Arsenal will be better next season. Who can say no? by Darren N
There are reasons to be hopeful about Arteta’s Arsenal project and the new heights it may achieve next season, and here are some of them:
Defensive solidity
There’s no denying how defensively solid Arsenal were last season. Apart from the last few weeks when their star defender, William Saliba, got injured, Arsenal’s defence was an example to many. Next season, with Saliba fit and a reliable centre back and right back signed, and with Kiwior also stepping up, trust me, Arteta’s defence will be rock solid, making it the foundation of another brilliant campaign.
Learning from past experience
Arteta and his boys must now be wiser and have learned one or two things about winning the PL race. It was obvious that City’s quality squad won them the league, and the one big lesson the Gunners must have learned, is that they ought to reinforce their squad to stand a chance of winning the league. Hopefully, they’ll let the lessons they’ve learned this season guide them next season.
Continuity and progress
Arteta’s project has been growing, from finishing 8th to finishing 5th and then 2nd last season. It has been clear season after season that Arsenal have gotten better. Next season, the only progress they can make is winning the league. I don’t know about you, but I’m convinced they will.
Squad development and transfers
Arteta is set to have a blockbuster transfer window, and all transfer speculation points to that. With important signings like those for Declan Rice, Arsenal will be better than they were. Other than new signings, Saka, Martinelli, and other Arsenal youngsters are set to continue maturing with age, a situation that may see them being even more productive and thus taking Arsenal to the next level.
What other things give you hope that next season will be a big one for Arsenal?
Darren N
Now the season is over, it’s time for the summer Arsenal quiz from our friends at Dublin Arsenal – It’s always a laugh and helps while away the time while we wait for Arsenal’s first signings to come in!
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Top 4 yes
Title ,no chance .
@ DK
Agree: Title no chance.
We have to get top 3 as I think one of Liverpool or Brighton are going to win the Europa League. This would men 4th goes into Europa League.
The only trophy I can see winning is the Community shield but hoping to win the FA cup as we have history there.
No chance just like we had no chance of top 4 this season right. Also If liverpool or brighton win europa it means top 4 + them go to the group stage.
Just an opinion mate .
just pointing out nobody saw our title challenge coming this season. Just like nobody saw Liverpool dropping so far behind.
Also Just my opinion that your opinion is harsh and unfair
Mostly negative which I fail to understand
No chance had our best opportunity this season and blew it now will be even harder as the other contenders will all strengthen there squads unfortunately we will not have enough quality in depth to compete not even sure we will make top 4!
It would depend on whether we will sign someone as good as Haaland or not. If we still rely on our poachers, I don’t think we’ll win anything
Stop this your Harland obsession, sounding rediculous already, I can make argument that city without Harland was more fearsome
Look how Man City made their first goal in FA Cup final and how Haaland handled De Ligt/ Upamecano in UCL with his physical prowess
Why should I look at their goal?
I have seen better goals from city without Harland
He did similar move to us and other teams
Our unstable system would likely benefit a lot from having someone like him. Our system isn’t as consistent as Man City’s yet
gai – I am not a fan of Guardiola, but I have to say this – Man City even with the same squads they’ve had in the last three seasons WOULD NOT HAVE WON THE PL if Guardiola wasn’t their manager !
Those players are generally good but they are not unbeatable gods as people seem to think they are.
Guardiola was the main factor of Man City’s EPL wins in the last six years, but I don’t think they will become a treble winner without Haaland
gai, you are probably right about that, but I think City have been long overdue a CL win, although I was very much hoping Guardiola wouldn’t achieve it there as he’s not my favourite person.
I said that to someone on this site a few weeks ago and amazingly he got very upset with me !
He must be a closet Man City fan
It was even more ridiculous than that actually and you’d recognise his name if I told you, but it’s best for me not to bring up something that happened weeks ago (although I have haven’t I). I should let sleeping dogs lie, live and let live.
I kind of agree with that too. Don’t think Haaland is even the main reason for them winning a third successive title. Still feel Harry Kane is a much better all round player than Haaland and if I had a choice it would be Kane every day of the week.
Too much hyperbole about Haaland.
Grealish way too overrated also. City are excellent as a unit not as individuals.(imo).
