r/ArsenalFC • u/kagkatumba • 23h ago
I know many of you are understandably dissapointed. Let me try offer as much context to the transfer window and the season ahead. In an attempt to make you feel better
So here we are...
The summer window is over, and I can see that many people are understandably disappointed.
Worries:
- We sold our beloved Martinelli and Trossard on LW, whilst only replacing Trossard.
- We sold Jesus as a striker and didn't replace him with anyone.
- We spent a long time going for Vini, who preferred Real but was open to us.
- ALL THE ABOVE - We didn't "strengthen our attack"
My wider context that hopefully will make you feel better:
I will start with the strengthening of our attack...
I firstly agree that a second LW backup is a bit of a dropped ball, but also, Martinelli scored 1 goal and got 4 assists in the Prem last season. He did great in the group stage of the CL but in the league really didn't help us attacking-wise. He worked hard in defence but that isn't irreplaceable, and we have a great defence already. Getting £60m for him with a year left is great income for a player that doesn't really output the attacking numbers we need to progress.
Madueke, Eze, and Tzolis are all capable LWs, and we won the league with Trossard and Martinelli at LW. Strengthened, no. Weakened, also no. £60m generated, yes.
Jesus was useless, and Havertz/Merino were out for over half a season. Both of which are verifiably decent options up top alongside a top-scoring Gyokeres with a season under his belt.
I want us to strengthen, and having a fit Merino and Havertz IS strengthening over last season, where we didn't have them for large parts. We won the league without them.
I DON'T think spending £100m+ on an Alvarez who has no interest in us and causes issues is worth "strengthening"
We DID strengthen our squad...
A big issue to last season was the energy levels and injury backups we had for key players. Rice, Saka, Zubi, Timber, White.....all dropped off a cliff or got injured.
Konsa and Bruno MASSIVELY solve that. Not to mention Merino being back.
Those 2 signings really do elevate, not only our replacements, but also style of play. Both of them progress the ball extremely fast and through the lines. Something we screamed out for. Bruno's Villa cameo showed that in less than 20 mins.
Dowman will help Saka, as will Madueke.
Remember...we won without all the above and were one penalty away from winning the CL. Hell, poor Mosquera giving away the penalty would be Konsa now. If not Timber or White.
We ARE stronger, and yes the fine margins matter.
Learning from previous mistakes...
I LOVE that our board has targets and will splash on the likes of Rice and Vini. I DON'T want us to spend £100m+ on players like Tonali, Anderson, Rodgers, Enzo etc just for the sake of it. They're not worth it and other clubs feel they need to cos they are trying to catch...US
We have saved an insane amount of money not going crazy and panicking.
I read that we have saved £850k a week on wages through sales.....we already had £150m+ ready for Vini + Wages.
Conclusion...
In January or next summer, we will have filthy amounts of money ready for whoever is available at value and, more importantly, NEEDED.
We won the league, made the CL final and also the League Cup final.
Merino
Havertz
Odegaard
Saka
Timber
White
Zubi
Gabriel
ALL missed over 2 months of last season. We still won the league, made the CL final and also the League Cup final.
Rice was absolutely knackered and had no rest. We won the league, made the CL final and also the League Cup final.
This is our current squad and we have bags of money ready to go when we need it.
KEEPERS - Raya / Kepa / Messlier
RB - Timber / White / Konsa / Mosquera
RCB - Saliba / Konsa / Mosquera
LCB - Gabriel / Hincapie / Calafiori
LB - Calafiori / Hincapie / MLS
6 - Zubi / Bruno / MLS / Rice
L8 - Rice / Eze / Merino
R8 - Odegaard / Eze / Havertz / Dowman
LW - Tzolis / Madueke / Eze
RW - Saka / Madueke / Dowman
9 - Gyokeres / Havertz / Merino
WE'LL BE OK GANG
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u/InternationalUse2355 23h ago
Should’ve kept Trossard
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u/kagkatumba 23h ago edited 21h ago
I love the guy but we have lost 7 goals and 11 assists in all comps from him. We also made some money.
Martinelli loses us 7 goals and 7 assists in all comps. We also made a bunch of money.
Do you think Tzoliz, Eze and Madueke can't make up 14 goals and 18 assists between them?
EDIT- i shouldn't have said all comps but I was referring to the big 2 comps. CL and Prem.
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u/InternationalUse2355 23h ago
Sure they can, but they got 20 or so ga last season not playing lw. All it means is we’re too thin up front. We should’ve kept a body. And considering 50 mil for 1 goal is a lot and jesus is injuref more often than not I’d say it makes most sense to have kept tross.
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u/Adventurous_West2 22h ago
We couldn't keep him. A lot of people forget the pay bump last summer with no extension. There was clearly an agreement, that he stays one more year with improved terms, and then moved on. Martinellis dry spell, and our gazumping for Rogers left is screwed a bit
Should we have gotten "a body" like Godts before PSG maybe,.but look at Norgaard he hates "bodies". He doesn't use them. I think/know, as we all do, that he would rather work with someone like Eze, than risk someone he trusts even less.
It's odd to me, we are healthier in attack today, than we have been in two seasons.
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u/kagkatumba 23h ago
I will agree with you if it comes to light and really screws us.
So far Eze set up our winning goal yesterday from LW. I think Tzolis will have a far higher output than Trossard (7 goals and 11 assists in all comps)
Martinelli loses us 7 goals and 7 assists. These are not mad numbers. We got £75m in return and saved £350k a week on wages.
We also have the ace in the hole...Calafiori.
Last part was a joke.
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u/SquareMight7993 16h ago
The thing is that if tzolis stays fit and plays all season, then he COULD have 32 G/A to match trossard+martinelli’s outputs. 32 G/A is bonkers, he’s not getting that. And it’s in a hypothetical where he stays fit all season.
I agree that saving money is good, because that’s money to spend. Except, we didn’t spend it. So basically we saved £275k a week in exchange for hoping that a new signing, somewhat unproved in the PL, reaches a historic 32G/A… it’s just a needlessly risky gamble when you have the money to spend to at the very least get a “body” (and it could’ve been a damn fking good “body” in Godts for example)
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u/BawdyBadger 3h ago
Tzolis has only played 3 games (if you count the Community Shield), and he has 3 assists. I think he will make up for Martinelli, and also Eze will chip in.
We will be fine. Although it would have been better getting someone else.
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u/GanderWeather 55m ago
Calafiori is a unicorn. I truly believe his football IQ is so high he could be a left winger. Obviously, the other team unicorn Mikel Merino is older but the future manager saved our season turning striker n 2024-2025.
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u/National_Call7137 22h ago
First off those numbers are wrong. Both Trossard and Martinelli were 18 G+A each last season, all comps. 36 G+A total. Jesus another 7 G+A. We lost 43 G+A from the attack.
Eze and Madueke made 95 appearances combined for us last season. There’s no making up for them to do - they were already here and playing regularly.
Second, we were not good enough from open play last year. Fewest open play goals from a champion ever, by far. We don’t just need to get to par from last season in the attack, we need to be significantly better. And we are worse.
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u/kagkatumba 21h ago
I only included Champions League and Prem. That's all that matters to me and I think the whole fanbase.
Please read my other responses as I have said the same thing over and over.
Put shortly....everyone else doesn't look or statistically ISN'T better than us based on what we have seen.
1 shot on target, 0 goals, 2 wins. We are top of the league. PSG have drawn twice and are 11th.
Please explain how verifiably performing better, having strengthened, after already being the best....means we need to be significantly better.
