Edu Is Not Doing Well So Far.
We came into this window with obvious needs at 4-5 positions. We needed a new central defender, a new rightback, a new attacking midfielder, a new striker. And some would even add a new central midfielder and goalkeeper. Whatever the case may be, we needed at least 4 major signings. This is apart from getting a new backup for Tierney, a rotation midfielder and selling our deadwood. A lot of business to do. Let me list out the minimum things we needed to do.
— New central defender.
— New rightback.
— New attacking midfielder.
— New striker.
— Backup leftback.
— Backup central midfielder.
— Backup/New Goalkeeper.
— Sell Bellerin and at least one of Niles/Cedric/Chambers.
— Sell Lacazette.
— Sell Kolasinac.
— Sell Willian.
— Sell Torreira.
That’s 12 things to do. And at least 5 were the absolute minimum that must be done (the new signings + backups). How many has Edu Gaspar achieved so far?
Only 3 out of the absolute minimum. 3. And with just 15 days left of the transfer window. “Judge us after the window”, they say, but when you leave business so late, you affect your coach’s ability to do his job effectively. There will be no preseason for anyone who we bring in now. That’s not good enough.
Squad turnover and building is an essential part of success. We can’t sign a rightback now because we have 4 of them at the club. We can’t sign a new striker because both Aubameyang and Lacazette can play there. Space is needed.
Torreira and Kolasinac should have been a distant memory by now but we haven’t been able to sell either for even 10 million euros. I understand that it is an unusual situation with COVID-19 affecting business as usual. But more needs to and should have been done already. For example, why sign Cedric Soares on a permanent 4-year contract when you know Calum Chambers and Ainsley Maitland-Niles were coming back? Why not wait until the end of the season to judge the situation? Why hastily acquire deadwood?
Agboola Israel
Should be selling Auba, not Laca. Even if we sign a new CF, there’s no guarantee it would work out. At least we know Laca is fairly reliable and will put the effort in. If a new striker didn’t work out and we sold Laca, we’d be stuck relying on this diminished version of Auba – risky?
well, IF we had finished even in the top 6 we would have had more pulling power
I think that says it all really
White – looks a good signing but ,overpriced and seeing we had Saliba probably not what we should have spent our chunk of transfer money on .
Tavares-looks quality and will be keeping TIerney in his toes
Lokonga – one for the future .
Odegaard-awful last season ,I expect pretty much the same form him this season
Ramsdale -thought it was April fools day ,apparently not .
Overall a so -so window
Quick question for you
-Do you think it’s wise to rely on Saliba for this season or do you wish to bring him back and be a backup to Holding. Remember he is new to epl and young, remember keeping him on the bench means he is not getting regular game time
-How much do you think White is worth knowing what figures Utd paid to Leicester and city paid to villa for same English international
As for Ode, it’s totally your opinion his stats are ok for a new player in new country
A quick answer for your quick question –
I’m not Football manager mate so it was just my opinion because it’s a opinion article,you obviously disagree with what I said but I already gave my answers in the post .
Am not asking you as a specialist am asking you in your opinion
But you didn’t want to know my opinion on Odegaard that’s why I didnt give one on the rest of your questions 👍
Lol Dan😂😂
Agreed with your so-so assessment. Although I feel Ode might be a better signing than you think, if Senor Mikel uses him well. Also about White, not so sure. I think he looked pretty average and totally unnecessary against Brentford. Maybe he will play better as the season progresses. Anyway how did week1 go for you in the Predictions league? Mine went pretty average like our window 😂😂
8 points I think Sid ,not to bad but not sure what everyone else got as there was so many players ,would imagine a few got big scores .
Saliba will still be new to EPL. We need to bring him in at some point. The guy has been solid in France including last season in Nice. With our limited budget, we had to go spend our biggest ticket on White? We had no problem developing other young players with little experience yet Saliba can not help the team in his 3rd year of us owning him?
For once we agree DK.Sensible comments.
Cant agree DK. As is now obvious our depth of DECENT CBs is remarkedly thin, with Mari simply not good, Holding and Chambers limited, and Saliba not yet ready. Being a success in France, where he is imo overrated, doesnt make him EPL ready. He turned down EPL clubs and WANTED to go to France btw.