To me Mahrez has more skill and talent than any of the others (including DB)
EvGunner, Arsenal should try to buy Harry Kane just like Manchester United (successfully) bought RVP to get a centre forward to attempt to win the EPL. At least Harry Kane would be returning to his boyhood club at Arsenal.
Oh OG, that would be such bliss and a beautiful irony that the Lilywhites would never recover from. I can see the headlines now exquisite and jubilant joy. Unfortunately, Harry is such a decent guy that he wouldn’t wish to offend Spurs fans.
I’ve got bags of respect for the guy and to be honest, I wouldn’t have held it against him for winning the title with Spurs because he is a consummate professional and deserves whatever success he gets. OK guys don’t all rush to assassinate me.
Liam Brady really has alot to answer for and shouldn’t have got rid of him all those years ago. Our loss, Lilywhites gain I’m afraid.
EvGunner, I was also attempting to try snd help Liam “Chippy” Brady get s good night’s sleep again!
They’re about to win the treble. Kind of undermines your argument.
That means nothing
City are long overdue a cl trophy they have been in the final and semi final recently, they could still have won it without Harland,
Liverpool won everything with Famino, everyone must not do the same thing there are Monday ways to play and win football, we mustn’t copy or do everything city does, to me we don’t need a striker as scoring goals wasn’t our undoing but we conceded a lot of goals that should be our Major concern
This has nothing to do with copying City or anyone else. I think a world class striker gives something to a team that no other position on the pitch can; it makes the other players believe they always have a chance of scoring. That said, you are quite correct that a lack of scoring wasn’t our problem. Our midfield is actually pretty dire when you look at it. Zinchenko should occupy Xhaka’s vacated role I think, which would give Partey the support he needs, allow Tierney more game time and simultaneously stop that left side being so leaky. Zinchenko made Gabriel look bad towards the end of the season and that cannot be allowed to continue. Gabriel isn’t world class but he is good and he is capable but when you look at the responsibility on him when Saliba got injured it’s easy to understand where things went awry.
I dont care about any arguments – just want to pass along chickens should not be counted before they are hatched. The game has not been played yet. Remember the 1954 World Cup final.
We will not sign a centre forward as good as Haaland because there are no other centre forwards as good as Haaland.
Yes, but Vlahovic, Sorloth or En-Nesyri could be the poor man’s Haaland
Serious question. are you following these players regularly or do you comment based on highlights/european matches/stats?
Because from what i ve seen of them Sorloth and En-Nesyri would flop at West Ham level and Vlahovic would cost more than Haaland did last year and his strengths dont match our playstyle at all (1-2 passes in short distance, through balls into open space etc.) I haven’t seen Sorloth as much as the other two but am pretty sure none of them could be described as a poor man’s haaland, as 2 of them dont have the quality and the 3rd one is too expensive.
Nabilo, one may argue that Harry Kane is as good scoring over 30 goals in a poor Tottenham team having to drop deep because of poor service.
It seems to me that there is a general feeling that having fallen at the final hurdle this season, we have no chance of winning the PL next season as other clubs are likely to up their game, therefore making our task more difficult. (that was a long sentence).
It’s understandable many of us feel that way. However, I’m more optimistic about our chances. We will have learned from our mistakes and there will be a greater mettle in the lads who will be more determined than they were this season and less prone to the errors they made.
I think we will be a much better unit.
Recruitment,recruitment recruitment.
I really want you to be right but I’m afraid I’m one of the doom mongers who thinks a Top 4 finish next season will be a good result. If Klopp gets it right I think we can expect Liverpool to be City’s closest rival. I expect them to finish 1 and 2. Ten Hag did a good job at MU this year, finishing 3rd, winning a cup, and finishing as runners-up in the other. You have to say, they had a better season than we did, despite the 7-0 humiliation at Anfield. And you have to believe that Pochettino is going to get the best out of those players at Chelsea plus whoever else they bring in.
Arteta and Edu have their work cut out in the market and if Arteta can get Top 4 again next season he deserves all the credit because this season flattered us. We did really well until it got scary and then we faltered, for the 2nd consecutive year. Admittedly, the stakes we much higher but it’s a concerning trend.
Ben – there were many posts between Davi and myself about this over the weekend (we must have had alot of time on our hands !). All the posts are on this page.
