilian in many respects.
Not a criticism, just my observation, I feel he simply doesn’t suit our style of football, but we will see in time, If I am proved wrong then I will be the first to say well done, but I have seen enough of him to feel he would be better off elsewhere
This is a sincere question from me ?
Is Vlahovic exactly prolific❓
How many goals did he score for Juventus last season?
Maybe it’s just me not well educated about this guy…I don’t rate him
We need a striker the question is who will really be that top quality that we have all been talking about that is in the market right now…
*Pls don’t mention kane
Exactly my thoughts that if he’s so prolific like some of our fans make him to be, how come clubs like Bayern are ready to break the bank for good old Harry Kane and PSG have just bought that guy from Benfica.
Arteta just needs to ease Jesus comeback and play with other players in the striker’s namely Trossad and give a chance to Florian as I am sure will be itching to proof that he can play when called upon.
No need to eat your words @Shenel; eat Rice instead. We would be a lot better off speaking to Brentford about striker James Toney instead of their goalie.
Couldn’t agree more with Rfrancis, I have said it , like a broken record, that Ivan toney fits the bill and not getting thier keeper to come and sit on the bench
Nothing to worry about, we are good to go.
I recall that game under Wenger where we were out muscled by Athletico for the absence of a powerful center. This tactic MA plays looks good but it seems to me we need some variations in capacity for a long season to come. Jesus is quality and he has his style of play, but this is no excuse for not having another style. I think the easy solution is to keep Balogun or go for a decent power forward. Honestly, I am still not convinced of our 65M spending on Kai Haverts, that money could have been deployed more effectively somewhere else. For years, Wenger refused or was unable to strengthen our defense. Now MA seems to overlook the forward department. Or maybe fans’ desire to strengthen every department is fundamentally wrong in the playbook of a professional coach. I hope I am wrong and I look forward to an exciting season for our beloved team.
It seems that Inter Milan are interested in both Falogun and Tommy.
Inter have a really good forward, Lautaro Martinez.
Could we not offer them an exchange for either of the above, plus a few Shekels for Martinez?
Just a thought!
Arteta should include balogun for Dusan vlahovic deal as he want to leave Juventus, that guy can score 20 goals a season that’s the kind of striker arsenal need not relying Eddie Nketiah that will miss 5 chances out of 7 or 8 chances.
Jesus will be out max 2 months. He is known physical figure so he will hit the ground running once available. So I think we should rely on backup strikers in Nketiah and Trossard until Jesus comes back. Buying new players everytime first team players injured short term is stupid.
I think Arteta doesn’t want a prolific striker per say in the mould of haaland. He wants to have goals from all over the pitch which if executed well and players rotated well can be a very difficult thing to defend against. Last season, we didn’t have enough quality rotations up front, down to injury as well. Now we have pretty good attacking roster. I can see Arteta going for someone like Kudus or Lindstorm than a Striker this summer, considering Jesus injury. And we have havertz now who can make those invisible runs in the box and provide a target for crosses and headers. Also with Rice we have a good headers of the ball and tall ones. I can see Arsenal play for more corners this seasons and also Tierney getting good chances to deliver crosses in the box. Also, we will be a huge threat from set pieces this season. I like what Arteta is going for, not relying on a single prolific striker for goals but having multiple threats from everywhere, which made Arsenal so hard to defend against last season. I think Arteta wants to build on it more this season with more varied players available to rotate.