Odegaards overall stats when here were good, and coincided with our climb up the table. Here for a few months in a new league, injured, no previous game time, playing in a poor team. Unimpressive sometimes but you know how MA prioritises sideways passing, so I’m not sure it was MO’s choice to play that way. Had two supurb games though, so we know he has the ability. We will see a marked difference this time.
But Guy, why will William Saliba not want to play in the champions league amongst Europe’s best? We always say he is not EPL ready. I wont give counter examples to that because I dont have anything except Fofana and I am not convinced about that example myself. But dont you think it is a good example of a player backing himself to go to OM and play in the Chanlmpions league? He will obviously come across a lot better teams and it is a good experience, versus say if he played for a low level EPL side like Newcastle for example. For me it shows the guy has got guts.
Not saying his choice was cowardly Sid – but as I knew numerous comments would then be posted saying if he’s not Arsenal ready why didn’t we loan him to an EPL club, just wanted to pre-empt them! I have no issue with the Marseille move – in particular precisely because he will get CL experience.
I appologize for misunderstanding your post, Guy. A mistake on my part. I also would have liked him to go to an EPL side, but last year. And then stake his claim for a starter post this year. My only reasoning to wanting him to start this season or atleast be in the team was that he is massive(6ft4in I believe) and he could have helped in setpieces. Also the only reason why I am miffed with the whole business of Ben White is that after watching him once (DK watched him against Spurs)
I get the feeling he needs to stop ball watching most times and up his athleticism. Great on the ball, lovely pass to Pepe on the night but two errors both involving ball watching and bringing back Mustafi vibes. A pretty simplistic conclusion I agree but for the outlay I expected a bit more… happy with his ball skills though and hope he kicks on to become a great player, but at the moment Mavro looks better sadly. And he will cost Stuttgart only 1/10th of our outlay.
We started the summer with 5 strikers, so I don’t agree that a new striker was needed in the slightest, especially given our reduced fixture list. I agree with the other points though.
It is frustrating that yet again we start a season under prepared, but we have done more business than our rivals surprisingly. Until they change the transfer window dates, we also have to accept that the majority of clubs will still be doing business after the season starts. We all know the amount of last minute deals that will be done. We also have to accept how difficult it is selling at the moment, especially when you’re selling second-hand trash!
At least we’re not buying players we don’t even need, and on the final day anymore, like we used to!
Why they don’t just close the window before the season starts is beyond me, but until they do, how can one judge now? Let’s wait a couple more weeks, and fully review what’s happened.
TMJW, apart from your first paragraph, I agree totally with your post. I obviously do not deny that we have 5 strikers on our books but to call some of them “strikers”, meaning they actually SCORE, is far from truth I’d say.
Jon OT.
I have not commented on the last article for various personal reasons, but have time now.
What an article!!!
The comments and discussions therewith were excellent and I concur with all the positive feedbacks.
Loved the session regarding Russia and socialism, that alone was worth my time!!!
Sorry my input is late, but a brilliant article my friend.
Wow! And sincere thanks Ken, dear chum. I have emailed Pat on Monday this week to say I am willing to write more regular articles on more human topics, IF he will give permission to stray from strictly Arsenal lines, though I will of course link them to our club . My next one will be on fanhood in general(not ONLY Gooners but all fans) and then one on the benefits and privileges of being able to support our great club and on sport in general, its benefits in many ways both physically an mentally.
As of now though, three days since, he has not replied to my email.
I much hope he WILL give his permission, as I was immensely heartened and even a little surprised at how MANY excellent reply posts there were. The thought of hopefully again reaching so MANY who really think and then wish to add their own valuable thoughts is too tempting to pass over. So expect more from me too, hopefully.
Looks like Odegaard will sign today or tomorrow in time for Chelsea and also Ramsdale. Not personally that convinced by Ramsdale but I think not to give him a chance to at least prove us wrong is unfair.
I do believe Odegard was MAs preferred choice in CM all along. I still hold out a lot of hope that MA will finally come through and think that , like Emery, he was not given a fair chance by some of our more vicious fans.