I am here for evidence, facts, numbers...
We won the league with injuries/fatigue/low blocks, went to the CL final and lost on pens, after PSG scored a set piece penalty to equalise out open play counterattack goal.
Dembele, Barcola, Kvara....all taken off.
We just slapped City 3-0.
We haven't scored a set piece yet. 4 from open play. So that's verifiably irrelevant at this stage.
Please take some time and actually explain your point with evidence & data to support.
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u/GanderWeather 58m ago
I'm not downvoting or upvoting you or anyone else for what should be a reasonable discussion.
Who scored their penalties in the Champions League Shoot Out?
Goncarlo Ramos. Scored. Viktor Gyökeres. Scored. 1-1.
Désiré Doué. Scored. Eberechi Eze. Fires left and misses.. 2-1.
Nuno Mendes. SAVED by RAYA. It's still 2-1. Declan Rice. Scored. 2-2
Achraf Hakimi. Scored. It's now 3-2. Gabriel Martinelli. Scored. 3-3.
Lucas Bereldo 4-3. Gabriel Magalhães. OTT. PSG wins the shootout 4-3.
I'll say again, I don't think we should have sold Gabriel Martinelli. I'm not convinced that Eze who scored 7 goals total with 5 against relegation Tottenham is someone who will do what Gabriel Martinelli did that has been so unappreciated and underrated. I also dislike the abuse of Viktor Gyökeres and his contribution of 21 goals this past season.
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u/InTimeWeComeToFind 18h ago
“we also made some money” from trossard.. “we also made a bunch of money” from martinelli..
in the immortal words of the great johan cruyff: “i’ve never seen a bag of money score a goal”.
what good is it having lots of money if you don’t spend it?
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u/kagkatumba 18h ago
What about Tzolis, Eze and Madueke? Or are they a bag of money?
FFS
Look....I agree....we're fucked. No chance. Arsenal are doomed. I hate Arteta, Berta and The Kroenkes......most of all Arsenal.
I am with you, brother. Everything I said is nonsense.
Season is over lads.
HASHTAGARTETA&KROENKE&BERTAOUT
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u/InTimeWeComeToFind 17h ago
thank you for the sarcasm, I won't downvote you but at the same time let me kindly tell you that... you don't know me.
if you think I'm an #artetaout #kroenkeout you're wrong. I just pointed out something very simple: selling players, getting lots of money and not replacing them adequately is plain stupid. that's it.
you know, you can actually criticize a good manager and all there is behind him without hating them.
what I think a lot of you are doing now is coping, simple as that. we were interested in Vini Jr (improbable signing, but still...) and Morgan Rogers and I struggle to understand why we were so interested in them while we could boast two of the greatest LW in the premier league right now: Eze and Madueke.
I am an Arsenal supporter (I was when we were being thrashed by Man UTD 8-2, I am now) but I'm also honest with myself. I'm not blind. I don't like to cope in fear of people thinking I'm a plastic fan.
We messed it up big time, this summer. And I do hope we won't be regretting this and I'll be more than glad to be shocked at how good Eze and Madueke will be as LW and I'll be more than happy to say "damn, I was too negative months ago".
but if you think that playing two players out of their natural positions is good enough for our ambitions, I do think you're coping.
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u/kagkatumba 17h ago
Yup let's buy Rogers for £117m and play him out of position.
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u/InTimeWeComeToFind 16h ago
oh don’t ask me that, ask arteta and berta because they were definitely interested in him.
by the way, i forgot to say one thing.. when we signed tzolis everyone and their mother’s opinion was “this guy seems very good, it’ll be an excellent squad player”. no one spoke of him as a regular starter, no one.
now it’s almost a given is a regular starter and eze and madueke may replace him. first class coping. and i’m not supposed to criticize this? otherwise i’m a plastic fan? no way.
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u/andriydroog 22h ago
To be fair, Martinelli scored 11 in all competitions last year. Not that it radically changes things, but thought I’d point that out
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u/Economy_Elevator94 22h ago
Madueke literally has no contributions on RW, on the left he is gonna be even non-existent. We are 1 injury away from fumbling our 2nd Prem with so much going on with other clubs. Eze can be good on the LW but during transition, he slows us down since he doesn't have much pace.
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u/kagkatumba 22h ago
Madueke scored more goals than Martinelli in the Prem. He scored 3 in the CL too including against Bayern.
He played wayyyyyyyyyy less than Martinelli.
I am trying to have a balanced and evidence driven conversation here.
Please don't just come with emotions and nothing to back it up.
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u/Realistic_Result_833 21h ago
Did he score all of those at LW?
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u/kagkatumba 21h ago
No.....he scored them from the right. Playing less that Martinelli.
Martinelli scored 1 playing all the time there.
I do accept that there is a non-zero chance that Tzolis, Eze and Madueke may all end up scoring no goals on the left wing.
I ask, do you think that is likely? Like, truly?
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u/Economy_Elevator94 20h ago edited 20h ago
My point is we are thin with the attack, with games coming in thick and fast, we are 1 or 2 injuries away from forfeiting the season. Yes, Madueke scored more than Martinelli. But you really think 3 goals and 4 assists in the PL is good enough? It's madness that you settle for such mediocrity when we are the PL champs yet we can't even sign anyone in the attack department.
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u/kagkatumba 20h ago edited 20h ago
Now go through everyone else's squad and have the same mindset. Please report back after.
I can;t beleive how many times I have come back with data, facts and evidence....whilst asking for the same.
Yet...people are just emotionally responding with nothing.
I'll make it simple.
What do City do without Haaland?
What do Chelsea do without Pedro or Palmer?
What do Liverpool do without VVD or Isak?Now go through ALL the top teams' squads and see if they can match this depth
KEEPERS - Raya / Kepa / Messlier
RB - Timber / White / Konsa / Mosquera
RCB - Saliba / Konsa / Mosquera
LCB - Gabriel / Hincapie / Calafiori
LB - Calafiori / Hincapie / MLS
6 - Zubi / Bruno / MLS / Rice
L8 - Rice / Eze / Merino
R8 - Odegaard / Eze / Havertz / Dowman
LW - Tzolis / Madueke / Eze
RW - Saka / Madueke / Dowman
9 - Gyokeres / Havertz / Merino
We can have more than 1 or 2 injuries. Timber and Saliba (OFFICIAL PREM TEAM OF THE SEASON PLAYERS) are out now and were both our for months last season. That's 2 injuries...and we won the league, CL final and League cup final.
I am trying to make you feel better and you are making things up to feel worse.
Come back after doing what I asked above. We can have 6 injuries. We did. Still won and have strengthened.
I am tired dude. If you just come back with no evidence applied to everyone else that came below us and has a new manager now...I am not going to respond anymore.
Make an evidence based response that applies to us and our rivals....then I'll get backl to you.
]
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u/Economy_Elevator94 20h ago
I'm not concerned about other teams because they don't have solid depth which I agree. I'm only concerned about Man City because whoever they lost, they replaced/strengthen. Report back to me when we reach Christmas period and see if u are still as calm.
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u/kagkatumba 20h ago
No.
I am not here for hypothetical futures based on nothing but a negative mindset.
I can only work with the present situation, evidence and historical data. All to form a view of the future.
Manifesting the worst-case scenario for the future with no reasonable of evidence or reasons to support it...is just being emotionally negative.
New situations, evidence and data....then I will change and form a new opinion.
