had to replace almost the entire squad. don’t think it’s fair to expect every buy to be a winner. overall recruitment has been very good.
Almost all of them on midfield and defense. Jesus should be a great bench option, but he was bought to be a starter and can't be relied on to stay fit. Trossard is a great sub but not a winger. So we're forced to overplay Saka who looks a shell of himself atm, and Martinelli who has regressed massively and frankly looks like someone who should be a depth option. We have a really good squad overall. The team(s) we're chasing don't rely on players like Eddie Nketiah or Reiss Nelson. Just gotta keep building, my guy. We're not an oil club.
Looking over the transfers from the last five years and it’s hard to find a truly bad one since Pepe. Mari and Nuno sucked but cost nothing. Sambi Lokonga not the level of player we need but still under £20 million and has turned out to be reasonably close his fee. Vieira was looking very good before his injury. Who else are you looking at us buying and saying “wow we suck at this”?
Most discouraged about Martinelli, biggest disappointment of season by far CBs have made big strides Rice has improved midfield White way better Better goalie Can’t win on this stage when you have 1 player that can create goals out of nothing and he’s playing on empty That Martinelli cross when he had loads of time in the first half summed up his year, have never been more sure a keeper would claim it. Loads of time and lofts in a nothing ball. Not much of a vent and not sure what else to complain about. Jesus clearly needs surgery and clearly need a mass exodus of bench guys. Partey’s regression another but he was never in long term plans but should have been able to help us in this tie but he sucks
Bayern did what Porto and Villa did as well. The mid block against a team that can be disciplined is unlockable for this current team. I don’t know what the fix is to be honest, but it’s not Martinelli or a MF with one leg. All said and done, still absolutely love this team. Of course there can always be complaints when you don’t win but miles ahead of where we were.
Guys who can create goals out of nothing is the answer Creating 1 great chance vs a team leaking goals was shit.
Pulled from someone on Discord… offering perspective Spoiler Some people are trying to make out that Arteta has had enough money to mean he should be beating City to the Title and winning the UCL in his first try by default, or it’s “failure” or they’re “bottling it”. That’s stupidity. Just look at comparisons with Arsenal’s rivals… When Arteta joined, the rest of the “Big 6” were doing significantly better than Arsenal in terms of league placement, revenues and squad quality. Yet since Arteta joined: Arsenal has spent €674m on transfers (and it’s quite possible that €170m of those signings were purely transitional and will not even be at the club next season) Spurs has spent €657m; and they already had Son in their squad, as well as Kane for most of that timeframe. Look at how Arteta’s Arsenal has flown by them. The gap is big now. Man Utd has spent €671m and already had Rashford and Fernandes in the squad. Again, Arteta’s Arsenal has just flown by them. The gap is massive. Chelsea has spent €1,444m. Lol. Liverpool has spent lower, at €485m, but they already had megastars in Alisson, VVD, Salah, Robertson and Trent established in the squad. Arsenal might be moving beyond them now. City has spent €727m (more like €800m when you factor in the Haaland family payment) and they already had megastars in Ederson, Stones, Walker, Rodri, B Silva and KdB in their squad. Arsenal is matching them nearly toe to toe now.
Looking at minutes played in the EPL compared to City, Arsenal have the Top 6 in minutes AND 90s completed, and 8 of the top 10 in matches played. Not hugely surprising player performance isn’t peak right now edit: top x-axis is 90s, lower MP
We've rotated more than last season, despite injuries (Timber & Martinelli specifically) & players that consistently struggling with fitness (Partey, Tomi, Zinny & Jesus) played a big part in the overload. All capable players, but hopeful that some will be upgraded & become trusted bench options, or moved on.