There are six weeks to go before Arsenal play there first pre-season game in Singapore, but there are a few other tournaments this summer to give us our regular fix of Arsenal players in action, and to take our minds of the interminable transfer rumours!
Obviously Sanchez playing in the Copa America is the big one, or the Womens World Cup which will have loads of Arsenal players, but we also have the U21 European Championship which starts in two weeks time.
The two Arsenal representatives,Calum Chambers and Carl Jenkinson, should be able to help the star-studded U21 team to go very far in the competition. I reckon this is one of the strongest young England squads I have seen for a long long time, with players like Harry Kane, Danny Ings and Jack Butland and I think I will be betting on them to win to win the trophy to give the games more interest for me. The last I heard was that they were over 5/1….
Chambers has not figured too much for Arsenal since Xmas so should be fairly fresh, and he is looking forward to testing himself in his first big international Fnals. “It’s going to be a new experience, playing foreign teams in a tournament,” Calum said. “and the way and style they play is different so it will be an experience for all of us and one that we can learn from going into the tournament.”
“It will be a big challenge, it’s a big competition and very well-known and there’s going to be a lot of quality there,” he said.
“The lads are all really excited about it and we want to do as well as we can in it.”
Here is the Final 23-man squad:
Goalkeepers
Marcus Bettinelli (Fulham)
Jonathan Bond (Watford)
Jack Butland (Stoke City)
Defenders
Calum Chambers (Arsenal)
Luke Garbutt (Everton)
Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough)
Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal)
Michael Keane (Burnley)
Liam Moore (Leicester City)
John Stones (Everton)
Matt Targett (Southampton)
Midfielders
Tom Carroll (Tottenham Hotspur)
Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea)
Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Will Hughes (Derby County)
Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea)
Alex Pritchard (Tottenham Hotspur)
Nathan Redmond (Norwich City)
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Forwards
Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion)
Danny Ings (Burnley)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
England face Italy, Portugal, Sweden in Group B and are likely to meet the favourites Germany in the Final.
Top DM Arsenal Could go for.
I spoke to some Barcelona fans in spain and they said Krychowiak is by far the best DM in the world and the only guy that has constantly stop messi and neymar. So i looked at his stats and that of our other targets.
6 Dms Arsenal Could buy to take us to the next level.
1) Morgan Schiniderlin. (southampton . 26 years) 26 lg games last season £ 25 million
He is getting to his peak at just the right age. He is a great passer of the ball 86% passing accuracy and a he is hard as fxxxxxxx. The advantage with him is that he is premier league experienced and will fit our style. The disadvantage is that he has played for southampton all his life. No disrespect but playing for saints and playing for Arsenal or United are two completely different things. Ask the players that left saints last year.
2) Wanyama Victor. (saints . 23 years) 32 lg games last season £20 million
This guy is a beast. in terms of pure strentch he is a bully. he is very decipline and more decipline than Morgan who is great going forward. Wanyama just sits and does his defensive Job. When i see the way he talkes the ball from the likes of ozil santio and jack am like I want someone like him at Arsenal. Same positives and negaties like morgan.
3) Grzegorz Krychowiak. Seville Fc 25 (release clasuse £21.84 million) 30 million euro.
He is the only DM i have seen with better defensive stats than Coquelin. A barcelona fan told me he is a better and more mature version of Coquelin. lol they play exactly thesame way . They are great police officers and they control the boarder perfectly. This guy has got incredible speed as well. Which explains why he recovers alot of ball. skysport spanish pundit Guillem Balague says he is best Dm in spain and he is in the team of the season. No premier league experience may be a disadvantage. Funny enough seville got him for about £3 million and he is now winning them trophies.
4) KongDobia. (monaco) 22 years old. 23 games played. £25 million
another top quality Dm who has already given us and audition over both leagues. Just like the other 3 above he has a good height and great tacler and a good passer of the ball. he is just 22 years old which means the potential is immence. The disadvatages is that last season he was out for a very long time. he played just 23 league games. That is something we may consider and has no premier league experience.
5) Gianelli Imbulla (marseille) 22 years old. 37 games played . £20 million.
I am still very surprised he is not linked to us. he is lineked with mdrid Chelseas Spurs United and every big club there is. he is left footed and is a terrific midfielder. Technically he is probabbly the best in the list with his supirior passing of the ball. There are not many Dm’s with 90% pass accuracy and a most of them forward passes and yet been good defensively. this years he has been one of the success stories of the french league and has grown so much under biesla.
Alex witsel. (Zenith) 26 years old.
I have watched him for belgium and he is just a complete midfielder. But prices of £40 million are kinda scary so its better I don’t speak too much. lol
If you had to chose just 1 DM above. Who would you choose and why would you chose them?
No disrespect to your comment but have we not bought players from Southampton before who are all doing great? Bale, Walcott, the Ox, Chambers. I still rate lallana, shaw’s got big potential. Not sure if Schneiderlin is the best option but I wouldn’t question the quality of players who come from Southampton’s youth setup.
After Hearing the name Vidal as a possible transfer target for Arsenal. Yes not a DM but a Worldclass all round midfielder no one else for me quite matches up. There are some other great options who I wouldn’t be disappointed with but Vidal would be perfect.
