I can’t criticise the Kroenke’s families investment in Arsenal in the last couple of years. I can question their motives and believe it took them way too long, but our owners finally showed some ambition. Yes, we had to fall to the depths of 8th place finishes for them to act, a PR strategy after trying to take us out of the League.
The Declan Rice transfer was very un-Arsenal like. We identified a target and were able to compete for one of the best, both in terms of fees and wages.
It left many of our fanbase believing that would be the norm and we would do something similar this summer for an Isak or Osimhen.
As I write this there is still over three weeks to the transfer deadline, yet I’m getting increasingly worried we might not get the striker I believe that could be the final piece in our puzzle.
Yet Edu and Arteta have learnt over time the advantages of getting your business done early. Man, City have set such a standard that rivals can have little room for error.
Starting your season with your squad not finished could be the difference between you being Champions or not.
Edu surely would have spent months identifying targets and talking off the record?
That, after all, is his job, something he gets paid thousands of pounds a week to do.
To be just over a week before kick-off and have the same attack as the last campaign is a worry.
There are not loads of options that exist, but enough that we could have taken advantage of. That we haven’t tells me the money may not be available unless we raise our own funds.
That’s not a criticism.
Like January, it’s been very evident this summer that most clubs are sensitive about breaching FFP rules. The advantage to that is more of our peers will have assets they want to offload but can no longer ask for over the odds.
As much as I want the Gunners to be successful on the pitch, I would never want them to gamble with our future. If there is not enough money in the cookie jar, I can accept that.
Maybe all parties are waiting for that one big deal that starts a domino effect?
To clarify, I acknowledge that the team managed more goals in the Prem than ever before in our history last season. No one is doubting their quality.
What you have to understand though is the levels that Pep Guardiola has set.
We are attempting to finish above a machine who have won the title in 4 consecutive years.
So however good we have been, we need to find a way to be even better.
If you don’t want to take me seriously, listen to our manager who has asked us not to accept second.
There are Gooners who won’t hear any criticism towards their club. They think to do so makes you less of a supporter.
They will tell you we have the best attack, best defence and best manager. Yet will fail to explain how that equates to finishing runners up.
I grew up associating Arsenal as a team who, even when struggling, would always make chances.
You will see under Arteta, an increase in how many games we fail to score in.
Last season we failed to breakdown Aston Villa in either fixture. We also failed to get on the scoresheet at the Etihad and Saint James Park.
We were knocked out of the Champions League after failing to breach Bayern Munich in Germany and the FA Cup after incredible misses Vs Liverpool.
Even mentally, Man City having a Haaland makes a difference knowing that even when you’re not playing well, you have a 30-season goal scorer starting.
Do you think Arsenal will sign a striker?
Will that decide the title race?
Dan
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I definitely do believe we could win the PL without signing a striker.
Last season saw us with the best defence in the league and we have reinforced that, with the signing of Califiori and the return of Timber.
We have Partey returning to full fitness alongside Rice and, hopefully, that area will also be reinforced in the coming days.
Then we look at the number of goals we scored last season, with the same players as we have at the present time, bar ESR.
There is no doubt we have the players who can open up any defence.
Of Dan’s four examples, the only one we didn’t score against home or away, was villa and, in both of those games, we should have had the games settled in our favour by half time.
As MA has said, we need to be “ruthless” in front of goal and that’s the area where I think he’ll work on.
Of course, if we sign a top forward, that will make winning the PL easier, as we’ll have a plan B, but we need to convert the chances that are being created every game.
That’s where Nwaneri comes into the reckoning and I expect him to be a regular substitution this coming season.
Agree, and I expect both Myles and Nwaneri to feature regularly. Both have shown they are ready to step up to the big stage.
And as you mentioned, we didn’t fail to break Villa’s defense, we just couldn’t convert. That match could have been won in the first half; we created so many good chances.
But I see a very different picture from our forwards this preseason, especially last game. Ambitious shots from afar and not always wanting to pass the ball to the net. Our forwards need that tweak in their attack, more attempts and more power behind shots.
I think, with Calafiori and possibly Merino, teams can’t double down towards our right side as religiously as they did last season. That will definitely open up more attacking routes for us on both sides.
Neither will feature regularly
How do you know that ?
Call it a hunch lol
So just a hunch then, rightho loooool.
I’ll remind you when I’m proven correct
Let’s say neither start 10 League games ?