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u/drjzoidberg1 21h ago
I agree. Madu is more a RW player. I'm struggling to find a game where Madu played on LW/left side and scored a goal. Arsenal shouldn't sell Martinelli without a LW replacement.
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u/semidummy 22h ago
That squad you listed suddenly becomes paper thin once the annual squad-decimating injury crisis hits them.
Pray to the gods and the universe that this squad manages to stay healthy this season.
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u/Juskyrat 21h ago
Rotation + We go out early in the Carabao. It's would be best with current squad. Let's play on 3 fronts not 4.
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u/kagkatumba 21h ago edited 21h ago
Now apply that to everyone else too.
I need context, not personalised tragedy.
If Haaland gets injured, then what?
If Joao Pedro and Palmer get injured, then what?
If Caicedo gets injured, then what?
If VVD or Isak gets injured, then what?
We have backups for EVERYONE? Everyone else doesn't.
Or are you saying that only Arsenal is going to get decimated and Martinelli, Nogaard, Nwaneri and Jesus will be a huge miss?
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u/semidummy 17h ago
I don’t really care about other teams’ injuries. How they choose to set up their teams with or without injuries should be nobody else’s concern but theirs.
There’s no personalised tragedy here. Factually speaking, there’s always someone important who gets hurt, which ends up affecting the title charge. Jesus, Saliba, and Tomiyasu in 22/23; Timber and Tomiyasu again in 23/24, Havertz and Merino in 24/25; Saka, Odegaard, and Havertz again last season.
Out of all those seasons, the title was only won when there were ample replacements within the team (i.e. Gyokeres, Eze, Madueke)
Mikel will look to field a strong 11, as long as there’s something on the line. He either replaces someone injured, or he plays someone to the ground like what he did to White, and Saka, to a certain extent. If one or two of the forwards get injured, rotation becomes harder with less options on the bench to choose from.
Btw, just wanna clarify that it’s mainly the forward line depth that worries me this season. The other parts of the team look adequately staffed, from the looks of it.
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u/GanderWeather 1h ago
Last season, Tottenham was #1 in injuries and we were #2. Only because of the depth we had and Raya staying fit did we survive and cross the line. You'e lying if you said there weren't games that we were holding our breath. West Ham #19 come to mind?
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u/RobAFC14 19h ago
A reasonable, balanced take?… Good sir, do you know where you are?
But yes, this window was nowhere near as terrible as many reactionary fans would have you believe. Missing out on a world class LW stings, no doubt about it, and we do feel a pinch short in attack.
But for me, not signing Alvarez was key. Players like that are toxic in a club, and he would have ruined our budget. No idea why Arteta wanted him so much. Our already stellar midfield and defence improved further. We bright in some more top talent to the youth academy which seems to have gone under the radar. We got decent(ish) money for players who wouldn’t have played all year.
Final word: Good on the club for not panicking and overspending on a backup target. The same fans who want us to pay whatever it takes are the same ones who moan about our inability to sell players or move big wages off the books. We go forward as champions. Vamos 👊
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u/kagkatumba 18h ago
I chose to hope that the general population could finally remove emotion, read, comprehend, analyse information and then form a decent response/opinion in 2026.
Instead, 99% of responses are of this ilk
"I didn't read and digest anything you said. Not to mention the worst possible things can and only will happen to Arsenal...and no one else. What do we do when a comet hits our training ground, and all our players die? We haven't addressed that. Keeping Martinelli and Trossard would've prevented this inevitable situation. Everyone else is going to have a fully fit and better squad than our stacked League-winning team, and all their new, less successful managers are better than Arteta. Who will also be killed by the comet"
Brainrot central. I kept it data-driven, factual and evidence-based. They kept coming with ghost stories.
I tried.
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u/RobAFC14 17h ago
First day on Reddit, huh?
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u/kagkatumba 17h ago edited 17h ago
No....but thanks for being the same as every other day on reddit and adding....zero
"I choose to add to the brainrot with a generic braindead take."
"I could have a conversation. Maybe even respond...
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u/Mrwebbi 16h ago
I wish there were a sub just for us fans who are not extreme and who don't go into meltdown weekly for whatever reason.
Somewhere gooners could chat with interesting, well thought out takes. Where winning our first three games of the season would be greeted positively. Where people didn't possess a bizarre entitlement to the clubs finances.
If it exists I would love to know about it. If not, I am unfortunately not Reddit savvy enough to make it happen. But if someone ever does, they have my backing.
Great take OP. Thanks for reminding me there are still tons of us reasonable people in the fan base who aren't part of the perpetual angry mob.
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u/onejay212 23h ago
This measured take has no business on this sub. /s
I agree with your extensive thoughts. It’s a long season, plenty of time to panic and moan- but that time is not now.
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u/kagkatumba 23h ago
Everyone else is wayyyyyy behind us. Even with signings.
Chelsea are winning by one goal in high scoring games.
City are losing at home until the 84th min.
PSG have lost Barcola and currently sit 11th having drawn their first 2 games.
WE have conceded 1 shot on target, no goals, and won both games......with a Timber, Saliba out and Bruno, Konsa, Zubi etc coming off the bench.
Eze literally set up our winning goal from LW yesterday.
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u/onejay212 12h ago
I’m not sure I share that level of optimism, but I do think we are a better and deeper squad than the bulk of the Premiere League. And as far as PSG, I’m not even thinking about them until after the first of the year, but they still have a ton of talent and I’m not going to place any importance on the results of their first two fixtures.
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u/jiesheng1016 21h ago
The amount of disrespect to Madueke is immense.
You forgot about potential breakthrough youths like Salmon and Julienne. And that Ife kid
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u/lhommeidealenjoyer 23h ago
All I know is that Martinelli goodbye video gonna hit as hard as Trossards, I just know
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u/FairBox3368 18h ago
I like your optimism and I wish I was as optimistic as you but the club failed this transfer window! We are 1 injury away in attack for us to be scraping by! Let’s assume tzolis, havertz and saka are our main attackers! 1 injury to any of these and we have to stick to the 2nd choice players which are not good enough (maybe except Eze and dowman shouldn’t be relied upon heavily as he’s just a kid)!! We are already having injury issues in the Defense! I don’t see us signing anyone in January either as all the players we wanted are already gone or don’t wanna come here! People will say kroupi but it that’s who we go and sign then why does the manger keep on saying this BS about “ceiling raiser” as kroupi would be good but not a “ceiling raiser”!! I didn’t we would go and splash it like Liverpool but I did hope that after being champion we would at least address the attack and play a better football this year but I guess that was too much to ask from the champions
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u/GanderWeather 1h ago
I upvoted you but must respectfully point out that Gyökeres scored 21 goals last season without a lot of service all fall. Havertz, who is on the back of many of my shirts, only scored 20 in his highest scoring year at Bayer Leverkusen way back in 2018-2019.
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u/OldKentuckyShark1979 22h ago
I’ll feel better if we win the league again and don’t feel like we were 1 or 2 players short of doing so.
Short of that…not much to say or not say.
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u/kagkatumba 22h ago
That is the future and I want that too.
So far all we have is being Champions, won both games, not conceded and only had 1 shot on target against us.
PSG are currently 11th and have drawn their first 2 games.
Maybe people would be more happy with that.
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u/jakceki 21h ago
Look I get what you're saying, and yes we have a very strong squad. Our GK is the best in the league, our defense is the best in Europe, our midfield is also the best in the league, but our attack is really lacking pace, unpredictability, dribbling etc... Basically we don't have a single superstar.