Like yourself, I forecasted the return of Liverpool next season as they are not finished yet. I’m still hoping (and actually believe) that we will be in the mix, but Arteta must very quickly successfully integrate the new recruits who will have to hit the ground running. Next season no excuses, no messing about because there will be a pack of clubs that will be tough opponents and the season is likely to be much more of a test for us than last term was, what with the CL games and all.
Would you take Serge Gnabry back at Arsenal? I know I would and he proudly declares himself a Gunner for life. He would be an outstanding addition to our front line and would negate the necessity for an out-and-out striker as he can play anywhere across the front 3.
Ben – I lost track of Gnabry when he left but realize he’s had success in Deutschland. If you rate him highly that’s good enough for me. Has there been any rumour about him coming back ?
Only the usual tabloid stuff. The player himself has said he would never play for another EPL side, which I really like. He seems like a genuine fan and has won everything with Bayern and has been capped 50 times by Germany.
Ben and EvGunner, Serge Gnabry is also an experienced German international.
I have come to the conclusion that it’s impossible to predict.
Last season most people (including myself) said we’d really messed up because top 4 would be even harder this season – and yet we managed it easily. Even if we hadn’t done so well to be leading for most of the season, it still would have been relatively easy because of the dreadful form of Chelsea, Liverpool and spurs.
Everyone is again expecting it to be harder next season as many believe Chelsea and Liverpool, at least, will recover and make it more if a challenge, and for Newcastle and utd to further improve – it’s very unlikely all of that will happen but at least some of it likely will.
For me, meeting the standards we set this season will be a challenge, let alone going one better, but i don’t count it out. Arteta has surprised me many times already – however, the next step forward is always more difficult than the last.
The one thing that perhaps is in our favour is that I find it hard to imagine city winning the treble (which I expect them to) and still managing to maintain their excellence into next season. That would be extremely abnormal, but if anyone can do it, it’s them.
In short, I have no idea what’s going to happen – we won’t be able to tell anything until the first few games imo, regardless of who is or isn’t signed.
Davi – After City wins the CL they will have reached a pinnacle and psychologically this may cause them to ease up next season having done it all.
That’s the theory anyway. It would be an extraordinary achievement for them to win the PL yet again next season, and for that reason I believe a different club will prosper next term.
My gut feeling is we won’t win it and that Liverpool will be back, Klopp having made some adjustments, but like you say it’s difficult to gauge what will happen.
Newcastle – don’t think so, although Eddie has done incredible things there, they still have a way to go.
Chelsea – too far off the pace and too much to improve, so no.
Lilywhites – into the abyss.
Man United – a real threat, because I think they, similarly to us, only need tweaks here and there to become formidable. A top class manager too.
Liverpool – my gut is that they will find it tough still because I don’t think their forward line is as good as they need it to be. However I do think there’s a fairly strong chance Darwin will flip a switch and become a complete nightmare for everyone, so I’m not confident in my prediction.
Chelsea – don’t expect them to win the title, but they could get back into top 4 and will be a tough game for any of the other top sides mentioned imo.
Newcastle – have a feeling they will continue to improve. Depending on their signings, I don’t count them out of the title. Obviously that one is also a precarious prediction!
Man utd – what has struck me most about them is how inconsistent they’ve been and just how many points they’ve gained on the back of poor performances where they’ve been second best. For me, they shouldn’t be anywhere near the title next season, and while he’s definitely a good manager, I’m not convinced ten haag is all he’s been cracked up to be – yet. A good summer, and who knows. (I’m also especially biased against utd which could be clouding my view!)
Pretty much agree with the rest
We could have said very similar things at the end of last season, though – and most of it was completely wrong!
But it’s fun guessing isn’t it.
This may seem like sacrilege to you, but I am a massive fan of Jurgen Klopp (himself and his ability, but not Scouse City, who I always hope will fail).
Man U’s defensive home record is by far better than anyone else’s this season and that suggests old school values of strength in defense. Yes they have collapsed a few times away from home, but the basis is there for them to be a power again imo. You’re right though, I too would not wish that to happen.
Poch in my opinion is a kind of gallant loser and I was pleased that Chelsea signed him, because as far as I’m concerned that definitely rules them out of ever winning the league with him there. Cruel eh ?