I would have far preferred a true world class name from the start , Allegri, Conte, etc(who is STILL being touted or rumoured to be in the running) but it just won’t happen and never could while Kroenke owns us. Pragmatism above fantasy every time for me.
I question, as you know, whether such fans have the right to call themselves supporters and I suggest they do not.
Wish you well KEN and I believe you are going on Sunday, so fingers crossed!!
lol Jon.
Agree TMJW. We are currently the EPL’S top spenders, and I suspect we have all been harsh on Ramsdale. Forget the price tag, let’s give him a chance. Five players, all young, all good prospects, all should improve, and all in positions where we need them (although that part wasn’t difficult!).
Arteta out
I’m not disagreeing Muhwe, but you seriously came on here just to say that?
My fault, I normally quickly delete any inane comments with nothing to say..
If he does it again I may ban him, as we only want intelligent discussion thankyou…
We don’t know what’s really going on at Arsenal, Arteta is just a manager and Edu is just a technical director, so it’s nor fair to blame Arteta and Edu only. You should’ve also questioned the other decision makers and the ones who deal with finance/ transfers directly, such as Kroenke, Vinai and Garlick
We all know our CFs were the worst performers last season, so maybe the purchases were delayed to find a buyer for some of our CFs first? We’ve also been having big loss in the last two years, hence we were haggling to lower the price tags of our targets
I predict we’ll sign another player after Ramsdale, but maybe it will only happen in the last few days of the transfer window
I’ll love to have a striker but with our striker situation it’s wise to play the waiting game, maybe we could ship out one of them.
GAI, arsenal fans are so inconsistent, this are same fans blaming manager for not playing Martinelli, how do you expect Martinelli to play if we buy more CF, the wing is keenly contested IMO, Saka and Pepe seems to have made themselves permanent
Martinelli, Balogun, and Nelson can compete for the LW role, whereas Saka and Pepe for the RW position
Gai
I said in the previous post Kroenke and Joash do not understand football management skills. Hence it reflects in the personnel they employed to run the club business. It’s really unfair to blame Arteta and Edu Alone. Though they remain part of the decadence.
In your analysis if Odegard and ESR were to be played together Martinelli and Nelson may not have a say in the team least. Arteta must be smart in his formation.
AI this is BS, wait till September if you wants to assess the summer. Maybe you should keep this and let’s talk by September 1st
Agree Ada – I”m a big fan of Agboola, and would not label any of is posts as BS, but this was written way too early.
To be fair business has been as good as we could expect with more to come.
Done
New Central defender. White.
Back up CM. Lokonga.
Back up left back. Tavarez.
Will be done
New AM. Odegaard.
Back up/new GK. Ramsdale.
Everything else is market driven and it is a slow market post Covid.
Basically the old story Arsenal want more than clubs are willing to pay for our players and Arsenal want to pay less than what clubs want to sell their players for.
Transfer poker till 11.59 pm on the 31st.
New RB? Not essential right now but still time
to loan sell swap buy..
New Striker. Getting Auba and or Laca off the pay roll without giving them away is proving difficult. .
Sell Kolasinac/Willian. We cant give either away.
Best we can do is loan and hope loan club pays at least half their salary.
Sell Torreira. Bought for 27m we will be lucky to get 6m in todays market. Another loan and hope for a sale in an improved market next summer.
So I give the club a 7/10 so far on transfers
Fair fan I d call you a welcome realist! Perspective and context, how much I LOVE both!
Our right side is more of a concern than we think, Fairfan. With no decent RWB and Pepe playing as an individual and definitely NOT how he should be as part of the system, we are like a plane flying with an engine only on one wing. I would like to try Tavares on the right side as he can play there and looks a great attacking fb potentially. Regardless, I think we ignore the right side at our peril. Agree with the 7/10 (currently top spenders in the EPL at £150m. Darn that stingy Kroenke!).
Well, so far:
Ramsdale – way overpriced. Selling HG keeper for £16m and then buy year later back up keeper for £24m (also Runarsson clusterfudge). This is just terribly incompetent dealings.