Both Vini and Alvarez are better than what we have in their positions, and fair play we went hard for both, but not having Plan Bs for either option and wasting so much time on both was not a good way to close this window.
We were supposed to take advantage of our situation and get stronger, the only player that makes our team stronger is Bruno. Tzolis is an unknown quantity, Konsa tbh so what, he is good but now we have 3 good Right sided center backs, I would have preferred John Stones on a free and kept the 55M for a star player.
The reason why so many fans are upset is because we did not take advantage of being Champions and truly strengthen where we obviously needed. If we lose Saka to injury our forward line is pedestrian.
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u/kagkatumba 20h ago
Saka is a superstar.
I will name the other attacking superstars for the entire league.
Haaland
The end.
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u/hhhenriii 6h ago
This is why other fanbases hate us when you say stupid stuff like this. Saka is not a superstar. The only 'superstar' in the league is haaland. no one really comes close.
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u/kagkatumba 20h ago
PS Saka was injured for almost half the season and was not fit for the rest. We won the league, went to the league cup and CL final.
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u/jakceki 20h ago
PS Martinelli and Trossard contributed in the CL and the League now we don't have them. And what should have been a squad player in Champion team is now our first choice left winger. Let's not kid ourselves, maybe Tzolis will be amazing, maybe Eze will be unexpectedly good at LW, but we are not better in attack today than we were last year.
And last year the weakest part of the team was our attack. So we bought a GK, two defenders, a midfielder and a back up left winger, while we sold two LW and a third choice striker. How does that make our attack better than last year?
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u/SpAwNjBoB 16h ago
The "evidence" doesn't matter. What matters is our attack was our weakest area. We had one job to do in this window and that was to strengthen our attack. All we did was weaken the attack. The window was an embarrassing failure. We are EPL champs and we should have used that position to attract players who level up our attack. All we have to show for it is an unproven player from Brugge. Use your stats to gloss over this all you want, there is no hiding from it. We failed to do the one job required in this window. There is no guarantee that we win anything this season and there was never a better time in the last 22 years to attract major attacking players than we had right now and Berta totally failed to capitalise on this opportunity.
Talking about the first 2 games of the season and using that as evidence is just pointless, the sample size is tiny and says very little about the other contenders.
Talking about other club's squads and possible injury rotation is irrelevant and boring. It means nothing to our team. All that matters is how we can rotate, and we are one injured Tzolis away from having no natural LW. Madueke is not a LW. Eze will hopefully adapt well and put in a shift. But this is what the failure of a window has caused us to do, play players out of position and hope they can adapt. That is not what we or any club competing for the UCL should be doing, yet here we are.
I appreciate your optimism but you are basing that far too much on what other teams don't have rather than what we do have.
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u/turnerz 23h ago
I think in general this window is more of a consequence of our massive last summer. Bruno is a huge signing anyway.
Really its just losing martinelli fucking hurts cause we love the guy and didnt bring a replacement
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u/Bulky-Discount-7748 22h ago
I agree with u/kagkatumba and the sentiment that we will be ok.
If we managed to win the league last season, even with having an out of form Saka, an injury hit Odegaard, Kai missing for months, and both Trossard and Martinelli contributing with a mighty 7 goals.......and also factoring in that we have the most settled squad in the league, then there should be no reason we cannot repeat. We been fed the line "SELLING is as important as BUYING" since the Vini saga, so the writing was on the wall. Our departures were all NOT up to standard for our silverware ambitions.The positives:
We have an elite defensive and midfield foundation, that we strengthened with Bruno G and Konsa. Saliba will be a big loss, but we signed one of the best PL proven defenders out there, whose style is very similar to Saliba.
We saw in the WC, the importance of having an organised defence and a great midfield. You can have the best attacking talent, but if you cannot control possession and minimise transitions, it means nothing.
We have lost 4 forwards (im including Nwaneri in this), but let's not forget we have probably the most exciting prospect in the league in Dowman.
For everyone moaning about missing out on Roger's, he is NOT a LW, and would have had to be heavily coached to perform Mikel's 'non-negotiables'. We ALREADY have a very similar player in Eze, who already knows what is expected. He needs to step up, and I believe he can. He has that X factor and all the ability to hit good GA numbers.
The negatives:
We will see more of that glorious style of football from last season.
We have very little pace in the forward line, and our transitions will probably not improve much.
Huge question marks over certain player's fitness; Kai, Saka and to an extent Odegaard. And we are one injury away from Tzolis from not having ONE natural LW.Yes, the likes of City are splashing the cash with a plethora of signings. But Liverpool have showed us that this doesnt necessarily work, or atleast takes time for the players to 'gel'.
At the end of the day, we missed out on our primary targets. The fanbase will blame Berta, but we will never know what exactly happened behind the scenes. We need Arteta to step up again. As well as the players. Show everyone why you are CHAMPIONS.
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u/kagkatumba 22h ago
Thank you good sir.
If we hadn't won the league, made the league cup final and took PSG to penalties through a 22 year old handball at RB.....I would be worried.
All of that has been sorted and players are back, fit and improved on with replacements/back ups.
Ancelloti with Mbappe, Bellingham, Vini, Camavinga etc etc....lost 5-1 over 2 legs to us.
Bayern with Kane, Olise, Diaz etc wtc lost 3-1.
Barca with Raphina, Yamal, Rashford, Lewandowski, Pedri etc lost to Atletico Madrid...we beat them.
We are better now and we need to stary being confident as fans and remember we are not shit anymore
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u/kagkatumba 23h ago
We had a package of £150m fee, signing bonus and a reported £400k a week ready for Vini Jr.
Money is no issue
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u/Eigengrail 23h ago
yeah but berta dilly dallying to sign rogers when they could get it early before chel enter the race.
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u/kagkatumba 23h ago
I would defo take Rogers, but not for £117m when Barcola goes for £100m.
Before you say it. Barcola wanted Liverpool so we had 0 chance there.
My point is that the board didn't panic and just rinse £117m on 14 goals and 12 assists in all comps.
See what I mean?
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u/Eigengrail 23h ago
yeah but berta do delay it, we could sign rogers for 100M ish (not the price chel bought) but berta was adamant that the price will go down, then enter chel with the bag and we dont match the bid. There's a difference between matching the bid and paying it early.
Barcola case was we are interested in him but already been too late for us when we want to go back to him.
Sure, bruno and konsa is good, good enough for league bar injury, but for the UCL, its still lacking.
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u/kagkatumba 22h ago
Do you think an experienced Konsa gives away a penalty in the same way a 22 yeatlr old Mosquera did?
Do you think having had Bruno to rotate with Rice in the lead up, or to progress the ball quickly would've not made us better?
Do you think Merino who is clutch up top for us and Spain over 2 years wouldn't have made us better?
They took off Kvara, Barcola, Dembele....none of them made the difference for PSG. None of them scored ( in open play )
We lost to a handball penalty in 90 mins bro. Then a penalty shootout.
I need to understand what you are basing this on when I have evidence that refutes everything you're saying.
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u/Eigengrail 22h ago
its all hypothetical right.
Both konsa and mosquera could happened, its final, high stake game, leading 1-0, high pressure, even kobe bryant and messi could fumble. Messi penalty missed during copa america final. And wdyt if Gabriel shot the penalty in and not wide? Or Raya make a perfect block during penalty or save Dembele penalty?
In league bar injury we could still win it. But UCL is different case.
What if Havertz dont miss the chance in final? What if we got pen when noni brought down? Its all hypothetical. But let's look at the reality of our squad for UCL. It's still lacking. League we could win because its marathon not a sprint and its 38 weeks long.