Another hunch ?
So now you’ve gone from feature to start in the PL 😂😂😂
What do you think featuring regularly means lol ?
Well it could mean CL and domestic Cups loooool.
They wont start in CL either lol
So if your saying they will only start in the Cups , that’s not featuring regularly
What a long way around to say …your correct Dan
Don’t tell me, it’s another hunch 😂
It’s called knowledge mate
I’ll remind you when neither play regularly in the Prem and CL lol.
Look forward to you eating humble pie loooool.
Well we can do this
Every week I do my predictions we will keep a tally of if they have started
And we sill see who’s right or wrong lol
So let’s start with Wolves and see if either start
Come on, who do you think has been at the level of these two kids since Arteta arrived? I can’t think of anyone who could have made such an impact in the past few seasons. Ethan and Myles are exceptional, not just in terms of their skills, but also their mentality and the courage they show in their play.
I would have to watch more then a couple of pre season friendlies to make that call mate
If I were a Man City fan, the prospect of losing Haaland through injury would be a real concern given the sale of his talented back up Alvarez.At Arsenal we still have 3 recognised central strikers to call upon and while they may not appeal to certain groups of our supporters ,they can all be effective on their day.No doubt Pep will have someone lined up to replace Alvarez but he is leaving it late and I would rather have the comfort of squad depth than over reliance on one “superstar” who is still lacking in a number of areas.
I have always said, Haaland was bought to farm goals against weaker teams so that draws against bigger teams have less of an impact on the final result.
People call Haaland worldclass, so what does that make Saliba and Gabriel? A class of their own?
And our forwards go against a world class CBs in the training every day, so they will definitely improve faster than other strikers.
I think Haaland may still be in Saliba’s back pocket. 😂
I think Halland has a winners medal in his 😊
Arsenal need a striker. Failure to buy 1 is handing the league title to city. Versus Aston Villa, we needed a clinical striker like Henry or RVP. I like Jesus and Havertz has impressed but they aren’t strikers. Thr option of a clinical striker to get 20-30 goals would secure a title. LFG!
Every loss and draw Arsenal experienced last season can be attributed to either not scoring enough goals or conceding too many.
Is there a limit to how good a defense can be? Our defense was the best in the league last season, but can’t it be improved further? Wouldn’t enhancing our defense have the same impact as adding an attacking player in terms of our chances of winning the league? If we had held our lead against Fulham or drawn against Villa in both matches, and a draw against west ham, wouldn’t we have won the trophy? After all, it was just a 2-point margin.
I’m not saying we can’t make our attack even more lethal. But with an even stronger defense than last season, where we effectively nullified the world’s best striker like Haaland, we might come close to breaking Chelsea’s record of conceding just 15 goals. Wouldn’t that win us the league?
I’m just saying, winning the league is possible with an impenetrable defense. I would love to see some attacking players join the squad, but if we didn’t, I would still be happy. Especially if we get Merino, who I believe is crucial.
While Arsenal has closed the gap considerably on City over the past two seasons, particularly last season of course, I would feel more confident about next season if we had a 20+ goals a season striker in the mix.
Haaland was injured last season of course. He played 31 of the 38 games yet still scored 27 goals – incredible really and in only his second PL campaign. No Arsenal player was close to that and, worryingly, none of our main strikers in particular.
Also, having sold Alvarez we don’t know who City will bring in over the last few weeks of the transfer window. They don’t have the constraints Arsenal has (they’ve more money anyway and as we’ve seen with Alvarez are much better sellers). Pep has been around the block more times than most, so he’ll realise what’s needed and City has the resources to get it for him.
With so much at stake for Arsenal in 2024-25 – and they really do have to win the PL next season, another “brave near miss” won’t do – if a quality striker can be purchased in the few weeks remaining then so much the better in my opinion.
If Nketiah leaves, as it now looks likely, then Arsenal must sign a striker who is his upgrade.
Alternatively, Arsenal mus add a quality winger who can create and score goals.
If neither of these happens, Arsenal would be considerably weakened at the front line, and our prospects for winning the PL would be significantly compromised.
I’m not in doubt, we can overtake them with or without a “top striker”!!!
Who knows? It is undeniably a huge risk for Arteta. Should we fail to win the Premier League this year, the fickle AFTV will undoubtedly launch an “Arteta out” campaign.