White – way overpriced, and CB wasn’t on top of our list of targets. At least not the most urgent position to spend almost half of our budget on. Hopefully he will prove everyone wrong.
Tavares – relatively cheap back up, looks promising player. However, we still have Kolasinac here. Spending money on Tavares should mean Kolasinac will be sold for 100% certainty. If he isn’t, this deal will make Edu look like a total donkey. Kola is still here.
ASL – again, not the most urgent position to buy a player. Seems like a replacement for Guendouzi. ASL is not creative, not very defensive-minded, so to me he seems very similar position to play as Xhaka, who Edu failed to sell.
Ödegaard – finally, only 3 months after season ended we have addressed the most glaring issue, creativity. I predicted this to happen. I said it in May “Edu will chase all summer long for Ödegaard while other targets will slip by”, and he did. At least we didn’t overpay for him and I hope Ödegaad will show more talent now that his future is sorted (remember, he’s been shipped out on loan so many seasons that he’s never had that stability).
Mavropanos, Guendouzi, Saliba. Easy to ship players out on loan so nothing spectacular here. Sending Mavro was incredibly stupid though. He was IMMENSE in Bundesliga and based on the 1st game of the season, he has picked on where he left.
Willock, probably our easiest player to be sold. Good money, I hope there are performance related bonuses or some kind of buy back inserted. Otherwise it will make Edu look like a donkey.
Everyone else is still here. I don’t know why we have Elneny on our books. He’s gone next summer, he’s gone for January. He should be the priority to sell. He’s a squad player at best and not even homegrown.
So on paper, I would give this window 3/10 for Edu and MA. Players brought are very underwhelming to say the least.
A CB wasn’t on YOUR list, but as MA is the manager, it was clearly on his list
I think he has tried to cover the issues we had and time will tell if the £100,000,000 plus has been spent wisely.
Very negative post DaJuhi and prematurely judgemental on so many of OUR OWN new players. Having said that, it’s rare to find a fan who still rates Kolasinac as highly as you do!
proper assessment DaJuhi…it’s not just about checking off boxes, it’s about who you actually chose to fill those roles…NEEDS should have been prioritized over WANTS…I would give them a 4, as I like the depth pieces, but 3 will do, considering the amount of money spent on rather underwhelming choices, based on tactics alone…Ode means same old negatively-leaning 4-2-3-1, with ESR out wide, and Ramsdale has been known as a long ball Keeper, not a playing out from the back one
Our biggest problem is that our players lack “top 4 quality”. I think only 3 of our players could make a top 4 starting 11 –
Saka, Tierney, Partey (when not injured).
A few would maybe make a top 4 squad – ESR, White, Gabriel, Pepe, Martinelli.
All the rest… mid table and mediocre. Not sure they would make Everton or Leeds starting 11 (no disrespect to those teams who are actually currently better than us).
So my conclusion is we need QUALITY in the team. Players that would make a difference. GAME CHANGERS.
We tried that Nivo – big named, highly paid, multiple prize winning, often older players, potentially giving us short term gains but long term pain (Ozil, Willian, Auba, Luiz). Plus we certainly wouldn’t have been able to afford the wages of 5 of them.
We are recruiting younger, ambitious players with potential that we can afford. The new model is short term pain but long term gain for a change.
Whilst I would normally dispute those players you say are now top 4 ready (Pepe and Martinelli?!!!) I will accept your selections.
But I will take issue if you dispute the possibilty that in a year or two many more of our squad could qualify – namely Lokonga, Odegaard, Ramsdale, Tavares, Martinelli, Azeez.
keep it coming Nivo…don’t be sucked in by the passive aggressive catfish crew…total agree, not enough top-notch quality for money spent
I think Edu and Arteta are trying as much as they could on the Arsenal summer transfer front this summer. More especially on the incomings side as they’ve recruited 3 new top quality players in Ben White, A Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Taveres already this summer window.
And midfieldetermined M Odegaard and A Ramsdale are both looking to also join Arsenal sd well this summer. But if reports in the media linking the duo to join Arsenal within days are to be believed. And I think these reports should be believed because there are concrete evidence that point to the reports they are true.