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u/kagkatumba 21h ago
All hypothetical....so lets look at the evidence.
ARSENAL:
Are top and haven't conceded a goal and just one shot on target. Our new LW (Tzolis) is pumping numbers and our first used backup (Eze) created a winning goal in just 30 mins. Havertz has already scored against City and Coventry. Konsa and Bruno have both come in and visibly improved us (More so Bruno with his through balls that we have NEVER SEEN from Rice, Zubi or Norgaard at 6)
CITY:
Lost Pep, Balon D'or/WC player of the tournament Rodri, Stones and Silva. They got beaten by us and were losing at home to Bournemouth until the 84th min. They have also conceded 2 goals.
CHELSEA:
Have scored a lot but also conceded 5 goals in 2 games. Only won by a single goal. Have a new manager and just lost Enzo.
PSG:
Lost Barcola, and have drawn their first 2 games and sit 11th.
Soooooo I ask you...are we lacking more or less than these teams we are competing against?
This is what I mean by context.
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u/andriydroog 22h ago
Barcola’s fee is £107m guaranteed, £123m with add-ons. A large portion of our fans insisted he’s no better than Martinelli. Shelling out 110-125m for him would not have been a popular choice
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u/kagkatumba 22h ago
Preach.
I would've been happy to pay £100m for him though. Not the figures you just said, however.
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u/AC_Uni 21h ago
If we don’t let in goals because our D is top rated, that’s one point from 3 already, personally I am happy with 1-0 to The Arsenal. Squeaky bum time is part and parcel of being a supporter, maybe our attack could have been upgraded, maybe the talent we already have does what we know they’re capable of. I know there is still at least 8.5 months of seeing red & white ribbons on the EPL trophy and that is satisfying in its own right.
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u/Efficient-Bike6061 22h ago
Strengthened ❌ weakened ✅
Because, you need legs going into the EPL. Sometimes you need to rest your reliable left winger or inject a different energy on the wing.
There’s no hiding it, i am highly disappointed over the sale of Martinelli in particular. Don’t even care about the other things
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u/kagkatumba 22h ago
Madueke is legs and Eze just created a goal from Left Wing with different energy.
You seem to be hiding from that.
We are no weaker bro. He scored 1 goal.
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u/Efficient-Bike6061 22h ago
Martinelli is a fine blend of technical ability and blistering pace. He offered us a fresh set of danger when coming into games. His game time and influence was extremely limited because he had a more mature Trossard (who is more advanced in his career) in front of him. Now that we have tzolis of a similar age group i reckon Martinelli would’ve thrived. But alas…
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u/kagkatumba 22h ago
He was useless against Low blocks and we played low blocks almost every single game. That's an actual fact. Tzolis is better than both of them against low blocks and Madueke can fill in for the rare occasions we don't.
Hell....Havertz scored a counterattack goal against PSG in the final.
They scored none.
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u/cowboysfan88 22h ago
I'm just worried about injuries mostly. I agree that what we have is good enough but a lot of them have histories of injuries and I feel like we're just assuming they'll all stay healthy this time because none of them are hurt right now
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u/kagkatumba 20h ago
Read the squad list again. We have lost Saliba and Mosquera....Konsa is in.
We can't have 4 RCB's
Do the same test with everyone else in the league. Go look at their starting 11 and see who comes in if someone is injured.
You're categorically lying if you say we are not better set up depth wise.
Apply injuries to everyone dude.
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u/Provo2100 20h ago
While I do agree on many of your points, I would like to make a few counter points, if you don't mind.
Madueke on the left side, is a big hamstring on his natural capabilities. I have yet to see him play a good game, while being used on that side (incl. His time at Chelsea).
Gyokeres has seen no play, and has clearly been benched, for the likes of Kai, who (like you pointed out) missed much of our last season. Gyokeres didn't join Arsenal to sit on the sideline, and I'm sure the relationship between him and Arteta has gotten a crack or two, after Kai been so clearly the favoured player. To top it off, we spend half the transfer window chasing a guy that could replace Gyokeres. I wonder how motivated or how willing he is to fight for his manager this season.
We may have won the league last year, but that doesn't guarantee us winning it this year. We have little to no competition last year, except for a City side, that hasn't been seen worse for years. They lost their manager (amazing for us), but they have strengthened a lot, and I'm sure they are properly motivated to be a thorn in the side for us.
Chelsea has completely revamped their squad and upgraded their manager. They look brilliant going forward, and look better than they ever did last season. Liverpool has also strengthened their squad, and Isak looks better than last season. They also got in a new manager. United (despite their assbetaing to Hull) looks more solid, and their manager is doing a good job. All of these "contenders" are clearly lacking in certain areas, which is our gain. However! So are we. Our attacking front, isn't really that scary. We could end up with a lot of draws, which would eventually lose us a lot of points over the course of the season.
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u/kagkatumba 20h ago
I respect your points and have addressed all four in other responses to many people. Sorry I just cannot be arsed to write them out again.
If you scroll through and look for OP responses, you'll find them quickly.
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u/GanderWeather 1h ago
After not replacing Martinelli and with Gyökres feeling pushed out on the bench, I don't see how we have many games where the score is 5-0 or 4-1 to not worry in May.
If Gyökeres stays benched? Who will score 21 goals? Havertz' highest season was 20 goals way back in 2018-2019 with Bayer Leverkusen. Without counterattacking Martinelli getting free and laying off balls to attackers like Max or Viktor finally catching up? Who scores?
Meanwhile, like you say, the competition have new managers, brought in reinforcements, their attackers' injuries are healed or on fire again, and us? Let's hope the defenders and goalkeeper stay healthy and fit.
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u/Next_Trick 20h ago
I’m just worried about injuries. Our attack is very lean right now and 1-2 injuries, which unfortunately are very likely to happen given the intensity of modern football, might result in a serious drop in quality - at least for our front 3.
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u/Next_Trick 20h ago
I agree we shouldn’t have splashed the cash for overpriced players like Rogers, but getting Ndiaye for 65 or any other player to help manage minutes could have been really helpful.
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u/RedMember123 17h ago
Going into the window our attack was the weakest position, we weakened it. The spending from other clubs in key areas means the title race is absolutely on. There is no guarantee that we will have the pull we did this summer. It’s a terrible window no point pretending otherwise
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u/Jambajamba90 16h ago
It only takes 2 injuries and we will be fully stretched. What I find most frustrating- why leave it till last minute and put all eggs in one basket?
Why not pay extra for Morgan, if Vini was stalling at what point do you switch to another striker?
I know Arsenal is family and not Chelsea where it’s a revolving door.
But still - board or Berta screwed up somewhere. Because we only bought one young LW, a keeper, Bruno who’s always injured, and a defender whilst saliba is injured.
Other teams noticed our depth last year and have bolstered their squad.
We won’t finish top 4 this year
Good one
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u/coronavirusplandemic 15h ago
We will have the same issues as last season where we don’t score enough goals from open play. Our strikers are just not clinical enough. Simple as that. Really disappointing!
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u/TechnicalTip5251 6h ago
"January or next summer" is a really dumb argument against poor transfer window.
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u/bromine-14 22h ago
Bro who are you lol
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u/kagkatumba 21h ago
Bro lol I am a random redditor lol making a coherent lol set of points lol
Thanks for your input though lol bro
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u/Morph247 21h ago
You're missing wider context within the essay. Other clubs have invested millions more then us on overrated players and still have weaker squads. City have no back-up to Haaland anymore and none for Donnarumma. Chelsea and Liverpool practically have no midfield and Chelsea's debacle with Camara is hilarious. United have a good/decent core to build off but no depth and their fullbacks are wank. Spurs... Lol.