Not sacrilege at all. Despite still holding a distaste for man utd, I’ve gradually become fond of several old enemies of the past – including Keane and ferguson (now that is sacrilege!). It’s perhaps more of a respect than fondness in some cases, and is probably rooted in nostalgia, but still. Klopp in his still active role as manager, is definitely a more likeable a character than any of that lot, and his style of football is hard not to like. I’m just not sure he can bring it back now, and he may be better off moving to a new club. But we’ll see – there’s definitely potential in his side.
I think there are a lot of cracks in that utd side that are not visible in their home record. Whenever I’ve watched them they’ve been poor, but have usually rode their luck and often found a way to win. I do think Casemiro has been fantastic for them on a psychological level, and they’re definitely better having shed themselves of maguire, but I’m still not convinced. I’m very interested to see how they do with a new gk – on the one hand, de gea *has* made a fair number of mistakes recently, on the other, I see him as the biggest “paper overer of cracks” over the past however many years. So often he’s made saves from unmissable positions – he’s made more impossible saves than any other keeper I can think of.
I don’t think poch will win then the league either, but i do think he’ll improve them enough that they could influence who eventually wins it. There’s so much quality in their squad – they just need to make the pieces fit.
Quite a few things you’ve said that I can’t resist responding to.
Ferguson’s United – where do I begin ? I found the following in that regime completely loathsome:
The red nosed reindeer Ferguson himself -Yuck.
G. Neville – still a gobshite. R.Keane hateful at the time, but has redeemed himself since becoming a pundit as although he is usually poker-faced, I detect a certain tongue-in-cheek sense of humour in him wish I find amusing at times. R.Ferdinand – I better not say too much about him and Y.Stam, other than some people have ho shame (missed drugs tests etc etc ?)
R.Giggs – hahaha !
Similarly to us Liverpool have a problem with a defender who can’t defend (re: T A-A and Zinchenko). A patron of this site called me a name for suggesting that Zinc was a joke against Liverpool. It’s funny how some people overreact like that. Bromide in their tea would help with that problem.
Back to United momentarily – H. Maguire is rightly out of their team, but Gareth still threatens to play him for England. That’s loyalty for you (actually is he in the forthcoing squad again?)
Jurgen’s biggest loss was Mane and I’m not even saying that in hindsight as I always felt he was their main man for a number of reasons.
Finally we are in agreement about De Gea if I fully understand you. De Gea is an excellent shot stopper who the media (inc R.Keane) jump on as soon as he makes a mistake. I still feel he is a very good goalie. However, what United do doesn’t really affect us does it.
Sorry for the rather long message as the last couple of days I’ve had WRITER’S diarrhoea which I should medicating for !
Haha – I think most of them fall into the ‘respect’ camp. Keane I’ve come to enjoy and I’m happy listening to neville talk football (but not anything else!). Ferguson, it’s that I respect his achievements far more than I used to – I think keane’s description as ‘ruthless’ is probably most accurate, but he was a bit of a genius of a manager for the way he rebuilt successfully so many times. I’ve got nothing against ferdinand really, tbh. He seems quite honest to me, and not overly biased in his thinking (though I haven’t watched/listened to him too often). Stam I hadn’t even thought about really – looked like a thug, was a very good player (which I appreciated more after he went to Italy haha), but apart from that I don’t have a strong opinion. I still can’t stand watching replays of Van nistelroy but he seems like a nice enough person now he’s not playing. Same goes for rooney actually – thug as a player, but seems to have sorted himself out and I actually quite like him now. Giggs is what he is haha. The worst of the worst for me, though, is actually Ronaldo – it saddens me greatly but he’s had a outsized impact on football culture. He was a great player, obviously, and his work ethic is amazing and admirable, tbh, but his me me me attitude has rubbed off on many players and fans.
I think klopp is slowly fixing his TAA problem by finding ways to better accommodate him, but i think there are deeper issues – he badly needs gakpo and/or Darwin to step it up (which is possible), but i also think they have problems in defence (CBs not as good as in the past) and midfield (they need exceptional athletes with quality – hard to find and keep fit!).
You got it right with your account of United, but I am very particular about who I “respect” and I’ll say no more about that lest I end up in prison for my REAL views on some of them.