So therefore, Edu and Arteta would have succeeded recruiting five new players for Arsenal this summer in a couple of days time if those two incoming signings are successful.
But I wouldn’t know if the duo Arsenal Chieftains who I believe are working in tandem will still recruit more new players for Arsenal before this summer transfer widow closes. But the likelihood is the could more so if they are able to offload more surpluse to requirement players at the club. Which from every indication is proving stubborn to overcome.
Firstly the day Merson says ‘arsenal transfer business is lazy’ Arsenal go and pretty much annouce their 4th and 5th signing. Another person caught up in opinions and no substance!!
I know many are going to moan about who we sign, but these fans clearly dont understand where we are as a club.
Saying that, Odegaard reminds me of the bergkamp type signing.
Dennis joined us from Inter after a less then dazzling stint in italy, after much promise from his Ajax days. He was 27 yrs old and took 12 or so games before he scored his 1st goal. He looked fragile and unsure when he joined.
Fast forward to Odegaard. Much promise when he went to RM but injuries and not establishing himself within the squad meant his career needs a reboot too.
Saying that, Odegaard is 22yrs old and I for one will encourage him with good vibes.
Imagine, if Bergkamp signed today and had the start to his career he had, he would today be hung up to dry by the so called arsenal fan.
I’m already reading Ramsdale transfer being regarding as overpriced…etc.
Again I’ll opinion as his price is a good price.
Martinez was sold for £25m aged 28yrs old. We sign a kid for the same price + bonuses. Bournemouth and Sheff U were in on a secret, that this kid is good, so much so Bournemouth knew he would go on to better things and put in a clause of 15% resell on more than 19m (they sold to SU for 18.5m). This is why 40m was touted. But in the end, arsenal sorted out the difference between Bournemouth and Sheff U of 5m (Bournemouth getting 1.5m) and added 6m for additional bonus payments.
So 11m is the overpriced arsenal had to pay and the 19m is his general stock value. So potentially 30m I am hearing is terrible business from some ‘fans’.
Yet there is no perspective in this view! He has played 2 full seasons in the EPL winning player of the season last year. This is more than Chelsea’s 2nd who cost them 80m and has far less EPL experience then Ramsdale.
So, mayne the article is onto something, maybe we should be rating the transfers. The ins and outs.
Superb reasoning Tom.
Super post Tom. Loved the parallel you spotted with Bergkamp. I think most of the fanbase have got hung up on Ramsdale’s price and his club history, without considering whether he is a good keeper (which the more informed, less sensationalist pundits say he us).
I was anti Ramsdale at first but I freely admit I may be proved wrong.
We have a young team who haven’t played together, so I am ready to read very critical reviews for a few weeks. I am not an Arteta fan but do believe this squad IS far better than a year ago, and could develop into something special. These new guys are our players now – lets give them a chance and not condemn for the wrong reasons.
For me, the Cedric situation is the most frustrating. Against Bertford it was a left-back who came on to replace Chambers at right-back whilst we have Cedric. We signed Cedric during the Edu-Arteta reign yet as a right-back he ranks below a backup left-back!!!!!
If that doesn’t show that he was a panic buy or poor decision, I don’t know what does. We already had Chambers when we bought Cedric. Clearly, we prefer Chambers of Cedric and at the time of buying Cedric, we preferred Bellerin over Chambers.
Pure chaos!!!!!!
This window doesn’t look good to me. The recent revelation that we are not happy with our two main strikers, or so it seems, underlines IMO that we should have bought a starting striker instead of spending 50 on ben white. There are good CDs available for less than 50 million.
We have to hope that if Laca stays he will play for a big contract for next season because it will be his final year. He can be a good striker for us if he wants to. If we sell him to recoup some of our money we better have a very good replacement in mind because Nkethia and Balogun are not ready.
A writer who believed in putting this summers business in TRUE context would look at all our main Such a writer would take FULL account of the Covid caused world financial caution – except by rivals who are owned by states and oil billionaires – and look equally at THEIR summer business. Or rather, lack of business !
Truth , real truth can only come when perspective and context are given free reign.
