Some Gooners might scorn me for stating this, but Riccardo Calafiori’s absence during the block of fixtures before the November international break, when Arsenal had gone four league games without a win in the league, could have been a gift in disguise.
Injury is no cause for celebration, and his absence was disappointing. But we should be grateful he wasn’t available when the team struggled. The club’s poor form has significantly impacted most of Arsenal’s quality players, including Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, and Ben White. These players struggled and faced constant criticism as a result.
There is no certainty of how Calafiori would have performed. Bloggers would have targeted him if he hadn’t excelled, with some arguing that he didn’t deserve the £42 million he signed for.
Critics would not have been as accommodating as they have been with Mikel Merino, whom they are trying to portray as a flop. However, the Spaniard proved them wrong with his cameo appearance against Chelsea.
Calafiori was fortunate; otherwise, the fans would have dismissed him fast, and his confidence might have suffered. As Havertz pointed out with his resurgence, confidence is like a drug; once you’re high, you’re unstoppable.
Looking at the Arsenal summer transfer window, the 22-year-old Italian defender was Arsenal’s marquee signing. Of course, he’d be under a lot of pressure from the moment he signs; as high-flying as he was for Italy in the European Championships in Germany, he was expected to be an instant hit and elevate the struggling Arsenal left-back immediately he took to the pitch.
The media would have jumped on any mistake he made and written him off; they’d be asking if, like Kieran Tierney, Nuno Tavares, and Oleksandr Zinchenko, he too was going to flop at left-back.
Arsenal are eager to stage a comeback. With Ben White out for a while, Riccardo Calafiori has a significant role to play at left back, while Jurrien Timber’s move to right back. The Italian is an upgrade on Arsenal’s left back since he can carry the ball forward, invert, and defend in large spaces. He’s a huge prospect who’ll silence the critics in the weeks and months ahead.
Darren N
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While Calafiori is potentially a very able left centre back, I’m afraid he lacks the pace to become an accomplished left back, inverted or otherwise.His physicality and good positional sense will be an asset as a defensive left back but I doubt if he will bring an added dimension to our attacking down the left flank other than perhaps at set pieces.In the event of Gabriel being injured he would be my first port of call to replace him and I can see him and Saliba working well in tandem.
He looks at his best attacking through the centre – he can run at defenders and has the composure to pop off good passes at the right moment – in some situations that’s great, but it can also lead to the centre becoming too congested. I agree, he’s not so good at running on the outside. For it to work, I think you’d need the cm to make that outside run at times
Well, time will tell as with any signing. You have to give new players a reasonable amount of time to settle in, particularly if (as with both Arsenal’s summer signings) they’ve come from a different country, let alone club.
That said, Arsenal has invested a fair amount of money in both Calafiori and Merino, never mind about the time it took to bring them both in (almost all of the ten-week summer window between them) so there’s bound to be pressure on as with all the other players.
Arsenal is already a finished goods which just requires a little addition to supplement the tas. Calafiori fits into our style of playing if not for injury challenge
Yes. Mikel Arteta knows amd he knows very well. He does not make a signing until he is sure of the role and fitability, most of the times. Center middle is ok for this season. We need Eric Martel signed this January, then stay on loan and straight away in July to replace Jorgi. We need to robustly revisit Sesco stall or Gyokeres in June. We shall cook, I tell you. Gabi, Ziny, kieran, all out