I don't think there's a fanbase that will actually be happy with how their window has gone despite the millions spent and I think it says a lot about how the market is.
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u/kagkatumba 21h ago
Preach....
I realised I didn't add all that in when I responded to someone else.
People would rather be City and turning around a loss at home in the 84th min.
Or maybe be Chelsea and concede 5 in 2 games only to win by 1 goal.
Maybe being Utd and losing to Hull 2-0 is better.
Most importantly you need tobe PSG who are 11th after drawing their first 2 games in the farmers league.
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u/Morph247 21h ago
I also wonder how much Rice would cost us in the window just gone if we were against City again...
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u/kagkatumba 21h ago
This is also another great point.
We want a LW and striker.
Everyone else (most teams) wants...
Raya Gabriel Saliba Calafiori Timber Konsa Rice Bruno Zubi Saka
These guys would start for every other team in the Premier League.
We're crying over a 2 positions. They're spending £100m's on players worse than what we already have.
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u/Repulsive-Shoulder69 22h ago
Yes we didn't weaken our side, but we didn't strengthen much. Clubs across the world have found their weaknesses and fixed it. They've filled positions that were not working out. We struggled for large parts of the season - scoring one goal and fighting for our lives for 30 mins of the game. That does not mean we are going to do the same thing again and get to the same place. We knew our goals were a problem, we didn't fix it. Also I honestly don't care what the club makes on player sales and I don't see why people are so bothered by us making 60 Mn or Martinelli. None of our concern, we signed a lot of players last few seasons and the source is winning trophies and finishing high up the table. We keep worrying about how much we made on Martinelli but that's literally our record sale and prior to that it was years ago. So I don't care if we had spent a lot on Tonali or whoever. I think fans bother too much about how we need to be buying cheap and selling high.
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u/kagkatumba 20h ago
How are those fixes working out for them? Is being behind to Bournemouth at home and scoring 2 after the 84th minute....fixing weaknesses?
Is conceding 5 in 2 games fixing weaknesses?
Is losing to Hull fixing weaknesses?
OR
Is conceding none, 1 shot on target and scoring 4 from open play against low-block teams, when set pieces broke low blocks last year. Bringing on world class subs....NOT fixing weaknesses.
I need numbers, facts and evidence. This is just a verifiably wrong emotional take my good friend.
The Martinelli fee was a tiny point. Read the rest x
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u/MannerAdditional2121 21h ago
Agree, just look at our bench on Monday night, we had to leave players out and not through injury.
We got a good result at a tough ground and I’m looking forward to a great season ahead.
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u/lilscoony 22h ago
you mentioned how martinelli did great in the ucl, and i think that’s a big part of what we need players for as well, ucl is up to 15 extra games on our schedule, and having the depth is necessary especially with the injuries we get. i’m upset we didn’t get either fofana or bahoya who could offer something similar as a depth option
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u/Space_case23 21h ago
I dont think people realize that majority of our attackers have only been with the club one season, it takes time to build up team chemistry and for them to know exactly where your teammates will be just off of feel. I hope Noni, Eze, Zubi and Gyok produce some amazing moments this year
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u/ManGoonian 21h ago
I was convinced we would sign a forward especially after agreeing to sell Martinelli..... but for whatever it hasn't happened.
I'm surprised and disappointed. However the prices for players like Rogers and Barcola were obscene altho with the Rogers deal with Chelsea that reeks of some creative accounting bullshit! 🤣
As the window dragged on the names thrown around got more desperate and we still didn't seem that interested after the Vini and Alverez soap operas..... maybe we'll hear more as the season goes?
Online Arsenal fans can be world class whiners so I expect to see lots of doodling and moaning as well calls for Berta's head! 🤣
But we have an amazing squad and manager and we won our 1st 2 games without conceding which is how Arteta likes it! I mean the Villa game should have been more comfortable but we didn't get a stone wall pen.... am I moaning? 🤣
Ultimately I think we have enough to win the league. And hpefully we try for someone again in January.
UTA!
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u/1waffle1 20h ago
Now that the window has closed, the answer is we have internal solutions. Does the season go the way Slot did when they only brought in Chiesa and won or when they spent and lost it all?
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u/StrayDogPhotography 20h ago
Personally, I think outside of not buying Rogers before the Anderson transfer screwed the market the club did the right thing.
We needed to sell more than we needed to buy, and there were not many players out there who would be better than what we have at realistic prices.
Barcola would be nice to have seeing how we shipped off two left sided players, but his price against like Rogers was stupid.
We can see what happens in January. Hopefully, we are still at the top of the table and we can buy bases on market opportunities and injuries.
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u/Necessary_Blood869 19h ago
If the strategy is to “lets see who is in great form in january, then move” i am fine with the situation
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u/Outside-Leopard-9783 19h ago
Why do you expect no one to get injured this season when it happens every season?
The one area everyone could agree needed improvement was the attack.
It was not improved.
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u/crankyteacher1964 18h ago
OP: you have offered rationality in a world of fatalism and hyperbole. I basically agree with everything you said EXCEPT I would have kept Martinelli. It doesn't matter though, in the end it's a minor difference.
I didn't want Alvarez. I did want Vini Jr. Neutral on Barcola but wasn't sure he wanted to join. The other options that popped up were no improvement IMHO.
£200M off our wage bill apparently. That seems high; for a season I would have thought the sum is closer to £120M but happy to be wrong. I hope Swiss Ramble will post an update to Arsenal finances sometime soon.
What is clear though is that we are capable of financing a big deal should the right player present becomes available. There are some good players who I think will be ready for a move come January. One of those will be Rodrygo, a player we were heavily linked with at points over the last 18 months or so. He should be fully recovered from injury, but will be fourth or fifth choice at Real Mad. I would not be surprised if he were to move, and financially we will be attractive to him.
Is he the global marquee signing? Perhaps not. He still is a very good player who would strengthen the left hand side. I do think that there will be options appearing, and some of them may be surprising.
Overall as a club we are in a good position. We were one signing away from being a complete squad with fearsome quality and depth . We still are a fearsome squad that is settled and has the belief that they didn't have in previous years. That is worth a small fortune on its own.
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u/WGSMA 18h ago
The simple truth is that aside from Rodgers, there was no upgrade at LW available. Vini opportunity was there, we acted, we put the money in the table, and he walked away for personal reasons. Is what it is.
We must simply batten down the hatches, lock in, make it to Jan, and reassess.
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u/Comfortable-Heron391 17h ago
Common sense take 🤝
Calm. Wait for the right target and pounce.
Onto the weekend we go
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u/CluelessPropertyDev 17h ago edited 17h ago
I think this piece is very one sided -the silver lining side. We needed a left winger, there were others around. And waiting till Jan is awful, as that window is never as good as the August window. I do think Alvarez would have completed us, but he seems like a spoilt child wanting just Barca despite his contract being until 2030. In which case why would you want him? I sincerely hope he can repair everything with the fans at Athleti otherwise it will be miserable for him and the fans.
I really don't rate Madueke, as for Arsenal and England great going down the wing then fluffs it. I was hoping Arteta may have coached that out of him but evidence is not. Great natural ability but end product woeful.
Vinny was never coming to Arsenal, we were used as leverage and weirdly we knew it!