I accept there was one fifteen word only sentence which made, IMO a rather paltry and inadequate attempt at “context”.
But proper writers use REAL truth, while lesser ones use hype, moans and half(at best) truths!
Jon it would be a pretty quiet site if only truth was printed. People announce rumours as truth and opinions as fact, because most of the time we don’t now and possibly will never know the actual truth. Therefore we all (you included) make certain assumptions, be they right or wrong in order to converse and debate.
On similar lines, perhaps the most annoying part of using such sites is the refusal of many posters to ever change their opinion regardless of later contradictory developments. They would rather cling dogmatically to earlier beliefs than “lose face” by admitting recent events now paint a different picture.
For example many have always hated Xhaka, and regardless of his contribution to the club will criticise him. Martinelli had a superb first season but a poor second one (imo), but some fans of his demand his inclusion every week because in their eyes he can never have a bad game. I foresee in future also: Ramsdale will never be accepted because of the negative preconceptions, and Arteta will always be hated and criticised by some even if the project works and we win the EPL.
I am ready to be ridiculed for being fickle and uncertain for regularly hopping from one side of a fence to another, but I prefer this to having a totally rigid, non-negotiable stance that is worn like a badge of honour by a small minority of fans.
Should we also limit the comments to being truthful only as well?
I seem to remember quite a few people on here calling me names when I said that Xhaka wasn’t going anywhere this summer. I was even accused of being clickbait!
No names, no pack drill!
I think Edu and Arteta are trying as much as they could on the Arsenal summer transfer front this summer. More especially on the incomings side as they’ve recruited 3 new top quality players in Ben White, A Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Taveres already this summer window.
And the midfielder M Odegaard and goalkepeer A Ramsdale are both looking to also join Arsenal sd well this summer. But if reports in the media linking the duo to join Arsenal within days are to be believed. And I think these reports should be believed because there is concrete evidence that points to the reports they are true.
So therefore, Edu and Arteta would have succeeded recruiting five new players for Arsenal this summer in a couple of days time if those two incoming signings are successful.
But I wouldn’t know if the duo Arsenal Chieftains who I believe are working in tandem will still recruit more new players for Arsenal before this summer transfer widow closes. But the likelihood is they could, more so if they are able to offload more surpluse to requirement players at the club. Which from every indication is proving stubborn to overcome.
Where’s all those “real fans” who. used their super fan powers to get two managers sacked, but can’t get a lowly technical director sacked…? 😂😂😂😂
What’s going on
I am a strong believer of Edont’s absolute lack of morallity, when it comes to transfer deals.
I’m sure his priority in signing/extending a player is readiness for under-the-table deals. He can’t sell players because he’s incompetent and he doean’t care. His mission at Arsenal is to take as much money as possible, regardless of the method and the adverse consequences for the club.
If only there was someone at KSE that knows at least something about football, this fraud would never be hired.
You have in print accused EDU of defrauding our club! I hope you have firm evidence, because if you do not and he chooses to sue you for defamationof character and for lying, then GOD help you, where costs are concerned!
Youwould be very well advised not to repeat this post or any in this vein.
I really only mean only to help you
Lol Jon. If Xhaka survives people calling his family vile things, do you seriously think Edu has the time to look up posts in his name and sue each one? Wont his time be better utilised looking up targets or holidaying as he is doing now? Same with your referees comment. I think Prem referees have far too much work to worey over people calling them names. As it anyway wont affect their jobs. If they were organizational entities then I believe what you said could be done. I recently witnessed a Virtual Youtuber’s stream getting banned because she said something about Disney copyright laws. Unless and until individuals famous in public like Edu and Prem Referees have that kind of resources, they in general wont be affected by fans slandering them.
Also I will appologize if this is kind of offensive, but whenever you type in a heated comment and say that Ozil is a lazy, sucking the club dry, thief etc etc, and he is breaching his contract which should be examined in court do you believe you will face legal repercussions?
I think the answer might surprise you.
Stay safe and Have a good day! And yeah please being out the fanhood article fast, lol. Recently been reading a bit of psychology so wanna compare concepts.
lol – Touché Sid!