Galen, i think Imbula was linked to us, was the first time i heard of him. I think your description of Witsel could have been said of Schneiderlin also. I have never seen Witsel play but i wouldnt go too much by someones asking price.. just like i wouldnt rate Sterling a 50 mil player just because liv believe he is… and the monies that Porto Benfica Barca set for buy out clauses are just ridiculous.
In answer to your question though, i would want/love to see us snag Kondogbia.
Kondogbia is a fine player but why does everyone presume he is available? is he down to a year in his contract? are Monaco offering him up?
@ AlanFrank I totally get your point.
am sorry it took bale and wallcoott about 4 years to be established at both arsenal and spurs. I never said the players from saints are bad. But saint to Arsenal is a very big step. Its a different type of pressure. Callum chambers said its a different world. That was the word he use. Luke shaw said thesame thing. Walcott has been at Arsenal for 10 years .
I want someone to hit the ground running. next year is operation title challenge. I wont be happy with 3rd and 4 th position next season.
Every player has got negatives and positives. I just said coming from saints could be a negative as the pressure is different. But so every player. Its their job to beat the challenges. Just like I can say coming from Italy and spain is a negative cause you need moretime to adapt than normal. yet players like sanchez and cazorla has shown it doesn’t mater.
A DM +we are good to go.
Champions league final, Copa America some great football to look forward to this month. International friendlies / qualifiers & the u21 should be good too. Not too bothered about women’s football although it would be good to see a woman good enough to play in the men’s league one day. By the time that’s all over it’ll be pre season time.
I like chambers think he was overused a little bit at the start of the season he played so much football also getting called up to the England squad. Crazy to think he’s barley featured since Christmas & he’s still played more minutes this season than Bellerin. I think he’ll become a top centre back or possibly a DM and his versatility is a massive asset to him and should ensure him game time while he’s developing. Not a natural right back but did a very good job at the start of the season.
Jenks has also had a great season I think another loan for him this season then he’ll be good competition for the right back spot.
Hope chambers partners stones with jenks at right back could be a great future line up for England.
All not as great as watching Arsenal play. not even the worldcup beats watching Arsenal for me. Already looking forward to pre season games.
Cant argue with that, even the author has mentioned how he will throw money down the drain in order to gain excitement.
Also i love when the Arsenal have all Gooners in top spirits, just reading all the comments after FA cup win had me buzzing. Never felt the need to reply to anyone as everyone where full of praise… Awesome, cant wait to get that Title win.
FA cup stole the show this year IMO. Bradford beating Chelsea then Middlesboro beating City. us beating United and Villa hammering Liverpool built up the FA cup so well. and the final had everyone purrrring not just our fans.
league this year became boring. but like mourinho said you can’t blame just Chelsea for that. it just wasn’t exciting like last year.
What channels will the cops America shown on
It will be a good tournament many of them had great world cups and they play with pace and high intensity
Some crackers will be seen and lots of goals !
Does anyone know if Spain are in the competition (can’t believe they aren’t) and if Bellerin is in their squad.
No sapin are not there. So Bellerini and cazorla will be well rested The only country out of south America that gets invited to the Copa america is Mexico . mexico is in north America together with the USA and Canada.
he is talking about the under 21s
My country Jamaica will be in there too I dread playing against messi
England have a strong side .. Great players in that squad .. Manager always messes around with the team .. Go out attacking side and we can do some damage
southgate is a good guy. I have a lot of respect about the way he carries himself. I like his selection and I like the way he wasn’t fussed by sterling and shaw deselecting themselves.
Somewhat OT but I genuinely believe that this is the most important off season in the history of Arsenal football club. The additions of Ozil and Sanchez over the past few summer windows have displayed Le Profs willingness to sign Top Top players when available and successfully made the Emirates a more attractive destination for the worlds best players. The emergence of Le Coq, Nacho, and Hector this season, supplemented by the return in form of Ramsey, Jack and Theo have IMHO left Arsenal only a few AFFORDABLE pieces short of being a futbol powerhouse, both in the EPL and Europe.
If AW opens the ol checkbook and signs one of follwing @ each position Arsenal will rival any club in the world
CF: Benzema, Lacazette, Higuain
DM: Kondogbia, Krychowiak, Wanyama, Imbula
GK: Cech
If the club is able to sell of Podolski, Campbell, Jenkinson, and a few other deadwoods, than a 50-60 million dollar investment is required. IMHO money VERY WELL spent
Best of luck to them!! Hope they gain some valuable experience.
I agree completely
This summer’s business will determine if we can challenge for the PL. We still ended 12 points behind Chelsea even though we were 3rd place.
Good News is that we need only 2-3 players
DM, CF and a third LB (unless we have someone in Academy). If we got Cech as well that would be fantastic
We need A second striker of better quality than Giroud (who is still excellent) but Welbeck and Akpom won’t cut it For CF.
DM- Is important because Coquelin is the only good one we have and need another who is equally good or better.
Vidal is not a DM BUT is excellent on both defensive and attacking sides so would be a good alternative to Kondogbia, Schneiderlin, krychowiak, if we don’t get them
My choices would be Kondogbia and Lacazette personally. I think Kondogbia, lacazette and Cech would put us up there with Chelsea
Tough group for
England though
be interesting.
Young talented players, often yield the best return in the transfer market.