Joey Barton though, tops the lot when it comes to my disdain, but I wouldn’t want this to spiral into acid vitriol. I’m a right moaner aren’t I.
Klopp just needs to keep T A-A as far away from Liverpool’s wide defensive FB area. What am I saying ? What an idiot I am. No Jurgen, let T A-A continue ballsing up the Scousers’ defence. That would do nicely.
All joking aside, I really hope Zinchenko’s defending can be improved by better coaching and to be honest with you I can’t really see why that situation should continue to be a problem. They just need to sort it out for the love of God and Club.
amendment ” should BE medicating for”
All I am hoping for next season is to buy sensibly during the window and just be consistent right up to the final game. If we do that it doesn’t matter where we finish, I just can’t stand more of this fall-off in the last few weeks ruining months of great work. It’s depressing and needs to stop.
Well said, Ben. The falloffs were largely due to lack of squad depth, but also Arteta’s lack of flexibility in setting up the team. Both deficiencies will, I trust, be remedied next season. I make no predictions, but I love the way we’re playing and I am sure the men will keep their focus. It will be fun.
I’m more optimistic, who said lightning doesn’t strike twice? Hopefully we can do better next season, we can give big teams a good game. Why enter a competition if you think we don’t have a chance? If we can cut out our mistakes and improve our ball retention, I think we got a better chance than most clubs.
If city can do it, why can’t we do it. The experience of fighting for the title is their, plus a good addition in the transfer we go again. Am optimistic
Optimistic too
If Arsenal considerably up the ante in their next season’s campaign in all four competitions. Over their their last season’s campaign in all four competitions they played in. I think they will win titles next season.
More especially if the club revamp their squad with some top quality signings this summer, to upgrade the quality in some positions in the team to a higher level quality that better the status quo where an upgrade doing is required.
Such as in their team defence, midfield and forward setup departments.
I think if Arsenal does this team upgrade of their team this summer and do it correctly. They will challenge for the Epl title win again next season again. And even that of the Ucl tprchllight win the quadruple of titles next season and win them. But not limit themselves to only the Epl title wins.
If Arsenal considerably up the ante in their next season’s campaign in all four competitions. Over their their last season’s campaign in all the four competitions they played in. I think they will win titles next season.
More especially if the club revamp their squad with some top quality signings this summer, to upgrade the quality in some positions in the team to a higher level quality that better the status quo where an upgrade doing is required.
Such as in their team defence, midfield and forward setup departments.
I think if Arsenal does this team upgrade of their team this summer and do it correctly. They will challenge for the Epl title win again next season. And even that of the Ucl to win the quadruple of titles next season and win them. But not limit themselves to only the Epl title wins.
Haven’t seen Arteta or players display the mentality it takes after collapsing for 2nd straight year.
Haven’t seen the competition or man management necessary to grind out a season fighting in 3 big competitions.
Sounds negative and pessimistic, but based on their resume hard to conclude any titles next year.
I like most have been watching football for a few decades now and in that time I have 100% noticed that every season is different.
I have never seen a 4 horse title race.
There is always going to be one or two so called Top 4 or top 6 teams that will not perform to the levels that we predicted at the start of the season. I can predict with a high level of probability that one or two Top 6 clubs will struggle in a given season.
The pattern is: Two teams go for the Top 2 places / title challengers. More than 80% predictability each season.
Then you will have the other 2 places up for grabs in that Top 4 / CL for the rest.
Then one or 2 predictable Top clubs will struggle and end up outside the Top 4, or even Top 6.
Then you will have wildcard (West Ham, Leicester, Brighton, Leeds, Brentford etc).
We don’t know which so called Big clubs it will be the one to struggle in the 2023/23 season. It might end up being Arsenal to have a shocking season and drop out again. It might be Liverpool, United, Spurs, Chelsea etc.. Can predict right now. City are the only nailed on team to finish in the Top 4. We would all put our money on them finishing in the top 4 as compared to the rest. But I wouldn’t be so confident putting the same money on United, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool right now finishing in the CL places. Because all those teams have shown a level of inconsistency in these last 5 seasons. Each has finished outside the Top 4 / 6 in these last 5 seasons apart from City.