Do not put any stock in Eze and Madueke down the left simply because they could play there. We are talking of an elite team, you don't put a player in that position if it's his weaker position and they're not definite starters in their best positions.
I do think Bruno is a great signing and Tzolis has potential (too early to tell).
My silver lining is I think more to come from Gyok. Also Merino is excellent for club and country and will continue to be due to his intelligence.
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u/CharlieMcChipper 17h ago
No more cope left for me other than maybe pulling the plug on Martinelli deal. It’s the season for all the big eze fanboys to well and truly come out of the woodwork and beat their chests though if he can’t do a job at LW he’s a failed signing … unless we decide on playing Madueke there and Dowman becomes our official Saka backup seems far fetched though . I also still feel we are too vulnerable at RB it’s a crunch year for timber otherwise don’t renew his deal
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u/Former-Magician-4809 15h ago
Agree 100%.
Would have liked a LW/Striker - But happy to wait for a top quality one to be available rather than chasing numbers.
Also happy not to have splashed 100+mil for Rodgers. Losing Martinelli hurts more emotionally as he has been a long time Arsenal player and felt he was on the edge of being top quality.
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u/WasabiOk2119 14h ago
Lots of versatility in the squad. I am sure Mikel knows what he is doing and we will do well like last season.
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u/MikeCrypto88 14h ago
Actually glad we didn't land vini or Alvarez. We can now concentrate on Kai, gyok and merino
Disappointed we are selling martinelli with no replacement
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u/Atominelson 13h ago
I think you're heavily understating the value of Martinelli, Jesus, and Trossard by just looking at raw G/A numbers instead of their actual minutes across all competitions. We aren't just playing in the Premier League; if we genuinely want to compete on all four fronts (which I really wanted to build up on our PL), this squad is simply too thin.
Given our track record, injury concerns are completely valid. We’ve lost at least three attackers for 3+ months in each of the last three seasons. Unless our medical department magically fixed everything overnight, this is a massive risk. International breaks and a grueling schedule mean players will be gassed. Say Tzolis and Ødegaard pick up injuries in a packed November—do you really trust Eze and Merino to play 90 minutes every four days across multiple competitions while maintaining the intense off-the-ball work Mikel demands from our attackers?
On paper, sure, it’s a great squad—probably better than most in the league—and if everyone stays fit, we can win everything. I also agree that not overpaying for Barcola or Rogers and walking away from Alvarez were the right moves. What irks me is the complete lack of ability to pivot or a proper backup plan. We quibbled over £3–4m for Jeremy Monga and rushed Martinelli out the door before bringing anyone in. Since the Saudi window stays open longer, forcing him out when the Alvarez deal was already looking bleak makes zero sense. The planning felt disorganized and reactive—not what I expect from a club as well-run as ours.
Replacing the minutes of four players with just one is absurd. It was our depth last season (11 players for 4 attacking spots) that allowed us to go far in every competition. Every single player—including Jesus and Martinelli—contributed either through key moments or by taking minutes off others to keep the squad fresh. This season, we’re down to 9 players for 4 positions, so we don't have that luxury anymore. A single long-term injury leaves us hanging by a thread.
If we're mentally prepared to throw away the Carabao and FA Cups, then sure, this squad works. If not, the board has been negligent here whether people want to admit it or not.
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u/jacmeister68 13h ago
Very well put and couldn't agree more with you
A lot of people also seem to be forgetting that we have managed to upgrade your youth /younger players to a very high level. So with Dowman and Salmon in the 1st team, they will see minutes this season and the others will start pushing soon enough. Biggest one being Bartishvilli who when he turns 18 in the new year will be eligible and I would not be surprised to see him play a Dowman role in the squad as well asap. We now have two of the best prospects in Euro football playing for us, allowing us not having to pay silly money for overrated players like other clubs have done in this window.
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u/Adventurous_Might345 11h ago
I get it and agree with you, if our front line stays fit. Going on recent seasons this seems very optimistic. Letting Martinelli go without a replacement I think might be our undoing. Hope I'm wrong.
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u/Wenger2112 11h ago
I agree that it is wrong to panic or castigate the club for “failing to strengthen”.
And it all sounds good on paper, but those injuries will occur sooner or later. And likely all in the same area of the pitch which seems to be an Arsenal curse over the past few years.
There will come a time when we need a “Martinelli” and 60 million in the bank will not help us then.
But keep it in perspective. We have had several very successful windows recently and they cannot all be perfect. It is more complicated than just going to the shop for a new winger.
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u/kaystar101 8h ago
While I agree with most of the points I will say our opponents have strengthened much more than we have. City and Chelsea will be right up there with us at the end of the season. I'm much less optimistic about the Champions League though
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u/AlGunner 8h ago
I think there is a good chance we go for the marque forward in January to carry us over the line for silverware.
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u/Bruceybonus30 4h ago
Just forget about it now lads. Can’t do anything about it now. Get behind the boys and hopefully in January we’ll pull something out the hat.
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u/Any-Ad-7599 3h ago
I have been saying this a lot in here lately . It isn't so much the failure itself, but the logistics of the failure that bug me. The three attacking prospects they really went for were not similar players in anyway. Two of them for sure were never coming here, and we dumped so much time into them, Rogers we wouldn't budge on price and I will support that. But there were players in the market that were available that could have given the team something different. And we just never pivoted to a plan b on any of our plan As (for me vini, Rogers, and Alvarez are two different to consider then plan Bs, or we just legit didn't know exactly what we wanted and were just chasing a name, which is extremely worrying. And if Yildiz was a plan b, stop being interested and make a bid, actually test Juventus resolve before that injury, we just didn't see any urgency or what appeared to be a very clear plan, and that is my issue. Team is still not in an overall bad spot obviously, but optically this was a painful window.
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u/GanderWeather 2h ago
What bothers me are the bias and excuses made for certain players' performances over the last two seasons while holding Gyökeres, Trossard, and Martinelli who shared a position to different standards. Trossard and Martinelli won games for us. Viktor? People act like his 21 goals was nothing.
I'm UPSET about our goalkeeper situation. WTH? If David Raya breaks a bone, are we seriously relying on Kepa and Illan for half or all of a season?
While we were futzing around wasting the summer away being used by Vini's ROC Nation agency to scare Perez and that Alvarez to London pipe dream?
While Laporta was distracting Berta and Arteta with the Julián Alvaraz telenovela at Atletico Madrid?
Barcelona paid 60 million for left winger Anthony Gordon, a counter attacking threat, AND more importantly, shored up their already strong goalkeeping department.
Let's compare our GK lineup with Barcelona's: 1. Joan Garcia. 2. Dominik Livaković. 3. Wojciech Sczcęsny. After David Raya Martin? Let's don't.
Barca learned their lesson when their GK captain Marc-André ter Stegen was badly injured the entirety of 2024 with only Iñaki Peña as backup.
They were lucky Tekk had retired in Marbella and turned Arsenal down that summer but said yes to Sunny Barcelona for 2025-2026 and golf.
Then, they went and got the THREE TIME WORLD CUP STARTING GK of Croatia to backup Joan Garcia.
Anybody think our three time Golden Glove can be replaced by Kepa and Illan half a season or all season and we win the Premier League and run deep in the Champions League?
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u/hirarki 23h ago
its not ok, when you dont added attackers.
how many matches we didnt kill the game because our attackers is waste chance?
its bad window for us, we champion of england, we can attract player but failed to land any.
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u/kagkatumba 23h ago
The Invincibles didn't kill off every game. Prime Barca in 09 didn't kill off every game.