It is understandable for everyone to be skeptical and cautious about our chances of continued progress up the Table. I too get nervous. But looking around I don’t think we are the Arsenal that Arteta inherited 5 seasons ago. We seem to be on an upward swing. All the other teams are much more weary of this current Arsenal team than they have been in the last 10 seasons. So I do think that our rivals will not take us for granted like they used to before Arteta joined.
I can tell you that all the other Top 4 / 6 clubs are now looking at us as a real threat. Just go and read the Chelsea, United, Liverpool, Spurs fans forums. They are not writing us off anymore, now most are saying that we are more likely finish in the Top 4 next season again in no particular order. But that’s not the attitude they have had towards us in the last 7-8 seasons.
We were not given a chance of even coming close to Top 4 in 2021/22 season. Most of us were okay with Top 6 finish that season. Rivals and pundits said we would be finishing 7th behind the likes of West Ham etc or Leicester etc. That the best we could do was 6th etc.. But we led that 3rd / 4th place chasing pack for the majority of that season but bottled it in the last 6/7 games. We had a 8/9 point lead and a game in hand on Spurs or somthing like that. We had 3rd place in sight on Chelsea. But we bottled it right at the end.
This season (2022/23). Most pundits and rival fans were making fun of us all summer. Overpaying for City bench players. Giving Nketia a £100,000 a week contract. While media darlings (spurs) were being congratulated for finally being the season DARK HORSES for the TITLE after securing Richarlison for about £60 million. But Nketia ended up scoring more goals than Richarlison.
In most peoples predictions they said we would be lucky to finish in the Top 5 or 6. Many pundits predicted a 6th, or 7th place finish for us. Most of us would have bitten your hand off for a Top 4 place finish.
But look what happened? We led the whole Top 4 pack for 90% of the season. We had a 5 point lead on City with about 7 games to go. Then we bottled the title with 6 games left.
But in 2021/22 the same was said: All the other divinely odained Top 6 clubs will arise to reclaim their rightly God given places, Arsenal will not come close. But we did come close and only bottled it ourselves.
Then the same was said for this season (2022/23). We were assured that all the other Top teams will improve to such levels while Beta Male Arsenal will regress or stay stagnant. Arsenal’s prophesied regression and stagnation will happen while the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, United, Spurs etc will all improve, arise back to reclaim their divinely given Top 4 places. But that did not happen. We finished 2nd on 84 points.
Now the same trusted prophets are back again making their trusted predictions of how the 2023/24 season will pan put. As always Arsenal will once again be the one to regress or stagnate and be lucky to finish 6th while the other clubs will definitely improve. Isn’t it?
We will find out. Let’s wait see.
😊👍
You’re right Goonster but where i don’t agree is saying Man City is the nail on for Top 4.
I will still add Liverpool to that mix cos they only miss out this completed season and with there recovery after all there player came back from injury, they look scary and you can see the formal Liverpool building back and if they can
sort out there midfield next season, then i see no reason why they won’t go further. You can see injury played more to their season. Though same can be said about Chelsea too but Liverpool is my pick.
So to me, is between Man City, Arsenal (if we recruit well cos this season shows we can’t go again with same set of players without proper back-up) Liverpool.
Man U, Newcastle and Chelsea can fight it out with Aston Villa, Brighton and maybe Spurs
City should get a points deduction as part of their punishment for financial improprieties.
I fully agree. The trajectory of the squad improvements are exemplary. I would keep every players who played this season for us and add more quality new players to the efficient machine that is Arteta’s Arsenal. I’m excited for next season.
My opinion is that Arteta has been absolutely fabulous. But, there is room for improvement.
#1 We collapsed not only because Saliba was injured. But also because the team was better suited to torture adverse teams with Trossard. We had at that time found a spirited formula.
And, when Jesus came back the team was not as good forward as with Trossard.
Jesus should have had reintegrated the team as a supersub a longer time, we would have won these games we drew in April. I think.
#2 Arteta should have used more often ESR & Nelson & Tierney
These are warming the bench too much.
#3 Which makes me come to the transfer season, I would absolutely be shocked we sell BALOGUN.
Let’s keep an Arsenal grown that just scored 20+ goals in French Ligue1.
The guy is A NATURAL SCORER. A NATURAL n#9.
I am sure he could be even better than G.Jesus to this Arsenal team as he would offer more of this natural #9 style.
#4 I would add quality players not sell them. Keep Tierney. He offers a much stronger defense. Keep Xhaka and add a Rice or Caicedo …
I would actually sell Jesus
Bring back Gnabry
And get an Offensive midfielder
Balogun/ a star striker.. who??
Martinelli Ode Saka
Nelson/ESR Zubimendi Gnabry
Xhaka Partey Rice/Caicedo
Tierney/Zinch White/ RB/Tomi
Gabriel/Kiwior Saliba/White
Ramsdale/Turner/+1 new goalie?
Have a good day
A lot will obviously depend on the what each club does in the transfer market but if I’m to make early predictions without knowing what will transpire in the transfer window I would automatically expect Liverpool to come back into contention because they have the previous experience of going toe to toe with Man City and I think them being in the EUL will allow them to rest their first eleven in midweek.
Man utd I’m less sure about but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they enter the fray should they improve their away from to go with their really strong home form.
Newcastle I think it will come at least a season to early for them plus it will be interesting to see how they juggle the PL and CL schedule
At Chelsea there is a lot of work for Poch to do but I think they can definitely challenge for top 4/5 with the amount quality throughout their squad and they are bound to add to more players to that plus being out of all European competitions should help too.
One team I will categorically rule out of the title race next season is Spurs😂
Don’t discount Spurs under Ange Postecoglou; you do so at your peril.
But guys let’s be positive for our team, once a gunner always a gunner. we will improve abit higher than recently. We were just walking slowly into dignity
City will win the title again next season, everybody else will be chasing second place. Even without Haaland they had the best squad, with him they are at another level. Its depressing really, the premier league is becoming as uncompetitive as the French and German leagues. To be fair Dortmund actually got closer to Bayern and Lens to PSG than Arsenal did to City. What may generate some excitement next season is the fight for champions league spots, that could be tight.
“Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight”
We would have more chance of winning the champions league, at least there is a chance in a knock out competition
I don’t even understand Arsenal fan anymore and with exception of Suep, Jon fox who still say it has it is, many will give an extended excuse just to support the manager thinking he is above criticism.
So many people saying Saliba injury is the cause of our downfall before the season end but immediately the contract talk start surfacing, now they are saying all the team are collapsing.
Have people forgot we’re still scoring even after Saliba’s injury but to keep it tight at the back is the issue on ground?
Have you forgotten Saliba is the reason White is able to bump forward at every opportunity to help out Saka in front but without Saliba, White is limited and that means Saka has his work upfront limited and has to help out White also.
Why is it that Gabriel all of a sudden collapse at the back?
Partey is not used to collecting ball at the area he lost it against Westham when Saliba is present cos Saliba is always in charge of that.
Saliba make mistakes but his calmness at the back is what people love most and that’s the major reason why our play out from the back is so good.
I even read one good comment but without analyzing the other players. someone saying if Saliba’s 2 years after his arrival with all the game time and experience he gathered in Ligue 1 he is still making these type of mistakes, then where was he in terms of his readiness 2 years ago? In terms of level of concentration? Ability on the ball? Reading the game? but the same person never analyze on the player bought in his place which is White. If you say this type of mistake or not having ability or concentration level, then name me which Arsenal defense has much concentration than Saliba?
and put in the fact that all this players except Zinc has played under Arteta for more than one season and yet they still make same mistake and same collapse. So does that mean our coach is not good with his signings?
Saliba is the only player that is playing in the EPL for the first time and yet wasn’t even faced with all the hype around him. You know many player of his age who will go through that hype with blotches?
I know many people who were trying to support Arteta last season by saying Saliba is not good enough and point out some mistake in his game while playing for Marseille as if our own defender are perfect or any world class player out there don’t make mistakes. Some even said, White has played in the EPL and is better because of that but can you say that now?
And some are even criticizing Tony Adams when he said, most have reach there peak, and yet some fans said, we have overachieved yet people still criticize Tony (If you ask me, what is the diff?). Now let hear them out next season if we don’t win the league, cos our peak should be winning the league if you ask me.
Pep don’t sell players because of contract situation, he sells because of bad attitude and i never know negotiating for a better contract to be a bad thing.