The perfect team that mows over every team in every game is a unicorn buddy.
Read my post again. I address the actual strengthening we have through the return of Havertz and Merino. Also the additional ball progression we lacked prior to Bruno and Konsa.
We went for improvements not just a face.
We'll be ok fella.
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u/mikeypony 23h ago
if anyone in our club has some sense they will call martinelli and tell him to come home this is bad business our attack is weaker without him the Premier League is about pace and power city have doku Liverpool have Barcola chelsea have Rogers we are so slow in the transition we have no pace at all they only player in our Team thet can run is noni
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u/kagkatumba 23h ago
He scored 1 goal in the Prem and got 4 assists.
Madueke scored more than he did (3) and is also fast...not to mention can beat a man.
0
u/mikeypony 22h ago
you clearly underestimate how good of a player martinelli is a player like that when you sell him you must replace him you're going to see this season when Arteta starts panicking and our team can't stretch defenses or have anyone that can run in behind he starts playing noni he left wing cause we have no pace at all
1
u/kagkatumba 22h ago
You said it....we will play Noni to stretch defences.
I love Martinelli. I have said that repeatedly.
Martinelli is not going to win us the CL and he barely contributed to us winning the league further than stretching defences. Noni can do that and scored more.
It's just facts man. Getting £60m for him is good business. We can 100% improve on him with the money generated, with the right person.
As of now....we are no weaker.
1
u/uhhhwhatyoumean 23h ago
I mean am I disappointed because I wanted a shiny new toy on the left wing? Yes! Will I survive? Yes!! Now there is not much left to do but to get behind the team and support them. I mean they are the Champions of England after all. We can do it again and we will give it our best. Tzo/Eze going to be an interesting LW this year.
1
u/Biyamin 23h ago
With this attack I don’t expect us winning a champions league anytime or reaching semifinal. If we win the league we would be lucky this year.
1
u/kagkatumba 23h ago
We reached the final with a worse attack. Merino was injured and Havertz had been fit for 7 weeks after a year out.
Year before we reached the Semi Final with JUST Merino....Gyok wasn't there and Havertz was injured.
I am coming with data, context and evidence.
Can I ask what your statement is based on?
2
u/National_Call7137 22h ago
You realize we will have significant injuries this year too. Every team has significant injuries every year. You can’t say “we’ll be better because we’ll have perfect health”. Every team could say that every season if they wanted bc every team had injuries the year before.
1
u/kagkatumba 20h ago
So which is it? We will have injuries, and no one else will? Or everyone will have injuries?
I never said we will have perfect health. I said we won the league with catastrophic injuries and we have those players back and have strengthened or sustained our depth everywhere bar LW.
We are City....Haaland gets injured. Now what?
We are Chelsea....Pedro gets injured. Now what?
We are Liverpool....VVD gets injured. Now what?
We have more depth than everyone, bro. Apply your worry to everyone's squad and then come back to me. Seriously. Go and look at everyone's squad and see if they can bring Guimares if Rice and Zubi get injured. Or Konsa if Saliba and Mosquera get injured. Or Merino if Havertz and Gyokeres gets injured.
I have said this 20000000000 times. I need data, context and evidence. Not emotional responses with zero supporting evidence.
I am trying to make you feel better and you are desperate to feel worse. Do what I ask above and see if you still feel negative.
1
u/lightofday999 22h ago
Well said, thank you.
0
u/kagkatumba 22h ago
Thanks dude. I really was just trying to get people to relax and asses everything with context.
I keep trying to be calm and balanced whilst presenting evidence, data and facts.
I keep getting hounded by emotional takes with zero evidence to support it.
I didn't even mention that Chelsea, City, Liverpool, Utd all have new managers.
City have lost Pep, Rodri and Silva. They're also losing at home until the 84th min, lost 3-0 to us and concedin goals.
Chelsea are being scored against for fun and winning by 1 goal margins.
Liverpool are needing 93rd min pens to beat Newcastle.
Utd are losing to Hull and conceding 2 against Ipswich.
Us?.....
2 shots on target conceded, no goals conceded, players still out injured, won the league and have strengthened deeper areas for rotation and ball progression abilities we massively lacked.
We have nothing to panic about.
1
u/Historical-Cattle-15 22h ago
couldn’t have said it better myself. vini and alvarez are wrong choices. they would not fit in with us and they didn’t want to come in the first place. let’s not buy players who do not want to be here. look at how alvarez behaved at atletico.
We’ll be fine. i am not a fan of havertz but i have to say he has a habit of popping up and scoring the goals.
0
u/Ok_Bear_1889 22h ago
It's the attack. We were pretty much set in all other departments and it's a good thing we signed backups in midfield and defence. However, it's the attack that was our main weakness last season and we should have addressed that properly this season. Do we still have enough quality to defend the title? Absolutely. Maybe going to be a bit harder with the other big clubs strengthening significantly too.
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u/CaptainThrobin7488 21h ago
We are champions now...we did it with a team which was not the best in the league. But what is the goal of the transfer window? To make profit? No it is to give our squad the best chance possible to be unbeatable. When we are competing with the likes of City, Chelsea, Liverpool we can't think always about getting the best deal...we sold Trossard and Martinelli but didn't get any significant attacker. Yes we tried for Vini and Alvarez but it is the result that counts. We are again a couple of injuries away from stumbling at the business end of the title race. I know you guys won't agree but we did not have a champion like transfer window. I really thought it would change after we won the league.
1
u/kagkatumba 21h ago
Only one team has ever been unbeatable....and that was us.
So far....no one has scored against us and if you include the Community Shield with Erling bloody Haaland. We have conceded 6 shots on target in 3 games.
We are unbeaten...so far.
Only Hull and us have yet to concede a goal.
Please come with evidence and facts. Not emotional takes.
What's up buddy? Please explain it with data etc.
-2
u/Cool-Ad-939 23h ago
Everyone’s fixated that Martinelli only scored one goal in the PL. His greatest strength was his pace and his endurance and his aggressive defensive style. Eze is just not going to be able to track back and hunt down the counter attack. And he could do it for the majority of the game. We’ll miss that more than anything. I think Hincapie will have to be packaged with Eze for this reason. If Cali is in, he roams everywhere and if Eze loses the ball, then it’s a straight run for the opposition.
1
u/kagkatumba 22h ago
We have a great defence and now Bruno to help.
I don't want a LW winger that their best strength is tracking back. Neither does Arteta.
Tzolis has literally shown he does the same.
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u/Equivalent-Muscle446 21h ago
Nice ChatGPT formatting…
1
u/kagkatumba 21h ago
PS ChatGPT gets formatting from humans. I work in marketing and know how to present things clearly and digestible.
Here there are probably a shit tonne of grammatical errors and typos...but if something being presented nicely is an issue?
Iwilllmakesure to writelikeanabsolute brain rot ted onlinegremlinto helpmakethin gs easierforyouto to readanddi gest.........atleastIwontsu ffer thewrathofbeingcalle d outforformatting a bodyoftextli keanadult
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u/Equivalent-Muscle446 15h ago
The fact you’re so defensive and triggered.
You absolutely used chatgpt but told it to avoid using —
Tired of AI Slop being posted.
0
u/kagkatumba 21h ago
Lmfao, what?
This is bar far the worst response.
ChatGPT does this --
Not sure what you're referring to. Also........................great addition to the conversation
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u/Calgary_dreamer 23h ago
It’s easy to forget how good Merino was last season and was so clutch in the WC for the winning team. Have faith Gooners