What i know will make us compete is if we keep our best eleven (not selling 1 and then restarting again for more excuses to come) and improve our bench by buying players who will possibly bench our current eleven.
We continue abusing clubs for spending to win the league and you want us to win the league by selling one of the better players to buy another trial? Why not buy Tabsoba and yet have Saliba in your rank? is that too much to ask?
bobs the people you mentioned above are more level headed than us hot heads but that doesn’t make them right. What the “wiseheads” you admire have done is lower their expectations. It makes for a saner state of mind at least But the glare of reality unfortunately still can’t make me forget that, yes our players and manager bottled it. With the exception of the final Wolves game our midfield in particular were a no show when it counted.
get 200m
get caicedo
get rice
get osimhen
get premier league title.
simple!
If we are to have any chance of the EPL next season we need to strengthen our squad with quality players and to have early exits in the cup competitions. That was the case last season (which nearly worked) but we lacked a quality bench. I’m not making excuses for injuries because everyone has them.
Comparing Haaland with Kane is difficult, both excellent strikers, but if I were to choose between them right now Haaland would be my choice. 6 years younger and still learning his trade. He scores goals for every club he’s played for, his running off the ball is on another planet taking two or three defenders with him causing huge holes for others to take advantage of. He rarely gets caught offside and lastly, provides assists – 9 this season and I won’t mention the numbers of goals he’s already scored . It’s his FIRST season in the English League.So what’s his potential over the next few years under Pep? He will continue to terrify defences, he’s a one-off in my view and thus my pick for next season’s Champions are the Cityzens yet again. No shame coming 2nd to arguably the best ever EPL side.
I hope they do the treble because that’ll p*ss Man U off something terrible and I just can’t stand the way Italians teams play the game. Did anyone watch Mourinho’s Roma the other night? Awful!!!
Many interesting points Andrew. I am the one who rates Kane better than Haaland (“I am Spartacus”).
Italian clubs are not what they used to be but the main reason I’m responding to your post is because in the “old days” people always moaned that Italian football was boring and too defensive. Even then I would defend Italian defending and indeed revere it, “Catenaccio” and all. I always walked onto a pitch thinking of the likes of Gentile, Scirea, Colovatti, Bergomi, Maldini, Baresi and my absolute favourite Alessandro Nesta. Those guys could defend as it was a religion to them to keep clean sheets. Always inspired me to play better. That’s just me though, to stop strikers who thought they were tasty. Sorry just being nostalgic about the past.
The other thing about that Europa League final was the Portuguese aspect to it -Mourinho – who is a pragmatist and whose teams tend not to be fluent in free flowing football.
By the way I could also name you many great Italian offensive players too. I’m not Italian myself so it’s not a case of bias.
Many interesting points too EvGunner. Defending is an art and religion with Italian clubs hence the number of world class past and present players. In your list you forgot to mention my favourite, Fabio Cannavaro, all 5ft 10in of him. The smiling assassin!!!
This Man City side will put Inter to the test, they now have a new attacking option in Haaland who probably won’t score but will create a few problems in the box. That said it would not surprise me if Inter win.
sorry Andrew this is the post of your’s which I wanted to respond to today (please ss above)
Cheers.
Until we know what our squad will be for next season, and what the squads of the other teams will be, I think it is futile to
speculate on how we will fare.
Unfortunately Tottenham Hotspur cannot be discounted to move up the table and will shock a lot of teams next season under Ange Postecoglou. He is no mug as a manager (one only has to research what other top managers and top class players have to say about him.) He will rebuild the squad on a budget, play attacking football and instill a winning mentality in the players.
OG – yes that was an interesting appointment. The first thing he should do is KEEP Romero so that we can give them another good tonking next season ! That guy has to be the biggest liability I’ve ever seen on a football pitch. How France didn’t take him to the cleaners in that WC final I’ll never know.
Postecoglou seems to be a good bet, but why does he always look so grumpy ?
EvGunner, Ange is obsessively focussed on football, although he is witty and has a good sense of humour. His sunny side appears aroumd his family and winning. Inane uneducated questions from the media in particular make him grumpy.
His put downs of the Scottish media in his excellent press conferences are worth revisiting; he does not suffer fools gladly.
Whoever wrote this article, please call me.
I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
If we finish in the top four next season we will have done well!!